A NEW LEASE OF LIFE?...

I woke up this morning to yet another barrage of the cacophonous mayhem surrounding Brexit and decided that it was time to seek out some good news.   And I found it with the report that the Hythe Ferry seems at last to have a brighter future.

Now, Hythe ferry has played a number of roles in my life, beginning with my boyhood in the village of Hythe when we used to take the ferry to Southampton - my mother to do some shopping and my father to take me to The Dell to watch the Saints play in those days in the Second Division (which is where they threaten to return.)

The photo above shows the ferry leaving Southampton Town Quay. from where it will chug its way between ocean going cruise liners, huge container ships and numerous pleasure craft to complete its 20 minute voyage back to Hythe Pier.   For some years now the future of the ferry has been in doubt, sustained largely by grants from Hampshire County Council but just recently the ferry was taken over by Blue Funnel Ferries, who have made improvements to the service and brought a new regime of more efficient management which bodes well for the future. It provides perhaps a more sustainable means of getting to and from Southampton than the heavily congested A326 and the approach roads to Southampton city centre.

I have a couple of memories that stand out from the countless times I have made the journey, one being the occasion when, during a winter evening following yet another Saints defeat the ferry was on its way back to Hythe when a huge cruise ship decided to reverse out of its berth, leading to the ferry shuddering to a halt.  I looked up and saw this enormous maritime block of flats looming above the ferry in th darkness.  I knew - or at least assumed - that we were safe but it was a sight to behold nonetheless.

And then, following a defeat by Manchester City, the ferry made it back to Hythe Pier only for the pier to be so severely rammed by an out of control dredger that it was put out of action for some weeks. (The inebriated dredger captain and his dredger also suffered the same fate.)  Fortunately for me, I had just managed to get back to the end of the pier before the crash happened.

(Please click on photo for better image)

But throughout my life Hythe ferry has remained a constant reminder of my growing up in that village by the sea and although times have been tough for both of us on occasions, we have both survived and now, thanks to enlightened new owners and a new registered charity to safeguard what is a historic pier with the world`s oldest pier passenger train,  the future of Hythe ferry is assured at least for now.  I hope I can say the same about myself.

Oh well, back to the Brexit mayhem.......