AirFerries (Lydd - Le Touquet and others)

[c2R]

Hello,
Seeing as how we've got a knowledgeable bunch on here about trams and trolleys, does anyone know much about the airferries, beyond what wikipedia and the lydd airport webpage can tell me?

I've started a wiki page on SABRE Lydd - Le Touquet Air Ferry and essentially I'm after more information to populate it, as well as details on other Air Ferry routes within the SABRE coverage area....

We've got a couple of nice photos that were on geograph of the ferries being loaded in the 60s, which is good for illustrative purposes, in case anyone is curious and doesn't know what I'm going on about!

Any information welcome,
Cheers

[roadtester]

I believe there were air ferry services from Southend Airport as well.

[FleetlinePhil]

I believe there were air ferry services from Southend Airport as well.

In my brief flirtation with plane-spotting in the late 1970's, the remaining Aviation Traders Carvair aircraft owned by British Air Ferries were certainly associated with Southend. Scheduled air ferry services ceased in 1977 according to Wikipedia, which fits my memory, but I think the planes lingered on a while. I never got to see them, sadly, as they were something I had been in awe of since early childhood as one was on the cover of the Ladybird book of aircraft.

EDIT My planespotting buddy from the time confirms seeing three Carvairs at Southend on a coach trip I didn't go on for some reason, plus one turning up at Manchester, presumably being used for general freight purposes.

The various Wikipedia articles I've just trawled through suggests these were originally used on longer flights to Basle, Geneva and Strasbourg, with the short hops being in the hands of the Bristol 170 Freighters, as shown on the photo's you have added to the Wiki.

[rileyrob]

My mum travelled on the Lydd service in the late 50s / early 60s with her parents. The planes took about half a dozen cars (including caravans) and the crossing was about half an hour as she remembers. She reckons that the price must have been comparable with or cheaper than the ferries for her dad to use it (this would have included factoring in fuel costs etc etc from Uxbridge to the Alps; he was a Maths teacher after all!).

If we're adding this to the wiki, do we also want to look at Motorail?

[KeithW]

We went on holiday to New Romney in 1961 when I was still a sprog at junior school. The service was very frequent and only took 20 minutes to Le Touquet which was much quicker than the ferry from Dover. The Folkestone ferry service was still passenger only. The cost was only a little more than the car ferry so it was always busy. Lydd Airport was named Lydd Ferryfield at the time. The service was operated by Silver City Airways who for a while were operating more flights per day than any other airline in the UK, albeit most were less than 30 minutes long. There was a continuous stream of aircraft taking off and landing at Lydd Airport.

I didnt realise it at the time but that was almost their peak year when they made 40,000 Channel crossings, carrying 90,000 vehicles and 220,000 passengers. In addition to the Lydd flights they operated between Scotland and Ireland and to/from the Isle of Wight, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The Le Touquet operation was so busy that SNCF built a railway spur to the airport. British Rail operated a service to Lydd Town close to the airport until 1967. The line remains open for moving nuclear fuel flasks from Dungeness to Sellafield

I found out many years later when living in Lydd that the problems were already setting in. The new fast Ro-Ro ferries operating from Dover and later Folkestone undercut them and their Aircraft could only carry 2 large or 3 small cars at a time. Worse still the aircraft which they had bought in the 50's were all approaching the end of their fatigue life because of the frequent short low level flights and the financial state of the company made it impossible to replace them. It didnt help that getting to Lydd by road was a pain compared to the improved access to Dover and Folkestone via the M20. The route from Ashford to Lydd was nothing like the present road. The A20 was still the bad old S2 road from the end of the Maidstone Bypass to Ashford. After fighting your way through Ashford on the ring road you had to take the B2070 through Hamstreet to Snave then take the equally slow and winding B2081 to Brenzett before getting on the decent A259. By the 1960's you were sharing this with construction traffic for the new nuclear power stations at Dungeness. The new improved road only arrived in the 1990's when most of the traffic had gone.

The service staggered on for a while with less frequent flights and a new owner (British Air Ferries). What finally killed them off was the Cross Channel Hovercraft which was just as fast, cheaper and easier to get to. With a larger capacity for cars there was no way the Air Ferry service could compete. When I turned up for work on Dungeness B in 1979 all that was left was a largely empty terminal which mostly served as the bar/restaurant for the local golfers. The only regular flights were using even older DC3's operated by Dan Air carrying freight, mainly packages for the Royal Mail. Rather sad really. The airport has been renamed London Ashford which fools nobody. It still is mostly used for private flying and executive jets.

Sadly I have no pictures to share, when I was there in the 60's I was too young and by the 1980's there was nothing left to photograph.

[KeithW]

My mum travelled on the Lydd service in the late 50s / early 60s with her parents. The planes took about half a dozen cars (including caravans) and the crossing was about half an hour as she remembers. She reckons that the price must have been comparable with or cheaper than the ferries for her dad to use it (this would have included factoring in fuel costs etc etc from Uxbridge to the Alps; he was a Maths teacher after all!).

If we're adding this to the wiki, do we also want to look at Motorail?

The maximum capacity of the largest aircraft was 3 cars and they certainly did not take caravans, the aircraft simply was not big enough. It was however competitive on price and much faster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Superfreighter

[FleetlinePhil]

The Le Touquet operation was so busy that SNCF built a railway spur to the airport.

I've seen occasinal photographs in magazines of this with the train running onto the airport apron, leaving only a short walk from the aircraft steps. Are these just posed shots, or was this how it genuinely operated, does anyone know, and if so, how were things like immigration and customs dealt with?

Wikipedia suggests there was also a rail-air servicefrom Lydd to Brussels via Ostend airport, which presumably required a coach transfer to the railway station there?

[KeithW]

The Le Touquet operation was so busy that SNCF built a railway spur to the airport.

I've seen occasinal photographs in magazines of this with the train running onto the airport apron, leaving only a short walk from the aircraft steps. Are these just posed shots, or was this how it genuinely operated, does anyone know, and if so, how were things like immigration and customs dealt with?

Wikipedia suggests there was also a rail-air servicefrom Lydd to Brussels via Ostend airport, which presumably required a coach transfer to the railway station there?

Well my father and I took a flight from Lydd to Le Touquet as passengers. With a max capacity of 3 cars and 20 passengers there were always spare seats and the fare was less than the ferry taking into account the cost of getting to Folkestone. I know the train was operating as you described but we used the local bus. As I recall the train did not actually go into Le Touquet but joined the main line south of Etaples. This was the second flight I ever made, the first being a pleasure flight from Blackpool airfield, down the golden mile, once round the tower and back again in a 1930's DH Dragon Rapide biplane.

Immigration and customs on the French side was very relaxed in those days, you didnt even need a full passport. You could do a day trip to France with a British Excursion Document which was valid for 3 days and could be obtained from any post office. The bigger pain was on the UK side where the customs people checked you on departure in case you were carrying excess currency (more than £50 as I recall) and again when you got back in case you were bringing in cheap booze and fags.

[Motorman]

The first cross channel car ferry service by air began on July 7th 1948 from Lympne to Le Touquet operated by Silver City Airways with Bristol Freighter 31s. These could take only two cars, but in 1952 the longer Bristol Superfreighter 32 entered service and could take three medium size cars. You have to remember that at that time there were no roll on-roll off cross channel ferries, if you wanted to take your car across the channel by sea it had to be craned on and off. Because Lympne was a grass airfield, it could become waterlogged in wet weather and as the service expanded this became a serious problem, so Silver City built the brand new airport at Lydd with paved runways and dedicated to the car ferry operation, indeed the airport was officially named "Ferryfield".
A rival airline, Air Charter, began car ferry operations in 1954 between Southend and Calais and later branded the service Channel Air Bridge. Air Charter became part of British United Airways, who then bought Silver City and all the various car ferry services were operated as British United Air Ferries. As more and more roll on-roll off car ferries entered service (not to mention hovercraft) the air ferry service became less and less viable and gradually petered out.

