| Industry | excursion-steamer operator |
|---|---|
| Founded | pre 1890 |
| Defunct | 1981 |
| Headquarters | Bristol |
P & A Campbell Ltd of Bristol with its White Funnel Fleet became the dominant excursion-steamer operator in the Bristol Channel by the 1890s; and along the South Coast of England in the first half of the twentieth century.
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The White Funnel Fleet of the Bristol-based company of P & A Campbell Ltd had its origins as a purely excursion-steamer business trading in the Bristol Channel without any particular railway interests or involvement. The Campbell brothers saw how their rival Cardiff-based company Edwards, Robertson developed valuable links between its Yellow Funnel Fleet and the powerful Taff Vale Railway for through ticketing between South Wales valleys towns and resorts in Devon and Somerset, via Cardiff and Penarth. But by the late 1890s the White Funnel Fleet of P & A Campbell Ltd had taken over the vessels of its Cardiff-based competitors, and the supremacy of the Bristol ships was clear to see.
The Barry Railway Company was very much a company created to serve a docks complex for the export of coal. Passenger train operations were secondary to the primary purpose of moving minerals traffic down from the valleys. The company had succeeded in gaining access to numerous valleys already served by other railways in order to tap the abundant minerals traffics of the South Wales coalfield for export through its large new Barry Docks.
Perhaps it was only natural that the Barry interests should seek to challenge those that were perceived as threatening. As Barry Docks complex had taken shape, it was a relatively straightforward matter to extend passenger railway operations from Barry across to Barry Island for leisure traffic, and then to push further by tunnelling through to what was to become Barry Pier station, immediately adjacent to the main entrance lock to Barry Docks.
Although the Barry Railway Company thought in terms of controlling its own steamship operations from the outset, it was realised that this would meet with opposition from Campbell's at Bristol with its large fleet, and so the Barry Company initially settled for an alliance where by the White Funnel Fleet of steamers served Barry Pier when it opened in 1899.
But it was to be an uneasy alliance, and so the point was soon reached where the Barry Company would feel obliged to go it alone. The struggle that followed was to be both litigious and complicated, as both companies fought from 1905 to 1910 to compete. In 1912, the Barry Railway Company sold its remaining three Red Funnel Paddle Steamer's to P & A Campbell. The service continued under Campbell's control very well until post World War, as the motor car over took the Paddle Steamer service. The service finally ended in the 1970s, after services at Barry Pier had dwindled and were finally given up, and the pontoon dismantled.
In 1902 Campbells extended its operation by the purchase of the Brighton, Wothing & South Coast Steamship Company; two vessels were placed at Brighton from that season. From 1906 until WWI three ships were stationed each year to work the south coast resorts, including Eastbourne and Hastings; a return to those services continued from 1923 until WWII started in September 1939. Among the excursions were trips to cross-Channel ports. After the war services were resumed, but the period of paddle steamer cruising was ending by the 1950s and the final season in 1957 was undertaken by motor vessel.
During World War II, boats from both of Campbell's fleets were used for transporting both troops and military equipment, and latterly used for mine sweeping, throughout the conflict.
The most covered use of a Campbell's boat was the role of the South Wales paddle steamer Glen Gower. She took part in the Dunkirk evacuation, Operation Dynamo, and is featured in the newsreel coverage of Pathé. Reaching Dunkirk in the most dangerous period in early June, she was unable to reach the port or pier so rescued soldiers straight from the beach. Moored under intense Nazi artillery fire, during her loading she was holed beneath the water line, but managed to make it back to Harwich. She survived the war, and was scrapped in 1960.[1]
Three others Campbell boats were not so lucky. The southcoast based Brighton Queen and Brighton Belle were sunk, while the Bristol Channel based Devonia was so severely damage by shell fire, she was left stranded and abandoned on the beach at Dunkirk.[1]
The growth of the popularity in the motor car lead to a significant decline in the excursion trade which, allied to increasing operation costs, led to the remaining fleet members being laid up or disposed of. After the 1959 summer season a receiver was appointed, and the company sold to George Nott Industries, part of the Townsend Ferries group. It was suggested that Townsend bought the business as a tax loss, but the business entered the 1960 season with two operational steamers (Cardiff Queen and Bristol Queen), and another one (Devonia) laid up. After Bristol Queen was withdrawn in 1967, the company chartered the Balmoral, which continued sailings until 1980.