Ferry Tale of Woolwich

[@jonb3311]

I took my grand daughter on it. She enjoyed it so much, we went back and forth for well over an hour. If only I could have found the Duty Free.

[@worldcupgillingham7208]

I used to teach Ben Woollacott, nice guy lost far too soon.

[@295g295]

> 7:09 < Woollacott - not to be confused with - Woolwich

[@JelMain]

@@295g295 One of the old waterman families - mine's up and down the Channel. Grandpa's grandpa was cut in half when a tow hawser snapped.

[@snubby4624]

19 is no age. God bless the young man.

[@nopenope952]

"the ferry is not going anywhere, but back and forth"- your word play always puts a smile on my face

[@295g295]

> 7:44

[@ramblingrob4693]

I wish they would have a decent sizer ferry on the Gravesend to Tilbury crossing, the tiny boat which does at the moment, slightest wave an its like a jelly

[@chriscraven9572]

In the 50's we used to use the ferry 5 or 6 times a year when we went to Woolwich to visit family. The treat was to observe the engines driving the paddle wheels. I can still remember the smell of hot oil wafting up through the open viewing louvres.

[@joncrawford3485]

"...comes to £180,000, or a couple of nights out in the WestEnd..." Really? You're getting discounts; how?!

[@irongoatrocky2343]

easy........he got around by using TFL!

[@golddalekwho5944]

Back in the mid 70's as kids we had our red rover cards and travelled far and wide on the buses and also had trips on the ferry back and forth. Big feeling of independence on the water and used to pretend we were at sea 😂. Well we were kids and has just left primary school and felt grown up, with plenty of imagination

[@ShedTV]

In 1991 as a somewhat lost and bewildered Northern teenager heading for Croydon in a Datsun Sunny I arrived at the end of the North Circular expecting to see a bridge. I was very suprised to cross the Thames by ferry, but rather enjoyed it as I recall.

[@MiaCollinsNeighborhood]

That was ferry shocking, wasn’t it?

[@ianmoseley9910]

I have a memory of seeing the paddle versions and looking at the engines you could see then, but I was not cycling round there until the later 1960's, so I was probably with my father - the family had a small road haulage company based in Plaistow and he would drive one of the lorries when they were short handed.

[@Bipbip5768]

Just visited central London forvthe first time since discovering your videos and safe to say my wife was bombarded with random facts and knowledge. Keep up the excellent work.

[@AlexOnABoat]

There's something special about a ferry, it makes going south of the river feel exotic.

[@allanward8458]

I'm so old that I remember during THE war that the bridges over the docks (Albert and George) were never open to road traffic in case they got bombed and blocked the entrance to shipping. I think the journey on the 101 bus was via Slivertown etc . pretty cheap for a penny!

[@richardchurch9709]

My memories are sketchy and they must have happened before I joined the Army is January 1964 at the age of 15 and a half. I can remember being taken to travel the ferry by my Aunt who lived in Plumstead. I couldn't wait to board and spent the entire crossing below deck just mesmerised by the engine movements and the sound of sheer power, and the smell !!..........sheer heaven.

[@andymiller4971]

I've used the Woolwich ferry on occasion,a nice view of the Thames barrier in the distance ,long may the ferry continue.

[@majorpygge-phartt2643]

Cue loud foghorn! I used to travel back and forth on the woolwich ferry back in the 60's when I used to live just up the road from woolwich. My mum used to take me to some place called eastham but I can't remember what it even looks like as I was only a little sprog at the time. All I remember is the crossings. And I also vaguely remember the old wooden beams on the woolwich landing before it was rebuilt and modernised.

[@onlybugwit]

I'm 75 now but when I was young I used to get the bus to Woolwich just to go backwards and forwards on the ferry and especially to go to the observation area and watch the engine with its huge con-rods going up an down and all highly polished brass. Beautiful,,, and the smell,,,, to die for

[@ernestparker3648]

Brilliant, in the 50s/60s as a kid it was great fun going to Woolwich just to keep going across, what a fun day out.

[@TheNemocharlie]

You know, for some reason that never occurred to me....

