Aust Ferry
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Aust Ferry or Beachley Ferry was a
ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...
service that operated across the
River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...
between
Aust Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about north of Bristol and about south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 ...
and Beachley, both in
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. Before the Severn Bridge opened in 1966, it provided service for road traffic crossing between the West Country and
South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
. The nearest fixed crossing was a round trip to
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
. The ferry ran from a pier at Old Passage near the village of Aust on the east bank of the Severn. It ran to a similar pier on the east of the Beachley peninsula. The car ferry, set up in 1926, only carried cars, pedestrians and motorcycles; goods vehicles were prohibited from accessing the ferry terminal.


History

There has been a passage across the Severn at this location since
Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...
. It has been recorded the site of the ''Trajectus'' (''throwing-across'') where the Roman legions used to be ferried across the Severn. It was recorded in the 12th century when the de Clares, lords of
Tidenham Tidenham () is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean (district), Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Wales, Welsh border. Tidenham is bounded by the River Wye (which forms the Welsh border) to the west ...
, granted quittance of the passage to the monks of Tintern. It was evidently much used in 1405 when great numbers of the English and Welsh were said to resort to the nearby chapel of St. Twrog. The manor of Tidenham retained rights over the passage, and received rents from the parishes of Aust and Beachley, until the 19th century. The journey, a distance of over a mile at a point where the tides run swiftly, was a dangerous one, and its reputation, the roughness of the water, and the smallness of the boats deterred travellers.
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...
visited the crossing from the Aust side in the 18th century, but did not trust the ferry to survive the bad weather, and elected to go via Gloucester instead. By that time, ferry crossings from New Passage, between Redwick near Pilning and Sudbrook on the Welsh side, rivalled the Aust passage, which became known as the Old Passage.


Steam ferries: 1827–1860

In 1825 a new era opened with the formation of the Old Passage Ferry Association, sponsored by the
Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd D ...
, as Lord of Tidenham. The company built stone piers on both banks, and commissioned a
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
which began to ply in 1827, with a second one five years later, although sailing boats also continued to be used. By virtue of these improvements the company achieved the transfer of most of the cross-Severn mail routes from the rival New Passage. However, the passage remained dangerous. The Beachley-Aust ferry was lost with all hands on 1 September 1839. The same thing happened on 12 March 1844; the master, James Whitchurch was the son of the captain lost in 1839. In 1863, the railway reached the downstream, New Passage shores on both sides of the river, and this became the standard route. The Old Passage, not connected to the railway, therefore lost much of its traffic. The advent of railways, in particular the opening of the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway in 1864, the Severn Railway Bridge in 1879 and then the Severn Tunnel in 1886, brought a sharp decrease in traffic. Both the steamboats were scrapped by 1860 and eventually the service was closed altogether.


Car ferry: 1926–1966

The ferry service gained a new lease of life, however, with the growth of motor traffic, and a service was re-opened in 1926. Between 1931 and 1966, a ferry service was operated by Enoch Williams of the Old Passage Severn Ferry Company Ltd. Initially, this was only able to transport passengers with bicycles and motorbikes, but, by 1934, the ''Severn Queen'' was launched as a car ferry, with capacity for 17 cars. Each car had to turn sharply off the ramp onto the ferry, then be turned on a manually operated turntable before being parked. The process was reversed for unloading. The ferry timetable was affected by the huge tidal range on the Severn and it was unable to operate at low tide or at very high tides. There was also a reported engine breakdown where the ferry took two hours to repair whilst drifting down the Bristol Channel with the outward tide, and after the engine was repaired it took hours to return to Aust. The last ferry crossing occurred on 8 September 1966, the day before the first Severn Bridge opened. The
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
film '' No Direction Home'', about the life of
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, uses the Barry Feinstein photograph of Dylan standing in front of the Aust ferry terminal in May 1966, not long before it ceased operation. Dylan was on his way from Bristol, where he had played at the Colston Hall, to Cardiff. As late as 2007, several older road signs around central Bristol showed directions to "Aust Ferry", but with the word "ferry" painted out.


