MV ''Balmoral'' is a vintage excursion ship owned by MV Balmoral Fund Ltd., a preservation charity. Her principal area of operation is the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...

, although she also operates day excursions to other parts of the United Kingdom. The ''Balmoral'' is included on the

National Historic Ships National Historic Ships UK is a government-funded independent organisation that advises UK governments and others on matters relating to historic ships.

History

''Balmoral'' was built as a ferry by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Woolston in 1949, for the Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Limited, more normally known as the Red Funnel line. As built, ''Balmoral'' could carry up to 10 cars on her aft car deck, and she normally operated on her owner's ferry service from

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on the English mainland to

Cowes Cowes () is an England, English port, seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked b ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. From her introduction she also occasionally performed excursion duties, but as dedicated car ferries were introduced to her main route, her role became more focussed on offering coastal cruises around the South Coast. Red Funnel ceased operating excursions in 1968, after which ''Balmoral'' was acquired by P & A Campbell. She moved to the

, where she became part of P&A Campbell's White Funnel Fleet until 1980, by which time she was the last working member of the fleet. ''Balmoral'' moved to

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

to become a floating restaurant. This was unsuccessful and the ship was placed for sale again.

Preservation

At this time the Waverley Steam Navigation Co. Ltd were looking for another vessel to operate alongside the world's last seagoing

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

, . ''Balmoral'' was purchased by them and subjected to a major refit. As part of this, her car deck was enclosed to form an area that is now in use as a dining saloon.Adams, R. B. (1986). ''Red Funnel and Before''. Kingfisher Publications. ''Balmoral'' returned to the

in 1986. Since then the ship has operated a summer season of excursions around the Bristol Channel, with visits to most areas of the UK. In winter 2002, ''Balmoral'' received new engines, her original twin 6-cyl Newbury Sirron diesels were removed and replaced with a pair of Danish-built Grenaa diesel engines. This work was partially funded by a grant from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

. ''Balmoral'' can now accommodate up to 800 passengers and has a

self-service Self-service is a system whereby customers acquire (or serve) themselves goods or services, paying for the items at a point-of-sale, as opposed to a shop assistant or clerk acquiring goods or providing services in addition to taking payment. Comm ...

restaurant on board, along with two licensed bars, a heated observation lounge and a souvenir shop.

Refit

In December 2012 Waverley Excursions and Waverley Steam Navigation announced that ''Balmoral'' would not be sailing in 2013. The ship's operation has been hampered increasingly in recent years by

extreme weather Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe weather, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weat ...

conditions. In 2015, ownership of MV ''Balmoral'' was transferred to a new registered charity MV Balmoral Fund Limited, and she is now operated by their subsidiary, White Funnel Ltd. Following a refit costing over £300,000 and with help from a Coastal Communities Fund Grant, ''Balmoral'' started public sailing again on 19 June 2015. It was announced in December 2017 that she would not be sailing in 2018 as she requires major hull plating work. That work was completed in Albion dry dock, which she left on 19 July 2024. It is planned to resume excursions in 2025.

In popular culture

''Balmoral'' appeared in the 2018 film ''

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ''The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'' is a historical novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows that was published in 2008. It was adapted into a film in 2018 featuring Lily James as Juliet Ashton and Matthew Goode as Sidn ...

''. Balmoral was also hired in the 2017 drama Another Mother's Son, featuring

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...

and John Hannah She also features in the 2019 film '' Stan and Ollie'', a biographical comedy-drama based on the lives of the comedy double act

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...

and

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his ...

. In Television, she featured in BBC One's Easter 1916: The Enemy Files, starring

Michael Portillo Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo ( ; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as ''Great British Railway Jou ...

Gallery

File:MV Balmoral at Minehead Harbour.jpg, the car deck in 1974 at

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and close to the Exmoor National Park. T ...

File:MVBalmoral.jpg, at Sharpness, Gloucestershire File:MV Balmoral pulls into Junction Lock.jpg, MV Balmoral pulls into Junction Lock, Bristol harbour, Aug 2017

References

External links

MV Balmoral FundMV Balmoral Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmoral Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Bristol Channel Bristol Harbourside 1949 ships Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet Ships of Red Funnel Ships built by John I. Thornycroft & Company