The Front Page. - Copy 212 (The Fountain.PDCT First Meeting. Hovercraft. )
17 November 2011
The picture above shows the fountain on saturday morning at 11.30am. As we can see children everywhere love nothing better than to gently put their hands in the water or to try gleefully to avoid the fountain's spray. Look at the picture...Who would want to close such a beautiful thing down?
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The seminar on the future of the Port was held on thursday and was chaired by none other than the Bishop of Dover himself. Despite an initial disagreement, the Mayor of Dover Cllr Ronnie Philpott did attend as we understand it. Also in attendance were representatives from the following groups..
Dover Town Council as mentioned
Dover District Council
CASE Kent
Lieutenancy of Kent
The Dover Society
Dover Rotary Club
Church of England
East Cliff and Athol Terrace Residents Association
Canterbury Christchurch University
Ashurst (advisors to Dover Harbour Board)
NHS (Kent & Medway)
Arup (advisors to Dover Harbour Board)
Dover Grammar School for Girls
Dover Harbour Board
The Bishop of Dover, the Right Reverend Trevor Willmott, has chaired the first meeting of community representatives who will work together in order to take forward the possible development of the Port of Dover Community Trust (PDCT).
Acknowledging at the outset the tensions that have existed within Dover over the future of the Port, the wide range of community representatives all agreed on one thing – if the PDCT becomes a reality then everyone must work together to ensure that the most disadvantaged in Dover’s community can benefit.
With unanimous agreement that the key issue uniting everyone attending was the wellbeing of Dover, the Bishop described the size of the opportunity presented by the PDCT as “beyond our imagining.”
Bishop Trevor said: “it was important to recognise the cynicism that has existed and to be realistic about the history surrounding the future of the Port. However, it was even more important to recognise the opportunity to serve Dover which the PDCT presents in a way which unites everyone in a common purpose – the wellbeing of Dover.”
Representatives from the community and voluntary sector, education, health, business, local authorities, local amenity and interest groups, the faith sector and the Port itself, all concurred that disagreements must be put to one side in order that the PDCT can be constructed in the best possible way for Dover. All participants agreed to regularly meet again in the New Year so that work can continue on building a trusting and open relationship. It was also emphasised that the group would have an open door to those who also shared the same values and wished to see a PDCT that would serve Dover over the long term.
Bishop Trevor added: “it is right that the community should know that this broad group of key representatives met and that they are all agreed in playing their part to move the PDCT forward, not for any reason apart from the long term prosperity of Dover.”
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A HOVERCRAFT ENTHUSIAST WITH MORE THAN 200 HOVERCRAFT TRIPS TO HIS NAME
Port of Dover welcomed hovercraft enthusiast David Anderson to the site of the previous hoverport recently. David, now 49 and pictured below, began his love affair with hovercraft at the age of five and admits to having taken over 200 hovercraft trips, many from Dover. He says; “more often than not I was fortunate to sit with the captain and the Flight Engineer.”
He was eager to see the lone propeller, the last symbol of Dover’s hovercraft era which still stands at the site of the old hoverport, up close and capture the moment through a series of photographs. Bob Goldfield, Chief Executive, Port of Dover, commented: “this chapter in cross-Channel travel fascinates many people, from the local area of Dover and much further afield. We were delighted to welcome David to the Port and enable him to fulfil his ambition of documenting this piece of maritime history.”
The original Seaspeed hoverport, built at the Eastern Docks, was opened by Princess Margaret in 1968.
A decade later, with demand for a larger base, a new hoverport was christened at Dover’s Western Docks and officially opened by the Duke of Kent.
Following the merger of Seaspeed with Hoverlloyd in late 1981, Hoverspeed operated services until 1991 in favour of the SeaCats, although the hovercraft remained operational until October 2000. Five years later, Hoverspeed announced they would cease operations completely. The imposing red propeller, 21 ft in diameter is the only reminder of the “era of the hovercraft.”
* Seaspeed started cross-Channel services from Dover to Calais and Boulogne using SR-N4 hovercraft in August 1968.
* The two hovercraft were named "The Princess Margaret" and "The Princess Anne"; (the former featured in the James Bond film, “Diamonds are Forever”
* In 1976, work started to lengthen both craft by inserting an additional 17.1 metre section increasing the passenger capacity of the craft from 254 passengers to 418 and the car capacity to 60.
* With the closure of the service in 2000 both craft are now preserved at the Hovercraft Museum
* A French-built N500 Naviplane (Ingénieur Jean Bertin) was constructed in 1977 for use on Seaspeed services.
Many thanks to Tricia Corkhill of DHB for the info and many thanks to Paul Scotchie Wells for the picture of the Hovercraft. It is in fact is an old postcard as you can see. Despite the Hovercraft whirling and snarling in and out of our harbour for so may years, there seems to be very few pictures of them. So grateful thanks to Paul and his collection. Note the viewing platform/restaurant at the end of the pier....all different now.
