The Somerset & Dorset Railway - Shipping & Ferry Services

The S&D shipping fleet operated from Highbridge Wharf. Most of the shipping was used for the transportation of goods between South Wales and Highbridge for onward transportation by rail. Goods included steel rail for use by the S&D and L&SWR, timber and also agricultural and dairy goods from various Somerset and Dorset locations along the S&D lines.
Besides the vessels listed below, the S&D chartered numerous other ships, one of these, the s.s. Terrier was lost with all hands on the 14th of October 1877 on the Swansea to Highbridge service.

Along with other operators, the S&D also operated passenger ferry services from the pier at Burnham to Cardiff. These started on the 3rd of May 1858, being run by a subsidiary company, The Burnham Tidal Harbour Company, sharing offices and officials with the Somerset Central Railway. These services continued until 1888.

In the summer of 1865 a service to Cherbourg was put into operation using the s.s. Albion, on loan from P.L.Henderson of Liverpool. The service continued in 1866, sailing on Mondays & Thursdays at 12:30pm. This connected with the 8:05am from Burnham, arriving in Poole at 12:05pm, with the crossing to Cherbourg taking a further six hours.
In August of the same year the service was suspended as it had been operating at a loss.

In 1933 the Somerset & Dorset's shipping interests were wound up, with the remaining two vessels, the s.s.Julia and s.s.Radstock, being disposed of.
Non railway owned ships carried on using the wharf until it was closed on the 2nd of November 1964. The wharf sidings were finally closed on May the 16th 1965.

Poster advertising an excursion trip on the 'Sherbo', the S&D's largest ship that ran on the Burnham to Cardiff route between 1884 and 1888. Built in 1880, she was 239 tons gross weight and carried cattle and various market produce as well as passengers

YEAR BOUGHT	VESSEL'S NAME	DESCRIPTION	BUILT	TONS (GROSS)	OWNER	FATE
1860	Ruby	Passenger Iron Paddler	1854 - Renfrew	155	Burnham Tidal Harbour Co.	Run aground at Burnham in 1860, repaired & then sold in 1864
1863	Defiance	Passenger Iron Paddler	1856 - Glasgow	150	Burnham Tidal Harbour Co.	Scrap 1871
1864	Heather Bell	Passenger Iron Paddler	1858 - Glasgow	152	Burnham Tidal Harbour Co.	Sold 1867
1866	George Reed	Passenger Iron Screw	1866 - Cubitt Town	170	George Reed for the BTH Co.	Sold 1867
1873	Railway	Wood Ketch	1855 -Strood	59	S&D	Wrecked at Cardiff in 1866
1873	Julia	Wood Ketch	1863 - Milton, Kent	69	S&D	Sold 1904
1873	Richard and Emily	Wood Ketch	1862 - Lewes	82	S&D	Sank off Nash Light in 1886
1874	Leopard	Iron Screw	1861 - Bristol	67	S&DJR	Scrap 1890
1879	Alpha	Iron Screw	1877 - Maryhill	82*	S&DJR	Scrap 1925
1884	Sherbro	Passenger Wood Paddler	1870 - Cowes	239	S&DJR	Sold 1888
1904	Julia	Steel Screw	1904 - Woolston	197	S&DJR	Scrap 1934
1925	Radstock	Steel Screw	1925 - Saltney	195	S&DJR	Sold 1934

* Note: Alpha was twice lengthened, in 1884 and 1905.
Gross tonnages were 94 and 111 respectively.

DATES RUN	NAME	DESCRIPTION	BUILT	TONS	OWNER
1858 - 1860	Taliesin	Wood Paddler	1842	158	Cardiff Steam Navigation Co.
1860 - 1863	Ruby	Iron Paddler	1854	155	Burnham Tidal Harbour Co.
1863 - 1871	Defiance	Iron Paddler	1856	150	Burnham Tidal Harbour Co.
1864 - 1867	Heather Bell	Iron Paddler	1858	152	Burnham Tidal Harbour Co.
1866 - 1867	George Reed	Iron Screw	1866	170	George Reed (for the BTH Co.)
1871 - 1879	Flora	Iron Paddler	1851	119	F.C.Winby / H.Cousins, Cardiff
1879 - 1884	The Lady Mary	Iron Paddler	1868	179	John Boyle, Cardiff
1884 - 1888	Sherbro	Wood Paddler	1870	239	S&DJR

Other vessels were chartered from time to time whilst the regular ships were being overhauled