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

Foundation

In 1890, the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

-based

Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy ...

had formed the New North Wales Steamship Company (NNWSS). 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. As a result, 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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, 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. The flag of the LNWSC was white swallowtail, bearing a blue cross throughout, with three gold-coloured

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

feathers in the form of the

Fleur-de-Lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

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

Operations

The company's main route was as described in their name:

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

and the

Menai Straits The Menai Strait ( cy, Afon Menai, the "river Menai") is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. It varies in width from from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to from ...

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

Beaumaris Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from ...

and Bangor. The company's largest ships operated this route. They also operated services north to

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

, west to the

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, and around the

Isle of Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island, ...

Fleet

The fleet was supplied direct from the

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

yards of Fairfield, where vessels had either been freshly built or heavily refurbished, and where winter maintenance was also undertaken. The

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

''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 The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

services, operating from Liverpool on the main route until the end of the 1925 season. After this point,

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, again when commercial services were suspended.

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 A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

and later the

motor car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

. The company went into voluntary

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

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. The ''St Trillo'' was sold to rival P and A Campbell, who continued to run excursions from

until the 1970s.

Legacy

Services from Liverpool to Llandudno, and Llandudno to Douglas were taken over by the

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

, at a reduced frequency. The coastal pleasure steamer MV ''Balmoral'' regularly operated summer pleasure cruises on the same routes as the LNWSC, but was taken out of service in 2017. In the 1990s, a series of early films were rediscovered from

Mitchell and Kenyon The Mitchell & Kenyon film company was a pioneer of early commercial motion pictures based in Blackburn in Lancashire, England, at the start of the 20th century. They were originally best known for minor contributions to early fictional narrative ...

, who had filmed LNWSC vessels on trips between Liverpool, Holyhead and Llandudno, featuring the ''St.Tudno'' and ''St. Elvies''.

Revival In 2016

In 2016 the Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Company Ltd was formed, with the aim of re-introducing pleasure cruises to Liverpool and the North Wales coast. Restoration began on a 1959-built motor vessel and additional purchases were planned. Restoration of the ferry, renamed ''TSMV Endeavour'', was well underway in May 2019 when it sank at its moorings in

Canada Dock Canada Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Kirkdale. Canada Dock consists of a main basin nearest the river wall with three branch docks and a graving ...

, following a suspected break-in. Shortly afterwards, the company's social media accounts were removed and their accounts are overdue as of May 2021.

Fleet Details

References

External links

{{Authority control Companies established in 1890 Companies disestablished in 1963 Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom Menai Strait Defunct companies based in Liverpool