# A very sad old severn princess



## smiffy (Jul 31, 2008)

The Severn Princess.
Lying forlornly on the mud banks at Chepstow is a little piece of British history. The Severn Princess was a car ferry built especially for use on the River Severn and plied her trade from Beachley on the Welsh side to Aust on the English side of the river.……
She was one of a fleet of three owned and operated by a family from Chepstow who for many years had the royal charter to operate the ferry…….Also in the fleet was the Severn King and the Severn Queen and the Princess was the last addition to the once proud family and was delivered in 1960. There were some subtle differences between the three vessels but their basic construction and design was the same……..A shallow draft was necessary to enable the ferries to work in the ebb and flow of the Severn where to maintain a reasonable service the boats needed to be able to work in the sparse water available at either ends of the famous Severn tides (it’s the 2nd highest rise / fall of any river in the world so I am told)…………There was a ramp either side of the boat that would be lowered to enable the cars and vans to get on and off and also to facilitate easier manoeuvring of the vehicles each vessel had a turn table in the middle of the deck……..Power was supplied by diesel engines fitted below the cabin / bridge that was situated to the rear of each vessel….There was no passenger accommodation for the drivers of the cars, they either stayed sat in the cars or just stood on the deck whatever the weather happened to be doing!......The ferry service was for many years the only ‘quick’ link if you were travelling from Wales to London or vice versa of course! In those days it must have knocked hours off the journey……..
Many famous folk used the ferry over the years and probably the most famous was Bob Dylan. Whilst on his 1965 (I think?...) tour of the UK a very famous photo of Bob looking very pissed off and huddled up in his coat was taken whilst he stood on the slipway at Beachley waiting for the ferry to pick him up……….
The end for the ferry company came when the first Severn Road Bridge was opened in 1966 and the company was apparently paid compensation by the government for the loss of their livelihood…
The King ended his days as a demolition boat and due to an accident whilst taking down the old Severn Railway Bridge was subsequently scrapped….The Queen languished for many years in Bristol Harbour before she too was cut up and The Princess was sold to work in Ireland…..After many years hard graft over there she was due to be scrapped but was bought for the sum of £1.05 (!!) and returned to the UK for restoration … Unfortunately due to many unforeseen problems since her ‘rescue’ in 1999 the task now seems unachievable and she has deteriorated into a really terrible state ……it looks as if the cutters lamp is now inevitable which will be a very sad end to a lovely little ship with an intriguing history………

















down into the engine room




no engines though….




deck winch..








and finally…..Glory days……


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## krela (Jul 31, 2008)

blimey I didn't know any of the old Aust ferries still existed, thanks for posting that.


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## sheep2405 (Jul 31, 2008)

Nice photos dude, if you like the ship theme there is a wrecking yard a bit further up the river in Newham I took, Krela, Bishop and Norman there a few years ago. They have some nice boats there and sometimes they are there cutting them up. There is a lot of industrial machinery going to rust as well which makes good work for photos.

S


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## Sabtr (Jul 31, 2008)

It's a shame when things are left abandoned like this. I worked for a while on a fishing trawler and when it was decommissioned the government couldn't wait to cut it up and scrap it.


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## sinnerman (Jul 31, 2008)

been meeing to go take a look at that for ages cheers for posting the pics


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## smiffy (Jul 31, 2008)

sheep2405 said:


> Nice photos dude, if you like the ship theme there is a wrecking yard a bit further up the river in Newham I took, Krela, Bishop and Norman there a few years ago. They have some nice boats there and sometimes they are there cutting them up. There is a lot of industrial machinery going to rust as well which makes good work for photos.
> 
> S



Yeah know the yard well mate ... good ol' Fred Larkhams place... He's a real expert on the River Severn and has worked it in some manner or other since he was a lad..a real old character....what Fred doesn't know about the Severn probably ain't worth knowing....I had a mate that crewed with Fred doing maintenance , demolition , salvage etc up and down the estuary wherever they were called for...he had some great stories to tell of Freds various antics.....cheers anyways !!


