126-575: Hoverlloyd operated a cross-Channel hovercraft service between Ramsgate , England , and Calais , France . Originally registered as Cross-Channel Hover Services Ltd in 1965, the company was renamed Hoverlloyd the following year. It was initially owned by a partnership between the Swedish Lloyd and the Swedish American Line shipping companies. On 6 April 1966, Hoverlloyd commenced operations from Ramsgate Harbour to Calais Harbour, operated
252-473: A Coastal Forces base at Ramsgate called HMS Fervent , which operated Motor Torpedo Boats , Motor Gun Boats and Motor Launches until September 1945. From 27 May 1940, Ramsgate harbour was the main assembly point for the build-up of small craft needed for Operation Dynamo , the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk . Once the evacuation was under way, Ramsgate became
378-476: A Royal Navy officer, C.H. Latimer-Needham , who sold his idea to Westland (by then the parent of Saunders-Roe's helicopter and hovercraft interests), and who worked with Cockerell to develop the idea further. The first passenger-carrying hovercraft to enter service was the Vickers VA-3 , which, in the summer of 1962, carried passengers regularly along the north Wales coast from Moreton, Merseyside, to Rhyl . It
504-593: A wind farm just off the coast. Ramsgate market is held in High Street, King Street and Queen Street every Friday and Saturday. Ramsgate has a LETS scheme (RAMLETS) which was set up in 2014 enabling residents to trade goods and services using the virtual currency RAMs. It is working with the Newington Wellbeing Network to improve the lives of people living in the Newington ward of Ramsgate. According to
630-480: A capacity of 418 passengers and 60 cars. These were later joined by the French-built SEDAM N500 Naviplane with a capacity of 385 passengers and 45 cars; only one entered service and was used intermittently for a few years on the cross-channel service until returned to SNCF in 1983. The service ceased on 1 October 2000 after 32 years, due to competition with traditional ferries, catamarans ,
756-659: A characteristic rounded-rectangle shape. The first practical design for hovercraft was derived from a British invention in the 1950s. They are now used throughout the world as specialised transports in disaster relief, coastguard, military and survey applications, as well as for sport or passenger service. Very large versions have been used to transport hundreds of people and vehicles across the English Channel , whilst others have military applications used to transport tanks, soldiers and large equipment in hostile environments and terrain. Decline in public demand meant that as of 2023 ,
882-460: A design that relied only on the momentum of the air to provide lift, like a helicopter . In terms of power, a hovercraft would only need between one quarter to one half of the power required by a helicopter. Cockerell built and tested several models of his hovercraft design in Somerleyton, Suffolk, during the early 1950s. The design featured an engine mounted to blow from the front of the craft into
1008-752: A fast torpedo boat , the Versuchsgleitboot had a top speed of over 32 knots (59 km/h). It was thoroughly tested and even armed with torpedoes and machine guns for operation in the Adriatic . It never saw actual combat, however, and as the war progressed it was eventually scrapped due to a lack of interest and perceived need, and its engines returned to the air force. The theoretical grounds for motion over an air layer were constructed by Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskii in 1926 and 1927. In 1929, Andrew Kucher of Ford began experimenting with
1134-502: A gym and sports hall. Tennis clubs can be found at Spencer Square and St Laurence. Ramsgate has three golf clubs: St Augustine's, Stonelees, and Manston. There is also a sailing club, the Royal Temple Yacht Club, which is steeped in yacht-racing history and hosts racing throughout the year for a variety of historic trophies. The highlight of the season is the annual international sailing regatta, known as 'Ramsgate Week', which
1260-460: A hovercraft-friendly route, a fleet capable of generating returns on investment, and good quality staff. Specifically, the company's customer-facing staff were strictly drilled and trained for their roles; stewardesses were required to maintain a high level of presentability, being compelled to wear their hair up, wear white gloves, and instructed how to apply their makeup. Presentability and enthusiasm were considered to be competitive advantages over
1386-437: A large volume of air below the hull , or air cushion, that is slightly above atmospheric pressure . The pressure difference between the higher-pressure air below the hull and lower pressure ambient air above it produces lift, which causes the hull to float above the running surface. For stability reasons, the air is typically blown through slots or holes around the outside of a disk- or oval-shaped platform, giving most hovercraft
