Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 20

Thread: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    1
    Thanks (Given)
    0
    Thanks (Received)
    2
    Likes (Given)
    0
    Likes (Received)
    0

    Smile Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    Looking for old shipmates and BOT aquaintances

    Added for you! Malcolm

    I'm looking for people old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries, I joined ss Dover in 1965 as 2nd Mate. ex Ellerman Lines
    Last edited by Doc Vernon; 15th October 2014 at 09:15 PM.

  2. Thanks Doc Vernon, N/A thanked for this post
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Blue Mountains NSW
    Posts
    24,233
    Thanks (Given)
    45030
    Thanks (Received)
    13120
    Likes (Given)
    52410
    Likes (Received)
    39374

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    Hi Malcolm
    Hope you may soon get some replies on this,may take a wee while but I am sure there may be someone out there !
    Cheers
    Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website

    R697530

  4. Likes N/A liked this post
  5. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Posts
    4,607
    Thanks (Given)
    2087
    Thanks (Received)
    3355
    Likes (Given)
    10815
    Likes (Received)
    12753

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm Conyers View Post
    Looking for old shipmates and BOT aquaintances
    Hi , Malcolm, I was 12 months sailing out of Holyhead B.R., Cambria, Hibernia, Duke Of Rothersay, and this one happy days Mal, Only thing was we were that fed up with travelling from L,Pool to Holyhead. We rented a caravan from a farmer in a field in Holyhead, If walls had ears Terry.


    The Vortigern

    An interesting ship which served briefly on the Holyhead – Dun Laoghaire route was the Vortigern. She was built in 1969 as a combined train/vehicle ferry for Dover and Folkestone, and marked a revolution for the local fleet in that she was the first Dover BR vessel to be driven by a diesel engine and to be built with a drive-through car deck, complete with bow visor. For some time she sailed as a train ferry to Dunkerque in winter and as a car ferry to Oostende in summer. She later became almost exclusively a car ferry, but her strengthened hull (for railway carriages) served her well in March 1982 when she ran aground on the breakwater next to the port entrance at Oostende. Her passengers had to be disembarked using lifeboats and, after waiting 4 days for a very high tide, she was eventually freed. The stresses of lying with bows in the air would have caused most ships to break their backs, but the Vortigern’s strengthened hull for the train ferry service allowed her to survive!

    The Vortigern ended her Sealink career on the Holyhead – Dun Laoghaire route in March 1988, before being sold to Lindos Lines in Greece and renamed the Milos Express
    {terry scouse}

  6. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Anglesey
    Posts
    8
    Thanks (Given)
    10
    Thanks (Received)
    11
    Likes (Given)
    1
    Likes (Received)
    20

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    I sailed on the dover as mess boy 1971 out of Holyhead for 2 months in school holidays before I went on deep sea trawlers .

  7. Likes Doc Vernon, N/A, Evan Lewis liked this post
  8. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Posts
    286
    Thanks (Given)
    24
    Thanks (Received)
    119
    Likes (Given)
    32
    Likes (Received)
    395

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    anyone old enough to have worked on BR ferries???????
    started on them in 1959 on the Maid of Orleans, there to the Dinard, then the Invicter, over to the folkestone run on the Canterbery, back to the Maid of Orleans. left in 1961 to go coastal.
    keith moody
    R635978

  9. Thanks N/A thanked for this post
    Likes Doc Vernon liked this post
  10. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    South wales
    Posts
    1
    Thanks (Given)
    0
    Thanks (Received)
    3
    Likes (Given)
    0
    Likes (Received)
    6

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    Hi Malcolm,
    I am brand new to this forum as I was trying to find out any details of what became of the Vortigern as my grandad Jim Priestly used to serve on her during the 1970's when it was run by BR he was an engineer and took myself and my younger brother on it for a crossing and showed us all around it. We even when's up on the bridge and met the captain who let us steer the ship,a memory that is embedded for ever I was aged about 10 years old ( keep it within the lubbers line ) is what I remember the captain saying I miss my grandad he passed away in 1986.

    Regards

    Mark Jones

  11. #7
    Keith at Tregenna's Avatar
    Keith at Tregenna Guest

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    Vortigern the Ferry ?

    Vortigern the Ferry

  12. Thanks N/A, Doc Vernon thanked for this post
  13. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Katoomba, Blue Mountains, Australia
    Posts
    2,165
    Thanks (Given)
    4442
    Thanks (Received)
    2117
    Likes (Given)
    10706
    Likes (Received)
    6458

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    At Easter 1950 I had just left the Port Saint John in Newcastle on Tyne and Prior to joining the Port Dunedin for a return trip to New Zealand I thought I'd have the Easter Weekend in Paris. I took the Golden Arrow steam train to Dover, the ferry (I cannot recall it's name) to Calais and then the Fleche d'Or steam train to Paris Gare du Nord. I remember it well. The cheapest room in a B&B in Montmarte, the flicks with Dorothy Lamour without a bra in something about la Mer Sud, walking all over Paris and checking out the museums. Gorking at the the pictures advertising the shows going on inside the Moulin Rouge. The best Easter I ever had. Then back the same way to London. Merchant Navy! Wow! what a life.
    Richard
    Our Ship was our Home
    Our Shipmates our Family

  14. #9
    Lewis McColl's Avatar
    Lewis McColl Guest

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    Quote Originally Posted by red lead ted View Post
    Hi , Malcolm, I was 12 months sailing out of Holyhead B.R., Cambria, Hibernia, Duke Of Rothersay, and this one happy days Mal, Only thing was we were that fed up with travelling from L,Pool to Holyhead. We rented a caravan from a farmer in a field in Holyhead, If walls had ears Terry.




    The Vortigern ended her Sealink career on the Holyhead – Dun Laoghaire route in March 1988, before being sold to Lindos Lines in Greece and renamed the Milos Express
    Surely that is wrong , as late as 1969 she was the first Dover BR vessel to be driven by Diesel engines!!!!!!
    Last edited by Doc Vernon; 9th January 2018 at 06:43 PM.

  15. Likes Doc Vernon liked this post
  16. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Posts
    4,607
    Thanks (Given)
    2087
    Thanks (Received)
    3355
    Likes (Given)
    10815
    Likes (Received)
    12753

    Default Re: Anybody old enough to have served on British Rail Ferries (Dover)

    Quote Originally Posted by Lewis McColl View Post
    Surely that is wrong , as late as 1969 she was the first Dover BR vessel to be driven by Diesel engines!!!!!!
    Take a look Lew, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Vortigern
    {terry scouse}

  17. Thanks N/A, Doc Vernon thanked for this post
    Likes Bill Cameron liked this post
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. VIEW FROM THE RAIL
    By happy daze john in oz in forum Cruise Ships of Today
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 15th January 2013, 03:41 PM
  2. EX P and O Ferries Pride of Dover ,Pride of Calais.
    By Tony Wilding in forum Ask the Forum
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 19th December 2012, 07:37 AM
  3. Rail fares.
    By Captain Kong in forum Trivia and Interesting Stuff
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 10th September 2012, 05:58 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •