Not so many years ago, if you needed to get from Woolston to Southampton you had either to travel about 4 miles by road or cross the river Itchen by chain link ferry. As a young boy my dad would take me down to the slipway at Woolston and watch the Floating Bridge come in, drop it's landing platform and see the cars, pushbikes and people getting off. On one occasion i saw a young chap, who was obviously late, riding his bike for all his worth down the slipway, getting off and throwing his bike on the departing ferry, only to see it fall short and into the water. Although it only took four minutes to cross, as a young boy it was an exciting experience!
Now, sadly the days of the chainlink ferry are long gone and in it's place is the 'New Itchen Bridge'.
If you want to board one of the original Chainlink Ferries you can. It is now a restaurant called The Ferry Restaurant The food is very good, it's only a small restaurant so you will probably need to book.
No comments:
Post a Comment