Salters Steamers, formerly known as Salter Bros, is a family boating firm on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, founded in Oxford in 1858. Prior to that the family operated a riverside tavern in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

, having moved there around 1836. The company runs passenger services in summer along the length of the River Thames between

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and Staines. They also hire boats from Oxford (at

Folly Bridge Folly Bridge is a stone bridge over the River Thames carrying the Abingdon Road south from the centre of Oxford, England. It was erected in 1825–27, to designs of a little-known architect, Ebenezer Perry (died 1850), who practised in London. ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, Henley-on-Thames and

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. In Oxford in particular, punts are available.

History

The firm was established when John and Stephen Salter took over Isaac King's boat building firm based at Folly Bridge in Oxford. They were the country's leading racing-boat-builder in the 1860s (distributing craft around the world) and they built many of the beautiful

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s at Christ Church Meadow, used over many years as a base for the various colleges for the sport of

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

. These have now all been replaced by boat houses. They became one of the largest inland boat-letters in the country by the late 1880s and in the twentieth century they built many pleasure craft for corporations and councils around the country. On the death of John Salter, the firm passed to his three sons (John, James and George) and become known as Salter Bros. John and James rose to considerable prominence in Oxford as long-standing local Liberal politicians (both serving as Mayors of Oxford) and well-known Wesleyan Methodists. In 1888, the company started a steam boat service between Oxford and

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

, using the boat ''Alaska''. Alaska was built in 1883 as a private vessel but was purchased in 1886 by Salters who used her from 1888 to start their Oxford to Kingston return service. Alaska is still operating today under the management of Thames Steamers Limited. By the turn of the century the firm was the largest passenger boat operator on the non-tidal Thames, helped by its close association with the Great Western Railway with which it ran numerous circular tours. The service between Oxford and Kingston operated until the 1970s. The return journey originally took five days (two days downstream and three days upstream), but was shortened to four in the 1890s. When the through service became uneconomic the company concentrated on local services between Folly Bridge, Oxford and Abingdon, Reading and Henley, Marlow and Windsor and Windsor and Staines. The firm was one of the most important businesses on the river for popularising pleasure boating on the non-tidal Thames. It is still owned and run by family members (the fifth and sixth generation), but the parent company is now primarily concerned with property management.

Current services

More recently, Salters passenger services have been reintroduced between Abingdon, Wallingford and Reading, and between Henley and Marlow. Through journeys are therefore again possible, with changes of boats. The journey between Oxford and Staines takes 4 days.

Original steamer

Two original 'Salters Steamers' have been restored to full working order as a steam-powered excursion trip boats working from

Runnymede Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining ...

and Windsor, on the Thames. The SL ''Nuneham'', built by Edwin Clarke in 1898 and the SL Streatley, built by Salters in Oxford in 1905, which retains her original triple expansion engine.

References

* Wenham, S., ''Pleasure Boating on the Thames: a History of Salter Bros, 1858 - Present Day'' (Stroud, 2014) * Hibbert, C. (ed) (1988) ''The Encyclopaedia of Oxford'', Macmillan {{ISBN, 0-333-48614-5

External links

Salters Steamers

Company history
Companies established in 1858 British boat builders Companies based in Oxford Henley-on-Thames History of Oxford Transport in Berkshire Transport in Oxford Transport in Oxfordshire Transport operators of the United Kingdom Water transport in England Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Transport on the River Thames 1858 establishments in England