[@annother3350]

But they make you get off and get back on again!

[@geezerbutler4582]

Or you can take the ferry one way and the foot tunnel the other? But be warned it is a lot longer than the Greenwich foot tunnel

[@althejazzman]

The puns and dry humour just keep improving, and hit me when I least expect them. "the ferry is going nowhere, except back and forth".

[@AtheistOrphan]

1:04 - This is why I’ve never been on it: I’m terrified of mermaid attacks. 🧜‍♀️

[@barneypaws4883]

Mermaids seemed to be quite the hinderance back in the day

[@Titan604]

@@barneypaws4883 Yes, especially when they were harassing you to buy fancy coffee.

[@lynton09]

Interesting. I'm old enough to recall travelling on the steam paddle ferries. The highlight of the journey(s) was always watching the engines at work, clearly remember the humps in the floor in the gangway covering the drive shafts for the paddle wheels. Several images of the steam ferries survive, but none I have yet found of the engines.

[@itstimeforham]

Worth noting the new ferries did not come into operation in 2017. They were due to start in 2019 but a catalogue of issues meant they didn’t start running properly until months later. And then the pandemic hit.

[@timsully8958]

Excellent stuff! I shan’t recycle my tale of using this ferry ⛴ to get to watch Charlton over the years 😜 Nice to see the service in good health so to speak. There have been various murmurs and rumours about its impending doom but the new ferries seem to have put that to bed for now at least! 😀 Sad to think I shall never ride on Ernest Bevan again but I guess that is just progress and I’d rather the service survived 🤔 Cheers 🍻 🍀👍

[@alstorer]

one of the upgrades that came with the Dame Vera Lynn and Ben Woollacott is that they have an automatic docking system, which means that the specific circumstances of Ben's death won't be repeated.

[@dvdvnr]

5ft passengers vs 150ft passengers? Well, at least the 5ft ones have room to stand up! Another fantastic video - thanks Jago! You are the entertainment to my lazy Sunday afternoon.

[@CJonestheSteam72]

The KZbin subtitles for the word Woolwich came up with so many variations in this video that it's actually an Easter egg 😏

[@theofarmmanager267]

I remember using the “old” ferry late 1950’s - maybe early 1960. The approaches to the ferry looked nothing like now and were all timber. Boy, did they groan, move and creak when you drove your car over them. I was a young boy and thought that collapse was imminent. Could well have been apparently.

[@johnhowitt2653]

i used to use it in the 60’s simply because i could, even though i had to go out of my way.it was sort of a link with the past of the Thames as a thoroughfare

[@theofarmmanager267]

@@johnhowitt2653 later on, when the new ferry terminals had been built (same as today?), I used the foot tunnel to get across. Couldn’t stand waiting for the ferry; couldn’t stand waiting for much in my youth; now, waiting is a pleasant interlude. Life is like a toilet roll; the nearer you get to the end; the faster it goes around. Not my invention, but very true.

[@mickeydodds1]

That's funny.

[@markkinnon4866]

I recall that during the 80s one of the ferries broke down and drifted some considerable distance down stream before it could be rescued; which must have made for a much more interesting journey for those unfortunate enough to be on board.

[@asheland_numismatics]

This channel is awesome. Plain and simple.

[@torresalex]

Lovely. I used to cross here all the time back in the 80's with my late father. Good times.

[@DavidB5501]

As a child in the 1960s I went on a trip to Margate on one of the last paddle steamers. (We boarded at Southend, not Woolwich.) I remember it because passengers were allowed down to the engine room to see the machinery working, which was quite a treat. At that date the engines were probably diesel powered, not steam, but I don't remember. It seems odd that paddle steamers were still working as late as the 1960s, and not just as 'heritage' attractions.

[@trevordance5181]

I remember as a kid getting The Royal Sovereign and Daffodil from Tower Pier down to Southend and Margate. Were these the ships that called in at Woolwich?

[@bonalba20]

I remember travelling to x fro on the paddle ferries as a child. On warm days the crew would leave the doors to the engine room open. One could then marvel at the huge engine operating, (very little health x safety then)! The other memory is of a very strong stink from the river. Ah! the good old days!

[@ianb2844]

Thanks for the recent videos about the North Woolwich, that being a place we often visited during the school holidays just to ride on the free ferry. What a grand day out getting a "Red Bus Rover" and travelling all the way from Walthamstow on the number 69 bus.... no sniggering at the back.... with our sandwiches and a bottle of pop. You try telling the young of today that that was a grand day out...would they believe you....would they heck as like!

[@atraindriver]

A grand day out to the yoof of today appears to be going to one of the Westfields (or equivalent shopping centres outside London) and hanging around, so despite the sheer lack of cool inherent in catching a bus for a ride on a ferry, I'd definitely prefer it to hanging around a mall complaining that there was nuffin to f***in do anywhere. Mind you, my early teens were spent using a National Wanderbus or Explorer ticket to head out of the West Midlands and ride around the Midlands on Midland Red buses, all on my tod, which is something the kids of today probably wouldn't be allowed to do "because it's too dangerous" so hanging around shopping centres is pretty much all that's open to them. I feel sorry for the kids of today.

[@makkari1]

That wonderful moment when you find an old Jago Hazzard film you haven't seen before! ❤

[@annother3350]

I always found it amusing that one can travel around the north and south circular at a moderate pace, in fact some of it is three or four lane motorway, then you get to the ferry and wait up to an hour to cross 😂

[@OnboardG1]

Serco were also briefly responsible for running the ancillary screening for security clearances. Anyone who has dealt with them probably can guess how that went.

[@kerrytimm9920]

This is very nice. I love riding on river boats.

[@trevordance5181]

When I hear on the radio traffic news, as often is the case, that there is only a reduced one boat service operating the Woolwich Ferry, I always end up singing to myself... "One Woolwich Ferry, There's only one Woolwich Ferry, One Woolwich Ferrrr-eeee, There's only one Woolwich Ferry", to the tune of 'Guantanamera' by The Sandpipers.

[@CyclingSteve]

Until 1965 North Woolwich was an enclave of Kent, the bloodless coup made it part of the LB Newham, itself rescued from Essex.

[@ashleyjarvis954]

Have used the ferry intermittently for decades. After a long day at Canary Wharf, its nice to bob along the river and take in the views/get some space.

[@oc2phish07]

It certainly 'floated my boat' Jago. Another extremely interesting and very watchable video. Thank you.

[@295g295]

> 7:53 < floated

[@peterdean8009]

Another gem, Jago. As kids, my mate and I would go out for the day and come home via the ferry. After 60 yrs we both remember the huge 'Granada' neon sign shining out, with a fuzzy red reflection in the river.

[@kevinfitzpatrick444]

"the army took matters into their own handies..." So cheesey but worth it

[@Andrewjg_89]

That’s what puns are there for 😂😂

[@TheCaptScarlett]

They rolled up their sleevies

[@295g295]

> 2:00 < transportation for the arsenal Are the grounds of Arsenal near here? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZ2kgIyrr9SEoNk

[@batworker]

Can we have a ‘Bazelgette’ episode? He’s a bit of a personal hero…

[@HerbertDuckshort]

I love the on board Duty Free shop. I always stock up on Jellied Eels.

[@lotusgroup123]

I once appeared in a play called “Murder on The Woolwich Ferry” at the Tom Allen Centre in Stratford.

[@joeottsoulbikes415]

I dont know what it is about ferry rides but I love taking them. Here in Seattle Washington USA we have several ferries leaving from downtown to various destinations. We have one that is walk on passenger & bicycle only to British Columbia Canada. We have one to Bainbridge Island, Vashon Island, & Bremerton, WA. Then a few miles north one to Windby Island.

