Helen Stephenson's Chatham Dockyard Pictures - September 10th, 2006 - Miscellaneous

I'm going to open up this page of images from around the Dockyards with a picture of Upper Mast House. There is a major audio visual exhibition inside this building which I saw on an earlier visit to the Dockyards, but did not visit on this occasion. Stephen hasn't seen it, so we will be going back to Chatham one of these days!

The Siskin helicopter was parked on an area of tarmac. It was possible to walk right up to it, and I did in fact do so to obtain the picture of the Siskin badge. The bell tower was nearby.

There are plenty of small craft moored on the Medway, and these are just a couple of examples.

Now we come to a nice bit of history. This is the paddle steamer Kingswear Castle, the last remaining coal-fired paddle steamer in Britain. Built in 1924, she spent her working life on the River Dart in Devon. She saw wartime service in WWII when she was chartered by the US Navy. She was withdrawn from service in 1965, and was towed to the River Medway in 1971, after which restoration commenced. She returned to service on the River Medway in 1985 and now carries out a busy programme of pleasure cruises on the Medway and the Thames. In case you are wondering, the paddle steamer Waverley is also still very much in commission, but was converted in 1957 to use heavy fuel oil. Waverley cruises the Thames each autumn, and Kingswear Castle has some sailings which enable the two paddle steamers to meet.

Numerous boats are on display within the Dockyards. Here are two lifeboats, still sporting their RNLI livery.

I am finishing this page with three unrelated images. On the left is a crane located near the dry docks; in the centre is a view across the Medway to Upnor Castle; while on the right a yacht sails up the Medway.