Tattershall Castle

[mjt60a]

Here's what Tattershall Castle looks like now...

I have to say, I HATE the new bridge/wheelhouse, not only does it look (to me) far too modern for a 1930s steamship, they've drawn attention to it by painting all the framework white, while the panels are dark blue... :?
I don't like the new port side saloon windows much (floor to ceiling when you're inside - though the view of the london eye and county hall is impressive at night which is probably good for buisiness - and therefore the survival of the ship) and, if they really had to convert the paddleboxes to interior accomodation, I'd have thought a paddlevent-shaped window would have been possible, and maybe a dummy half-wheel of some kind attached below...
I preferred the white hull too (see pictures in my gallery), the ship now seems less visible from the river, black or dark blue to main deck level with white above would have looked OK...
...all that could I suppose be corrected if anyone were to say, win the euromillions and buy the ship for restoration! what disappointed me most though is the loss of almost all of the 'original details' that gave it the feel of being on a ship, the big boiler room cowl vents are gone as are the side vents to the lavatories (appear to have been replaced with modern air conditioning units/extractor fans) also the skylight over the main staircase replaced with glass tiles, to make more deck space (you can walk across them), and the mast has been moved far forward for the same reason? Most interior walls are covered with tiles/wallpaper/wood panelling, hiding the riveted steel structure.
Thankfully, the engine and boiler are still in place but that's the only area that doesn't feel like you're inside a building. I tend to use the Queen Mary these days as it still feels like a ship  

[derekwarner_decoy]

Must agree mjt60a   - this is what happens when "bean counters" rule the roost - Derek

[Waverley]

Thanks for the warning, Mick - for me - a ship to avoid. I sailed on TATTERSHALL CASTLE on the Humber (and on the other two) and apart from the fact that the ship is no longer in steam, the mutilations "required" for static use would appear to have changed her so much that she is just a parody of what she was.

Same goes for QUEEN MARY - the interior which I knew so well has been totally gutted - after five minutes on board I was as close to tears as I have ever been in public - it was heart breaking

From a business point of view, most of the alterations must be seen as necessary. As a shiplover, familiar with both ships when they were performing the jobs they were built for, I am appalled. This is not preservation - all the distinguishing aspects of both ships have gone, replaced by brewer's tat.

Sorry to rant - saw this at the wrong time.

Regards

David

[mjt60a]

Sorry to rant - saw this at the wrong time.

Regards

David

That's fine, I'm interested to hear what anyone else thinks about this latest series of 'improvements', there was another forum - http://pub41.bravenet.com/forum/3491185225 - where this was raised and most people appeared to be dismayed by the alterations.
As for Queen Mary, I have no idea what the ship was really like originally, some things I can see have changed such as the entrance and main staircase being below the funnels - where the boilers should be! and that most of the cowl vents appear to be fake - don't look too bad from a distance but when you get on board, they're 'all wrong' with welds running around them instead of lengthways (and made in flat sections - quite hideous when compared to the four original ones) but there are still a few steamship parts about, lifeboat davits, roller fairleads, eyebolts where the mast stays must have been......maybe what I should have said was 'it feels like a steamship  in comparison to Tattershall Castle!'
I imagine then, Caledonia had also been extensively modified for use as a bar?

[Waverley]

Hi Mick & others

CALEDONIA was surprisingly altered very little before becoming a floating pub.   New colour scheme of course (and almost better than that dreadful BR blue they inflicted on the Clyde steamers in the sixties) but the interior was much as it had been in Clyde days.  The engines and AFAIK the boilers were retained and the general impression I got was that Bass (the brewer) had made no more changes than absolutely necessary.  The most noticeable difference was that the engine room was surrounded by glass screens - presumably to prevent their customers from using it as an ashtray, litter bin or glass repository.

That is why I was so very disappointed with QUEEN MARY - I had hoped that Bass would have taken the same approach - instead we have a completely changed interior and all the atmosphere has gone.  CALEDONIA was kept as a floating pub, but QUEEN MARY has been converted into what looks more like a disco. After seeing QUEEN MARY, I was heartily relieved that Bass had managed to destroy the magnificent KING GEORGE V (she burnt out while being prepared for use on the Thames which is why Bass got the MARY instead).

I sailed many, many times on QUEEN MARY, and probably spent far more time under cover than on deck.   Not only does the Scottish climate often make this necessary, but beer just doesn't taste the same in the open air.  So, to me, if the interior layout has been altered out of all recognition, the machinery removed, the lovely wood panelling torn down, and the whole experience "dumbed down" all that is left is a sad travesty of what went before.

