The TSS (Twin Screw Steamer) Duke of Lancaster. Once an elegant passenger ferry and cruise ship commanding the seas around the British Isles and North-West Europe, but the former railway steamer has spent the last 30 years rusting away by the North Wales coast. Other than those littering the ocean floor, it’s unusual for ageing vessels to escape scrappage in this day and age, and with a few notable exceptions the Duke of Lancaster is one of the last survivors of its era, certainly in the UK. Built by Harland & Wolff of Belfast (famed manufacturers of RMS Titanic), Duke of Lancaster was launched in 1956 and served as a passenger ferry on the Heysham-Belfast route, and a cruise ship around the Scottish islands, Scandinavia and Western Europe. Much smaller than grand liners like RMS Queen Mary and configured for more local routes, the ship nevertheless featured a beautifully appointed first and second class interior, some of which reportedly still exists today. With her sister ships TSS Duke of Rothesay and the TSS Duke of Argyll, Duke of Lancaster was one of the last passenger-only steamers built for British Railways, which then operated ferries. But the ship moved with the times and when passenger vessels passed the mantle to car ferries from the mid-1960s, British Railways converted Duke of Lancaster to carry 1,200 passengers and 105 cars, with cabins for 400. While the ship’s service life was increased by more than a decade, the elegant second class lounge accommodation was unfortunately ripped-out during conversion. Retired in 1979 and ending her days docked at Llanerch-y-Mor near Mostyn, Wales, plans to convert the ship to a 300-room hotel failed and TSS Duke of Lancaster was later used as a warehouse by owners Solitaire Liverpool Ltd. Happily, there is an ongoing preservation effort to tell this great ship’s history and ensure its survival, as well as a Facebook group currently boasting 1,117 members, and the ship has become a canvas for wall art of a different kind. The 'DuDug Collective' are an international group of artists who are part of the small team that fight to keep the ship upright and against the constant efforts to have it dismantled and taken away. The intention was to turn it into a floating leisure and retail complex called the ‘Fun Ship’, but the project never achieved its full potential due to many long running legal disputes with the local council. Now the duke is guarded 24/7, but luckily you can get close enough when the tide goes out to sneak a few shots in before security come running. Once you get chatting to them, however they are more than happy to let you know a bit about the history of the place before reminding you to get on your way. A market once stood here once a week both on the shop and adjacent to it along the water before the council shut it down due to lack of emergency service routes. At the very least it now serves as a striking contrast to an otherwise mundane landscape, and brings people from miles around to witness its unique charm.
