up the creek with a paddle

 

The trip just had to be done. It harked back to the original “booze cruises” between the south of Cymru (Porthcawl) and Devon (Ilfracombe), pre 1961, when licensing rules meant the nation was dry on a Sunday. While that’s a history second-hand to me, a jot of my misspent youth was on a now derelict paddle steamer left to rot in an Isle of Wight creek. I hadn’t long started working in mental health, when with colleagues I “infrequented” the Ryde Queen, a former ferry used as a nightclub. I vaguely recall a contretemps after the 1130pm burger galley had opened; a disagreement about an aspect of hospital care. Staff were more passionately engaged then.  The potholed car park later ripped the exhaust from my Mini Van, probably the last time I ever went to such premises. Fifty years later, the wreck of the ship is still there, and I’ve moved on. 

On the present day cruise around the Bristol Channel, those who later reviewed the trip complained about a minority of “revellers” trying to relive the history. Maybe they should read the back story.  Meanwhile, I relished the calmness of an eleven hour journey from Penarth to Ilfracombe and back via Clevedon, culminating in sunset over Caerdydd. Passengers, regulars and newbies alike, queued along the pier in silent anticipation as the ship hove slowly into view over a misty horizon, Its low profile and wide beam somehow giving the impression of an approaching smoking dragon. 

I had been prone previously to mal de mer, but today the gentle rhythm of paddle wheels was the background to a meditative reverie.  From the moment of departure I was in Scotland without leaving Cymru. Where the Hafren/Severn met the sea, I felt immediately at home as if in Strathclyde (aka “Ystrad Clud”, with respect to the delicious dislocation), thanks in no small part to the loyal and good-humoured crew, mostly from Glasgow. They live aboard during the season from May to October, which includes visits to the Inner Hebrides, the Mersey, North and South Cymru, Devon, Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. But the experience evokes Scotland. This former CalMac ferry tirelessly offers day-long Caledonian cuisine such as haddock, macaroni cheese and related  beverages. 

While the Draig Goch flew proudly above the prow, a couple from Y Barri wondered “what’s occurrin’” with the flag, and whether it would change to the Cross of St George on arrival in English waters, where I met friends from across the channel. I spoke with people who remembered family from both sides, due to migration for work or leisure. Forebears in both Caerffili and Minehead were mentioned a few times.  The wide waterway, and the estuary upstream, seemed to unite the nations rather than separate them. 

At 46+ feet, the Bristol Channel has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. which explains the land crew being belayed securely to the slippery underside of the piers during mooring procedures. At low tide the ship appears much smaller, its twin funnels well below the pier deck. Such was the dedication of those disembarking at Clevedon, some even carried their own mobility aids up several flights of stairs. Like them, I’m hooked. Line and sinker.

The ship is the Waverley. The last of the line.

Footnote: that ex-GPO BMC Mini Van played a part in many happy times between the Isle of Wight, Nottingham, Yorkshire and Cymru forty years ago. I occasionally even slept in it awaiting the Isle of Wight car ferry in the wee small hours.

LINKS

Kingdom of Strathclyde - Wikipedia

THE 2 PADDLE STEAMER QUEENS THAT GRACED THE EAST BANK OF THE MEDINA - Isle of Wight 

https://swheritage.org.uk/news/devon-somerset-and-wales/

http://www.paddlesteamers.info/BristolChannel.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Closing_(Wales)_Act_1881

Vieux garçon de la plage

Penarth - National Piers Society

wet feet

Tides and the Bristol Channel - Clevedon Pier

Waverley Excursions – The World's last Seagoing paddle steamer