Getting there by ferry

It wasn?t that long ago that the fleet of ferries that busied themselves around Britain?s coastline were fuelled by coal and hauled their cargo of cars over the side by sling!

Of course, the sails and man-powered oars that propelled Caesar, William the Conqueror and William of Orange across the Channel to Britain centuries ago was a scene vastly more removed from the way ferry movements are handled now.

It?s a big jump from sailing boats and steamships to the superferries of today. Peppered across our pages is the complete, up-to-date story of what sails, to where and when ? and how much it costs. That goes for the sailings to the UK's myriad offshore islands as well as to mainland Europe and Ireland.

There are, for instance, the year-round ferry services to the islands off Scotland?s west coast. Almost all these routes, with island names dripping with legend and historical association, like Arran, Tiree, Lewis, Iona, Mull and Skye, are worked by Caledonian MacBrayne ferries. We list them in the Scotland section. Still further north are the services to and around the islands of Orkney and Shetland, otherwise known as the Northern Isles.

Northern Ireland, and in particular the ports of Belfast and Larne, has seen a surge of ferry activity in recent years, principally to and from Scotland and the North of England.. They are listed in our Northern Ireland section.

Liverpool and the ports on the north, west and south coasts of Wales ? Holyhead, Fishguard, Pembroke and Swansea, provide the UK?s ferry links with the Irish Republic (Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Rosslare and Cork). These services can be found among the European ferry services we list (to find them select the 'Destinations' homepage, then ?Europe by?? and finally ?Sea?).

Along the UK's east coast, the ports of Newcastle, Hull and Harwich collectively offer ferry services to mainland Europe ? Norway, Sweden, Germany, Holland and Belgium. Aberdeen, on Scotland's north-east coast, is the mainland terminusd for the NorthLink ferry route to the Orkney and Shetland isles. And coming in as the latest addition to this line-up of east coast ferry ports is Rosyth, just across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh. This is the Scottish base of the Superfast Ferries 17.5h overnight service to/from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

But it is on the English Channel (otherwise known as 'La Manche' by our French friends) that the largest body of international ferry traffic is concentrated. Add to that the interesting collection of UK offshore islands in the English Channel and in the Atlantic?s Western Approaches, and it is clear that this is an area ripe with travel opportunities.

The principal driver of mainland European ferry activity along the UK?s south coast is, and probably has been since water first filled the ditch between Britain and continental Europe, the port of Dover.

Of course, for much of this period it was no more than a spot on a shingle beach backed by an impressive line in chalk cliffs. But it?s proximity to France ? at 20mls/32km the nearest point on the English coast to mainland Europe (Calais), hence references to the 'short-sea crossing' ? has guaranteed it an international role for all time. During World War Two alone, it collected a handful of noms de guerre like ?Fortress Dover? and ?Hellfire Corner? with the ?Dover Patrol? providing a sea-borne defence against enemy incursions.

Even after the coming of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 and the consequent rearrangement of cross-Channel passenger traffic, Dover continues to lay claim to being Britain?s busiest port. In ferry traffic terms today, this translates into nearly 60 departures a day at the height of summer, from five ferry companies with a mix of fast catamarans and traditional car ferries, mainly sailing to Calais but also to Boulogne and Dunquerque.

Some 20mls/32km around the corner to Ramsgate, relative newcomer Transeuropa Ferries is despatching up to five services a day to Ostend, Belgium while, west along the coast, Newhaven maintains links with Dieppe, Portsmouth with the Channel Isles of Guernsey and Jersey and a succession of Normandy and Brittany destinations like Caen and St Malo, a story repeated at the ports of Poole, Weymouth and Plymouth.

The Isle of Wight, Britain?s largest offshore island, with a large settled population, gets round-the-clock attention from hovercraft, fast catamarans and traditional car-carrying ferries out of Portsmsouth, Southampton and Lymington.

Off the south-west coast, activity, driven by the demands of summer holidays, is of a different scale. Nonetheless, the Scillonian III, the April-November ferry from Penzance, that services the Isles of Scilly out in the Atlantic's Western Approaches, and the Oldenburg which sails March-October from Bideford and Ilfracombe to flora and fauna rich Lundy Island, deliver a special offshore experience.

And that goes for the trip and the destination!


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200 YEARS OF THE DOVER-CALAIS SHORT-SEA FERRY CROSSING

1820s ? Steam packet ferries take over Dover-Calais from sail.

Historian Thomas Macaulay captured the spirit of the sea change in 1827 with:

They left Calais on Monday by steam,
And landed to dinner at Dover.
- The Country Clergyman?s Trip to Cambridge

1840s ? Railway comes to Dover and with it a new body of passengers.

1900s ? Experiment with paddle steamers ? but short-lived.

1920s ? First (over-the-side hauled) car ferry is commissioned.

1926 ? Golden Arrow Pullman train starts London to Dover service.

1936 ? Night Ferry begins first London-Paris ?through? train service.

1953 ? Roll-on, roll-off car ferries come to Dover.

1968 ? Hovercraft goes into service.

1998 ? Seacat, a new generation of twin-hulled fast craft, joins the Dover ferry fleet.

2000 ? After 32yrs on the short-sea Channel route Hovercraft is retired.

2005 ? Dover-Calais catmaran service branded 'uneconomic' and axed.