Visit:
With rumours of its impending Dismantling, I wanted to pay this beast one last visit. We came here in 2015, and to be fair it was pretty trashed then so I wasn't expecting much. Its a lot more flooded now, the lower decks completely inaccessible - but Its a decent explore if for nothing else than nostalgia. Sadly I had no sun or cloud movement so I had to bin off the video lapse footage, and some of the photos were taken with my action cam so I realise the quality of some of the photos is poor. I included a video tour of the pleasure boat when it was up and running, if you do get down to see it - watch that first, it will make a better explore. Access is always amusing for this and the bridge if you do them together, there is a presence of secca on the more recent visit which I thought was odd so it took a bit of a mission to get on before sunrise. I have to confess it was a little sad exploring it, this site from the pinnacle of its hayday to now has to be one of the most drastic transformations I have seen in the Urbex world.
History:
The Tuxedo Royale (ex-TSS Dover) is a former turbine steamship, built in 1965 by the British Railway to serve as a car ferry. During the course of her service she was renamed twice; first in 1977 to Earl Siward, and again in 1982 to the Sol Express when she was transformed into a Mediterranean passenger ship. In September 1983, however, the Sol Express was involved in a rescue operation, amid armed conflict between Lebanese Christian soldiers and Muslim Militia.
By 1993, her name changed once more, to the Tuxedo Royale, as she was converted into a floating nightclub; the second of two.
For much of her life the Tuxedo Royale was moored in Middlesbrough, on the River Tees, although she briefly served in Newcastle upon Tyne whilst the sister ship "The Tuxedo Princess" was temporarily moved to Glasgow. A local Tyneside businessman and owner of the popular Tuxedo Junction nightclub in Newcastle, named Michael Quadrini, developed the idea and successfully put the initiative into operation. By 2005, though, it was rumoured that Middlesbrough council had ambitious plans to develop the immediate area around the Tuxedo Royale, and so the vessel was forced to move. Although Quadrini claimed that there were plans to re-launch the nightclub elsewhere, nothing materialised and for a time the Tuxedo Royale was left to rot in the old asbestos contaminated "ghost ship" graveyard in Hartlepool. For some reason or another, some years later she was moved back to the crumbling remains of ABLE Port in Middlesbrough and has since begun to sink in the River Tees, on account of metal thieves.
Documentation:
External:
Decks: Transporter Bridge in background
Disco bar 1 - Club Stowaways
Disco Bar 2 - Partially underwater
Randoms thoughout the office / storage areas
With rumours of its impending Dismantling, I wanted to pay this beast one last visit. We came here in 2015, and to be fair it was pretty trashed then so I wasn't expecting much. Its a lot more flooded now, the lower decks completely inaccessible - but Its a decent explore if for nothing else than nostalgia. Sadly I had no sun or cloud movement so I had to bin off the video lapse footage, and some of the photos were taken with my action cam so I realise the quality of some of the photos is poor. I included a video tour of the pleasure boat when it was up and running, if you do get down to see it - watch that first, it will make a better explore. Access is always amusing for this and the bridge if you do them together, there is a presence of secca on the more recent visit which I thought was odd so it took a bit of a mission to get on before sunrise. I have to confess it was a little sad exploring it, this site from the pinnacle of its hayday to now has to be one of the most drastic transformations I have seen in the Urbex world.
History:
The Tuxedo Royale (ex-TSS Dover) is a former turbine steamship, built in 1965 by the British Railway to serve as a car ferry. During the course of her service she was renamed twice; first in 1977 to Earl Siward, and again in 1982 to the Sol Express when she was transformed into a Mediterranean passenger ship. In September 1983, however, the Sol Express was involved in a rescue operation, amid armed conflict between Lebanese Christian soldiers and Muslim Militia.
By 1993, her name changed once more, to the Tuxedo Royale, as she was converted into a floating nightclub; the second of two.
For much of her life the Tuxedo Royale was moored in Middlesbrough, on the River Tees, although she briefly served in Newcastle upon Tyne whilst the sister ship "The Tuxedo Princess" was temporarily moved to Glasgow. A local Tyneside businessman and owner of the popular Tuxedo Junction nightclub in Newcastle, named Michael Quadrini, developed the idea and successfully put the initiative into operation. By 2005, though, it was rumoured that Middlesbrough council had ambitious plans to develop the immediate area around the Tuxedo Royale, and so the vessel was forced to move. Although Quadrini claimed that there were plans to re-launch the nightclub elsewhere, nothing materialised and for a time the Tuxedo Royale was left to rot in the old asbestos contaminated "ghost ship" graveyard in Hartlepool. For some reason or another, some years later she was moved back to the crumbling remains of ABLE Port in Middlesbrough and has since begun to sink in the River Tees, on account of metal thieves.
Documentation:
External:
Decks: Transporter Bridge in background
Disco bar 1 - Club Stowaways
Disco Bar 2 - Partially underwater
Randoms thoughout the office / storage areas
