# ryde paddle steamer on the isle of wight August 08



## The Pirate (Aug 25, 2008)

As reported by Urban mole before and possibly without much change now but i was in the area so went for an explore...
































The switch gear (or whatever) was surprisingly still looking good
















I decided not to explore this part in my holiday sandals !











Lifeboats











That fallen smoke stack !
















This was a really great explore and i was in there for an hour and 25 minutes just mooching around with no-one bothering me, it was great.
But if you decide to go look don`t do what stupid here did and go looking all round ryde for it....The steamer is called ryde it`s actually in Newport !
I spent at least an hour searching ryde for it before i had to start asking !


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## Neosea (Aug 25, 2008)

Poor old girl, she is in a mess.


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## smileysal (Aug 25, 2008)

This looks so sad seeing her like this. some of the mechanics still looks in good order and in a good condition, but she does look in a sorry state.

Excellent pics,

 Sal


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## caulkhead-bill (Aug 25, 2008)

the ironic thing is another paddle steamer of similar design but slightly smaller called the medway queen was sunk in the mud not to far from the ryde and they got it up and towed her back to the medway for restoration! people have tried to purchase ps ryde as a group for restoration but i believe the current owner is reluctant to part with her and has prefered to see it rot past the point of no return!!!!!! make up your own conclusion to that


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## smileysal (Aug 25, 2008)

grrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!! hate people who own historical things like this, then just prefer to leave them to rot instead of either paying to renovate them, or selling them onto to someone who wants to renovate them. 

Cheers for that c-b,

 Sal


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## The Pirate (Aug 25, 2008)

Seems to be the in thing in the isle of wight to leave things to ruin... While i was there i went to see the frank white ? hospital and noticed a way to get in but after talking to Urban Mole about the place and being told that inside is totally gutted and looks like a new biuld i didn`t bother..

The outside is really nice and a great p[iece of craftmanship..i got photo`s of the outside but on advice didn`t bother with the inside..another shame i guess.


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## Dirus_Strictus (Aug 25, 2008)

smileysal said:


> grrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!! hate people who own historical things like this, then just prefer to leave them to rot instead of either paying to renovate them, or selling them onto to someone who wants to renovate them. l



Yes it is very sad when you see things like this happening. However Regulations and EU safety legislation has made it very expensive/ impossible to operate historic transport in a passenger carrying mode. Just look at what has happened with the Air Atlantique DC3/Dakotas. No more passanger pleasure flights, because the new EU regs demand that they be fitted with the same evacuation equipment as the latest Airbus! 

The DC3 has a 100% safety record for pleasure flights in Europe. The operators do not let faulty equipment fly - letting a simple fault fly on can lead to very expensive repairs in history aircraft, so repairs are done immediately. The very sad incident with the MD 82 in Spain last week, is a clear indication of what happens in many cash strapped airlines these days. All the Regulations in the World will not prevent loss of life, when the 'get the aircraft earning revenue' mind set is operating above all else.


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## Urban Mole (Aug 25, 2008)

Glad you found it in the end matey 

And I think you mean Frank James Hospital, its a nice building, but there is major conflict going on between the developers, the council and the residents of East Cowes, who it offically belongs to, but the council sold it off, and it wasnt theirs to sell, so its now laying dormant and derelict, and prone to vandals, which is a pity


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## King Al (Aug 26, 2008)

Nice pics Pirate, It is sad to see it like that, it needs some Hammerite stat! oooo rhymes


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## Foxylady (Aug 27, 2008)

Great to see some more pics of her, TP. I love the way the lifeboats look. Cracking close-up photo of one.


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## fatdeeman (Aug 27, 2008)

Such a bittersweet sight for me, it really shouldn't have been allowed to get into this condition, the present owner comes across as a real miserable sod.

On the other hand, from a photographic pov I am fascinated by derelict and decrepit ships so from that point of view the worse it gets the more interesting it gets, I know that sounds weird but I suppose it's a fetish of mine.

I'm pretty sure it's well beyond being saved now, some parts of it seem salvageable but as a whole I don't think there's any hope for it which is sad.

The actions of the owner just confuse me, there have been a lot of offers to buy the thing in the past but he has never shown an interest, maybe he wants to sell it for scrap but if that's the case I can't see him getting all that much because most of it is full of rust.

