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Lincoln Castle (ferry)
Encyclopedia
PS Lincoln Castle was a coal-fired side-wheel paddle steamer
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
, which ferried passengers across the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
from the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
until 1978. She was the last coal-fired paddle steamer still in regular services in the UK. Later, she served as a pub at Hessle
Hessle
Hessle is a town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, situated west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area which consists of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of Hessle and a number of other villages but is not part of the...
, and then as a restaurant under permanent dock in Alexandra Dock Grimsby
Grimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
. In September 2010, the Hull Daily Mail
Hull Daily Mail
The Hull Daily Mail is the local daily newspaper for Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire and is published along with the free weekly, Hull Advertiser. There used to be a weekly sports paper, the SportsMail, but this folded in 2006...
reported that she was in an advanced state of demolition, despite the efforts of local people to buy the historic vessel and restore her. On 31 March 2011, The Lincoln Castle Preservation Society were reported to have purchased the broken up parts of the ship for restoration.
History
PS Lincoln Castle was launched on 27 April 1940, by A. & J. Inglis of Pointhouse, GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. She was named after the Norman castle at Lincoln
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
. She was delivered to the LNER in Grimsby's Royal Dock on 4 July 1941 to complement the 1934 and built by Gray's of Hartlepool. She entered service on 4 August 1941 on the New Holland
New Holland, North Lincolnshire
New Holland is a small village, civil parish and port on the Humber estuary in the Borough of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England. It has a population of 955.-History:...
to Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
public service. The route was operated by the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
until nationalization in 1948, when it was taken over by British Railways, later known as British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
. Lincoln Castle served this route until 1978, under Sealink management, when known to be unable to pass a boiler inspection. At the time of her withdrawal, she was the last coal-fired paddle steamer providing a daily scheduled service in the United Kingdom.
Her faulty boiler removed, the paddle steamer was converted into a pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
and opened at Hessle
Hessle
Hessle is a town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, situated west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area which consists of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of Hessle and a number of other villages but is not part of the...
, close to the Humber Bridge
Humber Bridge
The Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, England, is a 2,220 m single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. It is the fifth-largest of its type in the world...
which had, since 1981, rendered the remaining ferries obsolete. In 1987 she was re-sold and moved to Immingham
Immingham
Immingham is a town in North East Lincolnshire, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary...
for refurbishment. Her sponsons and funnel were removed and crankshaft cut to reduce her width and enable her to be pulled into Alexandra Dock at what was to be her last port of call. Re-assembled and refitted, she opened as a bar and restaurant in 1989 alongside the National Fishing Heritage Centre
National Fishing Heritage Centre
The Fishing Heritage Centre is a museum at Alexandra Dock, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, opened in 1991. It depicts the 1950s heyday of the distant waters fishing fleet. The centre also hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions throughout the year. Tours of the fishing trawler Ross Tiger are...
and Sainsbury's flagship branch on Grimsby's historic original Haven Alexandra Dock, Grimsby, close to the retired fishing trawler Ross Tiger
Ross Tiger
The Ross Tiger is a traditional side-winder fishing trawler that was converted into a museum ship in 1992. She is currently berthed in Alexandra Dock at her home port of Grimsby, close to the site of the former PS Lincoln Castle. She forms the star attraction of North East Lincolnshire County...
. Thinning of her hull due to corrosion and pinhole seepage through some of her bottom plates led to her being taken out of public use in 2006, a move considered to be only temporary while repairs were conducted.
She was never to re-open.
In 2010 it was announced that unless a new owner could be found, the vessel could be scrapped, despite the fact that she was quite unique ( and yet somehow not listed on the Core Register of Historic Ships), and had survived these 70 years in remarkable condition. Having being advertised for sale for a nominal sum, the vessel was offered to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society who were to seriously consider taking ownership. In the Autumn 2010 issue of the society magazine Paddle Wheels (no 201), the society's chairperson Myra Allen admitted that the decision not to acquire the ship had been 'a heartbreaking one, but our heads had to rule our hearts.' It was also stated that other avenues were being pursued, and that the PSPS was acting in support of the Lincoln Castle Preservation Society, formed to save the ship when all attempts to purchase it were rejected. In light of what was to follow the society has been criticised for declining to take on the Lincoln Castle, preferring to concentrate on their existing ships, even though one, the , is not a paddle-steamer.
The ship was advertised for sale in by the Marine shipbrokerage firm Norse Shore for the sum of GBP 20,000, a ridiculously low figure which was explained by the vessel being stuck in Alexandra dock and requiring partially dismantling in order to be moved. Norse Shore admitted later that NE Lincolnshire council had declared that the vessel had no historic interest to them at all, and were refusing to transfer the existing lease without a guarantee of around GBP 50,000 from a new lessee. Controversy has surrounded the move by which the owner placed the ship for sale and then seemingly sought to re-buff any inquiries; claims were made by the interested parties in news-letters and websites that negotiations with both the owner and with NE Lincolnshire Council were foundering despite repeated requests for information and assistance.
