They have long since set sail into the history books, but the legacy of the pleasure steamer industry which once ferried day-trippers from London to our beach resorts should not be underestimated.

For more than 100 years they helped develop key tourism destinations – proving the catalyst for growth for the likes of Gravesend, Herne Bay, Margate, Thanet and Deal.

In fact, were it not for the once flourishing trade, they may look very different today.

Many of the wooden piers erected around our coastline were extended and reinforced to help ferry the thousands of passengers off the vessels and into the towns which boomed as a consequence of the money they spent.

It is also the reason so many piers have long since fallen into disrepair or disappeared completely as the era of the paddle steamer came to an end by the 1960s. While the industry was left reeling after an often forgotten tragedy of enormous proportions.

When the first steamers set sail, in the early part of the 19th century, there were few rail links to the county from the capital. Roads were poor and cars still a thing of the future. A trip to enjoy the sea air and the benefit the health by a dip in the sea’s salty waters, would have been an arduous journey taking many hours – if not days.

But after boats taking supplies to and from the Thanet towns started to carry passengers too, those early boat operators suddenly saw a business opportunity.

How better to escape the over-crowding, dirt and poverty of London than on a boat?

The first journeys took passengers only as far as Gravesend and the impact was significant.

“It was the beginning of the golden era Gravesend had in the early part of the 19th century at bringing in tourists,” explains Christoph Bull, a local historian.

“Coming down to Gravesend could be achieved in a convenient length of time - you could get there within a couple of hours from London.

“Of course once the first few operators had success, many more joined and passengers had a huge choice.

“Rosherville, on the border of Gravesend and Northfleet, was just being developed as a new town at the time, and its gardens became very popular.”

The Rosherville pleasure gardens – or Kent Zoological and Botanical Gardens Institution as was there formal title – were built in 1837 on a former chalk pit specifically to cater for the regular flow of visitors during the summer months when the cruises took place.

They became hugely popular, with passengers disembarking at the nearby Rosherville Pier, built specifically to serve the boats bringing in passengers.

The route day-trippers could take would include the likes of Chatham, Sheerness and Whitstable. While there were also stops across the water in Clacton and Southend-on-Sea. As the clamour for such travel intensified, some boats would snake around the coast and head to France too.

Yet when the railway line was extended to Gravesend, so the flow of passengers to the town via boat started to decline.

Once the first few operators had success, many more joined and passengers had a huge choice

Undeterred by the transport rival, operators just pushed further into Kent, serving the likes of Medway – stopping at Sun Pier in Chatham for example – and then onto the likes of Sheerness, Herne Bay, Whitstable and Thanet.

At one stage in the 19th century, it was estimated that the majority of Margate’s visitors arrived on its shores by boat rather than any other means of transport.

It also explains why the town had a pier – first wood, then iron – which allowed the ships to off-load passengers close to where the existing harbour arm is today.

The paddle steamers became increasingly sophisticated and with higher levels of comfort as their popularity grew. Many would host live bands and offer children’s entertainment on-board, as well as bars and restaurants. Passengers could even hire deckchairs to soak up the rays en route.

For the passengers, it provided a pleasant jaunt down the Thames and a perfect escape from the city. If they wanted just a day-trip, then by 1948 they could board a boat at Tower Pier – close to the Tower of London – at 8.40am and by 1.20pm be on Margate’s sandy beaches. They could then choose to spend just under two hours in the resort, or stay the night and catch a return boat the following day. It helped fuel the guest house boom.

The impact on the towns the vessels served cannot – and according to Mr Bull – be underestimated.

He added: “They had a huge impact. Certainly in Gravesend you can still see some of the buildings associated with it. The fact the town grew so much was a result of the money that was made from tourists.

“The largest cast-iron pier which exists in the world today is the Town Pier in Gravesend. It opened in 1834 specifically so people coming down from London could get off onto a pier and straight into the town where they were relieved of their money.”

But, as they say, all good things don’t last.

The pleasure cruises were hit by a host of enormous challenges.

One of the most significant was on September 3, 1878. The Princess Alice paddle steamer was returning from a trip to Sheerness. Having left Rosherville Pier, it was just 20 minutes from getting its passengers back to the capital when disaster struck. As it was sailing past Thamesmead on a warm and pleasant evening a cargo ship, the Bywell Castle, collided with her.

Passengers, panicked by the crash, stampeded for safety but the Bywell Castle smashed right through her and she broke apart.

Explains the Royal Museums Greenwich: “The Bywell Castle lowered her boats, lifebuoys and ropes. Some of the passengers in the water sank beneath the surface and drowned. Some were picked up by rowing boats, and some held onto the ropes let down from the Bywell Castle.

“It is thought that the crew of the Bywell Castle saved around 35 people using the ship and around 28 using the boats. Thomas Harrison, the Bywell Castle’s master, testified that the cries and struggles from those in the water had ceased after 10 minutes and that the water then contained bodies and debris.”

As if this catastrophe was not bad enough, those fighting for their life in the water found themselves doing so in raw sewage.

Cries and struggles from those in the water had ceased after ten minutes - the water then contained bodies and debris

Adds the museum: “The water in this stretch of the Thames was foul. One survivor said later: ‘I noticed something very peculiar in the water. Both the taste and smell were something dreadful, something that I could not describe – having been down to the bottom and having rose again with my mouth full of it I could give a very good picture of it – it was the most horrid water I ever tasted and the smell was also equally bad.’

“No wonder: the water was full of sewage from the northern and southern sewers, which discharged waste into nearby Barking Reach.”

In total, some 640 people drowned that night – making it the worst inland maritime disaster in British history.

Adds Mr Bull: “The popularity of the pleasure gardens in Rosherviller began to wane after the Princess Alice disaster.

“The other issue is that people in London would save up for a day out and decide to go to Rosherville Gardens. Before they left, they would go to the toilet, get on the boat and come down to Rosherville only to find, to their horror, that what you left in your lavatory that morning has also come down the river to have a nice day out with you.

“It really was that bad. There were constant environmental issues. It's only in our lifetimes it has become a really important issue.

“It contributed to the decline but the main thing was that you could go all the way down to Margate and reach the beaches.”

The extension of the railway meant passengers – having fallen in love with the Thanet towns of Margate and Ramsgate – could now reach them far quicker by catching a train. In addition, the two world wars brought the services to a halt.

The Second World War also saw many of the boats used comandeered for war work – most notably in the daring rescue of troops in the early stages of the conflict from the beaches of Dunkirk. Among those vessels used were the likes of the Medway Queen – which served the Kent coast then made an heroic record seven trips to Dunkirk, savinig the lives of some 7,000 men.

By the time hostilities were over, the writing was on the wall for the boats.

They continued into the late 1960s, but competition was proving too much.

The end of the services left many of the county’s piers missing the huge influx of people on which they depended. Many, like that in Margate, would fall into desrepair damaged by storms and ultimately demolished.

Rosherville’s gardens were abandoned and have now, largely, been replaced with housing.

It was a sad end to what, for many resorts, was a service which put them on the map. Their popularity with Londoners today continues.