[rileyrob]

A rival airline, Air Charter, began car ferry operations in 1954 between Southend and Calais and later branded the service Channel Air Bridge.

Mum has also talked abut going to Southampton for an air ferry around the same time, but even she admits it was an odd thing to do, so Southend would make much more sense.
As for the caravan, I remember an ancient folding caravan in the bushes in the corner of Grandad's garden, which was smaller than our Maxi, and suspect this was the one that went in the plane.

[KeithW]

The first cross channel car ferry service by air began on July 7th 1948 from Lympne to Le Touquet operated by Silver City Airways with Bristol Freighter 31s. These could take only two cars, but in 1952 the longer Bristol Superfreighter 32 entered service and could take three medium size cars. You have to remember that at that time there were no roll on-roll off cross channel ferries, if you wanted to take your car across the channel by sea it had to be craned on and off. Because Lympne was a grass airfield, it could become waterlogged in wet weather and as the service expanded this became a serious problem, so Silver City built the brand new airport at Lydd with paved runways and dedicated to the car ferry operation, indeed the airport was officially named "Ferryfield".
A rival airline, Air Charter, began car ferry operations in 1954 between Southend and Calais and later branded the service Channel Air Bridge. Air Charter became part of British United Airways, who then bought Silver City and all the various car ferry services were operated as British United Air Ferries. As more and more roll on-roll off car ferries entered service (not to mention hovercraft) the air ferry service became less and less viable and gradually petered out.

There was however there was a roll-on roll-off cross channel ferry service for passenger rail carriages before WW1. You could catch the train in London and never leave the carriage until it got to your continental destination. These ferries were actually used to transport military vehicles loaded on to flat bed trucks at the end of WW2

The first Ro-Ro ferries to operate from the UK were actually built as Tank Landing Ships and operated from Tilbury to Rotterdam, and Preston to NI from late 1946. Demand for large scale services had to wait for the end of petrol rationing in 1950.

[KeithW]

A rival airline, Air Charter, began car ferry operations in 1954 between Southend and Calais and later branded the service Channel Air Bridge.

Mum has also talked abut going to Southampton for an air ferry around the same time, but even she admits it was an odd thing to do, so Southend would make much more sense.
As for the caravan, I remember an ancient folding caravan in the bushes in the corner of Grandad's garden, which was smaller than our Maxi, and suspect this was the one that went in the plane.

Ah that makes sense.

[Ruperts Trooper]

Silver City Airways service started in 1948 using the Bristol Freighter, flying from Lympne to Le Tourquet - the Bristol Freighter could take 3 cars or 2 larger vehicles.

[fras]

I'm sure this service featured in the James Bond film "Goldfinger". The Rolls-Royce of the villain, Auric Goldfinger was loaded onto and off the aircraft.

[RichardA626]

I'm sure this service featured in the James Bond film "Goldfinger". The Rolls-Royce of the villain, Auric Goldfinger was loaded onto and off the aircraft.

Yes I was thinking of that too.

[Pendlemac]

Apparently, it's Lydd to Le Touquet in the book but Southend to Geneva in the film.

Shots in the film clearly show a logo indicating that the aircraft is an Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair.

[Bertiebus]

The airport has been renamed London Ashford which fools nobody

I remember when Lympne aerodrome was renamed Ashford Airport and I remember thinking that was stretching a point. Calling Lydd 'London Ashford' is hilarious

Some military historians have confused Lydd Airport with the wartime Advance Landing Ground, officially named Lydd, but which was three miles to the west at Midley. The latter reverted to agriculture at the end of the war, although there are still a few very subtle signs of its existence, if you know what you're looking for.

[mfmman]

Lots of Info about Air Ferries to Jersey here

https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php ... sey_routes

Also found a picture of an Aer Lingus Carvair at Bristol Airport although no detail where it was going or if it was a regular service etc.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48975048@N06/18438727726

[FleetlinePhil]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48975048@N06/18438727726

A great set of pictures on there - thanks! The Dan Air Comet is particularly evocative!

[SarahJ]

Also check out the Morcombe and Wise film, That Riveria Touch with some shots of the service.