PS Medway Queen returns to Gillingham Pier, Medway
The 'Heroine of Dunkirk' arriving back to the Medway filmed from the top of LV21's lantern on a blustery but sunny November day. When I heard that the BBC's Shipping Forecast may be axed a quick edit and an appropriate soundtrack, courtesy of Ant Neely, seemed fitting.
Welcome home PS Medway Queen and long may the Shipping Forecast continue...
Music - Ant Neely | Shipping Forecast
More info on the Medway Queen -
Medway Queen Leaves Bristol - 31.10.2013
Medway Queen leaves Bristol under tow, bound for the river Medway, Kent
Medway Queen Paddle Steamer
Aerial views of Medway Queen agongside her base at Gillingham pier in Kent, on the Medway. Next to Thames sailing barage Cambria .
The Medway Queen Rebuild - In 3 minutes - Bow End
Short films and productions from MQPS
The Final Cruise of the Paddle Steamer Medway Queen
Paddle Steamer Medway Queen was built at the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company in Troon, Scotland, in 1924 at a cost of £21,500 for service on the Medway and in the Thames Estuary. Trialled on the River Clyde, she was delivered to be part of the Queen Line fleet of the New Medway Steam Packet Company based at Rochester, Kent. She steamed the Thames on the routes from Strood and Chatham, to Sheerness, Herne Bay and Margate in Kent; and Clacton and Southend in Essex.
A bow rudder was later fitted, in 1936, to better enable the ship to manoeuvre in harbour and the boiler was replaced and converted to oil firing in 1938. The new boiler was constructed by Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Company in Newcastle and installed in Chatham Dockyard.
Requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a minesweeper, she was renumbered No N 48 (1939-1942) and later J 48 (1942-1947), serving for the duration of World War II in the 10th minesweeping flotilla, protecting the English Channel.
On Monday 3 June Vice Admiral Ramsey gave the order that all ships were to leave Dunkirk by 14.30 the following morning. This was the Medway Queen's seventh trip. She was at the mole in Dunkirk when a destroyer moored astern of her was driven forwards by an explosion and smashed her starboard paddle box, she sustained considerable damage. Medway Queen limped back to Dover with 400 French soldiers on board. By then, she had rescued 7,000 men.
In view of this remarkable achievement in rescuing so many Allied troops from France, she earned the title of The Heroine of Dunkirk. In 1942 she was converted to a mine sweeping training ship, and served out the war in this capacity.
Return to service
Rebuilt by Thorneycrofts of Southampton in 1946, she returned to civilian service with New Medway Steam Packet Company for the 1947 season. When Elizabeth II was crowned, PS Medway Queen attended the 1953 Coronation Review at Spithead.
She made her last sailing on 9th September 1963, and was scheduled to be scrapped in Belgium. The Belgian ship-breaker, upon discovering that the vessel he was expecting to break up was none other than The Heroine of Dunkirk, declined to continue (it is reported that he felt that no one should dare to destroy such a gallant and important little ship). The Daily Mail newspaper campaigned to save her.
Use as nightclub
Having been saved from scrapping, Medway Queen was eventually sold for use as a nightclub and marina clubhouse, and was moored at the Medway Queen Marina (now known as the Island Harbour Marina) on the Isle of Wight. The club opened in 1966. In 1970, a larger ship, PS Ryde, renamed as Ryde Queen, joined Medway Queen at the marina site, also operating as a nightclub. The two premises operated alongside one another for a period, until the Medway Queen was eventually closed and fell into disrepair.
Preservation
In 1978 the Medway Queen was bought by private owners with the aim of preserving her. She was moved out of the marina to the adjacent River Medina, but sank in the river when the hull sprang a leak. There she remained, in a state of increasing deterioration, until in 1984 she was salvaged, moved to Cowes at the river’s mouth, and thence towed back to Chatham in Kent on a salvage barge. In 1985 the Medway Queen Preservation Society formed, with the intention of preserving the historic ship.
In 1987 she was moved to Damhead Creek, Kingsnorth on the Hoo Peninsula, but the trust lacked funds to bring her back to service, and struggled to preserve the structure. After a series of near disasters, in 2006 the National Lottery Heritage Memorial Fund agreed a £1.8 million funding package to restore her structure, subject to the society raising £225,000. Having completed the fund raising, the trust was disappointed that neither the insurance company nor marine engineers were confident that her hull was seaworthy and able of sustaining lifting on to a pontoon.
In October 2006, the Trust agreed to the deconstruction of the hull, and salvageable pieces were moved to Gillingham Pier (and a National Lottery funded warehouse) in Chatham Dockyard, in preparation of the hull being professionally restored to seaworthy condition.
Rebuilding the hull
In October 2008, the society signed a contract with David Abels Shipbuilders to restore the hull at the Albion Dry Dock in Bristol. This to be done using plate riveting by a team of 10, and was envisaged to take two years. Work began in April 2009 and was due to be completed in the summer of 2010. On 27 July 2013 the ship was rededicated.
At around 3pm on Friday 15 November 2013 the Medway Queen departed Avonmouth towed by the tug Christine. Benefiting from the good weather the tow continued throughout the weekend with her arriving back on her home territory on the River Medway 2 days later. She is now moored at Gillingham Pier.
For more info visit:
Medway Queen arrives back in Kent
An historic ship that helped rescue thousands of soldiers during the World War Two Dunkirk evacuations arrives back in Medway.
Medway Queen, 1950's - Film 4131
Amateur home movie of the Medway Queen at Herne Bay in the 1950's.
Poster advertising Queen Line cruises from Herne Bay Pier and Southend.
