Despite recommending that Reedham Ferry should be replaced by a bridge it has remained open to this day, the last surviving car ferry on the Norfolk Broads.

             Of course some ferries have remained open because they continue to serve a local need. This is just as true of the famous Woolwich Ferry in London as it is of the less well known ones like the Kings Lynn to West Lynn Ferry across the Great Ouse. This offers a motorboat service every twenty minutes from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Similarly other ferries have thrived because of their tourist potential. One of the most famous is the Mersey Ferry immortalised in song by Gerry and the Pacemakers in their 1965 hit Ferry 'Cross The Mersey. The Mersey Ferries have been operating from Liverpool to Birkenhead in the Wirral for over 850 years and are now one of Britain's most popular tourist attractions. Perhaps the most famous of all the ferryboats was the Royal Iris, built on the River Clyde in 1953 and powered by diesel electric engines. The craft was also used for evening entertainment cruises during the 'swinging sixties' with entertainment by the famous Liverpool groups of the time including the Beatles.

           Devon and Cornwall too are famous for river ferries that cater for both local traffic and the influx of summer tourists. At the mouth of the River Dart Estuary lies Dartmouth and Kingsmear with both passenger and vehicle ferries. The pontoon of the Lower Ferry can carry eight cars and is towed across the River Dart by a small tug. In Cornwall there are a number of ferries across the rivers Tamar and Helston and also along the coast. One of the most famous ferries in the region is the chain link ferry operating between Philleigh on the Roseland Peninsula and Feock near Truro: the King Harry Ferry. The ferry saves miles driving inland to get to the peninsula. There has been a ferry operating at this point on the River Fal for over five hundred years although the chain ferry, originally propelled by steam power, began operating in 1888.

           Over on the east coast the Bawdsey Ferry still operates a regular motorboat service in the summer months over the River Deben although this is but a remnant of former times. In the 1920s two pontoon and chain ferries carried 12,600 pedestrians, 5,600 cycles and 2,400 vehicles over the river each year avoiding a long trip to Felixstowe by road. By 1947 this service had disappeared much to the annoyance of local residents and Felixstowe Urban District Council.

            Although river ferries had their heyday in a time of horse-drawn traffic, when time mattered less, it is still possible to capture the nostalgia of this ancient mode of transport in many areas of Britain. Though bridges might be faster, more elegant and more practical they can never quite match the fascination of a ferry trip!

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