Despite a public outcry, 2010 photographs in the Grimsby Telegraph revealed how it was being reduced to a shadow of its former self. Demolition contractors could be seen tearing out the inside of the vessel at its berth in Alexandra Dock, Grimsby. The representatives of the owner had stated that they had completely ruled out any chance of transferring the vessel to the Hull-based Lincoln Castle Preservation Society. They cited the cost of dismantling the vessel, dredging the channel in order to move it seaward, and the cost of restoration as the prime reasons for refusing to sell. The statement amounted to saying 'You'll thank us for it one day,' and served to enrage onlookers as well as those with a vested interest in preserving the ship.
Myra Allen of PSPS stated in Paddle Wheels that 'Even at one point when it seemed a sale of the ship was going ahead, the owner insisted that the bottom plates of the ship could not be sold, which of course makes a rescue attempt for the complete vessel impossible. The whole episode has been a heartbreaking one. Although demolition work had started some months ago, there were several buyers for the engine and other machinery, including a museum that had cleared a space to take the items, and we were actively involved in facilitating this. However destruction continued in spite of those interested parties, almost, it seemed, in haste.'
Despite protests and offers by LCPS to buy the ship at prices well in excess of the original asking price the scrapping of the ship went ahead. The website for the Foundation for Paddlesteamers Worldwide (Paddlesteamer Resouces by Tramscape) placed the end of the demolition as being mid-October 2010, and expressed surprise at the turn of events, stating ‘...it is clear that the owner never entered into any serious negotiations, especially with LCPS who had developed a plan for her removal, storage and restoration. There would appear to be more to this matter than meets the eye and the full story has yet to emerge.’
Restoration bid
On 31 March 2011, the Lincoln Castle Preservation Society launched a bid to buy the ship's parts from scrap and rebuild the vessel as a tourist attraction. As the vessel was dismantled by heavy machinery, the salvaged parts would be fitted on a newly-constructed steel hull.Design
The PS Lincoln Castle was built as a great refinement on the earlier Humber ferry sisters, the and and was a different vessel in concept and construction. She had a straight stem and counter stern with the usual good lines of such a vessel though the paddle boxes and sponsonSponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
s could give an impression of a greater beam. Her length was 209 feet (63.7 m) and beam 33 feet (10.1 m), excluding sponsons. She could carry up to twenty cars (on the after deck) and 1,200 passengers.
The PS Lincoln Castle was built with good reason in a different yard from the earlier vessels with a different engine with different layout and vastly different accommodations and equipment as any user of the three would amply testify. It was conceived of as a greatly different vessel and specification built on experience of some six years with the earlier pair of vessels and other paddle steamers. This vessel was unique; the ultimate design of its type as a sheltered-water paddle-steamer ferry and a vast improvement on the earlier two on this service from the engineer’s and passengers’ viewpoints, with superior passenger accommodation and a logical engineering layout, intentionally affording passengers unequalled views of the engine room and the engine in operation.
All her working life, her boiler was coal-fired and its steam used to power a triple expansion diagonal reciprocating engine
Reciprocating engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
. This engine, built by Ailsa
Ailsa Shipbuilding Company
-History:The company was founded in 1885 by the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa.In 1902 the Ailsa yard fitted out the polar exploration ship Scotia for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04...
of Troon
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, was a rare survivor of its type from this manufacturer and of particular historical significance due to its survival within the hull of its intended vessel. The cylinders were respectively 18 and in diameter with a 51 inch stroke. The PS Lincoln Castle was different from the other vessels in the Humber ferry service in having her boiler forward of her engine, therefore her funnel was further forward than the others; just before midships, abaft the bridge and half way between her two equally-sized masts.
Service
For years, the Lincoln Castle ferried day-trippers between the banks of the Humber. Before she was laid up in 1981, she was described as "The Lady of the Humber" and was a regular sight on the water between Grimsby and Hull.The vessel was designed for and operated from New Holland to Hull (an important local factor financially, geographically, economically and socially, as the raison d’être of the ferry operation was to serve the north-east Lincolnshire hinterland of Grimsby in its connexion with the nearest city, Hull and its hinterland) by the LNER in Grimsby by J.F. Wood, the company's Superintendent Marine Engineer and formerly the company's ferry superintendent at New Holland where day-to-day management and operation were carried out. Port of Registry and home port was Grimsby throughout its working life.
The success and importance of this operation can be judged from the fact that the Cleethorpes/Grimsby railway line to New Holland/Barrow Haven and Barton-on-Humber escaped the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
while the direct line from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to London was closed.