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She was once the place to be seen for those wanting a romantic meal, or to dance the night away on the Isle of Wight. But now the former paddle steamer Ryde Queen is in a sorry state, still where she moored after her final journey in 1970. Built in 1936, she was one of two identical paddle steamers commissioned by the Southern Railway. During the war she became HMS Ryde, working as a minesweeper and was part of the D-Day flotilla at Omaha Beach. After her sister PS Sandown was scrapped, Ryde became one of the last remaining coal fired paddle steamers in the UK. 80 years on from her launch on St Georges Day in 1937, she is facing certain demolition unless a last minute benefactor can be found to save her, as 麻豆社 Radio Solent's Neil Sackley reports.
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