Volume Eight - Pre-Victorian to the present day - more aspects - Sea Breezes Article 1989 - 'Boyhood Days on the Bristol Channel' . . .

It is only recently that I have taken more than a passing interest in marine engines, particularly steam propulsion plant, and I now wonder what type of engine the 'Ravenswood' had in her. All I can remember is that the machinery was impressive and that it could be seen in operation through the large windows cut into the engine room trunking for that purpose.

Aboard the 'Ravenswood' passing beneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge in 1952. Her master, Captain George Gunn, keeps a watchful eye from the starboard bridge wing. (Seaton Phillips) from the book 'White Funnels' by the gifted historian Chris Collard. [099]

Steam was, I think, supplied by one single-ended Scotch boiler having three furnaces. I once tried my hand at firing this boiler but soon realised that it was not for me when the shovel hit the furnace door, leaving me with jarred wrists and coal scattered over the stockhold plates. Those firemen were marvelous, they could pitch a shovelful of coal anywhere in the furnace. Firing a boiler must be an acquired art!