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## borntobemild (Jul 31, 2008)

smiffy said:


> Yeah know the yard well mate ... good ol' Fred Larkhams place... He's a real expert on the River Severn and has worked it in some manner or other since he was a lad..a real old character....what Fred doesn't know about the Severn probably ain't worth knowing....I had a mate that crewed with Fred doing maintenance , demolition , salvage etc up and down the estuary wherever they were called for...he had some great stories to tell of Freds various antics.....cheers anyways !!



I visited Bullo Pill recently - is this the same place? Took a few pictures of an old boatyard. There was a deserted rubber mill nearby that i fancied taking a look at but i was being observed by a posse of eagle-eyed senior citizens so decided against it. Here's a couple of pics i took.


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## smiffy (Aug 1, 2008)

Yep...thats Freds 'emporium' alright...... he's always got summat interesting lying there either that he's selling or cutting up or altering or mending etc...
Cheers........I like the boat in the second pic too..looks a bit 'ex-lifeboat-ish' to me????????


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## dangerous dave (Aug 1, 2008)

smiffy said:


> Yep...thats Freds 'emporium' alright...... he's always got summat interesting lying there either that he's selling or cutting up or altering or mending etc...
> Cheers........I like the boat in the second pic too..looks a bit 'ex-lifeboat-ish' to me????????



looking at the hull its an ex navy not lifeboat its a double diagonal hull so very strong and the same construction as the old rnli boats but the lack of tunnels for the props and lifting points to haul it back onto the slip kinda give it away


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## smiffy (Aug 1, 2008)

dangerous dave said:


> looking at the hull its an ex navy not lifeboat its a double diagonal hull so very strong and the same construction as the old rnli boats but the lack of tunnels for the props and lifting points to haul it back onto the slip kinda give it away



Any stab at what it was ? summat like a fleet tender I 'spose?
Looks as though with a bit of work she would make a lovely live aboard......bit of a fantasy of mine that is ....to live on a boat....I guess the reality is though that yer 'house' would need staggering amounts of money in maintenance spent every year and that it'd only go down in value anyways...plus the very real added risk of it 'going down' in actual terms leaving you with ...sweet bugger all...Well..... maybe you'd have a life jacket left.... Someone once said that if I fancied owning a boat I should just go along to a local harbour and throw about a hundred quid into the water every week..............same result I guess.....


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## dangerous dave (Aug 1, 2008)

smiffy said:


> Any stab at what it was ? summat like a fleet tender I 'spose?
> Looks as though with a bit of work she would make a lovely live aboard......bit of a fantasy of mine that is ....to live on a boat....I guess the reality is though that yer 'house' would need staggering amounts of money in maintenance spent every year and that it'd only go down in value anyways...plus the very real added risk of it 'going down' in actual terms leaving you with ...sweet bugger all...Well..... maybe you'd have a life jacket left.... Someone once said that if I fancied owning a boat I should just go along to a local harbour and throw about a hundred quid into the water every week..............same result I guess.....



it could be somthing like that to be honest. yea it could be converted to a liveaboard but the state of the hull would make it expensive. living on a boat is not as bad if you get the correct type of boat and right location my parents are paying about 170 pcm for the birth in swansea so its not that bad to be honest


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## smiffy (Aug 1, 2008)

dangerous dave said:


> my parents are paying about 170 pcm for the birth in swansea so its not that bad to be honest



I know we're well off topic now but what the hell.....its my thread anyways ....So..
Do they live on board then ? Guess you have to pay some kinda Council Tax too??....Do they move it about the country or just stay put down in Swansea only venturing out for a day trip now and then??
I'd want to be able to move arond the UK and also go over to France and maybe work my steady way down to the Med too.............so I guess I'd need a fairly heavy duty boat .....
I always fancied an ex-lifeboat , coastguard or MTB type of thing ..ex fleet auxillary or tender or even a converted workboat...summat that ain't that fast (not interested in speed really) but summat that was built really tough and able to take a hammering in a big sea now and then.......... 
Like I said ....a fantasy really..Ah well..We can but dream but I like the thought of spending my last years drifting around the Med as some kinda salty ol' fella ...aimlessly meandering.....but more probably sinking.......help.........sombody!..anybody!.... too late......Glug! 
Ah well .....save my kids the cost of a funeral wouldn't it!


