18 I World of Ships I Paddle Steamers
BUILT 1934 by Sir William Gray and Co, West Hartlepool for
the London and North Eastern Railway Humber passenger
and vehicle service between Hull and New Holland.
TONNAGE 556 gross, 325 net
DIMENSIONS 199ft 9in x 33ft 1in (hull) x 57ft 0in (over
paddles)
PASSENGERS 1,
VEHICLES 20 cars
MACHINERY Triple diagonal by Central Marine
Engine Works, West Hartlepool, producing 1,200hp,
coal-fired boiler
SPEED 10 knots (service)Paddle steamers Wingfield Castle and
Tattershall Castle, built for the London and
North Eastern Railway, served the Hull-
New Holland route for 40 years, carrying
passengers, vehicles and even livestock before
starting static operation with varying degrees
of success. Wingfield Castle has now been
very well restored and lies in Hartlepool at the
town’s highly acclaimed Maritime Experience
area close to the site of the Sir William Gray
shipyard from where she and Tattershall Castle
were launched in September 1934 after being
constructed side by side. Tattershall Castle has
been a watering hole in a Thames Embankment
berth above Hungerford Bridge since 1981 but
now bears little resemblance to her sister.
They were joined by the Clyde-built Lincoln
Castle in 1941, which ran until early 1978,
when boiler problems resulted in withdrawal,
leaving the 1948-built double-ended diesel-
electric paddle vessel Farringford, originally
running from Lymington to Yarmouth, Isle ofTHE HUMBER
PADDLERS
WINGFIELD CASTLE
AND TATTERSHALL
CASTLE
Lincoln Castle, the last
paddle steamer to serve
the Humber, heading for
the Lincolnshire shore not
long before withdrawal in
September 1978.Passengers enjoy the Humber view as Wingfield
Castle heads for Hull in 1973.01 Paddlers_Britain_NL.indd 18 17/04/2018 09: