Facebook Discussion
History of the Group
John Rowley’s Account
If you would like to contribute to the discussions on The Duke, swap and share stories and pictures then please join the Facebook Group at
The Appreciation Society happened due to a number of people all getting together on a BBC discussion forum. The history can be found here
This website details the history of The Ship. John Rowley has separately documented his continued legal fight with the council and can be found here.
On August 10th, 1979, a former Sealink passenger ferry called the "Duke of Lancaster" was beached in North Wales with the intention of turning it into a floating leisure and retail complex but the project never achieved it’s full potential. Make no bones about it, until it was converted into a car ferry, this was one of the finest vessels afloat at the time. The first class quarters in the late fifties and early sixties were the best around, silver service restaurants, state rooms and luxurious cabins. In fact, the facilities and the accommodation on board Lancaster were so good she was frequently taken out of her usual ferry service and used as a cruise liner with frequent annual cruises around Scotland, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. If you are interested in providing information for this site then please contact us.