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#17330858146211512-512: A new form of high-speed land transportation, probably in the field of rail surface travel, for fast trips of distances of up to about 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi)". In 1959, Ford displayed a hovercraft concept car , the Ford Levacar Mach I . In August 1961, Popular Science reported on the Aeromobile 35B, an air-cushion vehicle (ACV) that was invented by William R. Bertelsen and
1638-658: A new venture to address this market; this entity was originally named the Cross-Channel Hover Services Ltd , which was registered as a British company in 1965. The company was renamed to Hoverlloyd Ltd during the following year. Despite being largely regarded as being a single company, Hoverlloyd was in fact structured as two separate companies, one being based in France and the other in the UK. Unlike its rival, Seaspeed, Hoverlloyd recruited its sales and traffic personnel from
1764-468: A number of niche roles where its combination of features were advantageous. Today, they are found primarily in military use for amphibious operations, search-and-rescue vehicles in shallow water, and sporting vehicles. Hovercraft can be powered by one or more engines. Smaller craft, such as the SR.N6 , usually have one engine with the drive split through a gearbox. On vehicles with several engines, one usually drives
1890-593: A number of smaller cylindrical skirts instead of one large one in order to avoid the problems noted above. During the early 1960s he developed a series of prototype designs, which he called "terraplanes" if they were aimed for land use, and "naviplanes" for water. The best known of these designs was the N500 Naviplane , built for Seaspeed by the Société d'Etude et de Développement des Aéroglisseurs Marins (SEDAM). The N500 could carry 400 passengers, 55 cars and five buses. It set
2016-403: A partnership with Swedish American Line , owned by Brostroms Rederi AB; both companies were keen to take the lead in what they viewed as an emerging and potentially lucrative market, having identified the heavily trafficked ferry services between the ports of Dover , UK, and Calais , France, as being ripe for disruption by the new hovercraft technology. Accordingly, the two firms jointly formed
2142-502: A passenger and car ferry service to Dunkirk . Until April 2013, Transeuropa Ferries operated a freight and car ferry between Ramsgate and Oostende . Unemployment in Thanet stands at 4.1%; this is higher than the national average (2.5%). There is some light industry in the town. An emerging industry is power generation, with 800 jobs expected to be created by the Thanet offshore wind project ,
2268-636: A plane; and the Army were 'plain not interested'." This lack of military interest meant that there was no reason to keep the concept secret, and it was declassified. Cockerell was finally able to convince the National Research Development Corporation to fund development of a full-scale model. In 1958, the NRDC placed a contract with Saunders-Roe for the development of what would become the SR.N1 , short for "Saunders-Roe, Nautical 1". The SR.N1
2394-584: A profit in 1972 and continued to do so until 1980 with profit margins of 10.5% in 1976, 10.0% in 1977 and 7.0% in 1978. In 1976, with the company financially attractive, Brostroms Rederi AB decided to purchase Swedish Lloyd's stake in Hoverlloyd, becoming the sole owner of the entire operation. Hoverlloyd would remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Brostroms Rederi AB until 1981. According to authors Robin Paine and Roger Syms, Hoverlloyd possessed excellent operational bases,
2520-457: A range of marine-related businesses that operate in the renovated arches under Royal Parade. Colleges in the town also cater for students of English as a foreign language. Although Ramsgate has the most valuable fish landings in Kent (~£700,000 in 2003) , the fishing industry is in decline. The Port of Ramsgate has provided cross-channel ferries for many years. Previously, Sally Ferries UK provided
2646-669: A relatively short prototype testing period. Early on, hovercraft operations proved to be prone to disruption and abrupt cancellations on the part of adverse weather conditions, which were unfortunately common to the Channel. However, the impact of unfavourable conditions was eased over time by various modifications and improvements to the craft, such as increasingly durable rubber 'skirts', which had sustained damage from rough seas as well as ordinary wear-and-tear. Other initial issues, such as hydraulic unreliability and equipment failures, were also partially attributable to worker unfamiliarity with
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#17330858146212772-488: A section of a large aerofoil (this creates a low-pressure area above the wing much like an aircraft), the craft was propelled by four aero engines driving two submerged marine propellers, with a fifth engine that blew air under the front of the craft to increase the air pressure under it. Only when in motion could the craft trap air under the front, increasing lift. The vessel also required a depth of water to operate and could not transition to land or other surfaces. Designed as
2898-544: A service to Calais from Dover, which was soon superseded by that of Seaspeed . As well as Saunders-Roe and Vickers (which combined in 1966 to form the British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC)), other commercial craft were developed during the 1960s in the UK by Cushioncraft (part of the Britten-Norman Group) and Hovermarine based at Woolston (the latter being sidewall hovercraft , where the sides of
3024-455: A space below it, combining both lift and propulsion. He demonstrated the model flying over many Whitehall carpets in front of various government experts and ministers, and the design was subsequently put on the secret list. In spite of tireless efforts to arrange funding, no branch of the military was interested, as he later joked, "The Navy said it was a plane not a boat; the RAF said it was a boat not
3150-470: A speed record between Boulogne and Dover of 74 kn (137 km/h). It was rejected by its operators, who claimed that it was unreliable. Another discovery was that the total amount of air needed to lift the craft was a function of the roughness of the surface over which it travelled. On flat surfaces, like pavement, the required air pressure was so low that hovercraft were able to compete in energy terms with conventional systems like steel wheels. However,
3276-409: A suggestion made by his business partner Arthur Ord-Hume. In 1958, he suggested the use of two rings of rubber to produce a double-walled extension of the vents in the lower fuselage. When air was blown into the space between the sheets it exited the bottom of the skirt in the same way it formerly exited the bottom of the fuselage, re-creating the same momentum curtain, but this time at some distance from
3402-587: A total of four significantly larger SR.N4 hovercraft, capable of carrying 30 vehicles and 254 passengers; the type quickly replaced the SR.N6s on the Ramsgate-Calais link. The first craft was purchased at a cost of £1.2 million from the British Hovercraft Corporation . The SR.N4s were given the names Sure , Swift , Sir Christopher , and The Prince of Wales respectively. In 1969, in conjunction with
3528-526: A very young Isabelle Adjani and in The Black Windmill , starring Michael Caine , both released in 1974. The SR.N4 is also featured in the 1980 film Hopscotch starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson . Hovercraft A hovercraft ( pl. : hovercraft ), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV , is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce
3654-680: A walled air cushion vehicle, the Glidemobile . Because the project was classified by the U.S. government, Fletcher could not file a patent. In April 1958, Ford engineers demonstrated the Glide-air, a one-metre (three-foot) model of a wheel-less vehicle that speeds on a thin film of air only 76.2 μm ( 3 ⁄ 1000 of an inch) above its tabletop roadbed. An article in Modern Mechanix quoted Andrew A. Kucher, Ford's vice president in charge of Engineering and Research noting "We look upon Glide-air as
3780-516: Is -14.5 °C (5.9 °F), in February 1986, though typically the coldest night of the year averages -6.2 °C (20.8 °F). A total of 21.4 days of the year should record an air frost. Rainfall averages around 600 mm per year, a figure similar to that for the driest parts of England. Over 1 mm of rain can be expected on 110.1 days. Averages refer to a mixture of the 1971–2000, 1981–2010 and 1991–2020 climate periods. Being close to
3906-511: Is a reconstructed Viking longship located at Pegwell Bay in Ramsgate. It was a gift from the Danish government in commemoration of the 1500th anniversary of the legendary arrival of conquering brothers Hengist and Horsa to England in the year 449. There are many Regency and Victorian buildings in Ramsgate. In all, there are 900 listed buildings in the town with more than 200 in the vicinity of
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4032-623: Is an amalgamation of two settlements: a fishing community on the coast in the shallow valley between two chalk cliffs, and an inland farming community that is now the Parish of St Lawrence. The cliffs are known as the East Cliff and the West Cliff and are predominantly residential areas. There are promenades along both cliff tops with parks at either end and sandy beaches on the coast. Ramsgate has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ) as
4158-494: Is identified by a blue plaque . He obtained work as a teacher at a local school in Royal Road, where he received his post. In one of his letters to his brother Theo, he described his surroundings: "There's a harbour full of all kinds of ships, closed in by stone jetties running into the sea on which one can walk. And further out one sees the sea in its natural state, and that's beautiful." In 1901, an electric tram service, one of
4284-447: Is its coastline, particularly Ramsgate Main Sands, which was awarded a Blue Flag in 2015. Ramsgate's wartime deep shelter tunnels are open to the public for tours, which have been running since 2014. The town has a small population of feral rose-ringed parakeets . The story about them appearing in Ramsgate still remains a mystery. According to some sources, they may have flown away from