[@garyhooper2728]

Fantastic in the 60‘S I used to go across with my gran to get jellied eels as she was from silver town and moved to Welling in the 30’s, later my father in law was a lighterman on the ferry that’s how he met my ex.wife’s mother small world good to see its still going next time I manage to get back to the UK I will give it a try thank you

[@GreenJimll]

Considering the distance the ferry has to travel and that it is then moored up to allow vehicles and passengers on and off for several minutes, it would seem ripe for full battery electrification. After all the Scandinavians have a fully electric ferry plying far longer routes around the fjords.

[@herseem]

Batteries would not have the capacity to keep going, but I can see a theoretical potential idea in them getting recharged each time they are attached to the pier while they load and unload. However, most batteries have a limited number of cycles, and for a ferry that is in constant use, those cycles would be used up very quickly. The distance is short enough that, at face value, it could run on an electrical umbilical cord. However, once you've got two ferries then they have to be arranged so that they wouldn't get tangled up and wound round each other. Or caught up by other ships. I don't know if there are actually any ferries run on electrical umbilical cords.

[@jammin023]

@@herseem Some types of battery will last a very long time if they are just used for short periods with regular top-ups; periodic optimised refresh cycles could improve their lifetime further. Sure they would need to be replaced eventually just like a car battery, but I suspect they could do tens of thousands of journeys between replacements. Bear in mind that diesel engines also need more maintenance than pure electric motors, as well as the fuel cost which is rising all the time. Overall the costs of a battery powered ferry could easily be lower - especially if some of the electricity can be generated from wind turbines on the banks and on the ferries, making use of the fact that it's usually pretty windy around there!

[@2H80vids]

@@jammin023 Tens of thousands of cycles 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 like a lot but, considering the large number of daily crossings, the lifetime of the batteries would only be a few years at most. I'm no expert on such matters but a vessel this heavy is going to need some serious batteries, which will add hugely to the weight of the ferry, which will then require even bigger batteries. It doesn't seem to be a great idea really.😁

[@trevordance5181]

Why not use people doing community service as galley slaves to power the ferries? I can just imagine a big, burley bloke standing over a big drum banging out the strokes like in the film Ben Hurr... Ramming Speed! 😉

[@2H80vids]

@@trevordance5181 Way too sensible!! Social workers would be screaming "Human rights" from the top of lamp posts. The first time someone got a blister, there would need to be a risk assessment carried out and the "equal opportunities" crowd would insist that the 𝑏𝑖𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑘𝑒 was actually a disabled woman, from an ethnic minority. The drum would be banned as racial stereotyping and noise pollution and every ferry in the land would be out on strike, claiming unfair competition. By the time the "crew" had taken all their "personal needs breaks" and undergone counselling for their traumatic working conditions, there would be queues of traffic, stretching from the ferries back to Dover. Apart from these teething troubles, I see no reason why it wouldn't work. 🥁 Yo Ho Heave Ho🥁 😁 Bob Hoskins would have been a good man for the job.😂

[@johnorourke6869]

I used to travel on the previous ferries to and from work, and was always appreciative of the cocktail lounge and duty free shop. Sadly I haven't used the new ferries and fear that they will not have the same levels of luxury.

[@drg111yt]

Thank you. Nice ferry. I remember travelling on the steamers in the 1950s.

[@DBIVUK]

Worth noting that the Metropolitan Board of Works wasn't supposed to have ended on 21 March 1889. It was supposed to have gone on to the end of the month (and the local government year). However, in its last days it got above itself. It gave many employees pay rises which would have to be paid by the London County Council. It permitted buildings to encroach on streets against local opinion. Then it proposed to award a contract to build the Blackwall Tunnel to a firm that wasn't the lowest bidder. There was such an outcry that the Government stepped in and brought forward its abolition to stop it. Hence the Woolwich Ferry opened as the first achievement of the LCC not the last of the MBW. There's an interesting letter in the last minutes of the MBW (pages 684-5) detailing the arrangements for the opening ceremony of the Woolwich Ferry. They can be found on Google Books.

[@jonnotshared7590]

With regards to the point on pay rises, a similar thing happened in Hong Kong just before the handover to China. Lots of central Government employees (from street sweepers to, ironically, the ferry staff) whose salary was partly funded by the UK govt. got large pay rises because the Chinese govt. would have to carry them on.

