Underfall Blog – Introducing P&A Campbell

P&A Campbell was a paddle steamer business which occupied Underfall Yard’s Big Shed and Knuckle in the early 20^th century. Volunteer writer Dave Duggan has been researching the company and exploring its impact on the local area. Keep an eye out for more articles on Underfall Yard’s fascinating features, as well as its working history…

The brothers Peter and Alexander Campbell started their Bristol based paddle steamer business in 1887.  Over the next 69 years, their fleet of paddle steamers provided leisure cruises and ferry services from Bristol to destinations in Somerset, Devon, South Wales, along the South coast and across to France.   For many of those years, No’s 1, 2 and 3 Britannia Buildings in the Cumberland Basin were the Company’s HQ and nearby Underfall Yard was used for repairing and maintaining the paddle steamer fleet.

The Campbell family had operated shipping services in Scotland since the mid 1800’s, but with competition from railways on the Scottish east coast they moved to Bristol aiming to find better business opportunities. This began with successfully chartering the Waverley to the Bristol Channel Marine Excursion Company in 1887. After setting up a Limited Company backed by local investors in 1893, their “White Funnel “fleet of paddle steamers grew rapidly to reach thirteen by 1914.

During those years the “White Funnel Fleet” became well known for its popular pleasure trips and ferry services. Operating out of Bristol, Cardiff, and Newport to the coastal resorts of Penarth, Barry, Tenby, Weston, Clevedon, Clovelly, and Ilfracombe their paddle steamers carried tens of thousands of passengers each year. A typical P&A Campbell timetable for July 1913 shows daily trips from the Hotwells landing stage using nine steamers to multiple destinations along the Bristol Channel coasts.

The pleasure trips typically ran between May and October with the paddle steamers mooring on the quaysides of Bristol’s floating harbour during the off season. The well known “Campbell Buoy”, which can still be seen near the Harbour Master’s office at Underfall Yard, was also frequently used for mooring. The paddle steamers required annual maintenance, but accidents and engine problems meant repairs were frequently necessary. Steamers occasionally ran aground in the Avon and elsewhere and collisions happened with other vessels, landing piers and sand banks. These incidents all required repairs.

During the pre-WW1 period, the maintenance and repairs were probably carried out by ship repair businesses in the Floating Harbour, such as Charles Hill & Son using their dry dock facility which was large enough to accommodate Campbell steamers. Other ship repair facilities were used in Cardiff and Newport.

From the 1920’s to 1956, P&A Campbell leased premises in Underfall Yard, principally for use as workshops in connection with the maintenance and repair of the company’s fleet of passenger steamers. Underfall Yard’s “Big Shed” was used by the Campbells as a machine shop. The Big Shed was among the workshops devastated by the fire in May 2023. The old boiler room and the outside area known as the “Knuckle” are thought to have been used as a foundry. Those areas now form part of the Visitor Centre and Café.

As well as the continuing repair and maintenance activity, eight patents were submitted between 1913 and 1923 by a P&A Campbell subsidiary called “Campbell and Banks”. These patents referred to the design of piston rings. Advertising material produced by “Campbell and Banks” show Underfall Yard as the address for a business described as manufacturing and supplying specially designed piston rings to improve engine efficiency.

By 1956 P&A Campbell were struggling financially. Passenger numbers were declining and the majority of passengers were boarding on the Welsh side of the estuary. So the decision was taken to move their HQ to Cardiff  and the “maritime engineering”  business based in Underfall Yard was sold to Charles Hill & Sons Ltd for £5,500 ( £1,228,500 in 2023 money) . The Port of Bristol Authority then granted Charles Hill & Sons a 21 year lease for the facilities in Underfall Yard previous leased by P&A Campbell.

Do you have memories of the Yard? If you or a family member worked at Underfall Yard in the past, including P&A Campbell or Campbell and Banks in the 1950s, Underfall Yard Trust would like to hear from you about your experiences. Email an email to info@underfallyard.co.uk or give us a ring at 0117 929 3250.

This article was written by volunteer Dave Duggan and reviewed by Underfall Yard Trust. Click here to read more about the Yard’s volunteering program.

The Recovery and Reinstatement Project is now underway after the fire in May 2023. Click here to read more and find out how to support the project…