Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Aerial view of the launch of the Bristol Queen, 4th April 1946

P.S. BRISTOL QUEEN. Built 1946 by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Bristol (with triple-expansion engine by Rankin & Blackmore Ltd), for P. & A. Campbell Ltd. She was the largest paddle steamer built for the company. 1959 – Laid up at Penarth for two years, she returned to service in the Spring of 1961. In August 1967, she hit a submerged object off the coast at Barry, and damaged her starboard paddle wheel. She was taken out of service three days later, and laid up at Cardiff. Despite attempts to preserve the vessel, she was towed to Ostend in March 1968 and broken up.