Steam Boat
Formosa
In 1909 Crossfields built Formosa a 50 foot long passenger steam launch for Windermere. She could accommodate 60 passengers.
Boat statistics
- Built
- 1909
- Length Over All
- 50 ft (15.24 m)
Introduction
Formosa was towed by traction engine from Arnside to Bowness-on-Windermere. She was seen off by members of the Crossfield family wearing their Sunday best at Easter 1909.
Formosa is an old name for Taiwan. “Ilha Formosa” in Portuguese means “Beautiful Island”. It could be a play on words on “Belle Isle” which lies off Bowness. There was also Formosa a P&O liner built in Barrow which have impounded by Russian navy on the suspicion of carrying contraband during the Russian-Japanese War in 1904. P&O Formosa was scrapped in 1909.
Full History
Build at Arnside
Formosa was built by William Crossfield and Sons at their Beach Walk Boatyard on the shore for William Robinson, a Bowness Boat Proprietor. She must have been a major investment for William Robinson.
Launch at Bowness-on-Windermere
Formosa was launched into Windermere on Saturday 17th April 1909. Easter was the previous weekend. She was backed into the water by a traction engine.
1909 - 1914 Pre World War I
Initially Formosa operated by William Robinson from a jetty on the north side of the Steamer Pier, where rowing boats were kept.
The hydro plane in the above photo is thought to be false, though the first hydro plane on Windermere took off in November 1911.
The below photograph shows William Robinson’s kiosk at Bowness Bay with an advertisement for a cruise on S.Y. Formosa. The steam boat offered cruises to Ambleside returning on the west side of the lake via Pull Wyke Bay, Wray Castle and the islands
1920s and 30s Post World War I
It is thought that Formosa continued to operate on Windermere in the 1920s and 1930s, possibly with a new petrol engine and extended cabin. Passenger launches as at present operated from then new piers on the south side of the Steamer Pier.