12 I World of Ships I Paddle Steamers
Waverley’s original boiler, re-tubed in 1976,
was replaced in Spring 1981 by a Babcock
Steambloc unit, which brought a 20 per
cent reduction in fuel consumption and the
advantage of steam being raised in a matter of
minutes rather than hours. The steamer then
circumnavigated the British Isles as cruising
programmes away from the Clyde expanded,
with 1990 bringing special dispensation for a
sailing to Dunkirk itself to coincide with the
50th anniversary of the evacuation.
There was a major step forward in 1998
when the Heritage Lottery Fund announced
support for a major reconstruction of
Waverley to late 1940s styling. Changes
to safety regulations prevented work from
starting in 1999, but the steamer went to the
yard of Great Yarmouth-based George Prior
Engineering for 2000 and 2001 winter visits
costing a total of £7 million, including much
new hull plating, with riveted plates above
the waterline for historical accuracy, renewal
of some frames and new sponsons. The 1981
boiler was replaced by two Cochran Thermaxunits using Hamworthy rotary burners, with
new riveted funnels fitted and the woodgrain
deck houses effect from LNER days restored.
In 2004 plans for a new Clyde Bridge saw
Waverley move to the South Bank and a
home at Plantation Quay near the Glasgow
Science Centre. Problems arose in 2011 with
necessary expensive repairs causing a loss of
sailings and resulting in the launch of a ‘Save
the Waverley’ appeal, which was significantly
supported by the Weir family, Scottish
Euromillions Lottery winners.
Listed by the UK National Historical Ships
Committee as part of their core collection,
Waverley is now supported by PSPS, Glasgow
City Council, Inverclyde Council, Arran and
Bute Council, together with the North and
South Ayrshire Council. Waverley’s annual
programme traditionally starts with a visit
to the Western Isles for sailings out of Oban
and Kyle of Lochalsh, with the main Clyde
season from mid-June to late August, before
a programme usually taking in Liverpool and
Llandudno; the Bristol Channel; a South Coast
spell from Weymouth, Southampton and
Portsmouth including trips around the Isle of
Wight; and a Thames visit through to an early
October return to the Clyde.
This was the plan for 2017 until 24 August,
when Waverley’s bow made contact with
the promenade at Rothesay. The resultant
damage forced the cancellation of the last
Clyde sailings, as the vessel needed repairs
at the Garvel Dry Dock in Greenock. Cruises
from Liverpool and Llandudno and a Bristol
Channel visit had to be cancelled. Waverley
finally picked up her South Coast and Thames
schedule on 9 September.a campaign headed by the Paddle Steamer
Preservation Society, black paddle boxes
returned in 1972, then a merger between CSP
and historic Scottish operator David MacBrayne
in 1973 brought red funnels, with the lions
retained but highlighted by yellow discs.
This proved to be the steamer’s last CSP
season, as 1974 brought sale to PSPS for the
princely sum of one pound, and even that was
donated by STG chairman Sir Patrick Thomas
to Society representatives Douglas McGowan
and Terry Sylvester. Initial thoughts of finding
the steamer a static role were soon replaced by
more ambitious plans for a return to service in
1975 under Waverley Steam Navigation Company
ownership, with a berth and office at Anderston
Quay in Glasgow, helped by a £30,000 grant
from Strathclyde Regional Council.
The Strathclyde subsidy went to the turbine
screw steamer Queen Mary and Loch Lomond
paddler Maid of the Loch in 1976, but £70,
was raised for Waverley from local district
councils and individuals. Waverley left the
Clyde for the first time to cruise from Liverpool
and Llandudno in 1977. The vessel’s future was
put in doubt when a steering fault caused her to
run aground on the Gantocks Rock off Dunoon
in July 1977, and repairs to hull damage took
six weeks. There was a Glasgow base move to
Stobcross Quay in 1978, when sailings from the
South Coast and Thames were offered for the
first time. In May 1980 the 40th anniversary
of the Dunkirk Evacuation was marked with
a cruise to off Cap Griz Nez, when her first
captain John Cameron was aboard to cast a
wreath into the water to commemorate the
earlier Waverley, which he commanded as a
minesweeper in World War II.ABOVE Waverley’s 2,100hp triple diagonal engine
can be seen by passengers at close quarters and
always attracts an admiring crowd. (Russell Plummer)ABOVE Waverley, emerging from Tower Bridge, visits the Thames for a September programme each year. ABOVE Waverley making herself heard!01 Paddlers_Britain_NL.indd 12 17/04/2018 09: