Glory Days: British Ferries

Despite the recent link with the Continent via the Channel Tunnel, the country remains detached from mainland Europe both physically and, to some extent, spiritually.

Despite a fast expanding network of international short haul air services, the British are still largely dependent on shipping transport for trading and travel links with the rest of Europe.

In this latest addition to the Glory Days series of books, David Williams examines short sea ferry services in the years since the end of World War II. The period covers the dramatic growth of the ferry business from an age in which it was primarily the domain of the wealthy through to the boom years when ro-ro ferries provided a quick and efficient means of moving large numbers of vehicles and passengers.

From the late 1950s onwards, increasing prosperity saw growing demand for passenger spaces, with 20 million persons per year making a short sea crossing by 1990. This led to the size of the cross channel ferries swelling to dimensions unimaginable a few decades earlier. As volumes grew, fare structures evolved in line with what the new travelling public could afford and the high class standards of accommodation and service from earlier days gave way to the fish and chips cafeterias and fruit machines on modern vessels. Ownership and operation of these vessels has also gone through a revolution over the last half century.

All these trends are chronicled in British Ferries, with detailed text and an abundance of photographs providing ferry enthusiasts/historians or a more general readership with an informative and evocative tribute to this evolving mainstay of British life through the second half of the 20th Century.

Glory Days: British Ferries
By David L. Williams
Published by Ian Allan Publishing
ISBN 0 7110 2897 3.
Hardback, 96 pages.
Price £16.99