Kingswear Castle
Britain's last steam powered river paddle steamer

100th Anniversary
1924 - 2024

Sail on
Kingswear Castle

Kingswear Castle has finished her 2025 season. She will return in 2026 for her 102nd year of service.

Kingswear Castle is operated on behalf of the Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust by the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company.

Click on the button below to visit the operator’s website for timetable and ticketing information.

History of
Kingswear Castle

Built in 1924 for service on the River Dart in Devon between Dartmouth and Totnes, Kingswear Castle was withdrawn in 1965.

Purchased by volunteers in 1967 who painstakingly restored her to operating condition over ten years, entering service on the Medway and the Thames in 1985.

In 2012 she returned home to the Dart.

Support
Kingswear Castle

Kingswear Castle returned to service in 2023 after the first part of a major rebuild. We are continuing to fund raise for the second phase.

Find out how you can help with this to secure her future for the next twenty five years.

For information and enquiries regarding tickets, timetables and sailing updates please visit the Dartmouth Steam Railway & River Boat Company website www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk or call 01803 555 872.

John Megoran recalls the heyday and decline paddle steamers, particularly the Weymouth based paddle steamers that he grew up with. He did not know then that he would go on to help restore, manage and be principal captain of Kingswear Castle for nearly 30 years.

Articles to enjoy
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104 years ago

18th October 1920:
Britannia

On Monday 18th October 1920 P & A Campbell’s Britannia shifted ship from Bridge Wharf Glasgow, where she had arrived from Bristol on the previous Friday, to the yard of

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75 years ago

17th October 1949:
Glen Usk

Monday 17th October was the last day of the 1949 season for Glen Usk which she spent making three round trips on the Cardiff/Penarth/Barry ferry to Weston-super-Mare. At this stage

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16 years ago

16th October 2008:
Tony McGinnity

A memorial service was held for Tony McGinnity, doyen of paddle steamer preservation in the 1960s, at St Olave’s Church in the City of London on Thursday 16th October 2008.

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62 years ago

15th October 1962:
Sandown

On the morning of Monday 15th October 1962 British Railways’s coal-fired paddle steamer Sandown left Portsmouth for Weymouth for refit work by Cosens & Co on her engine and boiler.

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The latest threefour of 0 paddle steamer orientated articles produced monthly by John Megoran, author, manager and principal captain of Kingswear Castle for nearly 30 years on both the Medway and Thames as well as the River Dart.

Articles to enjoy
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October 2025:
Collecting

The conductor Richard Bonynge, who has just celebrated his 95th birthday, confesses that he sees his passion for collecting as a disease. His Chalet Monet in Les Avants above Montreux

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