The Herald - The Herald Magazine
‘The fight to save this treasure began almost as she emerged from the yards’ The Waverley story
The battle to keep the last sea-going paddlesteamer afloat and sailing doon the watter
FOR seventy-six years she has sailed the Clyde in a cloak of steam and smoke, paddling holidaymakers “doon the watter”. On her journeys the Waverley has become a symbol of the river, a very visible link to Glasgow’s history and past generations.
For decades, the grand Clyde steamships were the vessels of choice for locals heading off on what would now be termed as “staycations”. Back then they were the only holiday the vast majority of city-dwellers could afford.
The boats also became a sanctuary for those looking to sidestep Scotland’s temperance laws and enjoy a drink on a Sunday, with voyages providing a loophole in licensing restrictions (which banned Sunday drinking in public houses).
This trend would ultimately give rise to one of the great Scottish colloquialisms ‘steaming’ as well-oiled passengers stumbled off the gangplank after a sail down and back up the river.
Hundreds of steamers used to puff their way along the Clyde; there were as many as 300 in operation by 1900, carrying thousands of holidaymakers who packed on at peak times, like the Glasgow Fair.
Today the Waverley is the last remaining, not only on the Clyde but in the world, standing as the last seagoing paddle steamer.
She is consistently listed among the world’s great nostalgia journeys, alongside the legendary Orient Express, and sails every year between May and October, rolling off the dry docks to ferry passengers along the Clyde coast, up to Oban and the Inner Hebrides and south to Bristol, Liverpool, Wales, the south coast and London.
Owned by a registered charity, the Waverley Steam Navigation Co Ltd, and operated on a “not-for-profit” basis, it is kept going by volunteers, benefactors and a tireless collective of supporters, The Friends of Waverley.
Every year brings new challenges with a public appeal currently underway to raise £180,000 to pay for dry dock fees and re-commissioning costs. It is testament to their efforts and the passions this boat inspires that £130,000 of the target has already been raised.
In truth the fight to save and preserve this treasure began almost the moment she first emerged from the yards as the last paddle steamer to be built for Clyde services on a misty morning on October 2, 1946.
She then launched for the first time the following June and began shuttling passengers on her original route, cruising Loch Long and Loch Goil to the villages of Lochgoilhead and Arrochar.
However, even by the 1940s the once roaring trade in steamboat journeys was already drying up. Within a quarter of a century of the Waverley’s launch she stood as the last seagoing paddle steamer on the planet.
By the 1970s, owner and operator Caledonian MacBrayne was looking towards a more profitable stream and with buyers hardly jostling with bids on the Clydeside, they made the decision to withdraw her from service.
The ferry provider’s next decision, to gift her to the Waverley Steam Navigation Co Ltd, a company formed by the charitable Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, for one single pound, perhaps saved the boat from the scrap yard and oblivion.
Within a year of that sale the Waverley was back in the water, played out on May 22 1975 by the Glasgow Pipe Band. A year after that, works were carried out to
The boats became a sanctuary for those looking to enjoy a Sunday drink – hence the term ‘steaming’
accommodate 300 more passengers, with business booming.
Voyages to Wales and London’s Thames were added to the itinerary in the 1980s as well as trips to Ireland and the Isle of Man.
Since then there has been no shortage of passengers. In 2022 more than 100,000 passengers set foot on the boat. The primary concerns and outgoings have been repairs and escalating costs.
A £7million heritage rebuild was carried out in two phases in 2000 and 2003, restoring her to her original state. In 2019 a boiler rebuild, disrupted by Covid-19 and lockdowns, was carried out with supporters and the Scottish Government raising and contributing £2.3m.
Today, in 2023, the global financial climate and the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine is warming the waters again.
Paul Semple, Waverley’s General Manager, explains: “Waverley must be taken out of the water and dry-docked annually before her sailing season begins. She is now booked to dry-dock in late March and then re-enter service in May.
“Due to increased operating costs last season we don’t have enough money to afford this year’s dry dock and the numerous other costs we incur in the weeks before Waverley starts sailing.
“Last year our fuel costs increased by over 60% or in real terms by over £300,000. This is a cost which the owning charity hasn’t been able to withstand. We urgently need to raise funds or we simply can’t afford the start-up costs for this coming summer season.”
Within days of the campaign launch, £35,000 had been raised. Today they have in the region of £50,000 to go to hit their £180,000 target. As Semple explains, it is a constant fight to meet those costs.
“We are now spending over £600,000 a year just to maintain her in operating condition,” he says. “Spare parts for a paddle steamer are rarely ‘off the shelf’ and come at considerable cost. Dry-docking the ship is the single largest expense of the winter maintenance work and as things are we can’t afford to dock her.
“We are asking for help from anyone who wishes to see Waverley sail again this summer to support our appeal.”
The sailing programme is already in place for 2023 starting in May on the Firth of Clyde and taking in Oban and the Inner Hebrides, the Bristol Channel, the South Coast and London. Sailings from Liverpool and Llandudno are dependent on pier repairs being completed in North Wales.
The waters may often be rough and unforgiving but the hope is that this stout little boat, powered by her supporters and custodians, will be steaming for some time to come.