Vessels

* MV ''May Queen'' (former Metropolitan Police launch). Re-opened passenger service 18 May 1931, with bicycles and motorcycles; lost in gale in January 1936. * MV ''Princess Ida'' (built Chepstow, 1931). Wooden. In reserve from 1935, then requisitioned by the Admiralty as ''Birnbeck'' for experimental weapons work, and did not return. * MV ''Severn Queen'' (built Woodward & Scarr, Beverley, 1934). Wheelhouse and funnel in centre of car deck. Withdrawn 1966 and scrapped in 1969. * MV ''Severn King'' (built Woodward & Scarr, Beverley, 1935). Similar to the ''Severn Queen'' but wheelhouse elevated over car deck, originally a single funnel but twin side funnels a later addition. Withdrawn 1966 and converted in 1968 to a crane ship for British Rail. In 1970 was supporting the demolition of the damaged Severn Railway Bridge, when it collided with one of the bridge piers and was sunk. * MV ''Severn Prince'' (built Yorkshire Dry Dock, Hull, 1959). Wheelhouse and funnel in centre of car deck. Withdrawn 1966 and sold in 1969.


MV ''Severn Princess'' restoration

The last remaining ferry boat, the ''Severn Princess'' which was launched in 1959, was found wrecked, abandoned and full of fertiliser in Ireland in 1999 by Dr. Richard Jones, the grandson of Enoch Williams. As Galway County Council had put a demolition order on the vessel, a small group of Chepstow residents formed the Severn Princess Restoration Group with an urgent remit to save the ''Severn Princess'' and return her to the town. The derelict vessel was purchased for a token one
guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
and temporary repair work started to get the vessel to a state where it could be towed back to South Wales. The ''Severn Princess'' returned to Beachley in 2003 following a five-day tow. For some years the vessel rested alongside the Beachley slipway, but was eventually moved to the west bank of the
River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...
in
Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...
, to sit beneath the railway bridge. After some years of delay, during which the condition of the vessel deteriorated further, restoration finally started in 2014. The first stage of the restoration was made possible with the pledge and realisation of support from Chepstow-based steel bridging and infrastructure manufacturer Mabey Bridge Ltd which, as part of its Bridging Time community support programme, donated time, equipment and paint to enable the stabilisation of the vessel and arrest further deterioration. Mabey Bridge apprentices along with other employees of the company removed the turntable, winch and wheel capstan from the ferry and relocated them to the Mabey Bridge manufacturing facility for refurbishment. The majority of spray guards were similarly removed and relocated. However, some have been left as a template for future rebuilding. Holes were also drilled in the lower hull to drain the ferry of rainwater and Mabey Bridge staff secured the cabins. The winch chain hull tears were sent to be plated. This first phase of restoration was completed Thursday 11 September 2014 and commemorated with a handover ceremony attended by the Mayor of Chepstow Cllr Ned Heywood, members of the Severn Princess Restoration Group, and management and apprentices from Mabey Bridge Ltd. The long-term aim of the Severn Princess Restoration Group is to return the vessel to a state where it can sit as a permanent heritage display at the site. The group has begun the process of clearing the area under the Brunel (tubular) railway bridge to make the site more attractive to visitors and users of the Wales Coast Path, which runs through Chepstow. '' Practical Boat Owner'' magazine reported on the project in 2021 as an example of a restoration project which has stalled, writing "there is no longer a Severn Princess Restoration Group website and the fascinating Wikipedia page hasn't been updated since the 2014 collaboration with the bridge-building firm Mabey Bridge in Chepstow. That's not to say the ''Severn Princess'' will never be restored, but her future must certainly be in doubt". The restoration efforts were further impeded by the loss of a number of fixtures and fittings following a theft in March 2023.


See also

* Crossings of the River Severn


References


Sources

* *


Further reading

* *


External links


Photographs of the ferry, buildings and surroundings

Video by the Ferry Preservation Group





Hull Times Index 1928-45 Launch of ferryboat for Welsh owners – Woodward & Scarr yard

The Severn Princess Restoration Group website
(website defunct)
The Severn Princess Restoration Trust on Facebook
{{authority control Ferry transport in England River Severn Chepstow