[@Batters56]

You describe the foot passenger part of the new Woolwich ferries as “pretty spacious”, but it is basically a glorified footpath with a shelter. The old boats had basically the whole lower deck for foot passengers, which meant in the latter years and enormous empty maze to walk round during the crossing and fun to find the exit in the opposite corner of the vessel!

[@DEEDUBZ]

Woolwich is very unique because it's situated in South, East, and also has a Football Team based in North London by the name of The Arsenal. It has also done a lot of business shipping stuff to parts of West London in the 1800s too. Even Essex and Kent if you want to branch out. London would be a very boring place without Woolwich and The Arsenal.

[@davespagnol8847]

Good old Arsenal, we're proud to say that name. While we sing this song we'll win the game.

[@jean-pierredeclemy7032]

Talking recently to someone who drives one of these or may have now retired, they are looking at total leccy propulsion but they wouldn't be able to hold them against the ramps with the props turning which is the current practice because batteries would be charging.

[@jimtaylor294]

Good news indeed. Less risk of being electrocuted if the ferry should flood or sink for any reason. (the US Navy abandoned turbo-electric drive on their warships for good reason)

[@LesD9]

@@jimtaylor294 One tenet to live your life by...electricity and water do not go well together!

[@jimtaylor294]

@@LesD9 Precisely ;-)

[@Ztbmrc1]

A very interesting story! Such big ferries for that short distance, but it seems economically worth it! Tnx for the story.

[@baywesty]

I live in Beckton and one my suppliers is in Woolwich. The journey by ferry is very enjoyable but I take it approximately 3% of the time, the rest is by the Blackwall tunnel, much more convenient. Woolwich ferry has a reduced service much of the time if it's not closed for technical issues or numerous strikes. I can count on one hand when I took the new ferries since 2017...

[@highpath4776]

Could they not coincide the strike with the mechanical breakdown with the foggy day, and actually increase the probability of the service operating ?

[@jimmeltonbradley1497]

My kids used to love the ferry and on a couple of occasions sailed(?) on it from south to north and back, just for the fun of it.

[@PlayitonPan]

@8:06 *Public Service Announcement* No boroughs were dissected in the making of this video, the ferry or the towns of Woolwich. North Woolwich is its own town in the London Borough of Newham. The River Thames separates this borough from the Royal Borough of Greenwich in the south. Woolwich is the administrative HQ of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. No one who grew up in Woolwich ever ventures deep into North Woolwich.

[@TheJimmcv]

Real treat when I was a child to ride back and forth on this. Gran plying my brother and I with mint imperials and lemonade.

[@ian3902]

I love the ferry, it is by far my favourite way to cross that part of the river. The Blackwall tunnel and the Dartford crossings being the alternatives makes it a no brainer!

[@justinleslie1]

The thing I find surprising is that it is still time and cost effective for people to line up and wait for the ferry, especially for commercial lorries ⛴ 🚛

[@fetchstixRHD]

Yesterday I used the ferry (partly as a slightly circuitous route, though the time difference wasn't that much) and while the queues weren't insane, the ferry load that arrived, that I was a part of, and that was waiting to replace the load I was a part of were all filled up. I'd guess that lorries going north but can't fit in the northbound Blackwall tunnel might make up some of the load, as well as those starting/finishing their journey close to one of the piers, and more recently, the extended ULEZ would theoretically be a large part of the ferry demand!

[@sirrliv]

Seems the next obvious step in your Thames Crossing Odyssey may finally be the infamous Princess Alice Disaster.

[@bigblue6917]

I have been thinking about that. So it gets my vote.

[@AnnabelSmyth]

I haven't been on the new boats yet, but did go on the older ones, both as a car passenger (well, you see, we'd been over the river - on a bridge - and under it - in a tunnel - that day, so we had to cross on it as well, didn't we?) and, a bit later, on foot. Wonderful passenger accommodation below-decks, very old-fashioned.

[@TadeuszCantwell]

Great video. I presumed the ferry would have been cancelled/stopped like so many things covered here. It's nice to see some things endure.

