The ''MV Lady Wakefield'' is a twin

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

passenger vessel, operating between

Glenridding Glenridding is a village at the southern end of Ullswater, in the English Lake District. The village is popular with mountain walkers who can scale England's third-highest mountain, Helvellyn, and many other challenging peaks from there. Ety ...

Howtown Howtown is a hamlet in Cumbria, England, situated at a small harbour on the east shore of Ullswater in the Lake District. It lies within the civil parish of Martindale. Howtown is about three and a half miles from Pooley Bridge and is best re ...

and

Pooley Bridge Pooley Bridge is a village in the Eden District of the northwestern English county of Cumbria, within the traditional borders of Westmorland. The village takes its name from a bridge over the River Eamont at the northern end of Ullswater. T ...

Ullswater Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being about long and wide, with a maximum depth a little over . It was scooped out by a glacier in the Last Ice Age. Geography It is a typical Lake District "ribbon lake", ...

in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

for Ullswater Navigation and Transit Co, marketed as

Ullswater 'Steamers' Ullswater 'Steamers' is a boat company which provides leisure trips on Ullswater in the north-eastern part of the English Lake District. It is based in Glenridding, Cumbria. Founded in 1855, it currently operates five diesel powered vessels betw ...

History

It was built in 1949 by Philip & Son of

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the ...

, UK as the ''MV Berry Castle'' for the

River Dart Steamboat Co Ltd The River Dart Steamboat Co Ltd (RDSC) and its predecessors, the Dartmouth Steam Packet Company and the Dartmouth and Torbay Steam Packet Company, were the major ferry and excursion boat operators on the River Dart in South Devon for 120 years, u ...

(RDSC). She was named after

Berry Pomeroy Castle Berry Pomeroy Castle, a Tudor mansion within the walls of an earlier castle, is near the village of Berry Pomeroy, in South Devon, England. It was built in the late 15th century by the Pomeroy family which had held the land since the 11th centur ...

, which is located a few miles from the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Brythonic language (from which the river's subsequent names ultimately derive fr ...

and was the third vessel in the fleet to bear the name. ''MV Berry Castle'' was used on the company's River Dart services from Dartmouth and

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

South Devon South Devon is the southern part of Devon, England. Because Devon has its major population centres on its two coasts, the county is divided informally into North Devon and South Devon.For exampleNorth DevonanSouth Devonnews sites. In a narrower se ...

. In 1972 she was sold to Discover Galapagos Ltd, to be fitted out for diving in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. This project failed and she was operated on the Medway by Discover Galapagos as the ''MV Golden Cormorant''. In 1976 she returned to the Dart, owned by the RDSC's successor: Dart Pleasure Craft Ltd, and was renamed ''MV Totnes Castle''.Clammer, R & Kittridge,A. ''Passenger Steamers of the River Dart & Kingsbridge Estuary'', The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society &Twelveheads Press, 1987 In 1985 Dart Pleasure Craft, which had previously bought the Millbrook Steamboat & Trading Co Ltd of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, withdrew its services from the Plymouth area, and in the process, ''MV Totnes Castle'' was sold to

Plymouth Boat Cruises The Plymouth Boat Cruises was an excursion boat operator on the River Tamar in South Devon. It was started in 1981, in competition with Millbrook Steamboat & Trading Co Ltd. In 1985 the Millbrook company withdrew from the Tamar, and several of i ...

. She operated cruises from Plymouth. During her time in Plymouth she gained additional enclosed accommodation in the form of a large deckhouse on the former open deck behind her wheelhouse. In 2006 she was sold to Ullswater Navigation and Transit Company, and moved to Ullswater, involving an overland journey to this land-locked lake. She was renamed ''MV Lady Wakefield''. On 6 December 2015 ''Lady Wakefield'' suffered damage while moored at Pooley Bridge pier during

Storm Desmond Storm Desmond was an extratropical cyclone and fourth named storm of the 2015–16 UK and Ireland windstorm season, notable for directing a plume of moist air, known as an atmospheric river, which brought record amounts of orographic rainfall to ...

. She started to take on water, and was rescued by being run aground the following day. On 12 May 2016, MV Lady Wakefield was rolled back into the water after being beached for 5 months and docked for repair.

Gallery

File:Ullswater Motor Launch Undergoing Major Refit - geograph.org.uk - 73126.jpg, ''Lady Wakefield'' before entering Ullswater service File:Lady Wakefield Approaching Howtown (7530290420).jpg, ''Lady Wakefield'' approaching Howtown File:M.V. Lady Wakefield, high and dry (geograph 4902850).jpg, ''Lady Wakefield'' beached by Storm Desmond

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Wakefield Ferries of England 1949 ships Transport in Cumbria Ships and vessels on the National Register of Historic Vessels