Some very light post prandial mental exercise

[whole diary]

[CyclingSid]

What do the following, mostly former, railway locations have in common:
Hayling Island
Gosport
Hamble
Cowes
Hythe
Christchurch
Swanage

[johnneyw]

What do the following, mostly former, railway locations have in common:
Hayling Island
Gosport
Hamble
Cowes
Hythe
Christchurch
Swanage

Well South coast to start with. Also either closed or heritage?

Edit: Just realised the Christchurch is still an open mainline station although still on the coast.

[Reginald25]

Yes but Christchurch station is not the orginal which closed between the wars.

[eightonedee]

Two guesses -

They were departure points for ferry or boat trips and you could get a combined ticket, or

They had sailing regattas for which extra trains were provided

[CyclingSid]

Yes they are all associated with ferries, although most people would more logically call the Swanage ferry the Sandbanks ferry (but Google will find the Swanage ferry).

All across estuaries or rivers so unlikely to have been railway owned?

So as it was far too easy! The supplementary question is what did Gosport, Cowes and Swanage ferries have in common?

[eightonedee]

Were/are they all chain ferries?

[bradshaw]

I would agree; Floating bridges, using chains. The Gosport chain ferry ceased to operate in 1959 when ordinary ferries took over.
The Sandbanks ferry is currently out of action with serious hydraulic problems, despite having just come back from its annual service. The firm has just had a bid to increase fares, to aid its replacement, refused.
Another example was the Renfrew ferry which I used a great deal in the mid-1960s

[Celestial]

The Sandbanks ferry is currently out of action with serious hydraulic problems, despite having just come back from its annual service. The firm has just had a bid to increase fares, to aid its replacement, refused.

I can't help wondering whether the breakdown is a convenient opportunity to remind people how important the ferry is after the refusal.

[CyclingSid]

Yes they were chain ferries. There is currently a chain ferry moored adjacent to the Gosport pier of the Gosport ferry. Don't know if it was connected with the idea of making the Hayling Ferry a chain ferry, a non-starter if ever I heard of one. I think the Hayling Ferry is struggling out of season. The problem with taking the Gosport chain ferry out of service was that the replacements don't take cars and it is a long drive round.

Cowes chain ferry has had repeated problems and periods out of service this year. Fortunately the jet foil to West Cowes (from Southampton) will take the Brompton.

Are the residents of Sandbanks complaining they can't afford the ferry!!! Mind they have not had a lot of luck in the Poole area recently, took them a long time to sort their bridge out.

[stuving]

Are the residents of Sandbanks complaining they can't afford the ferry!!! Mind they have not had a lot of luck in the Poole area recently, took them a long time to sort their bridge out.

Last I heard they still haven't.

[froome]

Well it was lucky I looked at this thread, as I was intending to use the Sandbanks ferry this coming weekend. Does anyone know what is happening with the bus service that uses it to get to Swanage?

[Surrey 455]

Are the residents of Sandbanks complaining they can't afford the ferry!!! Mind they have not had a lot of luck in the Poole area recently, took them a long time to sort their bridge out.

Last I heard they still haven't.

Yes it broke again today
From Bournemouth Echo

THERE appears to be a problem with the Twin Sails Bridge... again.

As reported, the troublesome structure reopened in time for Christmas, although without any repairs having been carried out.
The bridge had previously been out of actions for several weeks.
Engineers decided it could run on one hydraulic ram and with a slower and reduced lifting schedule.
However, today it appears that there are problems at the bridge once again, with one of the leaves apparently stuck half-way up.
Specialist engineers are due to visit at the end of January to try to resolve the outstanding issue with the bridge's second hydraulic cylinder.
Poole Bridge is also currently operating on a reduced number of lifts.

[Surrey 455]

Well it was lucky I looked at this thread, as I was intending to use the Sandbanks ferry this coming weekend. Does anyone know what is happening with the bus service that uses it to get to Swanage?

It's on a very lengthy diversion.
From MoreBus

Sandbanks Ferry Out of Action AGAIN - from 22 December
Saturday, December 22 2018


UPDATE: The ferry is out of action AGAIN from start of service on Saturday 22 December. Our buses will continue to use the diversion route and timetable.
Boxing Day: The planned Boxing Day timetable will now be affected due to this emergency closure. Please download new timetable below.
During this time, the 50 will be diverted and will run to a revised timetable. The main service will divert from Westbourne to Swanage via Poole and Wareham (the land route) and then continue onto Studland where it will terminate, and the reverse will happen in the opposite direction. A shorter shuttle service will run between Bournemouth and Sandbanks with the first and last service of the day to and from Swanage also serving Sandbanks.

The following sections of the route will receive no service during the closure:

Between Bournemouth Interchange and Bournemouth Square in both directions (customers can connect with the m1, 13 or 17 to carry out this part of the route)
Between Shell Bay Ferry Offices and Studland Beach Cafe
As soon as the ferry refurbishment has finished and it is in full operation, we will revert our service back its normal timetable.

We apologise for any inconvenience or delay caused during this closure.  Unfortunately our roadside timetables don't reflect this diversion as we took them down again after the refit was complete, so please use website information only.

Diversion map below and zoomable PDF here: http://www.morebus.co.uk/article.shtml?articleid=8763

[CyclingSid]

Well you always get added value on this forum! Thanks for the extra info.

I think I will stick to checking the progress on the extension to the Fareham-Gosport Busway (ex-Gosport branch railway), and then Gosport Ferry this Saturday. No engineering and no industrial action.

[CyclingSid]

The answer to my implied question (to myself?) about the chain ferry moored at Gosport. It is the old Cowes chain ferry, having looked more specifically yesterday after a cycle ride down the busway.