Queensferry Passage

www.QueensferryPassage.co.uk

Welcome to this web site which contains details of the ferries which operated on the Firth of Forth on the route called the Queensferry Passage. The ferries operated between North Queensferry and South Queensferry. The route going back as far as the 11th century in the times of Queen Margaret. This site however concentrates on the ferries which operated between 1934 & 1964. Many of the items displayed in this site were in the possession of the late Captain John Penny who was the Master of the Sir William Wallace.
Capt. John Penny was employed on the ferries from 1946 and was a Master of the largest vessel in the fleet from 1955.

Four ferries operated this route -
	Robert the Bruce	(Built 1934)
	Queen Margaret	(Built 1934)
	Mary Queen Of Scots	(Built 1949)
	Sir William Wallace	(Built 1956)

	The Sir William Wallace was the newest and largest of the 4 ferries which operated on this route. Her Passenger Certificate shows she was authorised to carry 500 passengers and 6 crew. The Gross tonnage was 277.
	The Captain's Pilotage Certificate shows it gave him the authority to be Master of all 4 ferries.

Some facts regarding each boat:-
Ferry	Built	Length	Width	Tonnage	Engines	Passengers/Cars
Robert The Bruce	1934	149 ft	28 ft	228	Paxman	500/28
Queen Margaret	1934	148 ft	28 ft	228	Paxman	500/28
Mary Queen of Scots	1949	150 ft	28 ft	230	Crossley Bros Ltd	500/35
Sir William Wallace	1956	161.5 ft	30 ft	277	Crossley Bros Ltd	500/40

The ferries only had a draught of approximately 4 ft 6 inches which made them difficult to manoeuvre in high winds. Newspaper articles record how the ferries on occasions ran aground during gales. The number of times this occurred however was relatively few. Their service speed was 8 knots and the 6 crew consisted of a Captain, Mate, Engineer, Ticket Clerk and two Deckhands. Despite high winds, sea fog and the occasional breakdown the ferries ran at a 99.97% efficiency. The ferries were making 40,000 trips a year and carrying 900,000 vehicles. This compares with the Forth Road Bridge which had 4 Million crossings in its first year and currently has 24 Million crossings.

The ferries only had a draught of approximately 4 ft 6 inches which made them difficult to manoeuvre in high winds. Newspaper articles record how the ferries on occasions ran aground during gales. The number of times this occurred however was relatively few. Their service speed was 8 knots and the 6 crew consisted of a Captain, Mate, Engineer, Ticket Clerk and two Deckhands. Despite high winds, sea fog and the occasional breakdown the ferries ran at a 99.97% efficiency.
The ferries were making 40,000 trips a year and carrying 900,000 vehicles. This compares with the Forth Road Bridge which had 4 Million crossings in its first year and currently has 24 Million crossings.

	The Robert The Bruce was the first all welded vessel as well as the first with diesel-electric paddles. All the ferries were built by William Denny & Brothers Ltd who also operated the Queensferry Passage. Maurice Denny championed the expansion of the ferry service in the 1930s, providing and operating two additional ferries on behalf of the London and North Eastern Railway that aimed to supplement the services of the adjacent railway bridge. Their success allowed for the addition of two more craft in the 1940s and 1950s.

	Details of the Paxman engines used on the Robert The Bruce & Queen Margaret have kindly been supplied by Richard Carr. A summary of the information available can be viewed at the links aside.

The information booklet showing the Sailing Times and Charges make interesting reading. Charges were very detailed, vehicles being charged based on the size of the engine or Horse Power. There was also charges for Horses, but Stallions were nearly 4 times more expensive to transport. Lorries were based on weight and a separate charge is noted for Hearses, extra being charged if carrying a corpse.

Details of how some of the charges changed can be found at this link.

	Queensferry Passage Uniform Badge.

	On display are the tickets used for Juvenile & Adult fares. A ticket used for vehicles can also be viewed, note the date on the ticket 03-09-1964, the day before the ferries stopped running. It must have been one of the last tickets printed.

	A schedule shows the timings of the summer (1964) sailings, also how the sailings would be adjusted if one of the vessels required repair or if there was fog. The names of the captains are listed, which includes Captain Tom Penny, brother of Captain John Penny.

		The uniform jacket worn by the Captains can be viewed here.

	The Captains were invited to an annual dinner at the Hawes Inn at South Queensferry, the invitations for 1959 & 1960 are shown.

	Flag from the Sir William Wallace, actual length 12 feet.

The ferries last carried passengers on 04-09-1964. A revised time table & protocols had to be followed on that day.			The closure of the Queensferry Passage and the opening of the Forth Road Bridge was a huge occasion for the men who worked on the ferries. To ensure their families were given an opportunity to view the formalities passes were issued.

The ferries last ran on the 04-09-1964, there fate after this was:-
Robert The Bruce	Scrapped at P & W McLellan at Boness in 1965.
Mary Queen of Scots	Scrapped at T W Ward at Inverkeithing in 1965.
Queen Margaret	Scrapped at T W Ward at Inverkeithing in 1965.
Sir William Wallace	Scrapped 1970 in Ghent after carrying cargo on the river Ljsselmeer.

	To celebrate the opening of the bridge First Day Covers were produced. These two were written by Captain John Penny to his son.

	Newspaper archives plot the history of the ferries, articles from 1939 are reproduced, these having been discovered with the help of "Google News"

	The ferries were built by Denny, Dumbarton, booklets produced by the company covering the years 1951 - 1955 contains details of the Mary Queen of Scots and the 1956 - 1960 booklet, the Sir William Wallace.

	The ships compasses were tested for accuracy as can be seen by this certificate.
Lifeboat certificate issued in 1954.

The ships compasses were tested for accuracy as can be seen by this certificate.

Lifeboat certificate issued in 1954.

	Gallery, miscellaneous photographs of the ferries, their crew. (Any visitor to this site that has photographs of the ferries that could be used on this site please contact me using the e mail link below.)

	Two superb models of the Sir William Wallace have been built by Eddy Matthews, the models are to a scale of 1:43 & 1:32. A Gallery of the models can be viewed by using the link aside.

	Videos of the ferries have been found on the internet, links to these are included on a separate page.

Although this 1896 map is strictly not connected with the ferries covered by this web site, it may be of interest to some as it relates to North Queensferry.

	Detail from captain's uniform.

If you wish to contact the creator of this site please e-mail: - dennis@queensferrypassage.co.uk

		Site Created & Designed by Dennis Penny Web Site Created 08-05-2010 (c) 2010 www.Queensferrypassage.co.uk

		Please visit www.PennyPictures.co.uk where you can view photographs on a variety of subjects taken by amateur photographer Dennis Penny.