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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..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! 
