Robin Summerhill
Needs slight attention…
Word reached my ears at the start of 2016 that the two surviving SRN 4 hovercrafts that plied various short sea routes between Kent and Pas de Calais between 1968 and 2000 were to be broken up. Their story post-withdrawal from active service in 2000 is a long one, including being bought for a large sum of money by somebody who has never done anything with them except re-used some of the engines elsewhere, and a proposed sale to somebody who was going to use them on Lake Ontario in Canada, which never actually happened.
A combination of factors led to them being withdrawn from service. The EU Single Market and doing away with “Duty Free” (one of the biggest cons ever foisted upon the public but that’s another story) took a sizeable chunk out of Hoverspeed’s ancillary income; the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1995 meant that trains could match the hovercraft’s crossing times, and the crafts themselves needed serious refurbishment and the funds weren’t there to pay for it. The Hovercrafts were replaced by “Sea Cats” which provided a service only just a little faster than the ferries and were an absolute pain to load and unload with vehicles.
I used the hovercraft regularly to cross the channel and I used the Sea Cat once – once was enough. Presumably many other former passengers felt the same and Hoverspeed ceased trading in 2005.
For the last few years they have been quietly rusting away in the Hovercraft Museum at Lee on Solent, and now the land is required for housing development. For those who don’t know, the SRN4s were remarkably big buggers so, whilst the smaller hovercraft in the museum (of which there are many ) could probably be easily housed elsewhere, the SRN 4s are a different matter altogether.
Better news came in early August 2016 that the Hovercraft Museum had been given a further three year lease on the site and that one of the SRN 4s, “Princess Anne,” was to be “saved for the nation” which probably means being cosmetically restored (it is highly unlikely that it will ever put to sea again unless huge sums of money are forthcoming from somewhere). “Princess Margaret,” however, is likely to Cease To Be in the not too distant future.
They can currently both be seen at the Hovercraft Museum at Lee on Solent that is currently open most Saturdays. This is a shot of “Princess Anne” at the Hovershow at Lee on Solent on the weekend of 20th August 2016.
Needs slight attention…
Word reached my ears at the start of 2016 that the two surviving SRN 4 hovercrafts that plied various short sea routes between Kent and Pas de Calais between 1968 and 2000 were to be broken up. Their story post-withdrawal from active service in 2000 is a long one, including being bought for a large sum of money by somebody who has never done anything with them except re-used some of the engines elsewhere, and a proposed sale to somebody who was going to use them on Lake Ontario in Canada, which never actually happened.
A combination of factors led to them being withdrawn from service. The EU Single Market and doing away with “Duty Free” (one of the biggest cons ever foisted upon the public but that’s another story) took a sizeable chunk out of Hoverspeed’s ancillary income; the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1995 meant that trains could match the hovercraft’s crossing times, and the crafts themselves needed serious refurbishment and the funds weren’t there to pay for it. The Hovercrafts were replaced by “Sea Cats” which provided a service only just a little faster than the ferries and were an absolute pain to load and unload with vehicles.
I used the hovercraft regularly to cross the channel and I used the Sea Cat once – once was enough. Presumably many other former passengers felt the same and Hoverspeed ceased trading in 2005.
For the last few years they have been quietly rusting away in the Hovercraft Museum at Lee on Solent, and now the land is required for housing development. For those who don’t know, the SRN4s were remarkably big buggers so, whilst the smaller hovercraft in the museum (of which there are many ) could probably be easily housed elsewhere, the SRN 4s are a different matter altogether.
Better news came in early August 2016 that the Hovercraft Museum had been given a further three year lease on the site and that one of the SRN 4s, “Princess Anne,” was to be “saved for the nation” which probably means being cosmetically restored (it is highly unlikely that it will ever put to sea again unless huge sums of money are forthcoming from somewhere). “Princess Margaret,” however, is likely to Cease To Be in the not too distant future.
They can currently both be seen at the Hovercraft Museum at Lee on Solent that is currently open most Saturdays. This is a shot of “Princess Anne” at the Hovershow at Lee on Solent on the weekend of 20th August 2016.