the only photo of the wheel house i have. Sorry i had to blank out the picture for obvious reasons.
Photo of the water line at high tide on the 1st deck (Ground Floor) before she was pumped out.
Fantastic shots PrintHere. Anymore taken on the day would be interesting to see. Im suprised her telegraph etc is still there,but shame to see her wheel has gone.
Dave wood has taken some fantastic photos onboard her 13/1/10 some in HDR:
this is the text,will sort the link out when i can get it to work.
Good Evening sue I have some good news regarding the royal iris. In the past few days have been in contact with the PLA and the chap who Manages the berth where she’s moored. They both inform me that she has been pumped out and emergency repairs have been made, she i...s now floating at every high tide. I was also informed there has been regular fuel deliveries in the past 4 weeks but only in small quantities. On a more of a frustrating note, I have made contact with owner though a “middle man” who is in regular contact with Mr Jegede. I have been told he will contact me when he has time. After a every lengthy conversation to the PLA. It appears Mr Jegede avoids all communication with them at all costs, as he hasn’t paid them for a number of years and is effectively squatting on the berth. Further on in the conversation I was told “We would be delighted if she removed from the Thames as she has been an eyesore for a number of years. Year in year out we are more and more concerned with her deteriorating condition as she could potentially become a navigational hazard.” I will be going down to see the vessel next week to see her present condition, and try to meet with Mr Jegede, as it seems he no longer resides in France. I will keep you informed Kind regards Mart
Thanks for posting this John. Which forum was it taken from? The photos i have just posted by Dave Wood are dated 13/1/10 and the fwd view shows her still on the bottom? I do hope something can be done by the PLA to put pressure on the owner or to get people involved to save her. I guess at the moment,being on a drying berth, its about the best place for her. Look forward to anymore details/updates.
Dave, Sorry, i ment did you take any photos or see the bridge of the Royal Iris?
Hi Ben, thanks for that. I paid her a visit over the weekend. Here's a few shots of the exterior and interior, including one of the bridge telegraphs. I only found out what they were called a couple of days ago I'm just catching up and saw a wide angle shot of the bridge further on in this thread. I'll see if I've taken any similar shots and post them later. I went a bit over the top with the processing of the exterior shots, because they're going on canvas prints.
Oops! Sorry. Just realised some of mine have been posted already. I'll go through some others later on that haven't been posted. Got to take one of my lads and his mates into town now
this is the text,will sort the link out when i can get it to work.
Good Evening sue I have some good news regarding the royal iris. In the past few days have been in contact with the PLA and the chap who Manages the berth where she’s moored. They both inform me that she has been pumped out and emergency repairs have been made, she i...s now floating at every high tide. I was also informed there has been regular fuel deliveries in the past 4 weeks but only in small quantities. On a more of a frustrating note, I have made contact with owner though a “middle man” who is in regular contact with Mr Jegede. I have been told he will contact me when he has time. After a every lengthy conversation to the PLA. It appears Mr Jegede avoids all communication with them at all costs, as he hasn’t paid them for a number of years and is effectively squatting on the berth. Further on in the conversation I was told “We would be delighted if she removed from the Thames as she has been an eyesore for a number of years. Year in year out we are more and more concerned with her deteriorating condition as she could potentially become a navigational hazard.” I will be going down to see the vessel next week to see her present condition, and try to meet with Mr Jegede, as it seems he no longer resides in France. I will keep you informed Kind regards Mart
Thanks for posting this John. Which forum was it taken from? The photos i have just posted by Dave Wood are dated 13/1/10 and the fwd view shows her still on the bottom? I do hope something can be done by the PLA to put pressure on the owner or to get people involved to save her. I guess at the moment,being on a drying berth, its about the best place for her. Look forward to anymore details/updates.
That post is from Martin. Things are in place to "contact" James shortly. Martin and I are visiting the ship again in a couple of weeks to take some shots of the engine room. There is some hope to get her back up here again, I can assure you
She would have to come back on a barge. A possible site once she is watertight would be Stanley Dock (assuming that the lifting bridge on the dock road will be able to lift when those good friends of our heritage Peel Holdings have repaired it) As far as I know Stanley Dock belongs to British Waterways & is beyond the clutches of Peel.
Wirral businessman’s bid to save Liverpool's Royal Iris
A BUSINESSMAN has revealed he is in negotiations with the owner of the Royal Iris to buy the much-loved historic former ferry.
Known as the “fish and chip” boat, the Royal Iris has lain derelict on the Thames for the last eight years.
The ECHO revealed how she had become flooded on high tides and was in a sorry state.
But the Wirral businessman – who wishes to remain anonymous while negotiations continue – said he hoped to bring the boat back to the Mersey.
He said: “It is not a selfish thing and if others want to become involved they are welcome – but I have spent several years trying to convince the owner of the Royal Iris to sell her to me.
“I visited her again last week and some people had actually repaired the hull so she does not take on water during the high tides.
“As far as I know, they have not been paid for the work, but just did it because they had heard about the state of the vessel.
“Structurally, internally, she is relatively sound, but externally the years have taken their toll.
“I have had quotes for repairing her and towing her to the Mersey, and there are others who would help in this.”
He said if the Royal Iris can be brought back, he hopes to set up a not-for-profit organisation to oversee repairing the boat and allowing her to cruise the Mersey again.
The one-time Mersey ferry is in a perilous state on a mud bank in the Thames and had been taking in water.
Some pics of the Fish & Chip Boat in her 50s heyday.
Amazing shots in the previous post. Those "RM" boards are still there. I presumed all along that the "RM" stood for River Mersey
Who says this site isn't educational?
Also, just a small correction. The two photos captioned 'Main Bar' in my previous post should of course say 'Smoke Room Bar'- the bar as built was obviously slightly different from the one depicted in the concept drawing. I have some photos of the main Cocktail Bar somewhere if I can find them & get around to scanning them.