4410-553: Is typical in the United Kingdom; the nearest Met Office weather station for which data is available is Manston Airport, about two miles west of the town centre. The highest temperature ever recorded is 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) in August 2003, though typically the warmest day of the year averages 28.5 °C (83.3 °F) and 8.8 days will record a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above. The lowest recorded temperature
4536-556: Is used as a high-speed ferry for up to 47 passengers and 47,500 pounds (21,500 kg) of freight serving the remote Alaskan villages of King Cove and Cold Bay . An experimental service was operated in Scotland across the Firth of Forth (between Kirkcaldy and Portobello, Edinburgh ), from 16 to 28 July 2007. Marketed as Forthfast , the service used a craft chartered from Hovertravel and achieved an 85% passenger load factor . As of 2009 ,
4662-465: Is usually held in August. The Gallery IOTA (Isle Of Thanet Arts) was based on the town's west cliff but is now on the harbour front. Ramsgate Maritime Museum near the harbour quayside has exhibits showing the evolution of Ramsgate Harbour and east Kent maritime history. The Museum Building featured in the 2018 romantic comedy Juliet, Naked as the fictional Sandcliff Museum where the film's star Annie Platt (Rose Bryne) works. The King's Theatre, near
4788-494: The 2001 UK census , Ramsgate had a population of 39,639. The ethnicity of the town was 98.0% white , 0.8% mixed race , 0.3% black , 0.3% Chinese , 0.4% other Asian and 0.1% other ethnicity. The place of birth of residents was 95.6% United Kingdom, 0.7% Ireland, 0.6% Germany, 0.6% other Western European countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.6% Far East , 0.5% Africa, 0.3% North America, 0.3% South Asia , 0.2% Middle East , 0.2% Oceania and 0.1% South America. Religion
4914-646: The 2007 UK floods . Since 2006, hovercraft have been used in aid in Madagascar by HoverAid, an international NGO who use the hovercraft to reach the most remote places on the island. The Scandinavian airline SAS used to charter an AP1-88 hovercraft for regular passengers between Copenhagen Airport , Denmark, and the SAS Hovercraft Terminal in Malmö , Sweden. In 1998, the US Postal Service began using
5040-460: The Aérotrain . These designs competed with maglev systems in the high-speed arena, where their primary advantage was the very "low tech" tracks they needed. On the downside, the air blowing dirt and trash out from under the trains presented a unique problem in stations, and interest in them waned in the 1970s. By the early 1970s, the basic concept had been well developed, and the hovercraft had found
5166-585: The Conservative Party and one by the Green Party . Currently the council is run by a Conservative minority. Following a successful campaign by local activist Gerry O'Donnell, a town council was established for Ramsgate in June 2009. The Town Mayor of Ramsgate is currently Councillor Raushan Ara. Ramsgate's main industries are tourism and fishing . The town has a thriving marina with over 800 moorings and
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5292-632: The Dover TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated in the town centre. The local radio stations are KMFM Thanet , owned by the KM Group, community radio station Academy FM (Thanet) , and the county-wide stations Heart Kent , Gold and BBC Radio Kent . Thanet Community Radio (TCR) offers an online arts- and features-based service for Thanet District and the surrounding area where people can listen to podcasts of local interest. The service works closely with Dover Community Radio. The Hugin
5418-463: The Goodwin Sands , while day-to-day timings could be adjusted to take advantage of both tides and winds. There was no need to negotiate the stone-walled entrances which would have been the case with Dover Harbour either. Least to say, the company was severely restricted as to its course of action. Folkestone was naturally out of the question because the harbour was run by British Rail. Moreover, there
5544-712: The Isthmian League Division One South . The local rivals of the club are Margate FC , situated 4 miles away. When the two teams meet, it is known as the Thanet Derby . The club run a reserves team, which plays in the Kent Football League Second Division, and a women's team, which plays in the South East Counties Women's League Kent County Division. Ramsgate FC run five youth teams; the under-13 to under-18 teams compete in
5670-456: The Levapad concept, metal disks with pressurized air blown through a hole in the centre. Levapads do not offer stability on their own. Several must be used together to support a load above them. Lacking a skirt, the pads had to remain very close to the running surface. He initially imagined these being used in place of casters and wheels in factories and warehouses, where the concrete floors offered
