Ship shape stories of trips on Balmoral
The results of our Balmoral memories competition are in – and they ought to give you an irresistible urge to go sailing the Bristol Channel once more this summer.
SOME weeks ago we asked you to send us your memories of trips on the good ship Balmoral, currently laid up in Bristol and in need of funds to get her seaworthy once more.
RUNNER-UP: The most magical part
Neil Osborne, of Kingswood described a cruise from Clevedon Pier to Ilfracombe, via Penarth:
As at Clevedon and Penarth a large crowd stood on the Ilfracombe quayside to join the ship – in this case for an Exmoor Coast cruise or a trip out to Lundy Island.
Just before we disembark we see the familiar figure of the Town Crier and we applaud with “Yay, yay” as he welcomes us to his old town and laugh when he asks us to take home a seagull.
A few hours on shore, which for me is always a swim at one of Ilfracombe’s many beaches, then usually a pasty before it’s time to board ship once more for our homeward journey, bathed in the golden late afternoon sun.
For me this is the most magical part of the day, as the sun begins to set and the lights of both coasts begin to twinkle under the darkening sky.
RUNNER-UP: Not just the Channel
Simon Jackson, who lives in Framlingham, Suffolk, and was a Haven Ports pilot for almost 30
years, remembers how he regularly piloted the Balmoral into Harwich and Ipswich – a reminder that she was not just a familiar sight in the Bristol Channel. He sent in a photograph showing the Balmoral arriving at Mistley Quay in Essex, with two boatmen waiting to tie her up.
I am struggling to remember the year, but it was certainly before 2008, because that was when TFL (Transport For London) erected their controversial security fence along the quay wall.
The taller of the two boatmen waiting to take the lines is Geoff Cone. The approach to Mistley involves turning to seaward of the port and then backing 8 cables up the shallow channel to the berth. It does help if the vessel has a bow thruster!
WINNER: A big birthday Maggie Urquhart of Llandaff, Cardiff remembers a three-day birthday party on the Balmoral in 1999:
Sharing the birth year of 1949 with Balmoral always makes her feel extra special for me. Living and working in Cardiff but with family on the Other Side of the Bristol Channel, we often used to meet up for a cruise or common destination, especially on birthdays.
On the first day of this particular occasion a whole bunch of us started from Penarth pier … apart from one friend who was late and tried waving good wishes from the top of the hill. Without having flags available, sadly her semaphoring was too hard to spot.
At Clevedon we picked up more folk, including two who were closely related to each other but (deliberately) hadn’t spoken for 18 years.
My sister DID intend bringing my birthday cake to Clevedon from Cheltenham; but … time and tide etc., you know how pertinent this is to the Bristol Channel.
After hurtling down Clevedon pier she was too late to join us! Especially with a large home-made cake with special icing. Too far down. And no, she wouldn’t throw it. Ah.
She shouted that she would try to catch us at Bristol and sprinted back to do further battle with summer traffic.
In the meantime my Mum and step-father come down by train from Newcastle and hadn’t really understood how big Cumberland Basin was and how far from Temple Meads. Or maybe I had just said “Bristol Harbour”. Oops. As keen explorers they were determined to view it all … but how very glad they were to sit down after getting on board!
Fortunately my sister, her partner and The Cake made it to the Locks and the family reunion was achieved. As it was amazingly sunny and more friends had joined too, things got pretty crowded on deck, especially with a cake to cut.
We had a great day returning round the Avon’s horse-shoe bend and back into the Channel, reversing the journey, and shedding reluctant people at the pier. I’m still proud that this shared occasion on Balmoral, and negotiating Clevedon pier, thankfully also developed a thaw between the estranged relatives.
The next day Balmoral whisked us away from Penarth pier and we set off again this time heading west. We still had some cake and a fresh supply of strawberries to share with another batch of friends, some like my parents having made it home to Taunton, meeting us via the West Somerset Railway, at Watchet.
Off we then sailed to Minehead and all ashore again for a walk to the railway station, ice creams, and more posing with a huge inflatable parrot presented by friends diverting on their way home from holiday. Beer may have become involved, too, as we waited languidly for our Balmoral to pick us up again.
And the next, third day? Our Monday off, this was a quiet and shorter trip, two of us sharing the last slices of cake and with more room to spread out. Space to hang over the rail facing forward to the wheel-house. This rail on the bridge deck is the coveted place for watching navigation manoeuvres: telegraphs sending messages to the engine room, and pilotage being instructed. Observing comings and goings at the piers, buoys and circling the Holm Islands, are always an excuse to exchange comments with regular and new Balmoral fans.
We had time to enjoy the feel and sounds of the ship herself, carving and swishing through the Channel.
Roaming the decks to enjoy easing, gently, into being 50. It’s hard to remember to be careful of the sun bouncing off the deck, with the breeze on your face.
The shop’s new souvenir mugs depicted a golden jubilee for Balmoral, and for me. Brilliant. Memorable. Forever.
» Maggie wins a cruise for four on Balmoral’s sister ship, the paddle steamer, Waverley, when she visits the region in June, plus a threecourse dinner for two in The River Grille at the Bristol Hotel on the harbourside.
» If you would like to help save this historic ship, please visit: www. thebalmoral.org.uk/donations for details of many ways to donate, or you can send cheques, marked BALSOS on the back, to MV Balmoral Fund Ltd, 23 Adder Hill, Great Boughton, Chester, CH3 5RA.
» The paddle steamer Waverley is due to be sailing the Bristol Channel this year between June 2 and June
18. The timetable, when it’s available, will be at waverleyexcursions. co.uk