All I can see happening is him paying a hefty bill to clear it up when it finally collapses into a rusty pile of bits.


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## caulkhead-bill (Aug 28, 2008)

*scrap*

yes it does seem she is only destined for scrap but thtats probally not its most valuable option ! originally weighed 555 tons i think current scrap price £70 pound per ton =£38,850 less non metal less cost of cutting up less transport less asbestos removal etc etc etc soon becomes non viable think the steam engines are prob the most valuable thing on it !!!!!!!!!!


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## Urban Mole (Aug 28, 2008)

Not forgetting the bronze engine, current price of bronze is around £6k per ton, and the engine is easily going to be 15 tons


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## Dirus_Strictus (Aug 29, 2008)

Urban Mole said:


> Not forgetting the bronze engine, current price of bronze is around £6k per ton, and the engine is easily going to be 15 tons



The total weight of bronze in the engine will be quite small, consisting of bearings/bearing shells and valve bodies. The vast majority of the engine will be of machined steel and iron castings. However the value of scrap bronze, is the reason one rarely finds a derelict steam engine complete with bearings - they will have 'disappeared' long ago. The opportunistic scrap collector is a very old breed.


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## Maniac (Aug 29, 2008)

Nice set of photos there, like the pics of the old engine just laying there dorment, bet it would have been an awesome sight to have seen it running in its day. 

Thanks for posting them.


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## The Pirate (Aug 31, 2008)

I think scrap steel is running at about £125 a ton at the moment...


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## Lacelotte (Aug 31, 2008)

How depressing to see the old girl like this!
She looks very similar to the PSS Wingfield Castle which was retored in Hartlepool and has been open to the public for many a years.


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## Dirus_Strictus (Aug 31, 2008)

The Pirate said:


> I think scrap steel is running at about £125 a ton at the moment...



Hence the money to be made by idiots pinching drain and manhole covers. Somebody around here had kitted themselves up with a large transit, with a hole in the floor. They drove onto the pavement whilst trying to lift a gutter drain cover.Unfortunately for them, a concrete manhole cover in the pavement collapsed and the near side rear wheels got stuck in the manhole!


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## bullmastiff (Sep 2, 2008)

when i see pics of this it makes me think of the how the maid of the loch would have turned out if she hadnt been saved but the owner of the ryde needs stringing for that if the owners of the waverley just left her to rot on the banks of the clyde there would be a out cry  but if the local historians havent even tried to shame the owner into selling then........shame on them aswell they cant want it that much


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## bunnywabbit (Sep 8, 2008)

*Alan Hilton Ridett*

Just a little bit of history.
One of the previous owners sadly passed away last week.His obituary is available on www.iwcp.co.uk.
He sounds an interesting chap.
From what I understand there were two ships which were clubs and between them packed in 1000 customers on a Saturday night!

If someone could cut and glue it or whatever computers do I sure members would appreciate a snippet of history.


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## Urban Mole (Sep 8, 2008)

bunnywabbit said:


> Just a little bit of history.
> One of the previous owners sadly passed away last week.His obituary is available on www.iwcp.co.uk.
> If someone could cut and glue it or whatever computers do I sure members would appreciate a snippet of history.



Copy and paste is the term 

But here it is;



> *Alan Hilton Ridett*
> _By County Press Reporter - Friday, August 15, 2008 _
> ALAN Hilton Ridett, who built Island Harbour and established the Medway Queen Leisure Park there, has died at the age of 72.
> Best known for his popular nightclubs on board the paddle steamers Medway Queen and Ryde Queen, Mr Ridett also served for many years on Sandown and Shanklin Urban District Council in the 1960s.
> ...


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## bunnywabbit (Sep 8, 2008)

Thanks for that!
Also heard a rumour some years ago that it was operated by one of George Bests girlfriends.


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## T-bar (Sep 9, 2008)

earlier on in the year there was an article about her she is being scrapped they say but that was well over 6 moths ago and still nothing unless they are waiting for the off peak season. It will be a shame not only a night club, a passenger ferry, a minesweeper, a big part of history but a landmark people go to visit year after year when on holiday.


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