Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company

Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company
Industry excursion-steamer operator
Fate Voluntary liquidation
Successor Routes sold to P and A Campbell and Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
Founded 1890
Defunct 1962
Headquarters Liverpool
Products Liverpool-Holyhead-Llandudno-Menai Straits-Beaumaris-Bangor
Parent Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

The Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company (LNWSC) was a pleasure cruise company, based in Liverpool.[1]

Foundation

In 1890, the Glasgow-based Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company had formed the New North Wales Steamship Company (NNWSS).[1] The pleasure cruiser market was quickly changing, and bigger boats meant cheaper prices, and hence higher profits. The NNWSS operated its first season with the new Fairfield-built St Tudno, far bigger than any rival vessel on that run.[1][2]

Resultantly, in 1891 the NNWSS took over the rival Liverpool, Llandudno and Welsh Coast Steam Boat Company (LL&WC) to form the LNWSC. The original St Tudno was sold to Germany, but along with the older and smaller LL&WC steamers was replaced by the brand new St Tudno, which became the first ship to run under LNWSC colours.[1][2]

The flag of the LNWSC was white swallowtail, bearing a blue cross throughout, with three gold-coloured ostrich feathers in the form of the Fleur-de-Lys in the centre.[3]

In 1899, the company took over the smaller Snowdon Passenger Steamboat Company (SPSC), which had started in 1892.[1]

Operations

The company's main route was as described in their name: Liverpool, Holyhead, Llandudno and the Menai Straits piers of Beaumaris and Bangor.[1][2][4] The companies largest ships operated this route.[1][2] They also operated services north to Fleetwood, west to the Isle of Man, and around the Isle of Anglesey.[1]

Fleet

The fleet was supplied direct from the Govan yards of Fairfield,[5] where vessels had either been freshly built or heavily refurbished, and where winter maintenance was also undertaken.[1]

The paddle steamer St Elvies was introduced in 1896, mainly deployed on excursions on the Isle of Man route. After the purchase of the SPSC in 1899, she was joined by their paddle steamer Snowdon. In the 1904 season, the expensive La Marguerite was transferred from the Thames Estuary services, operating from Liverpool on the main route until the end of the 1925 season.[1][2]

After this point, steam turbine vessels began to be deployed. The first steam turbine vessel to be built for the LNWSC was 1914s St Seiriol, but she was lost during World War I, when all commercial services had been suspended. Hence the St Tudno in 1925 became the first turbine vessel, with a second similar but smaller version also called St Seiriol joining in 1931. In the mid-1930s the small diesel-powered St Silio joined the fleet, renamed St Trillo after World War II, again when commercial services were suspended.[1][2]

Cessation

Along with other pleasure steamer companies, the LNWSC suffered from the excursion market’s decline starting in the 1950s, due to competition from the motor bus and later the motor car.[1][2]

The company went into voluntary liquidation at the end of the 1962 season. The receiver immediately sold the St Seiriol for scrap in November 1962, followed by St Tudno in April 1963.[1][2] The St Trillo was sold to rival P and A Campbell, who continued to run excursions from Llandudno until the 1970s.[1][2]

Legacy

The coastal pleasure steamer MV Balmoral in the Menai Straits, as seen from Garth Pier, Bangor, 2007

Services from Liverpool to Llandudno, and Llandudno to Douglas were taken over by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, at a reduced frequency.[1][2] The coastal pleasure steamer MV Balmoral works for two weeks every summer in the Menai Straits, operating the same routes as the LNWSC.[4]

In the 1990s, a series of early films were rediscovered from Mitchell and Kenyon, who had filmed LNWSC vessels on trips between Liverpool, Holyhead and Llandudno, featuring the St.Tudno and St. Elvies.[6]

Fleet Details

Name Builder GWT Built Entered Service Disposed Notes
Paris 1875 1890 1892 Originally NNWSS
Bonnie Princess 1882 1882 1895
St Tudno Fairfield 1,146 long tons (1,164 t) 1889 1890 1921 Sold to Ballin company in Hamburg, Germany. Renamed PS Cobra, served with Hapag
St Tudno Fairfield 1891 1891 1912
PS St Elvies 1896 1931
PS Snowdon 1892 1899 1931
La Marguerite Fairfield 1,554 long tons (1,579 t) 1894 1904 1925 Moved from English Channel service
St Elian Barclay Curle 203 long tons (206 t) 1872 1907 1915
St Trillo Barclay Curle 1909 1921
St Seiriol 1,586 long tons (1,611 t) 1909 1914 1915 Never joined the fleet, sunk during World War I
St Tudno 2,500 long tons (2,500 t) 1909 1925 1963
St Seiriol 2,500 long tons (2,500 t) 1925 1931 1963
MV St Silio 1935 1935 1963 Later renamed St Trillo, sold to rival P and A Campbell

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 John Shepherd (2006). The Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company. Ships in Focus Publications. ISBN 1-901703-68-1.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 "Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company". simplonpc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  3. "Flag of the Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company". crwflags.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company". Anglesey Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  5. "Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company". paddlesteamers.info. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  6. "Liverpool and North Wales Steamship Company". BBC Wales. Retrieved 2012-02-21.

External links