5796-500: The SR.N6 hovercraft while awaiting the completion of the considerably larger SR.N4 ferries. In addition to competing with traditional ferries, it had a fierce rivalry with hovercraft operator Seaspeed , which also operated SR.N4s on the cross- Channel route. In 1969, in conjunction with the arrival of the first SR.N4s, Hoverlloyd re-positioned its services to run between purpose-built hoverports. The 1970s were years of optimism and growth for Hoverlloyd. Following initial difficulties,
5922-472: The Thanet local government district . The town is made up of seven electoral wards : Central Harbour, Cliffsend and Pegwell, Eastcliff, Nethercourt, Newington, Northwood, and Sir Moses Montefiore . These wards have seventeen of the fifty-six seats on the Thanet District Council ; since the 2019 local elections eleven of those seats have been held by Labour , three by Thanet Independents, two by
6048-455: The Anglican community. Ramsgate library was originally built and paid for by Andrew Carnegie in 1904. On the evening of Friday 13 August 2004, it was destroyed by fire just two months short of its 100th anniversary. Though suspicions were raised about the causes of the fire, due to a similarly timed fire at Aberdeen House (the town's registry office), an investigation was unable to establish how
6174-573: The British built Hoverwork AP1-88 to haul mail, freight, and passengers from Bethel, Alaska , to and from eight small villages along the Kuskokwim River . Bethel is far removed from the Alaska road system, thus making the hovercraft an attractive alternative to the air based delivery methods used prior to introduction of the hovercraft service. Hovercraft service is suspended for several weeks each year while
6300-604: The Dame Janet Primary Academy on Newington Road is named. As the Second World War approached, Ramsgate Borough Council embarked on plans to create a network of Deep Shelter tunnels linking to a former railway tunnel which would provide shelter for 60,000 people. The tunnels were opened on 1 June 1939. In 2014 (75 years later), part of this network was opened to visitors. In October 1939, the Royal Navy established
6426-494: The English Channel. Hoverlloyd operated from Ramsgate , where a special hoverport had been built at Pegwell Bay, to Calais. Seaspeed operated from Dover, England, to Calais and Boulogne in France. The first SR.N4 had a capacity of 254 passengers and 30 cars, and a top speed of 83 kn (154 km/h). The channel crossing took around 30 minutes and was run like an airline with flight numbers. The later SR.N4 Mk.III had
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#17330858146216552-731: The Great , landed near Ramsgate in AD 597. The town is home to the Shrine of St Augustine . The earliest reference to the town is in the Kent Hundred Rolls of 1274–5, both as Remmesgate (in the local personal name of 'Christina de Remmesgate') and as Remisgat (with reference to the town). The names Ramisgate and Raunsgate appear in the parish of St. Laurence records c. 1290 . These are all derived from late Anglo-Saxon 'Hremmes' from earlier 'Hræfnes' (raven's) and 'geat' (gate), with reference to
6678-519: The Ramsgate to Calais link throughout the life of the company. By 1979, a typical day's operation at Pegwell Bay Hoverport involved 27 daily departures, starting as early as 6:00am and ending late in the evening; that year, 1.25 million passengers travelled by Hoverlloyd services on this route. Furthermore, rival Seaspeed proved incapable of matching the reliability record of Hoverlloyd, which consistently operated over 98 per cent of scheduled crossings while maintaining an unblemished safety record throughout
6804-589: The SR.N1 Mk II. A further upgrade with the Armstrong Siddeley Viper produced the Mk III. Further modifications, especially the addition of pointed nose and stern areas, produced the Mk IV. Although the SR.N1 was successful as a testbed, the design hovered too close to the surface to be practical; at 9 inches (23 cm) even small waves would hit the bow. The solution was offered by Cecil Latimer-Needham , following
6930-548: The US/Canadian Great Lakes operate hovercraft for water and ice rescues, often of ice fisherman stranded when ice breaks off from shore. The Canadian Coast Guard uses hovercraft to break light ice. In October 2008, The Red Cross commenced a flood-rescue service hovercraft based in Inverness , Scotland. Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service received two flood-rescue hovercraft donated by Severn Trent Water following
7056-680: The Valley Express Kent Youth League and the club also runs Ramsgate Youth U7 to U16, which play in the Molten East Kent Youth League. Two other youth teams in Ramsgate are Trinity and Hugin Vikings; both play in The Molten East Kent Youth League. Thanet Wanderers is the island's only rugby team and has played at London Division 1 level, achieving its best result by defeating Doncaster at Twickenham in
7182-543: The aegis of P & A Campbell, the paddle steamer operators. Operations by Hovertravel commenced on 24 July 1965, using the SR.N6, which carried 38 passengers. Two 98 seat AP1-88 hovercraft were introduced on this route in 1983, and in 2007, these were joined by the first 130-seat BHT130 craft. The AP1-88 and the BHT130 were notable as they were largely built by Hoverwork using shipbuilding techniques and materials (i.e. welded aluminium structure and diesel engines) rather than
