To spot the PS Wingfield Castle, look to your right for a large black and white paddle steamer moored alongside the dock, with its name proudly painted on the side and a tall black funnel reaching for the sky.
Ahoy there! You’re now standing in front of a real piece of living history-the grand PS Wingfield Castle, once the pride of the Humber Estuary ferries. Built right here in Hartlepool and launched in 1934, she sliced through the water alongside her sister ship, the Tattershall Castle, ferrying passengers across the river with the churning power of her paddles. Imagine the bustle on deck as people hurried on board, their footsteps echoing, the paddle wheels ready to roar into action.
But life wasn’t always so smooth sailing for the Wingfield Castle. In the 1980s, she nearly set off on a new adventure as a floating restaurant in Swansea, only to be foiled by the most unlikely foe-a lock gate that proved just a bit too narrow. Talk about a tight squeeze! Now, instead of hosting fancy dinners, she sits here as a museum ship, her paint gleaming in the sun, packed with stories of river crossings and close shaves.
Listen closely, and you might just hear the faint memory of her steam whistle, welcoming you aboard the next chapter of her journey. With each footstep along her deck, you're walking through a floating time capsule, one that’s dodged disaster but landed safely in the harbour of history.
