Plymouth Boat Cruises

The Plymouth Boat Cruises was an excursion boat operator on the River Tamar in South Devon. It was started in 1981, in competition with Millbrook Steamboat & Trading Co Ltd. In 1985 the Millbrook company withdrew from the Tamar, and several of its vessels were transferred to Plymouth Boat Cruises. In 2005 the company was taken over by .^[1]

Fleet List[]

Name	Built	Company Service
	1921	1981–2005
MV Plymouth Venturer	1982	1982–2003
	1925	1985–2000
	1929	1985–1987
MV Eastern Belle	1946	1985 - 1985
MV Totnes Castle	1949	1985–2005
MV Plymouth Belle	1961	2003–2005

The 1985 Reshuffle[]

In 1985 Dart Pleasure Craft - owners of the Millbrook Steamboat & Trading Co Ltd decided to withdraw from the River Tamar, mainly due to competition with Plymouth Boat Cruises. The Cremyll Ferry was taken over by a new operator: Tamar Cruising / Cremyll Ferry. Some vessels eventually were sold to G.H. Riddalls and Sons. In the process of all of these changes the fleets of all five companies underwent many changes, which are listed below

Name	Pre-'85 Operator	Post-'85 Operator	'87 Situation	Notes
MV Plymouth Princess	Plymouth Boat Cruises	Plymouth Boat Cruises	Plymouth Boat Cruises
MV Plymouth Venturer	Plymouth Boat Cruises	Plymouth Boat Cruises	Plymouth Boat Cruises
MV Totnes Castle	Dart Pleasure Craft	Plymouth Boat Cruises	Plymouth Boat Cruises
MV My Queen	Dart Pleasure Craft	Plymouth Boat Cruises	GH Riddalls
	Dart Pleasure Craft	Tamar Cruising	Tamar Cruising
	Dart Pleasure Craft	Dart Pleasure Craft	Dart Pleasure Craft
MV Dartmouth Castle	Dart Pleasure Craft	Dart Pleasure Craft	Dart Pleasure Craft	Spent some time operating for Millbrook Steamboat & Trading Co.
MV Western Belle	Millbrook Steamboat	Dart Pleasure Craft	Dart Pleasure Craft	Operating on the Dart since 1984
MV Cardiff Castle	Millbrook Steamboat	Dart Pleasure Craft	Dart Pleasure Craft
MV Edgecumbe Belle	Millbrook Steamboat	Dart Pleasure Craft	Dart Pleasure Craft
MV Plymouth Belle	Millbrook Steamboat	Dart Pleasure Craft	Dart Pleasure Craft
MV Eastern Belle	Millbrook Steamboat	Plymouth Boat Cruises	GH Riddalls	Operating on the Dart from 1984. Renamed Totnes Princess by Riddalls
MV Southern Belle	Millbrook Steamboat	Plymouth Boat Cruises	Plymouth Boat Cruises
	Millbrook Steamboat	Tamar Cruising	Tamar Cruising
			Tamar Cruising	Built 1987
	GH Riddalls	GH Riddalls	GH Riddalls
MV Dartmothian	GH Riddalls	GH Riddalls	GH Riddalls

^ Kittridge,A. Steamers & Ferries of the River Tamar & Three Towns District, Twelveheads Press, 2003

[Tamar-1] Kittridge,A. Steamers & Ferries of the River Tamar & Three Towns District, Twelveheads Press, 2003

[1]