We're looking for your stories, from travellers young and old, on your trip on the Waverley or Balmoral. The stories will be shown on this page and we will hold a regular prize draw on the best stories - the winner receiving two free trip tickets to use in the future.
'London Tower Pier to River Medway'
On 24th Sept 2006 my wife and I made our way to through a quiet London Sunday morning to Tower Pier to join the Waverley for a day's excursion to the Medway. It was quite awe-inspiring to be walking down the cobbled street, past the ancient Tower of London, HMS Belfast across the river, and the twin black, white and red funnels of the Waverley peeping up. We joined a queue of enthusiastic people, young, old, children, pensioners, and soon we were on board.
We established a corner for ourselves, and waited to get underway. Soon enough, a fussy tug boat came along side to assist in swinging Waverley; lines were cast off, engine room telegraphs rang, a froth of water was thrown up by the paddles, and slowly we edged upstream. As we turned by the Belfast, the arms of Tower Bridge lifted skywards in a salute. Then we were away, passing under that most famous of London's landmarks, heading for the Thames estuary and the open sea.
We passed by bits of the Thames that I knew quite well. St Katherine's Dock and its marina, Limehouse, Leamouth; past the Dome. Onwards down stream, under the QE II Bridge, and over the Dartford tunnel.
Most interesting though the scenery was, as urban London gave way to the wilderness of the estuary marshes, the steady throb of the engines was calling me. I was thrilled to discover that the companion-ways ran each side of the engine room, and gave quite unrestricted views of the engines. You got quite a good feel for the smell (steam and oil) and the heat, too! There you could see the engineer on the control platform, keeping a watchful eye on his charges. And what beauties! Three cylinders, three sets of pistons and connecting rods, shining steel and glittering brass. The connecting rods drove the crankshaft round with a steady beat. In the background I could hear the syncopated whoosh of the feed pump, pushing more water into the boilers. At that moment, the engine room telegraph jangled .. we were stopping at Tilbury.. the engineer sprang to his feet, acknowledged the telegraph, and operated various levers in front of him. The beat of the engine slowed .. the telegraph jangled .. the engine stopped .. the telegraph jangled, the engines went astern...I was in heaven!
Back on deck, we put ashore some passengers, and picked up several more, including a group of historic cyclists. That is, they were riding historic bikes, they weren't particularly historic themselves! Once the new passengers were embarked, we were off again, past the huge container ships at Tilbury Docks, towards Southend and its fantastic pier. By now, my wife and I were feeling a bit peckish, so we ventured into the restaurant, expecting burger and chips or scampi-in-a-basket. We were astonished and pleased to be offered a most superb Sunday roast lunch: roast beef, vegetables, Yorkshire puddings and so on .. it was first rate, and it wasn't expensive! Whilst passengers were exchanging at Southend, we completed our lunch with a couple of drinks in the bar. Then off once again, across the estuary, heading for the Medway. On the way we passed the wreck of the Richard Montgomery - an ammunition ship which ran aground on a sandbank during WW II, and is still there 60 years later - along with most of its cargo! Still, it hasn't blown up yet, and wasn't likely to as we steamed past. (It didn't!)
Then we turned into the Medway, Sheerness on our left (I mean port) and the Isle of Grain to starboard. Quite a narrow waterway, with pleasure craft, motor cruises and yachts dwarfed by the Waverley. Finally, we were met by another fussy tug just off Chatham to assist us in turning back towards the Thames. Almost immediately, we were greeted by the sight of the Kingswear Castle, a small coal-fired paddle steamer, chugging towards us. For a while, she joined in convoy with us, and two steam powered paddle steamers chugged upstream together. Yet another awesome sight.
Our journey back was as interesting as the journey out. This time, though, we were steaming into the setting sun. I took some stunning photographs of the QE II Bridge. As dusk fell, the lights of London, particularly the new office blocks at Canary Wharf, shone like beacons lighting our way home. All too soon, we were under Tower Bridge again, and moored safely at Tower Pier.
It was a long, but most wonderful day out.
Would we do it again? Yes - we've just booked up for the trip from Tower Bridge to Whitstable this September. (But this time remember to pack something warm for the evening: it gets quite cool later on!)
James Chappell
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