Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape
40 years ago this year, in December 1967, the much-loved Clyde paddle steamer
Jeanie Deans was towed away from the River Thames to ship breakers at Antwerp,
Belgium. She had been withdrawn from service on the Clyde by her owners the
Caledonian Steam Packet Company, at the end of the 1964 season as the company
began to reduce its fleet size to stem escalating finacial losses. Jeanie Deans
was only 33 years old. It was around this time that it was becoming clear to
enthusiasts that paddle steamers would soon disappear entirely from the British
coastal cruising scene, despite having been a fixture for over 150 years as
the 1960s saw an end to the old certainties of life and new financial pressures
on steamer operators.
In Britain, the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society
was founded in 1959, but as a small enthusiast group it could only look on in
despair as more and more vessels were taken out of service and sold for scrap.
Even in 1974, when the Society were unexpectedly offered ownership of the Clyde's
last paddler, PS Waverley, a former L&NER and Caledonian Steam Packet fleet
mate of Jeanie Deans, it was not seriously thought that she could be retained
in operational service, although the drive and commitment of several members,
notably Douglas McGowan, Terry Sylvester and later David Neill eventually brought
this about.
Back in 1964, enthusiasts could only hope for a miracle
as no other coastal cruise operators would have been willing to buy a large
and expensive to operate and maintain ship with obsolete technology. Preservationism,
now almost taken for granted, was still in its extreme infancy in the 1960s
as society looked forward to a brave new world of modernism and technological
advancement. Fortunately, salvation was to come in the shape of a Mr D Rose
who took it upon himself to operate the ship privately on the River Thames.
London had seen a rapid decline in its excursion steamer fleet, with vessels
having succumbed to the same financial pressures which existed elsewhere. The
last paddler in the area was the PS Medway Queen which was withdrawn after the
end of the 1963 season and the remaining motor vessels of the General Steam
Navigation Company were taken out of service after the 1966 season. With such
a large poulation in the London area, there did appear to be room for at least
one vessel, but Mr Rose's enterprise with the "Jeanie", which he renamed
"Queen of the South", came to a unfortunate end, primarily due to
the unreliability of the old paddler, and clearly illustrating the enormous
difficulties in attempting to operate such a large steamer on an individual's
own account.
The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society clearly remembered
these experiences when they found themselves in control of Waverley, which they
initially put back into service with great trepidation, but, thankfully, with
the support of large numbers of well-wishers and sponsors.
The unfortunate
fate of Jeanie Deans perhaps, in some way, helped the later success in saving
"Waverley", but had she been able to sail on for a few more years,
perhaps she would have survived into an era where the loss of any paddle steamer
is regarded as an avoidable tragedy, rather than an inevitable concession to
modernisation.
Here are a few views of Jeanie Deans in her
Clyde days to remind us of happier times ....................
In 1936, the LNER adopted a new
colour scheme, a less intricate design, with grey hulls with white
upper-works and deckhouses which lasted until World War II. The traditional funnel colours remained
unchanged
Jeanie Deans, photo by Jimmy Reid, kindly supplied by Ronnie McLeod
Photo by Alexander Bain, kindly supplied by Donald Bain
STATISTICS AND HISTORY