Same goes for TATTERSHALL CASTLE - where's the car deck gone?

It may well be that these modifications are necessary for the vessels to survive at all, but its not preservation as virtually none of the characteristics which made these ships what they were has been retained.

Oops - brief reply re CALEDONIA has grown into another rant - better stop.

Regards

David

[Walter Snowdon]

Hi Mick, I quite agree about the hidious colours of Tatersall Castle, but still, she is in one piece and afloat, with the prospect of returning to her original state. Its strange, but the three sister ships Wingfield/ Tatersall/Lincoln Castle, probably the ugliest paddlers in the UK have all survived while all the beauties were cut up to build cars! Of the three, Wingfield castle is restored to its original condition (a museum ship at Hartlepool where she was built). The Lincoln castle is my favourite, although converted to a pub/restaurant she is kept in very good condition with no external alterations. (Afloat at Grimsby). Cheers for now, Walter

[mjt60a]

I would have loved to see TC restored to operational use (or either of the other two - or preferrably all three!) I've read many times that TC and WC were built to a particularly ugly design but I never agreed with that and rather liked the look of them since I first saw TC in London (in my opinion they're an improvement on the Brocklesby and Killingholme which they replaced...) The main criticism seems to be the placing of the funnel too far aft - yet most paddle tugs I've seen (pictures of, mostly) have that feature too, and could anyone really say the woolwich ferries looked better? I'd have to agree there were many better looking paddlers around (Waverley, Caledonia, Bristol Queen, Royal Eagle.... everyone has their favourite) but I wouldn't consider the Humber ferries unattractive, let alone the ugliest ever built.... still, that's just me - and I have a nearly half completed 1/32 scale model of TC in the back room!
...incidentally, I see that Wingfield Castle has also been painted an overall dark colour (black from the look of it...) - http://www.nhsc.org.uk/index.cfm/event/getVessel/vref/83 - and only Lincoln Castle still has a 'white-above-main-deck' colour scheme - http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/maritime/lincoln%20castle.htm

[Roderick Smith]

I enclose a small portion of a photo taken by my railway-enthusiast friend James Hansen, on his first visit to UK, over Dec.08-Jan.09.
It seems to have been taken from London Eye, looking over Charing Cross station and into the distance.
I am fairly sure that the lhs boat in the foreground is Tattershall Castle.
What is the other (not paddle)?

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[mjt60a]

Yes that's Tattershall Castle, the ship behind is Maid of Ashton...
*here's a similar photo I took from the London Eye but while the ship still looked more-or-less original (other than the fully enclosed bridge and cargo deck)

[Roderick Smith]

Thanks for the prompt identification.
Was this the one which featured in a recent, separate, thread: no longer trading, as the owners have altered business plans?
This pub site has some most unflattering comments: expensive and unfriendly.
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/26/268/

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[mjt60a]

....Was this the one which featured in a recent, separate, thread: no longer trading, as the owners have altered business plans?....

I think that was the Queen Mary 2, as far as I know Maid of Ashton is still trading (under the name 'Restaurant Ship Hispaniola' as it has been for as long as I can remember) but it isn't a 'pub' like the other two...
Queen Mary 2 from waterloo bridge...

[PaddleWheel]

To the casual passer by Tattershall would would not even look like a paddle steamer...I expect they'd think it was a normal ship that someone tried to make look like one. I understand why they put the big windows in, and why they converted the paddle boxes. But one the outside they should have kept the paddle vents! She'd actually look like it had paddles. And a friend of mine said the food was rubbish, they gave him a bowl of cold vegetables with his single slice of chicken!

[Roderick Smith]

Here is another of former PS Tattershall Castle, as the backdrop of a photo of MV Baracuda sent to me by a friend.
140316Su Thames Embankment, London (UK). MV Baracuda. P Weickhardt

See also: <http://paddlesteamers.info/TattershallCastle.htm>

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[mjt60a]

Tattershall Castle seems to be quite popular these last few years, since the owners of Queen Mary 2 decided to ban smoking on all areas of the ship, the QM2 now seems to be in Tilbury docks, I can just see the funnels and wheelhouse from the train on the way to work

[Roderick Smith]

170810Su-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-London-Thames-TattershallCastle.
Is anyone able to identify the other large ones?

200328Sa-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Thames-TattershallCastle.jpg
Is that Maid of Ashton behind it?
I guess that TC has been left floating, not trading, while is jetty is repaired.

https://www.thetattershallcastle.co.uk

Roderick