![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_OWR_LECH_090425_LFB.jpg\")
The Royal Iris on fire (Image: London Fire Brigade )<\/p>\nThe vessel was gutted by a fire earlier this yearThe Royal Iris on fire (Image: London Fire Brigade )<\/p>\n
It was cream-coloured, instantly recognisable, and known to many as \u201cthe fish and chips boat”. For decades, the MV Royal Iris ferry was a part of Liverpool life. Navigating the Mersey<\/a>, it became an unlikely stage for music history.<\/p>\n Launched in 1950, the Royal Iris<\/a> was a ferry like no other. Alongside its regular crossings, the boat hosted dances, live bands, and river cruises \u201cfrom eight \u2018til late\u201d where passengers would drink, dance, and tuck into fish and chips or \u201csoup in a basket\u201d while the Mersey glided by.<\/p>\n For Steve \u201cAvo\u201d Lindsey, bassist for legendary Liverpool rock band Deaf School<\/a>, the Royal Iris was more than just a ferry – it was part of his childhood and early music career<\/a>.<\/p>\n He told the ECHO<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019ve got happy memories of the boat. My dad was a semi-pro drummer and did loads of gigs in and around Merseyside, dating back to the post-war period. When I was a kid, he was out about three nights a week. \u2018Gig\u2019 was one of the first words I ever heard.<\/p>\n \u201cHe used to play in all sorts of ballrooms and venues all over Merseyside<\/a> and would regularly be hired to play on the Royal Iris.\u201d<\/p>\n One story in particular stands out – a brush with a Beatle: \u201cI remember him saying there was one occasion when he was on the Royal Iris and this kid from one of these up-and-coming beat groups said to him, \u2018Do you mind moving your drums over, mister? Because I need to get my amp on stage.\u2019 It was John Lennon. This was as The Beatles were getting bigger and bigger around Merseyside.\u201d<\/p>\n The Royal Iris was an important venue for the Merseybeat scene and inspired Gerry Marsden’s anthem “Ferry Cross The Mersey”.<\/p>\n For Avo, the ferry wasn\u2019t just memorable for its music. Growing up, the Mersey was \u201cincredibly busy with tugboats and all sorts of ships, as well as the ferries going back and forth doing the commuter jobs.\u201d The cream-coloured Royal Iris stood out – and not just because of its paintwork.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cIt was known as the fish and chips boat. The idea of going on a boat and having fish and chips was very romantic.\u201d<\/p>\n As he grew older, Avo found himself performing onboard, both with Deaf School and at other gigs. He recalls being present one night in 1978 when Stiff Records hired the ferry to promote a Yachts album.<\/p>\n The Royal Iris was eventually retired in the 1990s and sold. Since 2002, it has sat grounded on the Thames, its once-proud decks rusting away. For Avo, that\u2019s a tragedy.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cFor the boat to end up in the Thames, grounded and left to rot, is criminal. It\u2019s one of those things that, in the same way that the Cavern\u2019s history is kept alive, the Royal Iris would have been brilliant to have docked in Liverpool. It was a really special thing and to see it rotting away is heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Rock](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_h_01812467.jpg\")
Rock ‘n’ Roll dancing on the pleasure boat “Royal Iris” on the River Mersey. April 1958(Image: Mirrorpix)<\/p>\n![\"Deaf](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_steve-avo-lindsey.jpg\")
Deaf School bassist Steve “Avo” Lindsey<\/p>\n