Geograph - photograph every grid square

Britain's largest operational preserved steamship is seen heading for the Bournemouth Air Festival with Sandbanks in the background. Shieldhall was built for sewage sludge disposal and was used initially on the Clyde and then on the Solent into the 1980s. She is powered by a pair of inverted vertical triple expansion engines, each of 800 horsepower with steam produced by a pair of Scotch boilers with forced draught and oil firing.

To travel on this vessel is a special delight for any steam and/or ship enthusiast as access is allowed to the engine room, boiler room and bridge while under way. There are very few opportunities for this level of access in the UK and the experience of a large steam ship's engine room while going full steam ahead has to be experienced to be believed. This vessel deserves as much public support as can be mustered as operation is expensive but too valuable and educational to be lost without a fight.

See - Link for more information.