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## sheep2405 (Aug 1, 2008)

borntobemild said:


> I visited Bullo Pill recently - is this the same place? Took a few pictures of an old boatyard. There was a deserted rubber mill nearby that i fancied taking a look at but i was being observed by a posse of eagle-eyed senior citizens so decided against it. Here's a couple of pics i took.
> 
> Yep thats the place I took the guys too, was some very weird stuff there too for one point we thought we had lost Norm into a boat in one of the cuttings.
> 
> S


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## jhluxton (Aug 2, 2008)

The SEVERN PRINCESS RESTORATION FUND were quite active a few years ago and had an informative web site. 

Trawling round on the web found a reference to Chepstow Town Council offering a £10,000 support package for the vessel in late 2005. Apparently a lottery application had not been successful.

john


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## The Pirate (Aug 2, 2008)

Nice pics. that looks a great place to hosey into


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## worldoftheshadows (Aug 5, 2008)

It's a 52'6" Admiralty Harbour Launch with an abortion of a wheelhouse stuck on top, if she's got a teak hull then its probably not too bad but if its mahogany it's probably well past its sell by date!.
Judging from the position of the wheelhouse she's either been de-engined or had a smaller engine fitted aft rather than the original amidship's engine room. I'm currently restoring a 1965 Admiralty launch from Portsmouth Harbour, - currently 3yrs in and nowhere near finished .




smiffy said:


> Any stab at what it was ? summat like a fleet tender I 'spose?
> Looks as though with a bit of work she would make a lovely live aboard......bit of a fantasy of mine that is ....to live on a boat....I guess the reality is though that yer 'house' would need staggering amounts of money in maintenance spent every year and that it'd only go down in value anyways...plus the very real added risk of it 'going down' in actual terms leaving you with ...sweet bugger all...Well..... maybe you'd have a life jacket left.... Someone once said that if I fancied owning a boat I should just go along to a local harbour and throw about a hundred quid into the water every week..............same result I guess.....


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## Neosea (Aug 6, 2008)

Definition of a boat - A bottomless hole in the water you throw money down until it sinks.


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## Bob Shepherd (Aug 21, 2009)

*Future of Severn Princess*

There was an article in the South Wales Argus a couple of weeks ago which referred to a cosmetic restoration as a museum piece. Also some other stuff lately has appeared. Hopefully all the effort that has been done so far will not be entirely wasted. It is beached under the Brunel Railway Bridge in Chepstow

see http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/4518693.Chepstow_ferry_could_be_centre_of_riverside_project/
also http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/bristoltimes/Ferry-talearticle-287502-details/article.html
also http://www.freepressseries.co.uk/news/4528630.Severn_Princess_to_never_sail_again/
also http://www.freepressseries.co.uk/news/4528630.Severn_Princess_to_never_sail_again/


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## ricasso (Aug 21, 2009)

Smiffy! long time no see, how ya doin' cock,crackin' photos mate, it would be a bloody shame to lose such an important vessel,well done for takin' the pics now whilst its still in one piece, talk soon kid.


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## borntobemild (Aug 25, 2009)

another pic

http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Lydney/Severn_Princess.html


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## Dystopia (Aug 27, 2009)

Pretty!


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## Trudger (Aug 27, 2009)

Cracking photos and very interesting thread, bring on more derelict 'things' !


T


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