MEMBERS VOTE TO TRANSFER PORTWEY TO STEAM BOAT TRUST

At an Extraordinary General Meeting on 31st July 2024, the members of the Steam Tug Portwey Trust voted unanimously to transfer Portwey to the newly-formed registered charity, The Steam Boat Trust. The handover will take place later this year once essential repairs to Portwey’s port side have been completed. Last month, Portwey passed a boiler inspection so will probably be able to steam down to her new home on the Medway under her own power.

The Steam Boat Trust already owns and operates the 1931 steam tug Challenge which was acquired four years ago by Chris Bannister from the Dunkirk Little Ships Restoration Trust. Challenge has had extensive restoration work and there are plans to apply for Heritage Lottery funding for future work on both Challenge and Portwey.

Challenge

The Steam Boat Trust is liaising with Medway Council in Kent to set up a working museum on a heritage quay. It is planned to keep both Challenge and Portwey operational to offer the opportunity to see these almost one hundred-year-old vessels in steam. Portwey will benefit from The Steam Boat Trust’s established and enthusiastic volunteer workforce.

Although the new charity will not be a membership organisation in the same way that the Portwey Trust is, The Steam Boat Trust will also welcome donations and volunteers to continue to keep Portwey maintained and operating. They will be setting up a website to keep supporters informed about the work and activities on both vessels. In June 2024, Challenge steamed to Normandy for the D-Day commemoration.

For more information on Challenge and The Steam Boat Trust you can follow them on Facebook.

We will be updating this website and our own Facebook page so long as the Steam Tug Portwey Trust continues as a separate organisation. After Portwey is transferred, we will be closing the present Trust and merging our remaining assets with The Steam Boat Trust. For the year 2024-25, we are offering membership of the Steam Tug Portwey Trust for only £10 for individual or joint membership. Membership renewals will be sent out during August.

For more information on the Portwey Trust’s plans, please contact us.

You can email or phone Chris Nursey, our chief engineer and treasurer, on the practical and technical aspects of the plan. He is working closely with Chris Bannister and the SBT team on engineering and maintenance. Email: jillandchrisn@supanet.com. Phone: 07810 132232


If you have questions about the legal implications for our organisation, donations or membership you can phone or email Ruth Selo, our company secretary and membership secretary. Email: re.selo@outlook.com. Phone: 07946 318966.


The Last Coal Fired Twin Engine Steam Tug?

PORTWEY is one of only two twin screw, coal fired steam tugs now active in the United Kingdom. She is one of the vessels included in the core collection of historic ships at National Historic Ships UK.

Built by Harland and Wolff on the Clyde in 1927, she was first owned by the Portland and Weymouth Coaling Company (hence the name) and worked along the south coast of England, being based at Portland.


The crew normally meet every Wednesday afternoon and evening .... why not come along?


PORTWEY being saluted at HMS PRESIDENT on her 90th Birthday

During the second World War the tug was controlled by the U.S. Army and was based at Dartmouth, part of her duties being to tow in damaged craft, on one occasion narrowly missing being hit by a bomb. In 1951 PORTWEY was sold to the Falmouth Dock and Engineering Company where she spent the rest of her working life, helping, during this time, with the construction of the Lizard and Anglesey Lifeboat Stations.

In 1967, destined for the scrap yard at the end of her working life, PORTWEY was bought by Richard Dobson, who, with a group of dedicated friends, restored the tug to her former glory and maintained her for the next 15 years. In 1982 they were no longer able to continue this work and the tug steamed to London and was donated to the Maritime Trust. The Steam Tug Portwey Association took PORTWEY on Demise Charter from the Trust and continued the restoration, preservation and operation, steaming in the Thames and Medway during the year.

In June 2000 the Steam Tug PORTWEY Trust was created and the Trust purchased the tug from the Maritime Trust. The Trust is a Limited Company with Charitable Status. PORTWEY's current permanent berth is in the South Quay of the West India Docks, London, and is easily accessible from South Quay Station on the Docklands Light Railway. Visitors and volunteers are very welcome - please contact the Secretary by letter or email (stportwey@hotmail.com) to make arrangements.


Portwey Needs Your Help!

The volunteers normally meet every Wednesday from approximately 2pm until 9pm at South Quay (Find Us).

We are looking for volunteers that can spend a few hours assisting us maintain and run Portwey, either with your time or by making donations to assist keeping this vessel working.

Why not join up and help keep Portwey steaming on...

Join Us

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For further information please contact:
The Steam Tug Portwey Trust, 4 Almond Avenue, Wickford, Essex, SS12 0BN