DARnet

Hmm, much though I love boat trips I’m not too thrilled by this. It’s good for Swansea perhaps, but Gower really doesn’t need anymore tourists in cars in the Summer holidays. It’s already packed in August.

I think it is a great idea. I work with much larger ferries, but love the local crossings. It will also save driving 105 miles from Minehead, or a staggering 176 miles from Ilfracombe. Surely this will remove traffic from the roads, not increase it?
Ian
www.cheaperferries.com

When you look at the distances “a staggering 176 miles from Ilfracombe” means it is not a viable day out to go from Devon to Gower. Perhaps a car ferry will entice more people with their cars on to a very beautiful, largely unspoilt and very small penisulla. The restricted amount of accomodation on Gower produces a natural limit on tourists. Day trippers come mostly from Swansea and its environs. This might change that. I might just be being selfish but I’d hate to see Gower spoilt.

You are right Linda. I would hate to see the Gower spoilt. I would have thought that tourists would be just a small proportion of traffic in the area, except during the kiddies summer hols. I just think it would remove a lot of traffic that would otherwise be in the area. Perhaps the local council could investigate road restrictions during peak periods? I live in a very busy road and it can be a nightmare, so go ahead and be as selfish as you like.

I would like to set your minds at rest. What we are planning is a passenger only fast cat service with integrated public transport links. The crossing time from Ilfracombe to Mumbles would be 45 minutes. With the South West so highly dependent on tourism, there are real fears for the regional economy as congestion on the roads into the area limits the numbers who want to brave the motorways. In the other direction, South and West Wales are trying to increase the viability of the tourist industry with Swansea endeavouring to rebrand as a short stay destination. There is also a much larger ‘visiting friends and family’ market than meets the eye as a result of years of interchange across the Bristol Channel in the past. With sporting links, people from the south west wanting to come shopping in the centres of South Wales, others using the route as a link to Irish ferries, the risk of despoiling the Gower is minimised. It also means that you can chose instead to spend a weekend on Exmoor or the South West Coastal footpath. There are a significant number of people whose lives will be made a great deal easier by a ferry, and this is reflected in some very heartfelt messages of support that are appearing to back our concept.

Well, that sounds great Chris! I’m glad that it’s just a passenger ferry and I can see the point of providing the link. Actually, I might even be tempted to use it myself some day

What a shame it isn’t already operating. I will be in Ilfracombe next week. I would have enjoyed the trip.
Please keep us up to date with developments, Chris.

I am about to move from the South-West of France back to England and am presently buying a house in North Devon. I have friends who have visited me for the past five years who live in Porthcawl. The proposed ferry would be excellent for me as it would save a long journey and allow us to visit each other on a regular basis.

I have wonderful friends in Gower and have gone there every year since I was born from Yorkshire, but now live in Ilfracombe North Devon, and I am delighted we are getting a ferry service to Swansea from North Devon, it will cut down hundreds of miles worth of travel and fuel for visitors wishing to travel in either direction, I cannot wait, the ferry will link the two most beautiful places in the the uk Gower and North Devon, sheer heaven!!

i am looking for ferry from cardiff to devon coming this saturday

This ferry service will be welcomed by all cycle groups, provided it offers a cycle friendly service. Swansea sits on the National Cycle Network route 4 (Celtic Trail) and Ilfracombe is on NCN 27 (The Tarka Trail). A ferry service that catered for cyclists would link these two cycle routes and open opportunities for cycling holidays to those, like me, who enjoy this form of recreation.

Can the ferry company comment of the viability of using this service for a cycling holiday. There are many people in my club who have expressed an interest in this idea.

Rob,
I run and cycle - certainly want to make it viable for cyclists and for cycling holidays. We also want to help trade through a small parcels service, but we might have to accept limitations depending on the design of the vessel we end up with. The high rise and fall of tide might make taking bikes on board a little complicated, but we’ll be doing all we can to make it possible. Same things goes for disabled access, of course, and we’ll be looking very hard at all those points.
Hope that helps.
I’m answering this on a slow network in Tanzania where our charity side is helping a remote ferry crossing on the border with Mozambique - it has the potential to regenerate a whole area if we can get it running better. Same goes for the Bristol Channel, of course - should help with regeneration, especially in Ilfracombe.

Chris Marrow

Thanks for the reassurances and keeping us updated with any news Chris. The Southern Africa ferry project sounds interesting too. All I can find so far is this:

“Tanzania and Mozambique plan to establish ferry services across the Ruvuma River between the two countries to ease the transportation problem, Tanzanian media reported on Thursday.

The move will largely facilitate trade activities that have been hindered by lack of reliable land transport”

I am originally from Mumbles, mum and dad still live there. I am in the process of applying for a job in Ilfracombe, this ferry service would be great, I could stay at Mum and Dads during the week and go home to Plymouth at weekends. Brilliant.

as someone who has just moved to devon and has many friends in swansea and neath this service would be a real boon.