The 'Medway Queen'. A woman and child aboard. A man and two boys looking over rail. Engine room. Children aboard including little girl in a sun hat and a lifeboat can be seen. The name 'Medway Queen'. Passengers aboard as she leaves the pier, a woman waving. On a life ring 'Medway Queen, Rochester'. Flag flying. View through porthole.
Medway Queen
I believe this is The Medway Queen sometime in the 1950's. The group in the video are parents, teachers and pupils from Rodmersham school
PS Medway Queen - Avonmouth - Portishead - 15/11/13
Paddle Steamer Medway Queen under tow from the Tug Christine (Plymouth) sets off down the Bristol Channel from Avonmouth for her home waters of the River Medway. She is pictured here leaving Avonmouth Docks and passing Battery Point Portishead. on Friday 15th November 2013. She has just undergone an extensive rebuild at the Albion Dockyard in Bristol. Weather & circumstances permitting, her present estimated time to arrive at Gillingham Pier is Monday 18th @1300hrs.
MEDWAY PAST AND PRESENT
ROCHESTER & CHATHAM
SITES BUILDINGS OF MEDWAY TOWNS
Paddle Steamer Medway Queen, 1950's - Film 33380
Paddle steamer Medway Queen. Essex. Southend Pier, passengers embark, crew, captain on the bridge, Thames estuary, at Southend, at Clacton Pier.
8mm Cine Film of Great Lines Steam Fair Gillingham Kent 1960's
Some 8mm cine film of a Steam Fair with traction engines on the Great Lines Gillingham Kent I think 1965... the quality varies.
Medway Kent Strand
The Strand Gillingham Kent
On the way to work
Gillingham Pier
Join use filming the historical Gillingham Pier which started off as a defensive fort built in 1669 and remains a working harbour to the present day. It is also the home of the very famous paddle steamer the Medway Queen which carried out seven trips over to Dunkirk saving many lives
HMS WILDFIRE WW2 KENT Gillingham ( MUST SEE)
TODAY people im at wildfire kent After the closure of the ACHQ and before the re-opening of the now Local Command HQ (LCHQ) in 1964 the plotting room was altered by the addition of three extra cabins. These were cantilevered above the existing three requiring the re-arrangement of stairs. Another addition was the provision of mains water services and sewage. This entailed the construction of a new chamber adjacent to the southern entrance to hold a large water tank, below this a sump was built with sewage ejection equipment enabling the toilets opposite to be connected to the mains and four extra toilets to be provided within the new room. The other two sets of toilets (each of two cubicles) situated beside the two ventilation plant rooms remained as chemical toilets as originally fitted.
Other changes involved the layout and size of the various rooms and corridors with partitions being moved and rooms enlarged, however the room numbering still ended at number 59, although on the original layout rooms 19 and 20 were not reconciled and this is the case with the current layout, domestic rooms, lavatories and plant were not included in this total (however, one plant room door does have the number 75 on it)
Velosolutions Pump track in Medway, Gillingham, Review
#Velosolutions #Pumptrack #Gillingham
The work side of my life had me travelling to Kent, so I thought I'd pay a visit to the recently opened Velosolutions pump track in Gillingham...
Located on Queen Elizabeth Fields this is the latest Pump track from Claudio's Velosolutions and only opened a few weeks ago!
Its amazing - its just a shame its 140 miles away!!
From the Medway Council Website:
In 2016 we held a consultation with local residents and visitors of the park about the introduction of a BMX pump track at Queen Elizabeth Fields in Gillingham.
Since then the pump track was granted planning permission and we secured funding from the Local Growth Fund of £170,000.
The BMX Pump Track opened on Saturday 10 November 2018.
This is part of a £2.5 million investment into cycling in Medway:
The Medway Cycling Plan aims to improve cycling facilities in and across Medway to give residents safer opportunities to get involved in cycling. We have secured £2.5million in funding from the Local Growth Fund.
As part of the project, we will be delivering a package of projects to improve our cycle network and is an exciting chance to improve the levels of cycling in Medway.
The aims of the project are to:
*provide safe and useful facilities that will improve the cycle network in Medway
*help people living and working in Medway to lead a healthier lifestyle
*reduce congestion by encouraging more people to use other means of transport
*help improve air quality
*help to reduce social isolation by getting more people involved in cycling club activities
I wrote a blog too...
And some of the pictures can be seen on my photography website...
Spice Court Gillingham Pt1
Spice Court Indian Restaurant
56-58 Balmoral Road
Gillingham
kent
ME7 4PG
Tel: 01634 850150
27/07/13 - PS Medway Queen - Albion Dockyard Bristol
The Paddle Steamer Medway Queen was built in 1924 by Ailsa Shipbuilders of Troon in Scotland as a pleasure steamer on the River Medway in Kent. In 1940 she was one of the famous little ships that took part in the Dunkirk evacuation. Making seven out & back trips she rescued and returned over 7,000 British and allied Troops to England After the war she returned to service as a pleasure Steamer until her retirement in 1963. At last this famous ship has been recognised as a part of British Maritime history and is undergoing restoration to her former glory. Soon,she will be returning to the River Medway for completion and final fitting out. These pictures were taken prior and after (in heavy rain) her
Re-dedication ceremony at the Albion Dockyard Bristol on Saturday 27th July 2013.
Medway town boi!
Aarron and Paige
Medway Queen relaunch - Bristol Albion Dock, Abels Shipyard
24 October 2013 - Galaxy Note 2, resting on railing (+ a little help from Youtube stabilisation)
Relaunch of the Medway Queen from Abels Shipyard, Albion Dock, Bristol. Very impressive turn at the last minute (around 1:00 mins in).