Postcard of the Month: January 2024
/Worthing Belle leaving Littlehampton
This is a White & Son card, posted in August 1909, and probably photographed a few years earlier. The excellent picture features some good details of the vessel, including the bridge and steering position behind the funnel. She is positioned by the Nelson steps, with the pub of that name showing behind the mast, and is possibly in the process of loading passengers. The signs on the wall of the building show ‘Lambert and Norris, noted Arundel Ales’ as the brewer. The entrance to the building to the left is labelled the ‘Commercial Hotel’.
The Nelson was originally named the Victory Inn in 1840, the name being changed later to the ‘Nelson and Victory’. When the building was rebuilt around the original structure in 1897, it became ‘The Nelson’.
For more pictures and details of the Worthing Belle, see the entry in the Vessels section under Steam Vessels. Her skipper, Capt. James Trenance, can been found in the Characters section.