THE ANCIENT MATELOT
2023 11NOV20 - WALK FROM NEWPORT TO COWES ALONGSIDE RIVER MEDINA - PADDLE STEAMER RYDE
PS Ryde was used as a ferry between Portsmouth and the Isle-of-Wight between 1937 and 1969, although between 1939 - 1945, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy as a minesweeper and anti-aircraft vessel. She was used during the D-Day landings. At her retirement she was the last seagoing coal fired paddle steamer in the world.
On her retirement as a ferry she was purchased and converted into a hotel and, later a night club. She was moored in Binfield Marina (her current location) alongside the PS Medway Queen (also used as a minesweeper and a hero of the Dunkirk evacuation, but which has now undergone restoration and has returned to her home in Kent).
The nightclub aboard the Ryde Queen (as she had been renamed) closed in the late 80s.
Sadly, despite plans to restore her, she has now become silted up and has fallen into the state of disrepair which can be seen here.
2023 11NOV20 - WALK FROM NEWPORT TO COWES ALONGSIDE RIVER MEDINA - PADDLE STEAMER RYDE
PS Ryde was used as a ferry between Portsmouth and the Isle-of-Wight between 1937 and 1969, although between 1939 - 1945, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy as a minesweeper and anti-aircraft vessel. She was used during the D-Day landings. At her retirement she was the last seagoing coal fired paddle steamer in the world.
On her retirement as a ferry she was purchased and converted into a hotel and, later a night club. She was moored in Binfield Marina (her current location) alongside the PS Medway Queen (also used as a minesweeper and a hero of the Dunkirk evacuation, but which has now undergone restoration and has returned to her home in Kent).
The nightclub aboard the Ryde Queen (as she had been renamed) closed in the late 80s.
Sadly, despite plans to restore her, she has now become silted up and has fallen into the state of disrepair which can be seen here.