The majority of the ferries illustrated in these drawings were operating across the English Channel, although it was common for operators to move the ships around to meet demand or provide relief cover. Some of the ships illustrated here, such as Viking I and Viking II, were ground-breaking, while others dated from the immediate post-war era and had clung on in service for more than two decades at the time of the publication of the drawings.
While the majority of ferry services went out of Dover, nearby Folkestone was home to a good number of ships. Indeed, Folkestone has a long history of cross-Channel ferry services, dating back to the early 19th century.
The Folkestone-Boulogne route was opened to regular traffic in 1843. The steeply graded railway down to the harbour, dropping 111ft for a distance of 1,328 yards, reached the harbour at right angles and, in order to allow trains a level stretch in which to stop, the Railway Pier was built, dividing the existing harbour into two, thus creating the Inner and Outer Harbours.
The Folkestone Harbour was purchased by the South Eastern Railway in 1843, and the railway company formed the South Eastern and Continental Steam Packet Company and ordered eight new vessels to operate the Folkestone-Boulogne route.
Ferries out of Folkestone latterly ran only to Boulogne, but in the 1970s there were also services to Calais and Ostend. The Kent port ceased operating as a ferry terminal when the final freight service to Boulogne was discontinued in 2001. The last passenger service had been operated by Hoverspeed the previous year, who took over after Sealink Stena Line closed their long-standing route to concentrate on Dover-Calais at the end of 1991. The terminal and pier have since been regenerated into a leisure destination.
NEWHAVEN-DIEPPE
The Newhaven-Dieppe ferry route dates back to the 19th century, being established in 1887 as the result of co-operation between railway companies on either side of the English Channel, when the London, Brighton and South
