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This website has no connection with any shipping company, cruise line, boat operator or other commercial organisation
Windermere Services
BR Page 10: FR, LMS, BR, Sealink etc.
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of the Lake Windermere services of British Railways, and its predecessors the London, Midland & Scottish Railways (LMS) and Furness Railway (FR). Services were privatised out of railway control in 1984.
An alphabetical list of ships
shown on this page is shown below.
The Table
beneath gives links to complete history pages on selected individual ships. Below the table is a
Fleet List
in chronological order.
The first steamboat to built for an English lake was the wooden
Lady of the Lake
of 1845. She was operated by the Windermere Steam Yacht Company, sailing from Newby Bridge, on the River Leven, to Ambleside, a distance of eleven miles which she covered in about an hour and a quarter. The competing passage boats took over three hours, and were soon put out of business. Such was the success of
Lady of the Lake
in her first year, that a second steamer was ordered, the
Lord of the Isles
. She was launched at Newby Bridge in 1846. A year later, the railway to Windermere was opened, and tourist numbers increased dramatically.
Rivals soon appeared, in the form of the
Fire Fly
and
Dragon Fly
of the Windermere Iron Steamboat Company (a name re-activated when the railway services were privatised in the 1980s). The two rival companies operated a joint service from 1856, and combined as the Windermere United Steam Yacht Company in 1858. A much larger iron steamer, the
Rothay
, was introduced in 1866, joining the
Fire Fly
and
Dragon Fly
in service.
Lady of the Lake
had been withdrawn in the early 1860s, and
Lord of the Isles
had been burnt out in 1850.
In the same year, 1866, the Furness Railway commenced construction of the Lakeside branch (now a preserved steam railway) and took control of the United Steam Yacht Company. The Lakeside branch opened in 1869, and a large screw steamer, the
Swan (1)
was delivered the same year. Two smaller steamers followed in 1879, the
Cygnet
and
Teal (1)
. These were followed by the elegant
Tern
in 1891, which is still in service. The last paddle steamer,
Rothay
was replaced by the
Swift
in 1900. The Furness Railway always flew the White Ensign, clearly visible in some of the cards below. The Admiralty only exercised jurisdiction over the high seas, so technically the Furness Railway were allowed to do this, and they continued to do so despite polite requests to desist from the Admiralty.
Ownership passed to the LMS in 1923, and they built two large motorships,
Swan (2)
and
Teal (2)
, in 1936. Photographs from LMS days show the steamers flying the Red Ensign.
Teal (1)
was withdrawn in 1927, but the rest of the fleet passed to British Railways in 1948, later becoming Sealink.
Sealink was privatised in 1984, being taken over by Sea Containers. Services in 1985 were still marketed as part of Sealink, using a new italic font. In 1986, the name Windermere Iron Steamboat Company was revived for the separated Windermere services, with "Established 1848" prominent in the logo. There was indeed a common link from this original company through to the 1986 incarnation via the Furness Railway, LMS and British Railways/Sealink. However, the timetables also used the title Windermere Lake Cruises, and this eventually became the company name. From 1993, joint timetables under this title were issued with the Bowness Bay Boating Company, who have operated smaller boats on the lake for many years, in competition with the railways. For some years both company titles (Windermere Iron Steamboat and Bowness Bay Boating) appeared together with their separate addresses in Lakeside and Bowness. The separate company names eventually disappeared from publicity, and from 2002 there was a new combined headquarters in Ambleside.
My thanks to Anthony Langford for allowing his cards to be used on this page.
Ships on This Page:-
Britannia
- 1908-1918
Cygnet
- 1879-1955
Dragon Fly
- 1851-18??
Fire Fly
- 1849-18??
Lady of the Lake
- 1845-1865
Lord of the Isles
- 1846-1850
Raven
- 1871-1927
Rothay
- 1865-1900
Swan (1)
-1869-1938
Swan (2)
- 1936-
Swift
- 1900-1998
Teal (1)
- 1879-1927
Teal (2)
- 1936-
Tern
- 1890-
British Railways Pages:-
British Railways/Sealink - Page 2
- Heysham Services
- to be completed!
Furness Railway - Page 1
- Barrow-Fleetwood service with paddle steamers
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway - Page 1
- LYR West Coast Services
London Midland & Scottish Railway
- LMS Heysham-Belfast Services
Midland Railway
- MR Heysham-Belfast & Heysham-Douglas Services
Associated Pages:-
UK Excursion Ships
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards
-
Recent Updates
Simplon Postcards
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Home Page
References:-
The Great Age of Steam on Windermere:
George H.Pattinson - Windermere Nautical Trust, 1981
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Table of Ship Histories
Name
Other names
Built
Swan (2)
1936
Teal (2)
1936
Windermere Services
Lady of the Lake
(Windermere Iron SY Co: 1845-1858)
(Windermere United SY Co: 1858-1865)
The first steamboat to built for an English lake was the wooden
Lady of the Lake
of 1845. She was operated by the Windermere Steam Yacht Company, sailing from Newby Bridge, on the River Leven, to Ambleside, a distance of eleven miles which she covered in about an hour and a quarter. The competing passage boats took over three hours, and were soon put out of business. Such was the success of
Lady of the Lake
in her first year, that a second steamer was ordered, the
Lord of the Isles
.
