A new ferry across the Thames?

[Adios]

Hammersmith Bridge: Bridge of sighs and a shameful collective catalogue of failure

Clemmie Watkins used to have a 10-minute walk to school across Hammersmith Bridge. Since September, it has become a 40-minute bike ride via Barnes Bridge on roads plagued by speeding drivers and riverside paths that flood when the Thames rises.
On winter nights, even adults avoid her unlit route home across Dukes Meadows, a haunt of muggers and doggers.

Even the ferry has been delayed. An initial plan was to have it start operating last autumn. Uber Boat by Thames Clippers has won the contract but two temporary piers have yet to be constructed. Residents fear services may not start until November.

I can't see them fixing the bridge any year soon. I bet it would get a fair bit of trade.

 

[Gary Fox]

Excellent idea, but it will be eagerly blocked by health-n-safety fuhrers otherwise incapable of achieving tumescence.
The shiny-@rsed council gauleiters, in their frantic obsession with the miniscule risk of an ancient bridge suddenly collapsing, are forcing small girls to trudge miles after dark, in the pouring rain through dogger-infested wastelands.
More and more often these days I sympathise with Pol Pot's attitude to office workers.

 

[Gary Fox]

I'm sceptical you would legally need to be a Licensed Waterman to operate that ferry.
Woolwich Ferry crew just have a Boatmaster's License for example. (Horse's mouth).

 

[madabouttheboat]

I've said it all along. Knock the bloody bridge down and build a new one. Much quicker and probably cheaper. How much has been spent so far? All this talk of ferries is ludicrous. In some other countries the new bridge would already be needing a fresh coat of paint since this all kicked off.

 

[st599]

The issue seems to be where to land it.

One proposed solution is being combated by local rowing clubs, the other requires people to walk across the meadow near the school.

The other issue is if you look at the charts, at low tide the river with more than 1m depth is only about 65m wide. £1.55 Oyster fare for 65m?

 

[penfold]

There will be a bylaw stating you can't carry passengers above Hammersmith bridge unless you pay a tithe to the Duke of Westminster and wear a straw boater, or something equally silly. The bridge needs 4 new pillars(new-ish problem) and a catch-up of decades of deferred maintenance(not new), they(national and metropolitan govt) are playing politics with it rather than writing a cheque and putting everyone out of their misery

 

[Adios]

Hold up. I started reading the article and thought it needs a ferry then put this thread up. I then read the article and apparently they are actually doing it so I changed it hoping before anyone reaslised but it seems like no one else is reading it anyway

but rather than allowing a little boat and a person to do it using existing stairs and slips it has to be a multimillion pound given from tax payers to a corporation for new piers etc. Typical

 

[Juan Twothree]

The shiny-@rsed council gauleiters, in their frantic obsession with the miniscule risk of an ancient bridge suddenly collapsing, are forcing small girls to trudge miles after dark, in the pouring rain through dogger-infested wastelands.

If you find the passers-by offputting, you could always go dogging somewhere else!

 

[Adios]

The issue seems to be where to land it.

South bank stairs (10 minutes with a strimmer should see that right.)



North bank slip/drawdock. Couple of hours litter picking. Short pontoon to keep the ladies shoes clean.

The other issue is if you look at the charts, at low tide the river with more than 1m depth is only about 65m wide. £1.55 Oyster fare for 65m?

convert a french mussel boat



Literally problem solved for cheap and would take a few weeks to implement IF THEY HAD THE WILL. We've become a nation of spoilt perfectionists obsessed with doing it highly professionally rather than how it would have been done in the 70s.

 

[dom]

If you find the passers-by offputting, you could always go dogging somewhere else.

Except Gary is right.

I can assure you this is no laughing matter for families with children forced to take an unexpectedly dangerous and sometimes dark route home from school. I often cycle along the Thames Path there and it's most certainly a weird spot when the path is deserted.

As the OP says, an emergency water taxi would come as a huge relief and would cost zip to run.

 

[Adios]

Solutions galore!

 

[RupertW]

I've said it all along. Knock the bloody bridge down and build a new one. Much quicker and probably cheaper. How much has been spent so far? All this talk of ferries is ludicrous. In some other countries the new bridge would already be needing a fresh coat of paint since this all kicked off.

I agree. I grew up in Barnes so would miss Hammersmith Bridge but miss a working bridge far more. Whether it was a quick bus ride to school across the bridge or walking home as a young teenager from the pubs on the Hammersmith side it would have been a nightmare without it.

 

[dom]

I agree. I grew up in Barnes so would miss Hammersmith Bridge but miss a working bridge far more. Whether it was a quick bus ride to school across the bridge or walking home as a young teenager from the pubs I’m the Hammersmith side it would have been a nightmare without it.

?

 

[Adios]

Maybe the lack of a war for so long ruined this country. The ingenuity and can do spirit is almost entirely missing now. We'd have jumped on it and got it sorted in those days. We're like rabbits in the headlights over everything now

 

[RupertW]

?

Well you could get served at 16 in the Dove and Old Rangoon but the Old City Arms and the Ship weren’t nearly as draconian about your age.

 

[Blueboatman]

Ski lift

 

[prv]

Maybe the lack of a war for so long ruined this country. The ingenuity and can do spirit is almost entirely missing now. We'd have jumped on it and got it sorted in those days. We're like rabbits in the headlights over everything now

It's mostly a matter of inflexibility and regulation. Still plenty of people who can have ideas and could deal with the practical side of many problems, but if it involves anybody else - and especially the general public - then it's probably illegal without the appropriate paperwork. And where that was the case before (the 21st century didn't invent pedantic legislation) you were perhaps more likely to find authority willing to turn a blind eye if what you were doing was clearly a net benefit.

Of course this does also mean that as a member of the general public you're less likely to be drowned, crushed, or burned in an inadequate vehicle or building or by its unskilled operator, than in times past.

Pete

 

[dom]

.....Of course this does also mean that as a member of the general public you're less likely to be drowned, crushed, or burned in an inadequate vehicle or building or by its unskilled operator, than in times past.

Pete

Except for when rogue operators have said authorities firmly in their pocket

E.g. Grenfell.

 

[penfold]

Ski lift

There is a cable car with very few passengers further down stream; perhaps it can be relocated? ?

 

[st599]

South bank stairs (10 minutes with a strimmer should see that right.)

View attachment 114406

North bank slip/drawdock. Couple of hours litter picking. Short pontoon to keep the ladies shoes clean.

View attachment 114410



convert a french mussel boat

View attachment 114408

Literally problem solved for cheap and would take a few weeks to implement IF THEY HAD THE WILL. We've become a nation of spoilt perfectionists obsessed with doing it highly professionally rather than how it would have been done in the 70s.

I thought they already tendered it out to Uber (used to be ThamesClipper).

Not sure what it's turning circle is though. At low tide they might be able to wedge it in, then you just walk down the 100m pontoon, through the boat and up the 40m pontoon on the other side. Then pay.