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Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
Thames
Estuary, River Medway, Kent, Essex and East Anglia Coast, England,
U.K.
London,
Woolwich & Clacton-on-Sea Steamboat Company
(1887-1896) : the "Belle Steamers"
The company
was formed in July 1887 by shareholders in Clacton Pier, several of
whom were shareholders in the Woolwich Steam Packet Company whose
steamers called at Clacton when the pier was first opened in 1871.
The immediate reason was the curtailment of services of the Woolwich
company’s successors, the River Thames Steamboat Company, due to the
financial chaos which had overtaken the company. This had left the
young ambitious Clacton resort without a regular service. The vessels
of the General Steam Navigation Company passed Clacton but did not
call on their way to Great Yarmouth.
PS Clacton was ordered from the yard of J Scott at Kinghorn, Fife,
and entered service in May 1888, leaving London six mornings a week
for Clacton, returning the same evening.
The period from 1888 was one of considerable growth in the holiday
and excursion trade and the venture was an immediate success. It was
immediately decided to sell PS Clacton and order a larger vessel,
called PS Clacton Belle and on station for the 1890 season, with the
company’s competitors, the Victoria Steamboat Association contracted
to provide Clacton calls in 1889.
The Clacton company took delivery of two more fine steamers from
Denny’s Dumbarton yard - Woolwich Belle (1891), London Belle (1893) -
as services were expanded north from Clacton to Ipswich and the River
Orwell. This was a period of intense competition, with the Victoria
Steamboat Association building ever larger and more luxurious
vessels, and the Clacton company was obliged to introduce suitable
tonnage to maintain its position.
An order was placed for PS Southend Belle, to be on station for 1896,
by which time the Clacton company had reconstituted itself as Belle
Steamers Ltd, to provide a more suitable capital base from which to
see off the financially troubled Victoria Steamboat
Association.
Belle
Steamers Ltd (1896-1897)
The company was formed by
renaming the London, Woolwich and Clacton-on-Sea Steamboat Company,
using the title which applied to its three steamers and would be
applied to Southend Belle which was on order from Denny’s Dumbarton
yard.
A further new steamer named Walton Belle was introduced in 1897 and
allowed extension of services northwards to Great Yarmouth by means
of a Yarmouth - Clacton service connecting with the main London -
Clacton vessel.
The company was wound up at the end of 1897 and a new company, The
Coast Development Company was formed, with interests outside the
vessels themselves, but concerned with the further speculative
development of the coastal resorts of East
Anglia.
Coast Development
Co (1898-1905) - Coast Development Corp (1905-1915)
Formed in January 1898, it
incorporated Belle Steamers, pier and land interests in Clacton and
also Walton-on-the-Naze. The latest steamer, PS Yarmouth Belle, was
delivered in time for the main 1898 season, going to Great Yarmouth.
Importantly, a newly extended pier at Walton, now owned by the Belle
Steamers parent company, became an important steamer call and from
1900 - 1904, steamers called at the more northerly pier before the
more treacherous and tide-bound Clacton pier. This gave Walton "first
call" for London excursionists and a new role as the interchange
point for onward passengers to the more northerly resorts.
The company purchased land at Southwold in 1898 and set about the
development of the small resort, with new roads, a large hotel, a
pier and a new steamer, to be called PS Southwold Belle, which
entered service in the mid-summer of 1900. A pier was also built at
Lowestoft (Claremont Pier) and opened in 1903 and a further pier at
Felixstowe in 1905.
In March 1905 the company was in financial difficulty and wound up,
with its assets taken over by the Coast Development Corporation, but
retaining its original board of directors.
Operations were extended to provide services to the Kent coast from
Essex and cruises along the southern bank of the Thames Estuary. This
area was well served by the General Steam Navigation Company and New
Palace Steamers, so would never provide the financial benefit the
company sorely needed.
At the end of the 1911 season, the newest vessel, Southwold Belle was
sold to pay off mounting debts. In May 1915, with World War I in
progress and excursion traffic all but disappeared, the Corporation
went into voluntary liquidation. The assets of the company remained
with liquidators until much of the fleet (no vessels were lost on
wartime duty) were purchased by Mr E Kingsman of Clacton in 1921 and
then were transferred to the PSM Syndicate in
1922.
The Belle Steamers (dates include
service with successor owners of the
fleet)
Clacton
(1888)
Clacton Belle (1890-1915)
Woolwich Belle (1891-1924)
London Belle (1893-1929)
Southend Belle
(1896-1929)
Walton Belle
(1897-1925)
Yarmouth Belle
(1898-1929)
Southwold Belle (1900-1913)
Comparative
Specifications
|
Vessel
|
Length ft
|
GR Tonnes
|
Cylinders
|
C1 in
|
C2 in
|
C3 in
|
Stroke in
|
Year
|
|
Clacton
|
189
|
241
|
2
|
28
|
57
|
|
57
|
1888
|
|
Clacton Belle
|
246
|
458
|
2
|
28
|
50
|
|
60
|
1890
|
|
Woolwich Belle
|
200
|
298
|
2
|
24
|
42
|
|
54
|
1891
|
|
London Belle
|
249
|
738
|
3
|
29.5
|
44
|
64
|
72
|
1893
|
|
Southend Belle
|
249
|
570
|
3
|
28
|
41.5
|
60
|
60
|
1896
|
|
Walton Belle
|
230
|
465
|
3
|
20.5
|
30
|
43
|
60
|
1897
|
|
Yarmouth Belle
|
240
|
522
|
3
|
20.5
|
30
|
43
|
60
|
1898
|
|
Southwold Belle
|
245
|
535
|
3
|
20.5
|
30
|
43
|
60
|
1900
|
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River
Thames Historical