berneyarms
Established Member
Yeah i was thinking more internationally
I know there used to be ferries to Iceland , Norway , Sweden , Denmark and Germany
Arguably the Channel Islands & the Isle of Man are international!!
Yeah i was thinking more internationally
I know there used to be ferries to Iceland , Norway , Sweden , Denmark and Germany
It is possible to travel as a foot passenger on that route, but it is very niche and not easy to book or sort the logistics...
The Gosport Ferry gives a decent opportunity for a harbour crossing for peanuts, and their fleet now comprises three newbuilds, the 50 year old 'Queens' now both having moved on to new lives on the Thames carting drunken partygoers back and forth.
Thanks for the info, it's good to know that the old girls are still going I've known these two since a very early age and would certainly become involved in preservation should this ever arise. It's a sobering fact that they have connected with three generations of EMU at Portsmouth Harbour!
Still going, but not as we know them!
UKBF have stopped all private immigration clearance at Immingham now, so you'd basically need to be pre-declared as a haulier. You'd *really* have to want to do it...
Had a go on the Thames Clipper free trial from London to Gravesend this evening. I think most passengers were genuine commuters, although it felt like a railtour with people taking photos from the rear deck and making use of the bar!
The 'Aurora' was well loaded and we enjoyed a spirited run downstream after the last pickup at Canary Wharf.
Total run from Embankment to Gravesend was 70 minutes. That's a bit slower than a train from Charing Cross but from Canary Wharf it would be more competitive than the existing coach or train+DLR options.
If it does become permanent I think it could have a bit of potential as a tourist route - there's a lot of 'stuff' to see from the Cutty Sark to planes landing at LCY. Of course the pricing and timings will be key.
Also a reminder that the lower Thames is very much still a working river.
I would imagine most people going further than that would prefer to get there by quicker means, unless they've got 40 tons of freight to shift!
Those Thames Clippers don't half shift! The blast of acceleration from standing to cruising speed is very impressive indeed! Almost had a bit of a Clarkson moment
Tassies finest. Must use a stack of fuel though.
On the subject of ports, I used Portsmouth last year and was pleasantly surprised at how modern and clean the terminal was. It had the feel of a small regional airport. This was the Brittany Ferries terminal; I was heading to Santander on the Pont-Aven.
Surprised no one thus far has made much mention of Holyhead. Since I traverse the Irish sea quite frequently I have used most* of the crossing from England/Wales to Irish Republic. Thoughts are below.
Wales
Fishguard
A nice port and quite compact, good for foot passengers (please see Holyhead below). a bit out of the way and harder to reach than others including Pembroke. Been a few years since used the boats from here so can't say what it is like to travel on.
Pembroke
Nicest thing I can say is it is functional, port is never going to win any RIBA awards but I don't think it is going for that. well enough ran albeit could do with making it less drafty. I've done the walk from the train station and agree it is not the most convenient. I was fine with it at the time as 22 y/o student with a rucksack but wouldn't think it suitable for all. Been a few years since used the boats from here so can't say what it is like to travel on.
Holyhead
Well connected (now) by road and rail with frequent services. Better for foot passengers previously when Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire was run by the HSS. Would be better if timings of trains were better and driving by car would be useful if was some reasonable way to allow port traffic to directly access to A55 but still far better than previously when, as was then, B&I Lines point of entry was accessible by going through the town. There is quite a distance between the terminal building and the boats which can be a pain as require access via bus which in the case of Stena only boards after all other vehicles and makes boarding and offloading rather slow. Boats, whilst sometimes busy, are always well maintained and having travelled in all weathers can say they do travel in most weathers (do still have memories of being stuck at North Wall for 2 days waiting for weather to calm down and be able to sail). It is also usefully connected to the town centre with the Celtic Gateway Bridge.
