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Medway Queen Preservation Society
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    • About MQPS
    • 2021 Work program
    • Membership & Donations
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    • Online Shop
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  • News

For Amusement only

27/2/2021

 
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We have added three online jigsaw puzzles to our activity pages. They are based on an external website (jigsaw explorer) and all you have to do is follow the link from our site.

You can set the difficulty to suit your level of interest and time available.
Activity Arcade
More will be added later.
ENJOY!

Railway Wagon News

23/2/2021

 
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​The latest batch of commemorative 00 railway wagons arrived just as the last N gauge model from last year was being shipped. No chance of forgetting where the Post Office is!

​The new wagon is another cooperative venture with the General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration Society and is now available with 2 different coloured containers as seen here.
click for 00 wagon details
Other wagon news:
All N gauge models have now sold out. A new "General Steam Navigation" van is scheduled for August
There are only a very small number of 00 "Dunkirk" vans remaining at Gillingham. 

The wagons have done well this year with 2 batches of 00 (one shared with GSNLRS) and one in N gauge virtually all gone in record time, despite Covid. Thank you all for this ongoing support.

Work Programme 2021

2/2/2021

 
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Above: "The empty Deck"
Photo: Mick Appleyard

​The Medway Queen Preservation Society is planning an ambitious development program for 2021. Even though much of the work will be undertaken by the society’s volunteer teams the total cost is expected to be in the region of £45000.
We are, of course, at the mercy of a range of unpredictable factors including the Covid restrictions and, as always, the weather! No doubt other such factors will come out of hiding as we progress. As much of this programme as possible will be completed in 2021, any remainder being tackled the following year.
​The plan includes a temporary move to Ramsgate in the summer where the ship will be put on the slipway for overdue hull maintenance and painting; as originally planned for last year. If circumstances permit we will organise an open event in some form while the ship is there.
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1984

17/1/2021

 
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In April 1984 the Medway Queen was towed from Binfield down to Cowes and loaded onto a salvage pontoon for the journey back to Medway.

We have some photos of the operation on file and those have been used in our publications but earlier this month we were surprised and pleased to receive more, taken from a different viewpoint.

Thanks to Jonty Parkes for sending on the images; taken by his Grandmother, Mary Gidlow, on Kingston Wharf, Cowes.
Do you remember the Medway Queen Club on the Isle of Wight? This chapter of her story is covered in our comprehensive history of the ship, "The Medway Queen", and in the 50th anniversary book "The Medway Queen Club".  Both available from our online shop.
Online shopping
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2020 Roundup

3/1/2021

 
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We wish all our supporters a very happy and prosperous New Year.

​Although 2020 hasn’t lived up to our original expectations it has been far from a total write-off. The aft saloon looks fantastic, the purser’s cabin has been constructed and the promenade deck over-plated to keep the rain out. The big project missed from the technical side is, of course, the hull painting and that will now be scheduled for 2021. The need is only too obvious in recent photos. The board and workshop team are now looking to plan a program for 2021 but Covid is still there and who can tell how long the restrictions will remain or what their impact might be.

Financially we have had less income than expected with the loss of visitor income and cancellation of the Ramsgate expedition, but we have had good support from Medway Council and our members and regular supporters. Membership income has risen this year which is certainly good news. There have been some grants and bequests although we did not qualify for most Covid support schemes because of our relatively secure financial state. Expenditure has been down, largely because we’ve done less on the ship, but that at least compensates for the drop in income for the short term anyway.

On the PR side we “lost” Ramsgate of course, although we made South East TV news (in good ways) on two separate occasions, and Medway Queen featured in an Antiques Road Trip episode in the autumn. There have been few events that we could attend – none since the lockdowns started and Mark and Pam’s illustrated talks are on hold. We switched what activity we could to our online effort and that resulted in the award of “Regional Flagship 2020” by National Historic Ships UK. A definite virtual “feather in the cap” for our ship!

Medway Queen West (Reading Support Group) have scraped together contributions totalling £3290 in 2020. This figure includes £510 in donations and membership applications forwarded which will qualify for around £125 in GiftAid. Sales of railway wagons and the Dunkirk book accounted for the majority of the sales profit for the group since Covid restrictions resulted in only 3 days of shows attended (in February and March).
 
The 00 wagons issued in February and April have all sold out except for a few “Dunkirk” vans still held at the Visitor Centre, the N gauge issue in August has also sold well with only about a dozen remaining. The “Memories of Dunkirk” book published early in 2020 passed the break-even point inside two months and has already realised real profits for the society; as well as being a great PR success.
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Medway Queen Preservation Society
Gillingham Pier
Pier Approach Road
Gillingham, Kent
ME7 1RX
Tel: 44 (0) 1634 575717

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New Medway Steam Packet Company Ltd    Registered Company No. 2100358      Charity No. 296236   
  • Home
  • MQPS
    • About MQPS
    • 2021 Work program
    • Membership & Donations
    • Volunteers
    • The Team
    • Full Ahead
    • Talks and Presentations
    • Medway Queen - West
    • NHS-UK
    • General Steam Navigation
    • HMS Medway
  • Visit and Contact
    • Virtual Tour
    • Pier Activity Arcade
    • Medway Queen Events
  • History
  • Shopping
    • Online Shop
    • Memories of Dunkirk
    • MQ Models
    • Railway Wagons - 00 Gauge
    • Railway Wagons - N Gauge
  • News