I'm writing this in January 2014. I've no idea what there will be to celebrate when the anniversary arrives. And as of now I don't know when the exact date is. I've asked around. I thought they might know at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, but unfortunately they don't. They have volunteered a photo though taken before she left Falmouth.

It could all be a bit of a damp squib, with nothing much to report. So I'll have my say now.

PS Compton Castle was the longest serving paddle steamer to grace the Dart. Then at the end of her useful life there someone decided that would not be the end and they took her to Kingsbridge where she became a floating tearoom and museum. And there she became a celebrity, selected by Birds Eye to promote fish fingers; and the BBC for her engine room in the filming of the Onedin line.

Then she found another home; Looe, where sadly she was laid up on a slipway as a plan to re-float her failed. But someone else had another plan and sailed her to Truro where she opened as a restaurant. Eventually the restaurant closed but still someone saw potential when she became a floating florists.

And now she has been refurbished yet again for another adventure .

P.S. Compton Castle. Around for a century. Three cheers.

©Tony Brett

P.S. Compton Castle at Falmouth. Probably the earliest photograph that exists. You can just pick out an upstairs at the back of the boat, properly described as an elevated deck above an after well deck. She was the first to be fitted out this way. And another first, portholes instead of square saloon windows. One more; the deck seating extended out over her sponsons, these being the platforms supporting the paddles. It took about 10 years before they enclosed her wheelhouse.