By Dan Thompson
The Medway Queen has come off the slipway at Ramsgate harbour following her hull maintenance work.
The paddle steamer, which arrived in Ramsgate on July 18, is returning to Gillingham where she is looked after by The Medway Queen Preservation Society.
While in Ramsgate, extensive work was done to the ship. Out of the water, the hull was inspected, cleaned and scraped, and then repainted.
The paddle wheels and their housings were cleaned and repainted. Some pieces were removed, ahead of reconstruction in Medway Queen’s workshops.
On the deck, the saloon windows were varnished and promenade deck railings and the stanchions that hold them repainted. Some replacement stanchions were needed, and these were cast by Bridport Foundry and delivered to Ramsgate.
While she was in Ramsgate, Mark and Pam Bathurst, together with other volunteers from the fundraising team, set up an information table on Saturdays near the ship to collect donations, sell books, give out information and recruit new members – with considerable success.
The Medway Queen was launched in 1924 and entered service on Thames estuary routes in May of that year.
She was used as a minesweeper in World War II and is famous for her seven trips to Dunkirk in 1940. She brought men from the beaches back to both Dover and to Ramsgate. The ship’s crew estimated that they evacuated 7,000 men while shooting down three Axis aircraft.
After the war she returned to her old route until 1963. From 1966 until 1974 she was a nightclub in the Isle of Wight.
In 1984 the Medway Queen was brought back from the Isle of Wight to the Medway area by a group of local businessmen, headed by Jim Ashton, who intended to restore her.
In 2006, after many difficult years, a bid to the then Heritage Lottery Fund was successful and the hull has now been rebuilt. More recently, superstructures on the deck have been rebuilt.
To follow the ongoing restoration or become a supporter of the Medway Queen, visit https://www.medwayqueen.co.uk/
Would have been nice to see a short video of her relaunching down the slipway.
Great photos. Many thanks to Max, Ian and Frank.
What a pity events like this are not publicised, there could have been a large number of well-wishers watching her go. It seems to me that any event in Margate, however trivial, gets the full publicity shout, but Ramsgate is considered irrelevant by TDC. And RTC, did you know in advance?
Well done Kathy for keeping us informed.
It was well publicised on local fb pages
Not all of us waste our time using social media.
Indeed I had no idea as not on social media
But you so.
What does “But you so” mean?
Phyllis, when did Facebook become the primary channel for local information? I choose not to be on FB as do a significant number of others. Putting it on Facebook does not make it ‘well publicised’. The largest age group using Facebook in the UK is aged 25 to 34 years old (I confess to not being part of this cohort). Since 2012, users aged 18 – 24 have declined from 24% to 16% in 2020, and it continues to lose popularity. I don’t consider it a reliable conduit for local news.
I assumed that Phyllis Quot simply meant that it was well publicized on Facebook.
And why do you think TDC, RTC or anyone else had a duty to publicize this? It wasn’t an “event”, a public spectacle like the New Years Eve fireworks.
Damn… we were in Ramsgate today for the first time in months, and had no idea it was being relaunched.
How long before it comes back around to the Medway. Should be interesting watching it come back
After all the refits can any of it actually say it has been to Dunkirk…
Maybe rename it Triggers broomy Mc broom
The wonderful re-splendid Medway Queen is back where it belongs in Gillingham the hubub of Medway where it will show off its spectacular refit & redec. Welcome home!! & Medway is so proud of its history most importantly in WW2!!
Who ever this Phyllis quot is should be ashamed of their comments the council should feel that they have a duty the local people to let them know . And attraction to the launch would have helped with any future fund raising shame on you Phyllis .