7308-506: The aircraft techniques used to build the earlier craft built by Saunders-Roe-British Hovercraft Corporation. Over 20 million passengers had used the service as of 2004 – the service is still operating (as of 2020 ) and is by far the longest, continuously-operated hovercraft service. In 1966, two cross-channel passenger hovercraft services were inaugurated using SR.N6 hovercraft. Hoverlloyd ran services from Ramsgate Harbour, England, to Calais , France, and Townsend Ferries also started
7434-558: The airline industry. The company was fortunate to hire the majority of its staff following the collapse of British Eagle in 1968. As such, the company operated more like an airline than a shipping company. Crew uniforms were sourced from the British Airways depot at London Gatwick . The traffic manual was based on the defunct airline's standard operating procedures. Moreover, tickets and boarding passes were documents based on airline industry format. Prior to commencing operations,
7560-460: The arrival of the first SR.N4s, Hoverlloyd re-positioned its services to run between the purpose-built Ramsgate hoverport and a similar facility just east of Calais harbour which was shared between Hoverlloyd and its rival Seaspeed. The development of suitable hoverports for the SR.N4 fleet had not come cheaply; Hoverlloyd incurred a significant cost to develop suitable infrastructure to facilitate its future operations, and thus commenced service after
7686-477: The back to push the craft forward. The British aircraft and marine engineering company Saunders-Roe built the first practical human-carrying hovercraft for the National Research Development Corporation , the SR.N1, which carried out several test programmes in 1959 to 1961 (the first public demonstration was in 1959), including a cross-channel test run in July 1959, piloted by Peter "Sheepy" Lamb, an ex-naval test pilot and
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#17330858146217812-472: The bottom of the craft. Latimer-Needham and Cockerell devised a 4-foot (1.2 m) high skirt design, which was fitted to the SR.N1 to produce the Mk V, displaying hugely improved performance, with the ability to climb over obstacles almost as high as the skirt. In October 1961, Latimer-Needham sold his skirt patents to Westland , who had recently taken over Saunders Roe's interest in the hovercraft. Experiments with
7938-463: The chief test pilot at Saunders Roe. Christopher Cockerell was on board, and the flight took place on the 50th anniversary of Louis Blériot 's first aerial crossing. The SR.N1 was driven by expelled air, powered by a single piston engine. Demonstrated at the Farnborough Airshow in 1960, it was shown that this simple craft can carry a load of up to 12 marines with their equipment as well as
8064-517: The coast, and in Southern England, sunshine compares favourably with most of the United Kingdom, at over 1800 hours a year. Only the Sussex coast tends to be notably sunnier, although much of the remainder of the south coast receives a similar amount of sunshine as Ramsgate. Ramsgate is in the parliamentary constituency of East Thanet , which is represented by Labour MP Polly Billington . She won
8190-615: The combined Hoverspeed . Hoverlloyd services under the Hoverspeed banner from Ramsgate were subsequently withdrawn after the 1982 season and the four ex-Hoverlloyd craft were thereafter based at Dover and gradually withdrawn from service between 1983 and 1993 to be used for spare parts for Hoverspeed's remaining SR.N4 fleet. For a time, the Ramsgate Hoverport at Pegwell Bay was used as an administrative and engineering base by Hoverspeed after all passenger services had ceased. However,
8316-427: The company exercised great attention in the selection of the most advantageous route, as well as the optimal sites to establish bases at. It decided to focus its attention on the Ramsgate to Calais route, having identified this as possessing the perfect set of circumstances for a successful hovercraft route. Favourable factors at Pegwell Bay included a 10 miles out shelter from prevailing weather conditions when near
8442-592: The company's fleet achieved a very high reliability record, having consistently operated more than 98 per cent of scheduled crossings while maintaining an unblemished safety record throughout the firm's existence. Hoverlloyd possessed excellent operational bases, a hovercraft-friendly route, a fleet capable of generating returns on investment, and good quality staff. By 1980, it was operating a fleet of four SR.N4s. In 1981, in response to increasing operating costs and intensifying competition, Hoverlloyd opted to merge with its long-term rival Seaspeed to form Hoverspeed . During
8568-399: The company's larger hovercraft, however their vast difference in size and manoeuvrability somewhat dulled the value of such experiences. In particular, while the Goodwin Sands were historically avoided as a threat to conventional vessels, the hovercraft could easily operate in their vicinity without hindrance, free of other traffic concerns. Between 1969 and 1977, Hoverlloyd took delivery of
