Harwich to Felixstowe foot ferry could close after 100 years

It's an essential local transport link, can't they just tax Maersk Lines etc a millionth of one per cent of their profits to get some new coded boats and pay some real wages to STCW95 crew?
 
Last season we decided to go to Harwich, it wasnt possible by boat as we were awaiting an exhaust elbow ( my fault as with the age of the existing it should have been o/b:rolleyes:) i looked @ the ferry fares & it was cheaper by far to drive from Ipswich to Harwich
 
In fact for one season (I think) they did allow bus pass users (Suffolk & Essex residents only) to travel free. However that did mean that it was often full and regular users could not get on, so they changed it so you get a discount with your bus pass, I can't remember the actual figures as we have not used it for a couple of years as it happens.

Sailorman, it may be cheaper by car, but not as much fun and it is at least 45 mins each way.
 
Leighb said:
In fact for one season (I think) they did allow bus pass users (Suffolk & Essex residents only) to travel free. However that did mean that it was often full and regular users could not get on, so they changed it so you get a discount with your bus pass, I can't remember the actual figures as we have not used it for a couple of years as it happens.

Sailorman, it may be cheaper by car, but not as much fun and it is at least 45 mins each way.
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driving back along the Stour valley was very nice + a drive to Shotley was saved
 
DavidofMersea said:
I maybe wrong, but I thought that whilst the ferry ran a 100 years ago, it was restarted after a long closer in the 60's or 70's
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Yes of course. There used to be 30+ ferries every day from Ipswich to many different locations before the trains. The Felixstowe Ferry used the Brightlingsea out of Felixstowe basin and that may have been following on the tradition of the Walton Ferry as what we call Felixstowe now was previously known as Walton. The Walton Ferry ran between Ipswich, Walton and Harwich. The ferry in the news is quite a new service relatively speaking and only started many years after the Brightlingsea stopped.
 
toyboy said:
.. as what we call Felixstowe now was previously known as Walton ...
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That's not strictly accurate, Walton still exists albeit as a suburb of Felixstowe

The castle and settlement of Walton date back to early Saxon times c.600 (or even older, see below) and Walton Castle formed part of the royal complex associated with Sutton Hoo. It was built upon or within the remains of a Roman Saxon Shore fort which was subsequently used as the bailey of a Norman castle. The Norman castle was slighted by Henry II and its materials used in the building of Orford Castle. The Roman fort survived until erosion of the sea cliffs at what by then was known as Felixstowe washed them away entirely

Walton may be derived from "Wealas" which is the name Germanic speaking Saxons used to refer to the native British (or so it is claimed). That may suggest that the settlement at Walton was a post-Romano British occupied site left in relative peace by the arriving Saxons

The manor of Walton probably extended over the whole area now known as Felixstowe however the latter name did not appear in the records until the 13th Century. By the 18th Century, the parish of Felixstowe occupied the entire seaward lands from Landguard Point to the Deben with the parish of Walton confined to the Western inland half of its former lands.

By the time any historical references to ferrys appear, Walton's access to the seas and rivers was confined to the marsh lands and salt pans where the modern port of Felixstowe now lies. There are several references to a ferry from Walton to Harwich in 19th century gazetteers and county guides, this was likely to have been little more than a man with a rowing boat.

By the time we get to the 20th century, the parishes of Walton and Felixstowe had been been conjoined with the younger place having outgrown its parent and taking the primacy. The L.N.E.R. Co. ferry "Brightlingsea" did indeed operate a service between Ipswich, Harwich and Felixstowe (not Walton) from 1925 expanding a service from Harwich to Felixstowe inaugurated in 1912 by the G.E.R. with the launch "Pin Mill"

This ferry service would have operated from the old Felixstowe Dock or it's associated piers (in fine weather) now (sadly) lost to a combination of flood damage and port expansion (the old dock basin is now buried under part of the container terminals). The pedantic point here is that the 100 odd year old service was always between Harwich, Shotley and what was known by then, as now, as Felixstowe (or to be precise Felixstowe Dock)

Anyway, sorry to ramble on but it piqued my interest :)
 
jerrytug said:
It's an essential local transport link, can't they just tax Maersk Lines etc a millionth of one per cent of their profits to get some new coded boats and pay some real wages to STCW95 crew?
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I seem to recall that Maersk line are struggling to make any profit, so this might not be the solution we would hope for:(.
 
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