We were returning from London on the train via the North Wales coastline. Tired and gazing out of the window at the Irish Sea passing by, the sight of a massive, rusting ship on the coastline woke us from our trance.
I'm a sucker for the old and the derelict, so I had to look into it more..
A few searches on the internet revealed the strange history of the ship. The Duke of Lancaster sailed from 1956 to 1979 as a passenger steamer throughout Europe. She was docked in Wales with the intent to turn her into a tourist attraction with a bar and amusements.
Unfortunately, this was never achieved due to problems with the various permissions required from the council such as bar licences, fire escapes and signage. The owner eventually gave up, moved away and the ship has been rusting away in North Wales ever since.
It's such a strange sight as it looks like it's just moored in the Welsh countryside from some angles. It's next to a little village park and a coastal walk and looks so out of place which ultimately makes it so interesting.
In 2012, artists started to paint the ship. It's awesome if you're into a bit of street art and really makes the whole sight more surreal. When we visited there were some men working on the exterior, I'm not sure if they were just doing some repairs or were artists at work - I like to think it was the latter - after all, where would you start with repairs?
There's a wonderful follow up to this story. In 2011, a group of arcade game collectors tracked down the owner and gained access to the inside of the ship. Have a look at the following articles to see the interior and the arcade games that were rescued.
© 2026 Julia Revitt Photography
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