8694-429: The craft became more costly over time, and that neither like-for-like replacements or improved successor hovercraft were likely to be developed. Thus, Sure was taken out of service in 1983 and cannibalised for parts to keep the rest of the fleet operating. These combined factors gradually worsened Hoverlloyd's balance sheet as time progressed and demanded economies of scale, and consolidation of operations. By 1980, in
8820-439: The craft. A side effect of the hovercraft's high speed was a relatively bumpy ride. Benefits of the hovercraft configuration included an unmatched turnaround time, partly enabled by the ability to disembark/embark cars at both ends of the craft, whilst simultaneously facilitating the movement of foot passengers via two main exits on the port and starboard cabins. The capabilities of its SR.N4s were significantly augmented in 1973 with
8946-507: The cross-Channel transit. These sales comprising a meaningful portion of the service's overall revenue; thus the company strongly emphasised the importance of onboard sales amongst their staff. For example, in 1979, 30% of operating profits was accountable to duty-free sales. For many years, Hoverlloyd operated a successful express coach/hovercraft/coach service from London to a number of near European cities with fares which were considerably cheaper than comparable air fares that were available at
9072-461: The delivery of the Mk.II modifications. Hoverlloyd was not the only hovercraft operator that decided to move on the cross-Channel market at the time; a rival company Seaspeed , owned by British Rail , was established and launched its own competing route between Calais and Dover. The two firms would compete with one another, as well as incumbent ferry operators, for market share throughout Hoverlloyd's existence. Hoverlloyd principally concentrated on
9198-647: The disappearance of duty-free shopping within the EU, the advancing age of the SR.N4 hovercraft, and the opening of the Channel Tunnel . The commercial success of hovercraft suffered from rapid rises in fuel prices during the late 1960s and 1970s, following conflict in the Middle East. Alternative over-water vehicles, such as wave-piercing catamarans (marketed as the SeaCat in the UK until 2005), use less fuel and can perform most of
9324-470: The extra thrust could be directed fore or aft, differentially for rotation. The SR.N1 made its first hover on 11 June 1959, and made its famed successful crossing of the English Channel on 25 July 1959. In December 1959, the Duke of Edinburgh visited Saunders-Roe at East Cowes and persuaded the chief test-pilot, Commander Peter Lamb, to allow him to take over the SR.N1's controls. He flew the SR.N1 so fast that he
9450-413: The fan (or impeller ), which is responsible for lifting the vehicle by forcing high pressure air under the craft. The air inflates the "skirt" under the vehicle, causing it to rise above the surface. Additional engines provide thrust in order to propel the craft. Some hovercraft use ducting to allow one engine to perform both tasks by directing some of the air to the skirt, the rest of the air passing out of
9576-601: The few inter-urban tramways in Britain, was introduced on the Isle of Thanet . The towns of Ramsgate, Margate and Broadstairs were linked by 11 miles of track. In 1915–1916, early aircraft began to use the open farmland at Manston as a site for emergency landings. The location near the Kent coast gave Manston some advantages over other previously established aerodromes. During the First World War, Ramsgate and its harbour were
9702-478: The final of the Intermediate Cup in 1997. The club runs five senior sides and many junior teams, all of which play at St Peter's. Cliftonville Hockey Club plays its home matches at St Lawrence College and has a clubhouse that it shares with Broadstairs Cricket Club. Thanet Galaxy is a pan-disability football club that provides structured coaching for male and female footballers of all ages, who qualify within
9828-451: The firm's existence. In 1975, Hoverlloyd was reportedly operating its fleet at near-maximum capability throughout the peak season; this feat was successfully repeated during the following year and again the year after that. According to Paine and Syms, the company had an attitude of optimism and confidence at the time, as it continued to expand its operations. From initial losses of -£250,000 in 1968 and -£164,000 in 1969, Hoverlloyd returned
9954-581: The first Local Authority fire service in the UK to operate a hovercraft. It is used to rescue people from thick mud in the Weston-super-Mare area and during times of inland flooding. A Griffon rescue hovercraft has been in use for a number of years with the Airport Fire Service at Dundee Airport in Scotland. It is used in the event of an aircraft ditching in the Tay estuary. Numerous fire departments around
10080-468: The first to demonstrate a practical vehicle in continued use. A memorial to Cockerell's first design stands in the village of Somerleyton . Cockerell came across the key concept in his design when studying the ring of airflow when high-pressure air was blown into the annular area between two concentric tin cans (one coffee and the other from cat food) and a hairdryer. This produced a ring of airflow, as expected, but he noticed an unexpected benefit as well;
