Medway, Swale and the Kent coast – Page 49

Sailing barge Repertor finds a new role as home for a cinema club

Well, that’s a surprise. I learn from the The Society for Sailing Barge Research’s weblog that the well known 1920s steel-built sailing barge Repertor has found a new role as home for a cinema club based at St Katherine’s Dock, London.

I think it sounds fun. The information is here.

The not-for-profit film club folks say they intend to show a diverse selection of films with a social conscience, including shorts, features and documentaries, special screenings with live music accompaniment. There will also be talks, and part of the aim is to to help contribute to the survival of the barge fleet by raising the profile of the sailing barges. After each show, club-goers are invited to adjourn to the bar…

The club’s is 40, so the organisers recommend booking early by sending an email.

A sensational plaque seen in Abbey Street, Faversham

This plaque can be found on the front elevation of one of the many lovely old houses on Abbey Street, Faversham. What a story old Greenwood must have had to tell – I do hope he enjoyed dining out on it.

I do wonder whether there was a ballad about him – my only searches haven’t been successful, but there may be someone out there who knows better where to look…

Kingswear Castle leaves the Medway for the Dart

The Kingswear Castle – the last remaining coal-fired paddle steamer in operation in the UK – is to return to her original home on the River Dart after an absence of 47 years.

The move follows a 15-year agreement between the owners, the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and the Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company. The deal was announced at the PSPS annual meeting in Bath by DSRRC general manager Andrew Pooley.

For the last 27 years the paddle steamer has been a popular feature on the River Medway, on which she has been running regular river trips.

However, following a periodic winter refit the Kingswear Castle is expected to begin operating pleasure trips to Paignton, Kingswear and Totnes.

She left Chatham under tow by a tug last week, and will be very much missed in the area – but the Medway’s loss will be the Dart’s gain.

The Kingswear Castle was built in 1924 by Philip & Son of Dartmouth, and in her heyday carried up to just short of 500 passengers between Totnes and Dartmouth until 1965, when she was purchased by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, and left the Dart.

For more information is available here.

The photos below by Richard de Jong (and his copyright) show the Kingswear Castle operating on the Medway this year. As usual, click on the images to see a larger photo.

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