British Transport Ships, late 1950s

AN EXTREMELY fine original vintage poster by Charles King showing 21 passenger ferries and other vessels operated by the British Transport Commission in the late 1950s. 

Size
102cm x 127cm

Condition
Good. The poster has been stored folded. There is minor wear at margins. If you would like to know more please get in touch. 

Background
From nationalisation in 1948 until reforms in 1963 the British Transport Commission oversaw most of the country’s rail, road freight and ferry services. The range of vessels shown here, which probably dates from 1957-1960, is something like the pride of the company’s fleet: passenger ferries from Irish Sea, Channel and North Sea services, some of them newly-built, as well as smaller vessels that served the Isle of Wight, Skye, and across the Humber and the Solent, and some tourist vessels. The MV Swan (number 20) still operates on Lake Windermere, and the Loch Lomond paddle steamer Maid of the Loch (17) is being restored. The locomotive at the end of the pier has been identified as an A4. The printer is Waterlow & Sons of London and Dunstable.