The Dartmouth Passenger Ferry, also known as the Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat company, is a passenger

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

that crosses the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Brythonic language (from which the river's subsequent names ultimately derive fr ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. It is one of three ferries that cross the tidal river from Dartmouth to

Kingswear Kingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth. It lies within ...

, the others being the Higher Ferry and the Lower Ferry. The long

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises a ...

crosses the Dart on either the Lower or Passenger ferries. The passenger ferry is operated by Dart Pleasure Craft Limited, which is owned by Dart Valley Railway plc, the owner of the Heritage

Dartmouth Steam Railway The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between and in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer touri ...

. The ferry connects the Dartmouth water front to the steam railway's terminus at

Kingswear railway station Kingswear railway station is the terminus of the Dartmouth Steam Railway, a heritage railway in Devon, England. It is situated in the centre of Kingswear, on the shores of the River Dart opposite Dartmouth. The station has level access t ...

. At one time adjacent to the Dartmouth landing of the ferry was the unique "

Dartmouth railway station Dartmouth railway station was a booking office for train tickets located on the quayside of Dartmouth in the English county of Devon. While there has never been a railway line at the site, it was possible to book through tickets to and from Dart ...

", but this has been converted into a restaurant and the ferry now shares an adjacent landing stage with cruise boats also operated by Dart Pleasure Craft. .

History

There are records of a "Kingswear Ferry" as early as 1365. By the 18th century, a second ferry was sailing from Hoodown on the Kingswear side, upstream from Waterhead Creek, which had an easier approach than the steep

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

in the village square. The

Dartmouth and Torbay Railway The Dartmouth and Torbay Railway was a broad gauge railway linking the South Devon Railway Company, South Devon Railway branch at Torquay with Kingswear in Devon, England. It was operated from the outset by the South Devon Railway. Most of the ...

was authorised by its 1857

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

to establish a steam ferry across the Dart from its station and agreed to purchase the ferries, although this was not completed until 18 November 1873, by which time the railway was a part of the South Devon Railway. Within three years it had become part of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

who continued to operate the Steam Ferry up until

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

into

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

on 1 January 1948. The operation was leased to the Dartmouth Steam Packet Company until 1872. The company's first steam ferry was the

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

''Perseverance'' that took up duties on 1 October 1864, and so it had operated with their cruising steamers ''Louisa'' (built 1856) and ''Newcomin'' (built 1864). The latter was named after local pioneer steam engineer

Thomas Newcomen Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He ...

. The ''Perseverance'' was not successful and was replaced by a new paddle steamer, the , in 1869. The railway took over the operation in 1872 and continued to operate the ''Dolphin''. A new twin-screw steamer ''The Mew'' replaced the paddle steamer on 31 May 1908 and she was altered in 1924 to be able to carry the Great Western Railway's road vehicles so as to avoid the heavy payments made for the use of the Lower Ferry. In 1940 she steamed to

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

to take part in the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

but was deemed unsuitable for the task and sent back to Dartmouth. She was finally withdrawn on 8 October 1954. MV Humphrey Gilbert

A temporary ferry, the ''Lady Elizabeth'' was on station until the two replacement ferries, the ''Adrian Gilbert'' and ''Humphrey Gilbert'' were ready to enter service on 18 March 1957. In 1972 the ferry was sold to Dartmouth Borough Council. After a short time being operated by its successor, the

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exete ...

District Council, it was sold to Dart Pleasure Craft Limited, who now trade as River Link.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Water transport in Devon Ferry transport in England Dartmouth, Devon River Dart

History

See also

References

External links