England
Birkenhead
Used this frequently in the days of Norfolk Lines to north wall, a very nice service once on it and good timing for overnight sailing left Birkenhead at 10pm arrived at 5am. Had the advantage of allowing foot passengers unlike P&O from Liverpool. With services of this nature if you are driving you are loaded on early on the upper deck and then there is a wait before all other vehicles are loaded on lower decks. which works against you in the opposite when offloading you can be waiting up to an hour after the official arrival time before are able to get going on the road. service on board is good. meals are provided for and whilst choice is more limited compared to other ferries quality is good and good portions. got a cabin for overnight sailing which may have been shared, I never did as was normally travelling with family, friend or partner. Good, comfortable beds in clean rooms. Did always have the worst customs officials I have come across, travelling back for a funeral by car with brother and sister and quizzed for 10 mins on details of funeral, half expected them to ask for us to show them the body, they carried on until the point they spoke to my brother asked him what he did, when informing them he was a solicitor they surprisingly let us go quite quickly after that.
Liverpool
Much of what can be said above for Birkenhead can be also said of Liverpool. Detraction being for those who don;t drive is it is not possible for foot passengers to use. Has some good prices for day time sailings if can put up with being on boat from 9am - 5pm. But is good timings on evening service (3pm - 10pm) when travelling up the country in Ireland to get home and saves the drive from Holyhead if live in North of England.
Heysham
For as well versed as I am at traversing the Irish Sea I am ashamed to say whilst I knew of Sea Trucks I never even knew they were bookable by none freight, this I will be correcting next month when travelling over from Heysham to north wall so will report back on how I find the sailing. Initially however pricing was good (£120 single) and timing works OK for me (depart at 3am arrive at 10am).
Ireland
dun laoghaire
Was always the most well connected for foot passengers with the train station connected to the Dart and brought you straight back into the centre of Dublin. the terminal was quite small for the HSS which attracted quite a lot of foot passengers. Was also an ackward place as a driver to come into as was before the M50 was extended and the town got quite busy each time boat came in (like holyhead did)
Rosslare
Well laid out but remote and not close by to any significant towns, used it as a coach passenger when heading to Waterford or Cork so cant say I seem much of what the port itself was like.
Dublin (North Wall)
Now made up of the two main 'terminals' for irish Ferries and Stena. It is quite isolated from the city centre for foot passengers being a good 3 miles from Busaras, there are busses that run and the Luas runs to within a mile but not close enough to consider using it, would be helpful if it was extended to run to the port but it a personal pipe dream which will never happen. Driving to or from the port is a lot easier now the port tunnel has been built, just bloody expensive in tolls for people heading down to the Kingdom as I often do.
Irish Ferries is the more convenient terminal being right next to the boarding point with the gang way for access to the ship. also has the busses and taxis departing right next to it and has the cafe on site.
Stena is not much more than a well kitted out portacabin and not much for foot passengers, seems to be the way with ports now.
Surprised you got stopped by customs at Birky
Since I traverse the Irish sea quite frequently I have used most* of the crossing from England/Wales to Irish Republic. Thoughts are below.
Yes an excellent trip. I do think that they have missed the boat (literally) by waiting 2 years for a new vessel. By then Thameslink will be running to Gillingham + Crossrail will reduce overcrowding further up the line.
Where there could be an interest is in serving new housing areas at Barking Riverside etc. Despite being relatively close to London as we saw yesterday there are great tracts of post industrial land along the Thames ripe for housing.
Re serving Canary Wharf they need another pier on the east side of the Isle of Dogs to serve the newer offices/flats being completed on that side- the walk is too far from the existing pier.
The MD mentioned that Aurora was being chartered after our run to serve the German cruise ship moored at Tilbury as it was unable to sail that night due to the impending storm. The travel company were offering a free cruise up to London using Aurora.
This is another huge potentially lucrative market. A large cruise ship like that could easily require 20+ coaches to take guests up to central London. I know I'd rather experience London arriving on Thames Clippers than sitting on a coach in traffic on the A13!
In fairness it was a few years ago and the lad looked like he was on a YTS scheme. Had a uniform on him that he looked like he'd borrowed from his dad.
Must of been random or one off thing . Didnt think they had regular customs check between UK and Ireland
Did you ever Stensuse Mostyn ? I was about to when they took the service off
How much time should you allow at Bercanhead for foot passenger checkin? I note there are 2 or 3 buses from Hamilton Square to the port but if one caught the earliest one of an evening would you simply be hanging about in a waiting room/passenger lounge for ages or can you get onboard and dine/drink/go to bed?