See also the Hovercraft thread in our Forum section....extra pictures there now
go there direct or use this link if you wish...
http://www.doverforum.com/letters/viewtopic.php?id=8756
Fountain Closure:
You will have heard the story by now about the fountian. If not see the long thread in our forum. There has also been coverage in the local newspapers..the main crux being that DDC are intending to switch the fountain off and board it up for the entire Olympic year of 2012. This is a hugely unpopular idea, as the fountain is much loved by local people and tourists alike. There have been battles over the fountain before and we must keep it open and running. Some feel that this is a precursor to full closure and that using the Olympic events on the Market Sq screen is just an excuse...there have been large events and rallies in the Square before and the fountain flowed sweetly throughout..no problem at all. Nor did it cause any harm to any individual.The picture above shows the fountain on saturday morning at 11.30am. As we can see children everywhere love nothing better than to gently put their hands in the water or to try gleefully to avoid the fountain's spray. Look at the picture...Who would want to close such a beautiful thing down?
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Bishop of Dover Chairs first meeting of PDCT.
The seminar on the future of the Port was held on thursday and was chaired by none other than the Bishop of Dover himself. Despite an initial disagreement, the Mayor of Dover Cllr Ronnie Philpott did attend as we understand it. Also in attendance were representatives from the following groups..
Dover Town Council as mentioned
Dover District Council
CASE Kent
Lieutenancy of Kent
The Dover Society
Dover Rotary Club
Church of England
East Cliff and Athol Terrace Residents Association
Canterbury Christchurch University
Ashurst (advisors to Dover Harbour Board)
NHS (Kent & Medway)
Arup (advisors to Dover Harbour Board)
Dover Grammar School for Girls
Dover Harbour Board
The Bishop of Dover, the Right Reverend Trevor Willmott, has chaired the first meeting of community representatives who will work together in order to take forward the possible development of the Port of Dover Community Trust (PDCT).
Acknowledging at the outset the tensions that have existed within Dover over the future of the Port, the wide range of community representatives all agreed on one thing – if the PDCT becomes a reality then everyone must work together to ensure that the most disadvantaged in Dover’s community can benefit.
With unanimous agreement that the key issue uniting everyone attending was the wellbeing of Dover, the Bishop described the size of the opportunity presented by the PDCT as “beyond our imagining.”
Bishop Trevor said: “it was important to recognise the cynicism that has existed and to be realistic about the history surrounding the future of the Port. However, it was even more important to recognise the opportunity to serve Dover which the PDCT presents in a way which unites everyone in a common purpose – the wellbeing of Dover.”
Representatives from the community and voluntary sector, education, health, business, local authorities, local amenity and interest groups, the faith sector and the Port itself, all concurred that disagreements must be put to one side in order that the PDCT can be constructed in the best possible way for Dover. All participants agreed to regularly meet again in the New Year so that work can continue on building a trusting and open relationship. It was also emphasised that the group would have an open door to those who also shared the same values and wished to see a PDCT that would serve Dover over the long term.
Bishop Trevor added: “it is right that the community should know that this broad group of key representatives met and that they are all agreed in playing their part to move the PDCT forward, not for any reason apart from the long term prosperity of Dover.”
*********************************
Ah!...... those glory days of Hovercraft.
A HOVERCRAFT ENTHUSIAST WITH MORE THAN 200 HOVERCRAFT TRIPS TO HIS NAME
VISITS LAST SYMBOL OF A BYGONE ERA
Port of Dover welcomed hovercraft enthusiast David Anderson to the site of the previous hoverport recently. David, now 49 and pictured below, began his love affair with hovercraft at the age of five and admits to having taken over 200 hovercraft trips, many from Dover. He says; “more often than not I was fortunate to sit with the captain and the Flight Engineer.”
He was eager to see the lone propeller, the last symbol of Dover’s hovercraft era which still stands at the site of the old hoverport, up close and capture the moment through a series of photographs. Bob Goldfield, Chief Executive, Port of Dover, commented: “this chapter in cross-Channel travel fascinates many people, from the local area of Dover and much further afield. We were delighted to welcome David to the Port and enable him to fulfil his ambition of documenting this piece of maritime history.”
The original Seaspeed hoverport, built at the Eastern Docks, was opened by Princess Margaret in 1968. A decade later, with demand for a larger base, a new hoverport was christened at Dover’s Western Docks and officially opened by the Duke of Kent.
Following the merger of Seaspeed with Hoverlloyd in late 1981, Hoverspeed operated services until 1991 in favour of the SeaCats, although the hovercraft remained operational until October 2000. Five years later, Hoverspeed announced they would cease operations completely.
Did you know..and not a lot of people know this....
* Seaspeed started cross-Channel services from Dover to Calais and Boulogne using SR-N4 hovercraft in August 1968.
* The two hovercraft were named "The Princess Margaret" and "The Princess Anne"; (the former featured in the James Bond film, “Diamonds are Forever”
* In 1976, work started to lengthen both craft by inserting an additional 17.1 metre section increasing the passenger capacity of the craft from 254 passengers to 418 and the car capacity to 60.
* With the closure of the service in 2000 both craft are now preserved at the Hovercraft Museum
* A French-built N500 Naviplane (Ingénieur Jean Bertin) was constructed in 1977 for use on Seaspeed services.
Many thanks to Tricia Corkhill of DHB for the info and many thanks to Paul Scotchie Wells for the picture of the Hovercraft. It is in fact is an old postcard as you can see. Despite the Hovercraft whirling and snarling in and out of our harbour for so may years, there seems to be very few pictures of them. So grateful thanks to Paul and his collection. Note the viewing platform/restaurant at the end of the pier....all different now.
See also the Hovercraft thread in our Forum section....extra pictures there now
go there direct or use this link if you wish...
http://www.doverforum.com/letters/viewtopic.php?id=8756