There was a rare and wonderful sight on southern coastal waters on both Sunday 3 September and Monday 4 September when two heritage steamships, both built in Scotland and today forming part of the National Historic Fleet, met up with one another off of Bournemouth and the Solent.



Southampton based Steamship Shieldhall was staying in Poole for one week and returning to her home port after visiting the Bournemouth Air Festival, whilst Paddle Steamer Waverley was enjoying part of her three-week long sailing programme in the south of England.



The two steamships put on a great show for their respective guests on board, with sounding of steam whistles and sirens as the two vessels met up. A number of vessels accompanied Shieldhall and Waverley as they steamed alongside one another for approximately one hour, with the weather providing perfect conditions for the planned rendezvous. There was fabulous customer feedback and recognition of a special moment as the two ships (with a combined age of 144 years) bade each other a fond farewell, again with a resounding session of steam whistle tooting!