The King Harry Ferry Bridge is a vehicular

chain ferry A cable ferry (including the terms chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

which crosses the

Carrick Roads Carrick Roads ( kw, Dowr Carrek, meaning "rock anchorage") is the estuary of the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall in England. It joins the English Channel at its southern end near Falmouth. Geography It is a large flooded valley, or ...

reach of the estuary of the

River Fal The River Fal ( kw, Dowr Fala) flows through Cornwall, England, rising at Pentevale on Goss Moor (between St. Columb and Roche) and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, England, UK. The ferry crosses between the parishes of Feock and

Philleigh Philleigh ( kw, Eglosros) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom; one of the four in the Roseland Peninsula. Philleigh lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Almost a third of Co ...

, roughly halfway between the city of

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

, the

lowest bridging point The lowest bridging point (or lowest crossing point) is the location on a river which is crossed by a bridge at its closest point to the sea. Historically - that is, before the development of engineering technology that allowed the construction of ...

on the estuary, and the town of Falmouth, at the estuary's mouth. The ferry is owned and operated by the King Harry Steam Ferry Company Ltd. The current ferry boat, named ''No. 7'', was built in 2006 and can carry up to 34 cars.

History

It is likely that there has been a ferry of some description at the King Harry Passage for centuries, but there are conflicting stories about the origins of the name. One such story is that

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

spent his

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...

with

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key f ...

St Mawes St Mawes ( kw, Lannvowsedh) is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of th ...

, and signed a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

for the ferry on this site. A more likely origin lies in the fact that a small

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

formerly stood on the Philleigh side of the passage. All that remains of this today is a small pile of stones, but is mentioned in 1528 as "The Chapel of St. Mary and King Henry", commemorating

King Henry VI Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne at ...

, murdered in 1471. The King Harry Steam Ferry was initiated in 1888 as a submerged chain ferry Bridge, using a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

to pull the ferry along the chains, and replacing a manually propelled

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...

that was previously used on the route. As its name suggests, the current ferry bridge is the seventh vessel to be used since 1888. Although the owning company has retained the words ''Steam Ferry'' in its name, all ferries since 1956 have used diesel-electric propulsion. The company is now owned by a

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

of five local families.

Description

The crossing of the River Fal has been voted one of the ten most scenic ferry trips in the world by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', alongside the

Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island, with ferry ...

in New York and the

Star Ferry The Star Ferry is a passenger ferry service operator and tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Its principal routes carry passengers across Victoria Harbour, between Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon. The service is operated by the Star Ferry Co ...

in Hong Kong. The Feock terminal of the ferry is adjacent to the renowned

Trelissick Trelissick ( kw, Trelesyk) is a house and garden in the ownership of the National Trust at Feock, near Truro, Cornwall, England. It is located on the B3289 road, just west of King Harry Ferry, and overlooks the estuary known as Carrick Roads. ...

house and garden. A toll is charged for vehicular use of the ferry; a charitable donation is invited from pedestrians. Local people purchase concession tickets to keep the price low. If the ferry is not operating, the alternative is a detour via the city of Truro.

References

External links

King Harry Ferry web site
{{coord, 50, 12, 59.89, N, 05, 01, 39.67, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Ferry transport in England Water transport in Cornwall Chain ferries in the United Kingdom

History

Description

References

Further reading

External links