The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS) is a United Kingdom-based registered charity
and owner of two working
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 ...
s;
PS ''Kingswear Castle'' and
PS ''Waverley''.
In September 1959 a letter by Dr Alan Robinson appeared in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' newspaper remarking on the rapid decline of the paddle steamer around the shores of the UK and soliciting support for a preservation project. Over the next month a number of letters of support appeared in the ''Telegraph'' and following a public meeting on 30 October 1959 the decision was made to form a society. The first meeting was held on 8 November 1959 in Southampton where the name "Paddle Steamer Preservation Society" was adopted, with Dr Alan Robinson as founder. Poet Laureate
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
held the position of Patron of the PSPS from 1960 until his death in 1984.
The Society acquired its first paddle steamer
PS ''Kingswear Castle'' in 1967 and was given
PS ''Waverley'' in 1974. Both have been extensively restored and are fully operational.
The Society membership has increased from the 15 persons present at the first meeting to over 3,000 members worldwide, the majority affiliated to one of five PSPS branches that cover the UK.
The PSPS Collection holds in excess of 50,000 objects ranging from posters, souvenirs and paintings through to fittings from long-departed paddle steamers.
In addition to owning two operational paddle steamers the Society also supports other paddle steamer projects including
PS ''Maid of the Loch'' and
PS ''Medway Queen''.
References
External links
Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS)Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle TrustWaverley Excursions
{{Authority control
Paddle steamers
Engineering preservation societies