The past is a foreign country...
Discussion
they do things differently there ...as LP Hartley wrote. And he was right , as this photo of dad's Humber Hawk -MKV1 I think ? - being loaded on to the Stranraer -Larne ferry shows. My sister has recently exhumed this picture , and it evokes memories of stormy crossing and a car which always smelled of sick - she was to blame as a one year old. I was a world weary 8 , in that long lost era before Ro Ro ferries .
nicanary said:
When Bristol Freighters started flying cars cross-channel it must have seemed like the space race.
Lydd airfield early 1960's as the aircraft started to taxi;'Daddy, why is your new A55 still in the carpark?'
'Do not be so stupid, young ferret50!'
'Look daddy!'
'Oh s
t!'Father rushes to the flight deck, aircraft is turned back, one car unloaded and a black A55 added!
But so much quicker and easier than the Dover/Calais ferry.
coppice said:
they do things differently there ...as LP Hartley wrote. And he was right , as this photo of dad's Humber Hawk -MKV1 I think ? - being loaded on to the Stranraer -Larne ferry shows. My sister has recently exhumed this picture , and it evokes memories of stormy crossing and a car which always smelled of sick - she was to blame as a one year old. I was a world weary 8 , in that long lost era before Ro Ro ferries .
I spy a nice Zodiac Mk.II convertible on the dockside...very exotic for that part of the world at the time 
NFT said:
Times gone by..., Kids these days have no idea how good and luxuriously they have it.
But it was equally true when I was nine and had just boarded the ferry all those years ago in 1961 ... Crikey , I'd travelled in a Humber , which had a heater, wind up windows ,comfy seats , and performance which would have felt like a spaceship to the little lad of 1901 - which - Jesus - was closer then than 1961 is to now . I love that photo. 
Funnily enough I was only thinking about the Hoverspeed service from Folkestone today when I saw pictures of the weather down there.
I lived in Kent in the 90s and did quite a few booze cruises, often on the hovercraft. It was much quicker than the ferry, but could get a bit bouncy!
Funnily enough I was only thinking about the Hoverspeed service from Folkestone today when I saw pictures of the weather down there.
I lived in Kent in the 90s and did quite a few booze cruises, often on the hovercraft. It was much quicker than the ferry, but could get a bit bouncy!
In the late 1950s my parents, twin sisters and I went on a holiday to Guernsey on the TSS St Julien from Weymouth. It had been built on Clydebank in 1925, serving during WW2 as a troop ship, hospital ship and at Dunkirk.
The passenger 'accommodation' consisted of deck chairs and blankets on deck and after the crossing my Dad, who had served in the RN throughout WW2 said it rolled more than any other ship he'd been on (not my photo).
The passenger 'accommodation' consisted of deck chairs and blankets on deck and after the crossing my Dad, who had served in the RN throughout WW2 said it rolled more than any other ship he'd been on (not my photo).
Having developed a profound dislike of ships as a means of travel I was pleased to use the Silver City Lydd-Le Touquet service in 1959 (and again in 1962). After some years of using various cross-channel ferries someone thoughtfully provided me with a Hovercraft service, the choppy ride of which was better than the wallowy ride of the ships. Since 1994 I can and do use the tunnel.
nicanary said:
When Bristol Freighters started flying cars cross-channel it must have seemed like the space race.
A friend and I drove from Le Touquet down to Malaga in the late '60's in his Marcos.The car's ground clearance meant that It was too low to traverse from the top of the ramp into the Bristol Freighter
and had to be manhandled in !
Riley Blue said:
In the late 1950s my parents, twin sisters and I went on a holiday to Guernsey on the TSS St Julien from Weymouth. It had been built on Clydebank in 1925, serving during WW2 as a troop ship, hospital ship and at Dunkirk.
The passenger 'accommodation' consisted of deck chairs and blankets on deck and after the crossing my Dad, who had served in the RN throughout WW2 said it rolled more than any other ship he'd been on (not my photo).
What does TSS stand for please?The passenger 'accommodation' consisted of deck chairs and blankets on deck and after the crossing my Dad, who had served in the RN throughout WW2 said it rolled more than any other ship he'd been on (not my photo).
Mr Tidy said:
Funnily enough I was only thinking about the Hoverspeed service from Folkestone today when I saw pictures of the weather down there.
, ……. but could get a bit bouncy!
I once did that crossing up in the cockpit/bridge of a Hoverspeed craft., ……. but could get a bit bouncy!
I climbed a vertical steel ladder and through a hatch which was then bolted behind me.
The bridge/cockpit was smelly, very noisy, and extremely bumpy.
The crew said that the ‘bounce’ played havoc with their backs.
Their job seemed so unpleasant and boring;
there were four fuel tanks ( one towards each corner )
and they spent the whole time pumping fuel around between tanks
to alter the aspect of the craft to suit the wind direction, speed and wave height.
The Goodwin Sands were especially bouncy; I don’t suffer from sea sickness
but I was very relieved when the journey was over and the hatch was opened.
Edited by Elderly on Friday 3rd November 13:55
Elderly said:
nicanary said:
When Bristol Freighters started flying cars cross-channel it must have seemed like the space race.
A friend and I drove from Le Touquet down to Malaga in the late '60's in his Marcos.The car's ground clearance meant that It was too low to traverse from the top of the ramp into the Bristol Freighter
and had to be manhandled in !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Ferry
Riley Blue said:
In the late 1950s my parents, twin sisters and I went on a holiday to Guernsey on the TSS St Julien from Weymouth. It had been built on Clydebank in 1925, serving during WW2 as a troop ship, hospital ship and at Dunkirk.
The passenger 'accommodation' consisted of deck chairs and blankets on deck and after the crossing my Dad, who had served in the RN throughout WW2
We went the same route in the mid sixties a couple of times, they must have changed ships by then, as we certainly had inside lounges. I do remember being very ill on the way back once, so they probably kept the rolling!The passenger 'accommodation' consisted of deck chairs and blankets on deck and after the crossing my Dad, who had served in the RN throughout WW2
They were still loading cars the same way though - my dad left ours in Weymouth and we hired bikes.
Elderly said:
A friend and I drove from Le Touquet down to Malaga in the late '60's in his Marcos.
The car's ground clearance meant that It was too low to traverse from the top of the ramp into the Bristol Freighter
and had to be manhandled in !
Can you remember the cost, must have been a pretty penny.The car's ground clearance meant that It was too low to traverse from the top of the ramp into the Bristol Freighter
and had to be manhandled in !
The days when you could travel to France for a weekend without even needing a passport; just a quick photo ID made up at the ticket office. That's how the Cambridge spies, Burgess and Maclean, slipped the country back in the day.
Now you almost need a passport just to get your own money out of the bank.
Now you almost need a passport just to get your own money out of the bank.
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