[@tommyfred6180]

i have spent many a happy hour sitting waiting for this ferry. it a nice ferry and the staff are very friendly.

[@stevetaylor1312]

the ramps to the ferry before they up-dated them were aimed towards Powis street and were what would nowadays be classed as being 6'6"wide, many a car driver hesitated before they drove on.

[@Andrewjg_89]

The Docklands is such a vibrant area in East London with lots of history, a ferry service, Emirates Air-Line cable car, the Docklands Light Railway and of course the Blackwall Tunnel. Connecting East London and Southeast London within few minutes from each other which way you want to travel. Maybe a ferry service could be ideal in West London but it doesn’t need it as it’s got District Line, London Overground, National Rail and roads going over the River Thames.

[@jimlepeu577]

I well remember watching the old steam ferry engines when using the ferries in the 1950s and 1960s.

[@likklej8]

When I lived in Charlton as a student we used to get the Woolwich Ferry for lads East End drinking Saturdays, late 60s a lot of East London pubs had live music.

[@malcolmelliott1876]

Having been out of the UK since 1995 I have never seen those new ferries .. the old black white and yellow ones are the last I saw. Nice to be "updated"

[@barneypaws4883]

RIP Ben. Very sad news that

[@johnhowitt2653]

that was one of my chat up lines when i was a callow youth. “you dance like a fairy” …… “Woolwich Ferry”

[@annother3350]

That's better than ' do you want to come on my boat'

[@pavlekodak2147]

only if he has a bigger boat

[@gdclemo]

Space for 150-foot passengers? That seems a bit unnecessary. Are the Woolwichians giants?

[@bentilbury2002]

You'd think they'd just wade across.

[@PaulSmith-pl7fo]

Hi Jago. A very comprehensive history and so well told!

[@davidsmith7124]

I wish there was a list of historic ferry crossings. There are some fantastic assets online detailing historic railways, but nothing for old ferries that have been replaced by bridges or tunnels. Just a bit further down the river, there used to be a Tilbury-Gravesend car ferry before the Dartford Tunnel was constructed.

[@assortedpov]

20-25 years ago when I was a child, my family took a trip on the 'SeaCat' (catamaran) to Boulogne from Folkestone harbour, since Folkestone's closer to home than Dover. Horrible experience, the SeaCat. Le tunnel was finished soon afterwards and with that, the catamaran was finished too.

[@nicholaskelly6375]

Thank you very much for a very interesting video. The last night of the three 1963 vessels was very memorable. Interestingly a Routemaster bus was on the last north crossing. It was hosting a "Hen Party" I recall the driver asked why there were so many people on the car deck. I was taken down into the engine room of the 'James Newman' which was a very interesting experience.

[@annother3350]

The engine room of James Newman?! Is that a euphemism?!

[@mikeportjogger1]

On 21st March 1941 my grandfather was ship's cook on the SS Halo which was delivering coal to London. As it approached the N. Woolwich pier it hit a mine and sank, the impact from the explosion rendering my grandfather profoundly deaf and ending his career as a seaman. As the wreck was blocking the approach to the pier it had to be removed; it was repaired and put back into service. Shortly before the end of the war, the Halo was sailing off the coast of Holland when it was torpedoed, this time being lost for good.

[@Ignas0000]

I use the Ferry everyday except Fridays when they're on strike.

[@gavgav9450]

"Artists impression believed accurate" 🤣

[@kins9737]

I learnt to swim at the Waterfront right next to the ferry’s when I was a kid in the early 90s. I remember the excitement of driving home on a Saturday to watch the Gladiators simpler times. The ferry’s looked rusty and old AF even then

[@michaeljames4904]

Up until the 1950s the _Pool of London,_ and the docks and moorings stretching out from it up the Thames estuary, still rendered our city the then busiest port in the world - more so than even the likes of Rotterdam or Shanghai. While cannonballs excavated during construction on the vast original Woolwich Arsenal site, are prominently displayed at the entrance to the immense, three prison, HMP Belmarsh complex (don’t ask me how I know), which took up much of its original territory - *bombsite* is the most chilling, sobering webpage on the damage the Blitz wrought, but how easily we forget just how much of a military rather than just civilian target the geography today termed London was; think of all those BrEN guns ENfield was churning out alone. As for the appropriate demonym for the historic Woolwichanese: _”Woolies”?_

[@heli-crewhgs5285]

Woolwichians

[@tallslimguy]

😥 Ben Woollacott - 19 years old - So sad 😢

[@roseharvey2664]

It's a great crossing and I like the tunnel too.