I live in North Devon. Illfracombe at present is suffering economically. If the link works it could greatly improve North Devon tourism (illfracombe in particular). I have friends just outside Swansea in llanelli - so being selfish am a bit dissapointed I can’t take car across as ir takes me 4 hours to get there at mo. If I could cut across to Swansea and take car it would have cut travel time massively!!
Ah well I still think its a fantastic idea. Hope it happens.

Just a few words to say THANK YOU! ..this is an magnificent blog you’ve got here!! By the way,norfolkline provides ferry services to Dover from Dunkerque with a crossing time of under 2 hours with up to 12 ferry sailings per day in both directions. If you get time, check it out this.
http://www.norfolkline-ferries.co.uk/EN/Onboard/

Any news on the Minehead-Penarth ferry? I live in Dulverton and work in Llandaff so the sooner the better!

Jonathan

yeah! whats happening with this ferry then? isit going to happen??

when are we going to here more news on the swansea to cornwall ferry

I’ve looked into getting a ferry from South Wales to Devon a few time’s and for a few different reasons, one being that I have friends at Plymouth University my main form of transport being a small capacity motorbike. Hopefully this ferry route will come to fruition and I’ll be able to take my bike along with me too as public transport would make the travel ever so slightly difficult…

Good luck :O)

Sounds like a fantastic idea, I’ve often been on top of the quantock hills (near minehead), looked at Wales and thought - it’s not very far away - but it takes so long to get there! I live in devon and have only been to wales once - maybe this would change that!

Hi everyone,

I am very encouraged by the enthusiasm that most people express for the ferry concept. The plans contnue to approach fruition and we have even been to view a couple of ships which will be available next year. The big crunch approaches - raising the finance. Wish us luck. Oh, by the way. These ships currently carry up to 30 bikes on their current route.

We also continue to develop a scheme for loading the passengers in Minehead. (Given the high rise and fall of tide, being able to operate independently of the tide is a major factor.) The Minehead to Penarth route will run in tandem with the Swansea/Ilfracombe one, and there will be sailings in the day when the vessels swap over, so that will mean a Swansea/Minehead service and another from Ilfracombe to Penarth.

Hope that helps anyone who is interested.

Hi, I see Chris’s comments mention the ships that could be used and that 30 bikes are carried, this I presume would mean Bicycle rather than Motorcycle. My personal view is one Im sure will be echoed everywhere, I will use it if its priced right.

This ferry is an excellent idea. I have family in both Ilfracombe and Swansea and would love to be able to visit both easily. The sooner the better!

I have been closely following the proposed swansea-devon ferry crossing for a while now and am really excited. I am hoping everything falls into place, im looking forward to becoming a frequent passenger!

can you tell me when the minehead -penarth ferry is likely to be running as my son and fiancee live in penarth and all his family live in somerset the drive is so tedious a ferry would be fab

This ferry would make my life so much easier. I live in Ilfracombe and am hoping to go to swansea university in 2009. If it is put in I would be a frequent passenger as I dont really want to move too far away from home (and swansea seems like a very good uni)! Please put this ferry in as it would mean my decision on picking a uni would be made for me!!

Hi, I think it is a fantastic idea, i have recently moved from plymouth to swansea and frequently travel back and for(costing a present a full tank of fuel each way). This will have an impact on our “carbonfootprint” and the opportunity to use a ferry would save on time, cost and environmental issues. When would this be looking to start?? i want to use it, and i know that friends and family are looking at using it. It will also promote both swansea and north devon’s viability in many ways. Please let us know when it will be starting i heard it was from this summer??

Would you buy shares in a company with such a hairbrained idea?

Just look at the map - the road connections to the proposed terminals on the English side are diabolicly bad.

How many people would actually make the crossing? How many people would it need to make the ferry viable financially? It is true some folk would find such a service very handy but you have to guarantee profitable loadings day in day out year after year to justify the investment needed.

Such a service might just about pay its way in the height of the summer carrying holidaymakers on day trips were it not for the fact that the “Waverley” and the “Balmoral” already cater for that trade - and are barely profitable.

I attended a public briefing by the promoters of this idea in Watchet last year and there was no serious support for the idea from the floor. When asked how many people would use the service almost everybody put their hand up. When asked how often they would use it the answer was almost unanimously “once, just to say we’ve done it”.

There has been no recent news of this project, which appears to have gone dead.

You can’t run a business like that.

John

I can’t believe there isn’t one already. It has thrown a spanner in the works of our holiday as I would have liked to break up my journey to Cornwall by making our way down the coast of Wales. I planned a weeks base in Wales then onto Cornwall. I’ll have to settle for an over night stay on route now, most disappointing…………

is there, or is there not going to be a ferry crossing between swansea and ilfracombe??
according to this article it should be up and running by 2008 - which is now… and this article seems to be the most up to date news on the matter…
has the idea been quietly chucked?

really keen to know.
really keen on ferry.

linda