Last sea-going paddle steamer returns to East Sussex
The world's last sea-going paddle steamer is set to return to the East Sussex coast for the first time in 22 years.
PS Waverley - which was first launched in 1946 - will dock at Eastbourne Pier on Thursday at 15:00 BST.
It is scheduled to take pier visitors on a cruise to Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters, returning to the pier at 17:30.
A civic delegation is set to join the journey, including mayors of East Sussex councils.
The oil-fired steamship replaced an earlier PS Waverley that was lost during the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.
It first entered service with the London and North Eastern Railway Clyde paddle steamer fleet, before being owned by Caledonian MacBrayne.
After it was withdrawn from active service, it was gifted to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society for £1 in 1974.
UK tours are now run by Waverley Excursions Ltd.
Tim Wardley, national chairman of the National Piers Society, said that alongside the Waverley, "the magic of nostalgia travel and the opportunity of yesteryear cruising" was also returning to Eastbourne.
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