Can anyone help with Mersey Ferry history?

[petemc]

OK, this has been bugging me for many years, all help will be appreciated.

A long time ago, back around the late 1980's, I visited Bermuda and saw what appeared to be an old Mersey Ferry moored in Hamilton. I asked the crew but they didn't know the history of this ship. It certainly wasn't the Royal Iris, who's shape is obvious, but looked more like the Royal Daffodil.

Does anyone have any information on what I might have seen?

Cheers

Pete

[Ged]

Hiya Pete. I do have a dvd covering the history of the Mersey Ferries but can't recall a mention of it. If you're in Liverpool and are attending the big history festival at St. George's Hall at the weekend, one of the stall holders are 'the friends of the ferries' who may be able to help.

[petemc]

Ged,

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately I won't be able to make the weekend history festival ... I now live in California, and I won't be back in Liverpool until mid-October.

Pete

[Ged]

I'll be there Pete so i'll seek them out and ask for you and report back on Monday.

[petemc]

Cheers Ged
:PDT_Aliboronz_24:

[M.O.]

A long time ago, back around the late 1980's, I visited Bermuda and saw what appeared to be an old Mersey Ferry moored in Hamilton. I asked the crew but they didn't know the history of this ship. It certainly wasn't the Royal Iris, who's shape is obvious, but looked more like the Royal Daffodil.

Does anyone have any information on what I might have seen?

There is one ex-ferry which may fit the bill. Birkenhead Corp's Woodside (III) of 1903, built by the Londonderry Shipbuilding Co. was sold in 1930 for £3500 to the Bermuda Transportation Co. for use as a passenger ship tender in Hamilton and is quoted as having served for "many more years" there. The source for this is TB Maund's definitive Mersey Ferries Vol 1 (Woodside-Eastham, 1991) which, along with its sister Vol 2 (Wallasey, 2003) contains a list of all Mersey ferries in-service dates and in most cases, their fates. Unfortunately, neither book contains a photo of Woodside (III) nor is there any record of what her ultimate fate was. Obviously if she was the vessel in question then she would have been extremely old at the time you saw her, quite possibly even the longest-lived Mersey ferry ever, and would beg the fascinating question of what became of her. Actually, that would be important to know irrespective of whether it was the Woodside or any other former ferry although it must be said there is no other mention of a Bermudan connection with any other Mersey ferry.

That's the best I can do, unfortunately but I'm sure if there's another explanation then the Friends of the Ferries people will know of it.

[petemc]

M.O. that's interesting information and an obvious possibility for what I saw.

I am lucky to be going to Bermuda next year, this time taking my family, so I will definitely see if this boat is still around. If it is, I will take some pictures and post them here for the ferry enthusiasts.

If it isn't around, I will check with the harbour master to see where I might get additional information ... I might be able to get info on how long she remained in service and what she was doing in its final years.

Many thanks for checking into this for me.

Pete

[Ged]

M.O. you've done a lot better that the F.O.T.F. who seemed to know nowt ;)

[petemc]

OK, I've just come back from Bermuda and while the ferry is no longer there, I did find some locals who remembered it ... and one chap who worked on it. He also worked on one of the ferries crossing the Mersey before he went to Bermuda, so he said it was most definitely a Mersey ferry.

The ferry was most likely the Woodside, which was sold to Bermuda in 1930. It was re-named to Canime in Bermuda, and served as a ferry between Hamilton (the main city in Bermuda) and the dockland area at the tip of the island. Sometime in the 1990's the ferry was replaced with a couple of new catamaran boats, but where the Canime went to is a mystery.

Hope this helps anyone who was interested :)

Pete

[Ged]

Well done Pete on getting to the bottom of it. Next mystery to solve now is where it went to eh?