[@RichardWatt]

Ah, the Greater London Council (GLC): I remember The Comic Strips Presents making a satirical film about the end of the GLC that portrayed Ken Livingstone as a sort-of Rambo-like character. And it had a lot of guns in the story too...

[@AtheistOrphan]

I remember it well.

[@Bruce-h8w]

“One design that didn’t stink”. But I remember when the river in those parts stank to high heaven.

[@andylovejoy4121]

missed out the roll that the ferry played in the dunkirk evacuations and how brave the ferryman was and how many lives they saved

[@AtheistOrphan]

Role*

[@BrianSeaman]

I feel the need for a Waterrman versus Lighterman delve into the murky waters of the Thames. Doggett's Coat and Badge race anyone?

[@rodjones117]

Wherries, hoys and barges!

[@illyasvielemiya9059]

your pun is national treasure

[@nigeldewallens1115]

That was Ferry good and Ferry nice to watch! Thank you Ferry much ;)

[@sirmeowthelibrarycat]

🤔 But does Bryan know about thus 🎵🎶?

[@johnthomas5966]

I will wish for more of your enlightened quirky humour any time

[@SteampunkGent]

Just a suggestion, why not something on the Thames Watermen Those ferries bring back memories. Back at the end of the 80s early 90s I lived in North Essex whilst my family lived in Cornwall. Loathing the M25 round north London and tunnel tolls (OK, I'm a cheapskate) my preferred route was A12, N Circ to Woolwich and, eventually, the M3 to the A303

[@1973Washu]

Serco : Nuclear weapons ... prisons ... immigration detention centers ... Perhaps just abbreviating their business concerns to general all purpose evil might be more concise ?

[@chrisoffer3074]

Is serco owned by Dr evil

[@RichardWatt]

@@chrisoffer3074 Possibly by a friend of Priti Patel, but I can't confirm that.

[@AntonyLvids]

And sadly the Caledonian Sleeper which they seemed to have turned into a very upmarket prison!

[@henrybest4057]

Sometimes known as Stirco, due to their involvement in prisons.

[@roberthill6216]

@@AntonyLvids And, expensive as well.

[@peteryoung4957]

Another very informative video Jago. With the old ferries, I'd occasionally hear on travel broadcasts, that the ferries weren't able to operate at exceptionally high tides.

[@davidjones332]

In the early 1950s London Transport's London River sightseeing tour bus included the ferry crossing.

[@assortedpov]

"Artist's impression, believed accurate"? Well, I'm sold

[@JelMain]

There is another ferry a bit further out, the Royal Iris, which once was the famed Ferry 'cross the Mersey. Now a total wreck, beached near the Thames Barrier

[@davidbrazier9246]

I remember seeing an old map of Kent when it included a lot of what is now Greater London. North Woolwich was drawn with a border round and the words"Part of Kent".

[@autumnmatthews3179]

Only 5 foot passengers? Do you have a height limit on the ferries?

[@qasdex]

I think it's to maintain a low centre of gravity.,Just a theory.

[@sirmeowthelibrarycat]

🤣 Ha! Ha! Very funny indeed 😂.

[@spaceskipster4412]

😂

[@Stevedd33]

Thanks for this fascinating video. I often used the previous generation of ferries as a foot passenger and my main memory is the all pervasive smell of diesel fumes in the passenger accommodation. When I get the chance I’ll have to take a ride on one of the new boats.

[@ronnieg6358]

One of the ferry boats proudly displayed a bullet hole received when she was used for the Dunkirk evacuation,