Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage and legacy

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

The 'Westward Ho' approaching Weston-super-Mare during the 1937 season. Built in 1894 at the yard of the S. McKnight & Co. at Ayr, she was of 428 gross, 71 net tons, 225'-0" long x 26'-1" breadth and 9'-5" depth. During the period 1914 - 1918 she was renamed the 'Westward Queen' and again renamed the 'Westhope' in the years 1918-1919. Following WWII service as H.M.S. 'Westward Queen' she was not selected for a refit and was broken up at Cashmore's, Newport scrap yard in 1946. From West Country Passenger Steamers, a finely researched reference book by Mr. Grahame Farr. [154]

A lovely postcard image dated 1907 borrowed from my Penarth Dock Collection - 'On board P.S. 'Westward Ho'. Someone has written over the card '22 knots' which is about 25.3 miles per hour if true. Anyway, I would like a day trip on her down to Lundy at whatever speed. [001]

A half-hull model of P.S. 'Westward Ho'. The half-hull is a scale model of the ship's lines and would have most probably been made by the ship-builder, S. McKnight & Company of Ayr, in this case. These models were used to accurately estimate scaled dimensions of the cross-section at defined positions along the length of the hull. This model is held at the National Museum of Wales. [629] [Reference : 2004.35/2] [20180225]

c.1905 - p.s. - 'Westward Ho' approaching the pier head Bute Docks, Cardiff. Another heritage postcard held within the Penarth Dock Collection. [001]

She was renamed H.M.S. Western Queen and served as a minesweeper on the River Tyne at Grimsby during World War I. Re-fitted in 1920, the paddle steamer worked on services in South Devon in the 1930's. The paddle steamer returned to the Tyne in World War II, and assisted in the Dunkirk evacuation before becoming an accommodation ship on the River Dart at the end of the war. The Westward Ho was not re-conditioned after the war and was scrapped at Newport, in 1946. [629]

Mitchell's Cigarettes "River & Coastal Steamers" (series of 70 issued in 1925) #68 Paddle Steamer "Westward Ho"-"one of the fleet of eleven owned by P & A Campbell Ltd of Bristol, used on the summer service between Bristol and Ilfracombe. [381]

1934 - P.S. 'Westward Ho!' - Built by Messrs. McKnight & Co., Ayr.

P.S. 'Westward Ho!' - Built by Messrs. McKnight & Co., Ayr. Engined by Messrs. Hutson & Son, Glasgow. Length (over all) 232 ft. Breath 26 ft. Depth 17 ft. Fitted with Marconi Wireless Installation. An illustration taken from the Bristol Channel District Guide - Official Handbook to the Marine Trips of P. & A. Campbell Ltd. (The White Funnel Fleet) - first published 1893 - from the 1934 Edition. [1332]

Clovelly, North Devon and the p.s. 'Westward Ho!' - The small harbour was limited to local fishing-boats and traders, hence, boatmen were hired to taxi visitors too and from the pleasure steamers. This image is borrowed from a fine volume entitled 'Victorian and Edwardian Ships & Harbours from old photographs,' but the credit/source for this interesting image is undefined. [1342]