This project began as an exploration of Hovercraft and the English Channel in Kent, but it began to evolve and soon became a project looking at the British Inventions that have connected us to France and our continental neighbours over the years; although still with a bias towards Hovercraft. 

As part of this project, I have created a series of posters, both digitally and through screenprinting to illustrate this project, and you can also find audio guides below, sharing some of the history that this project uncovered. 

Finally, you may also notice that there is a virtual walkthrough of the End of Year show space, so you can go and explore, and try and spot the project on the walls.

Audio Guides

Final Project Outcomes

Written History

This section duplicates the text from the audio guides, in a written format for those that may find it hard to access. The 'A Brief History of the Hovercraft in Kent' text can be found in the information board above.

Hoverports in Kent

Kent played host to three major Hoverports during the time of the Cross-Channel Hovercraft, two in Dover, and one near Ramsgate. The first at Dover’s Eastern Docks opened in 1968, and catered to the original fleet of SR.N4’s. Located directly next to the car ferry’s, the terminal was integrated into the rest of the vehicular transport at Dover. It was a small building and was serviced by the two Seaspeed craft ‘The Princess Margaret’ and ‘The Princess Anne’. Services originally ran across the Channel to Boulogne and later to Calais in 1970. 

Owing to the expansion of traffic across the Channel, as well as the logistics of Hovercraft simply meaning that a larger craft is more efficient, two SR.N4’s were stretched to MKIII starting in 1976, and the original Dover Hoverport could no longer cope.

Kent’s second Hoverport was at Pegwell Bay near Ramsgate, and opened in 1969. While it was originally agreed that both Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd would operate from this port, Seaspeed withdrew and so Hoverlloyd operated the port alone. Their services were operated with the two craft ‘Swift’ and ‘Sure’.

There were many difficulties in the construction of the site, mainly coming from both Pegwell Bay’s status as an area of special scientific interest as well as significant push backs from the local residents. Once these concerns had been passed, the site was constructed and opened in a shockingly quick nine months. 

The hoverport was fortunate in its ability to handle larger traffic volumes as its out-of-town status, along with quick connections to London made it a destination of choice for many.

Eventually, the hoverport closed to passengers due to the merger of Hoverlloyd with Seaspeed in 1981, which lead to the new Hoverspeed operating from Dover Western Hoverport from 1982. This wasn’t the end of Pegwell Bay Hoverport, as technical and maintainance functions were transferred here, and the Dover Western Hoverport was able to focus on revenue operations.

The third Kentish Hoverport, Dover Western Hoverport opened in 1978. It was much delayed due to the standard stormy weather in Dover, but coincided with the introduction of the MKIII SR.N4 hovercraft, which required its much larger landing pad. This new Hoverport originally serviced Seaspeed flights, but by 1981, Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed’s merger meant that Hoverspeed held the monopoly (as the only operator remaining in Kent). 

The Western Hoverport in Dover is in fact the Kentish hoverport that had the most history. It was the place where ‘The Prince of Wales’ caught fire in 1993, and then was later demolished. It is also where ‘The Sir Christopher’ remained from its withdrawal in 1991 until its breaking up in 2005. 

From 1991 onwards, this hoverport was only serviced by the stretched MKIII SR.N4’s and ironically for a hoverport, also SeaCat Catamarans from 1993. These SeaCat’s nearly killed out the hovercraft in 1991, but they triumphantly trundled onwards. 

In 1993, the hovercraft service to Bolougne was killed in favour of SeaCat’s from Folkestone. A service to Ostende from the hoverport, but via SeaCat was started in 1998 and this lasted until 2003, but the last hovercraft service from the hoverport ended in 2000. The hoverport was used until 2005 for various other SeaCat services and has since been left abandoned, and finally redeveloped.

Since the three Hoverports were abandoned, lots has changed. 

The Dover Eastern Hoverport was subsumed into the rest of Dover Eastern Docks, and is no longer recognisable or even discernible from above. Dover’s Western Hoverport lasted much longer, but by 2017, it also fell victim to the march of redevelopment, and is now part of Dover’s new cargo terminals and marinas. Pegwell Bay Hoverport was even more unfortunate than its two Dover contemporaries. Left to its own devices after being demolished at the end of the 80’s, the pad became overgrown, but left in place. To this day, the pad remains with its markings, as a sad reminder of what once was, and what we won’t see again.

Ro-Ro Ferries

Although the Hovercraft service began in 1968, there has been a ferry service across the Channel for many years. The first modern ferry used for a regular passenger service was the British Paddle Steamer ‘Rob Roy’, first making the crossing on the 10th June 1821, and put into regular service in 1822 after being bought by the French. At this time, the crossing took around three hours. By 1854, the Channel ports had built deeper water berths, and were soon accommodating liners such as the Queen and the Empress, making crossings in an hour and a half. 

Propellor driven ships were introduced in 1903, and cars were first carried across in 1928 when they regularly craned onto ferries. During this time, railway ferries had been born, and these allowed trains to roll directly onto ferries, and off again on the other side. At the tail end of the First World War in 1918, British troops had begun loading tanks and the like onto train ferries to carry them back to Richborough Port in Kent, and this is where the idea of a roll-on, roll-off car ferry began to take off. 

