THE Wessex and Dart Branch of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society is holding its spring meeting at the Royal Dart Yacht Club, Kingswear, on Saturday, May 7, at 2.30pm.

Tom Shell, local PSPS organiser, will be giving an illustrated talk outlining his recollection of Bristol Channel shipping in the 1950s and 60s, the piers served by the excursion steamers and many of the personalities involved with the ships.

The afternoon will also include a pre-sailing season update on paddle steamer Kingswear Castle, which begins her regular 2016 sailings on the Dart on May 28.

The PSPS, which has 2000 members across the UK, purchased Kingswear Castle in 1967 for just £600 after she was retired by the former River Dart Steamboat Company. The society spent 16 years restoring the ship to passenger service and ran her on the River Medway in Kent till 2012.

Through the society’s PS Kingswear Castle Trust, the steamer is now on long-term charter to and maintained by the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company.

The afternoon meeting at RDYC is open to all shipping and heritage transport enthusiasts.