The post you are reporting:
Back in February (the 12th.), I was invited to attend the launch of the new LD Lines ferry service.
A great day and a very good ship and service; it also of course re-opened up the Dover Boulogne route.
As I was standing on deck at Boulogne Harbour, I thought "this is great, but why don't we promote Dover to the French ?".
I spoke to a number of people, including a chap called Nick Stevens (Andrew's older brother - which I didn't know at that time) about it and he said he would talk to LD Lines in Paris about it.
I have worked with Nick closely over the ensuing months and he has been very supportive all the way.
I spoke to a number of other bodies about part-funding the leaflet, so it would be affordable to our hard-up, hard-stretched, local businesses, but for various reasons I couldn't get any financial (or moral) support, not even from the Tourism body - WCCTA.
I persevered and went round speaking to the businesses here - National Chains and good independant businesses.
After a while, LD Lines came back and said yes they would support this initiative, I only had one local business who denigrated the idea and said no, all the other businesses nearly bit my hand off.
Well, I'm very pleased to say that I collected the first 1000 (of a total of 10,000) from the printers (R.K.Graphics) yesterday afternoon, ready for the official launch on Monday.
The leaflet is a full-colour, glossy leaflet, with around 40 businesses and bodies on it, from M & S, Boots, Dorothy Perkins and JJB Sports, to local independants where the owners have put their money and their lives, into Dover; companies like Allan Hughes, Curiosity of Dover, La Salle Verte and many others, all of whom need supporting.
We have English Heritage, The National Trust as well as small local historic sites and attractions like Crabble Corn Mill, The Transport Museum, Roman Painted House, Dover Museum and the Bronze-Age Boat Gallery and the White Cliffs Boat tours.
It has been translated into French - by a Frenchman, who is very conversant in English and has been checked and checked again, but (probably) there'll be the odd error that's been overlooked.
So, despite all the opposition to it, we now have a leaflet (in French) that will be distributed on board the LD Lines new fast ferry, the Norman Arrow, as well as their conventional ferry, the Cote de Al' Batre and many other outlets in and around Boulogne and hopefully Le Touquet just up the road from there.
I have done this because I believe in Dover and wanted to help the Town, its businesses and historic sites and attractions in a practical way.
I would like to do a similar exercise with P. and O. or SeaFrance for the people in and around Calais and Norfolk Line for the people in and around Dunkirk, so we could eventually have the whole coastal area of Nord Pas de Calais, from Dunkirk to Dieppe, knowing about the good points and places of Dover. But, again, it depends on funding.
Roger