Appeal launched for £30,000 to keep Yorkshire's last pleasure cruiser, the Yorkshire Belle, afloat

The Yorkshire Belle, built in Beverley in 1947, is now the only vessel of her type and size operating off the East Coast.

The vessel takes visitors on one-hour trips to Flamborough Head, as well as extended cruises to the Bempton Bird Sanctuary where tens of thousands of seabirds gather to breed every year in an amazing noisy spectacle.

Her owners decided to suspend sailing this year for the first time in 73 years because of the coronavirus restrictions.

Had she sailed, owner of 39 years Peter Richardson says they would still have been out of pocket because they would have only been able to carry a quarter of the normal number of passengers.

The earliest they can sail again is next Easter, but bills they've incurred in the last 12 months still need paying and they need £30,000 to be able to operate.

Even though she hasn't sailed this season, the Yorkshire Belle still has to come out of the water for maintenance to comply with Department of Transport regulations.

Mr Richardson, who works with his son Sam, has one full-time crew member, who has been furloughed.

"Maintenance is a large part but there are bills like insurance, harbour dues, that sort of thing," he said.

“I just want to keep this tradition carrying on. If the Yorkshire Belle goes from Bridlington it will be the end of a long tradition.

"Where they used to be five large pleasure cruisers she is the last.

"A lot of people have affection for her - she is the only vessel capable of taking people from Bridlington to see the largest seabird colony in England.

“We do a lot of work with the RSPB and they are very keen to see us carry on."

The vessel was built at Cook, Welton & Gemmell's shipyard at Beverley and of the 1,300 ships manufactured there Yorkshire Belle is the only one which is still doing the job she was originally built for.

Mr Richardson said he was sure if she was sold she would end up going away from Bridlington and would probably be converted into a houseboat - which was the fate of the Flamborian, which operated sea cruises from Bridlington until 1997.

Two years ago, the Regal Lady stopped taking passengers out of Scarborough. She is now a floating Dunkirk museum.

In the first 24 hours more than £3,000 was raised towards the £30,000 target.

Mr Richardson said: "We know she has a very big and loyal following, even so we are surprised at people's generosity."

The appeal is on gofundme