Volume Eight - Pre-Victorian to the present day - more aspects - The White Funnel Fleet - P & A Campbell Limited

Passenger steamships have been plying the Bristol Channel for a hundred years, but the development of the steamer services as we know them began in the year 1887.

Prior to that date a variety of vessels had at various times sailed between Bristol and the ports and villages situated on one side of the Channel or the other. At the same time, many vessels with their home port at Cardiff had provided a service both for passengers and goods. Small ships they were by today's standards somewhat lacking in comfort.

The summer season of 1887 saw the arrival in the Bristol Channel of the 'Waverley', a vessel previously in the Clyde and chartered by a number of Bristol gentlemen.