Lady of the Lake
was withdrawn in the early 1860s.
Illustration of
Lady of the Lake
being launched.
Photograph of
Lady of the Lake.
Photograph of
Lady of the Lake
(left) and burnt out
Lord of the Isles.
Lord of the Isles
(Windermere Iron SY Co: 1846-1858)
(Windermere United SY Co: 1858-18??)
Such was the success of
Lady of the Lake
in her first year, that a second steamer was ordered, the
Lord of the Isles
. She was launched at Newby Bridge in 1846. Her career was short, since she was burnt out in 1850.
Photograph of
Lady of the Lake
and burnt out
Lord of the Isles
(right)
.
Fire Fly
(Windermere Iron Steamboat Company: 1849-1858)
(Windermere United SY Co: 1858-18??)
Rivals to the Windermere Iron Steam Yacht Company soon appeared, in the form of the
Fire Fly
and
Dragon Fly
of the Windermere Iron Steamboat Company (a name re-activated when the railway services were privatised in the 1980s). The two rival companies operated a joint service from 1856, and combined as the Windermere United Steam Yacht Company in 1858.
No images available
Dragon Fly
(Windermere Iron Steamboat Company: 1851-1858)
(Windermere United SY Co: 1858-18??)
Rivals to the Windermere Iron Steam Yacht Company soon appeared, in the form of the
Fire Fly
and
Dragon Fly
of the Windermere Iron Steamboat Company (a name re-activated when the railway services were privatised in the 1980s). The two rival companies operated a joint service from 1856, and combined as the Windermere United Steam Yacht Company in 1858.
Photograph of
Dragon Fly.
Photograph of
Dragon Fly.
Rothay
(Windermere United SY Co: 1865-1869)
(Furness Railway: 1869-1922)
A much larger iron steamer, the
Rothay
, was introduced in 1866, joining the
Fire Fly
and
Dragon Fly
in service.
Lady of the Lake
had been withdrawn in the early 1860s, and
Lord of the Isles
had been burnt out in 1850.
Rothay
was double-ended to allow easy access to her berth in the river at Newby Bridge. The last paddle steamer in service,
Rothay
was replaced by the
Swift
in 1900.
Photograph of
Rothay.
Swan (1)
(Furness Railway: 1869-1922)
(LMS: 1923-1938)
In 1866, the Furness Railway commenced construction of the Lakeside branch (now a preserved steam railway) and took control of the United Steam Yacht Company. The Lakeside branch opened in 1869, and a large screw steamer, the
Swan (1)
was delivered the same year. Two smaller steamers followed in 1879, the
Cygnet
and
Teal (1)
. They all passed to the LMS in 1923.
Swan (1)
was scrapped by the LMS in 1938.
Furness Railway postcard of
Swan (1)
(Series 10).
Click to open larger image in new window
Postcard of
Swan (1)
.
Click to open larger image in new window
Sankeys postcard of
Swan (1)
.
Click to open larger image in new window
Sankeys postcard of
Swan (1)
.
Click to open larger image in new window
Raven
(Furness Railway: 1871-1922)
(LMS: 1923-1927)
Raven
was used by the Furness Railway to carry cargo and supplies around the lake. She was restored at the Windermere Steamboat Museum.
Postcard of
Swift, Tern and Raven
at Lakeside.
Postcard of
Raven
after restoration.
Click to open larger image in new window
Cygnet
(Furness Railway: 1899-1922)
(LMS: 1923-1947)
(BR: 1948-1955)
In 1866, the Furness Railway commenced construction of the Lakeside branch (now a preserved steam railway) and took control of the United Steam Yacht Company. The Lakeside branch opened in 1869, and a large screw steamer, the
Swan (1)
was delivered the same year. Two smaller steamers followed in 1879, the
Cygnet
and
Teal (1)
. These were followed by the elegant
Tern
in 1890, which is still in service. Ownership passed to the LMS in 1923, and they built two large motorships,
Swan (2)
and
Teal (2)
, in 1936.
Teal (1)
was withdrawn in 1927, but the rest of the fleet passed to British Railways in 1948, who scrapped
Cygnet
in 1955.
Furness Railway postcard of
Cygnet
and
Teal (1)
(Series 11).
Click to open larger image in new window
Furness Railway postcard of
Cygnet
and
Teal (1)
(Series 11).
Alternative copy of card above
Click to open larger image in new window
Postcard of
Cygnet
.
Click to open larger image in new window
Postcard of
Cygnet
with black hull.
Click to open larger image in new window
Teal (1)
(Furness Railway: 1879-1922)
(LMS: 1923-1927)
In the same year, 1866, the Furness Railway commenced construction of the Lakeside branch (now a preserved steam railway) and took control of the United Steam Yacht Company. The Lakeside branch opened in 1869, and a large screw steamer, the
Swan (1)
was delivered the same year. Two smaller steamers followed in 1879, the
Cygnet
and
Teal (1)
. These were followed by the elegant
Tern
in 1890, which is still in service. Ownership passed to the LMS in 1923, and
Teal (1)
was withdrawn in 1927.