In the interwar years, there was a lack of demand for these services, but after the Second World War, the idea started gaining traction again and by 1953, the RO-RO ferry terminals were introduced at Dover and Calais, and the modern service we see today began to take shape.  Throughout the decade, an average of 100,000 vehicles crossed the channel each year. 

In modern years, the RO-RO ferry services are still extremely popular, having been made as efficient as possible. Although they are beaten on speed by the Channel Tunnel, and previously by Hovercraft, the cost cannot be beaten. Dover today handles 30% of the RO-RO arrivals into the UK, and this is serviced by three operators, with 13 vessels. With the introduction of the Channel Tunnel, and the demise of the Hovercraft and Catamaran services, traditional ferries now take around 1hr and a half to complete the trip, in line with the time taken in 1854. Speed is no longer the object, with efficiency and cost taking over. The experience is nothing extraordinary, with a ferries facilities best being described as similar to a service station. The glamor of the Hovercraft is no longer here, with ships mainly containing a cheap restaurant, arcade, seating areas and a small duty-free shop. 

As before, and as it seems they always will, the traditional Ro-Ro ferry continues to trundle across the Channel, unapologetically transporting the public between the continent, and the small island nation we call home. 

What were the Hovercraft like?

We’ve touched on the brief history of hovercraft in Kent, but what was the experience actually like? The majority of the history of Hovercraft in Kent takes places with SR.N4’s, or to give them their full title, Saunders Roe – Nautical 4’s. These huge craft carried over 80 million passengers during their time in service, whisking them across the channel in an average of 30 minutes. 

The cabins have been described as very similar to an aircraft, with forward facing seats and narrow aisles. This may seem strange, but it is actually due to the hovercraft service being intended as a rival to these very same aircraft. 

The craft were given an air of sophistication, with well-dressed cabin crew, serving drinks and offering duty free for sale. Duty free, was a staple of the SR.N4’s and was one of the huge draws that lead to its popularity. 

Sophistication was the word of the hour, with check-in being completed at an exclusive terminal. Then, drinks and a meal could be had, while you browse the duty free in the lead up to your boarding of the craft. This experience prefaced that of the trip across the channel itself, which depended heavily on the day. If you had smooth seas, you’d make a quick hop across, with the sound of roaring engines providing a soundtrack to your mighty trip; large windows proving views for the passengers to enjoy. 

If you were unfortunate enough to have rough seas, you may notice the previously majestic roaring engines becoming irritating as you sway and rock surrounding by your fellow passengers, many of whom will have rediscovered their lunch. 

What about the Channel Tunnel?

The Channel Tunnel is the current fastest way to cross the Channel between England and France. Construction started in 1988, and the tunnel opened in 1994 to compete with the Ro-Ro ferries, Hovercraft and Catamarans of the time. In 2024, we are now in the 30th anniversary year of this incredible feat of engineering, but attempts were made much before this. 

The first proposal for a tunnel under the Channel was by French Mining Engineer Albert Mathieu-Favier in 1802, when he suggested that stagecoaches could run along a path lit by lamps. This idea never came to fruition, but it got people thinking.  By the late 1800’s, work had begun on digging a Channel Tunnel for the use of the steam powered railways, but this was soon abandoned.

In 1936, Winston Churchill showed his support for a Channel Tunnel, although his support was much more related to the military capabilities of such a tunnel in a time of uncertainty and looming war in Europe. 

Through a false start in 1973, and a quick cancellation in 1975, by 1986, the final agreement was made between the British and French governments, and the Treaty of Canterbury was signed in the Cathedral by then PM Margaret Thatcher, then Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe, French President Francois Mitterrand and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Roland Dumas. This treaty modified the borders between England and France, drawing one in the middle of the channel and finally led to the construction of the tunnel we know today. It was in 1986 that it became obvious that the Cross-Channel Hovercraft would finally have a true competitor. Construction finally began in 1988, and the British and French teams met in the middle in 1990, representing the first land link between Britain and our continental neighbours since the Ice Age. 

Finally, in 1994, Queen Elizabeth II and Francois Mitterrand met and made use of the tunnel on its first day in operation. The Channel Tunnel was open for business, and the Eurostar service followed from Waterloo later the same year. The Hovercraft had some serious competition. 

Although the Hovercraft service was shut down in 2000, it took until 2007 for the Eurostar service to move to the new HS1 line, and the newly refurbished St Pancras International train station. With that, the fastest way to cross the Channel from London was ready, but due to the demise of Ashford International during the Covid Pandemic, it is now quicker for a foot passenger from Dover to catch a ferry as a foot passenger, then it is to double back to London. 

Technology has moved forwards, made leaps and bounds and has connected London, and the rest of UK to Europe in ways that we have never seen before. The Eurotunnel Le Shuttle allows you to cross from Folkestone to Calais in a mere 22 minutes, and the Eurostar service will get you from London to Paris in 2 hours and 16 minutes. Nevertheless, this engineering icon has killed off the rest of the innovation in Cross-Channel transport, and for those of us in Kent, we are left with foot passenger services of 1 hour and a half on a Ro-Ro ferry, the same speed as in 1854. Europe and the UK has moved forwards, but Kent has been forced backwards as we lose what was once promised, and brought prosperity to our county.