10206-552: The former activity moved to Dover in October 1985 and the latter (mainly used for craft overhauls) in late December 1987 with the buildings demolished in 1992. The hovercraft pad, car-marshalling area and approach road are the sole identifiable features that remain at the site. Built as Mk.I unless specified otherwise. All four ex-Hoverlloyd craft were eventually broken up and none remains. The SR.N4 GH-2005 Sure starred in La Gifle with
10332-460: The gap in the cliffs. In 1357, the area became known as Ramesgate . Ramsgate was a member of the Confederation of Cinque Ports , under the 'Limb' of Sandwich, Kent . The construction of Ramsgate Harbour began in 1749 and was completed in around 1850. The harbour has the distinction of being the only Royal Harbour in the United Kingdom. Because of its proximity to mainland Europe, Ramsgate
10458-581: The harbour. One of the town's most notable buildings is the 18th century Townley House designed by Mary Townley . The town has three notable churches: St Augustine's is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark , whilst St Laurence and St George are both Church of England and serve the Anglican community as part of the Diocese of Canterbury . Christ Church, built in 1847, also serves
10584-444: The hovercraft became an effective transport system for high-speed service on water and land, leading to widespread developments for military vehicles, search and rescue, and commercial operations. By 1962, many UK aviation and shipbuilding firms were working on hovercraft designs, including Saunders Roe/ Westland , Vickers-Armstrong , William Denny , Britten-Norman and Folland . Small-scale ferry service started as early as 1962 with
10710-427: The hovercraft lift system acted as both a lift and a very effective suspension, and thus it naturally lent itself to high-speed use where conventional suspension systems were considered too complex. This led to a variety of " hovertrain " proposals during the 1960s, including England's Tracked Hovercraft and France's Aérotrain . In the U.S., Rohr Inc. and Garrett both took out licences to develop local versions of
10836-682: The hovercraft was able to readily accommodate standard-height coaches with luggage space at the rear. Hoverlloyd examined various additional coach services; while considerable exploration of launching services reaching into the German market was performed, licensing issues allegedly proved to be complex enough to prevent further expansion. Hoverlloyd held ambitions to launch scheduled services to various other destinations throughout its life. Tentative plans to operate from Southend-on Sea to Ostend in Belgium were mooted but ultimately never progressed. Each SR.N4
10962-745: The hovercraft's marine tasks. Although developed elsewhere in the world for both civil and military purposes, except for the Solent Ryde-to-Southsea crossing, hovercraft disappeared from the coastline of Britain until a range of Griffon Hoverwork were bought by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution . Hovercraft used to ply between the Gateway of India in Mumbai and CBD Belapur and Vashi in Navi Mumbai between 1994 and 1999, but
11088-764: The hull projected down into the water to trap the cushion of air with normal hovercraft skirts at the bow and stern ). One of these models, the HM-2, was used by Red Funnel between Southampton (near the Woolston Floating Bridge ) and Cowes . The world's first car-carrying hovercraft was made in 1968, the BHC Mountbatten class (SR.N4) models, each powered by four Bristol Proteus turboshaft engines. These were both used by rival operators Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed (which joined to form Hoverspeed in 1981) to operate regular car and passenger carrying services across
11214-433: The last commercial line had linked Ōita Airport and central Ōita but was shut down in October 2009. However, the commercial line between Ōita Airport and central Ōita is scheduled to reopen in 2024. Ramsgate 51°20′10″N 1°24′58″E / 51.336°N 1.416°E / 51.336; 1.416 Ramsgate is a seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet in east Kent , England. It
11340-454: The late 1950s and early 1960s, British inventor Sir Christopher Cockerell had, in cooperation with British aerospace manufacturer Saunders-Roe , developed a pioneering new form of transportation, embodied in the form of the experimental SR.N1 vehicle, which became widely known as the hovercraft . British manufacturer Saunders-Roe proceeded with work on various hovercraft designs, successfully developing multiple commercially viable vehicles in
11466-470: The launch of the Vickers-Armstrong VA-3. With the introduction of the 254 passenger and 30 car carrying SR.N4 cross-channel ferry by Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed in 1968, hovercraft had developed into useful commercial craft. Another major pioneering effort of the early hovercraft era was carried out by Jean Bertin 's firm in France. Bertin was an advocate of the "multi-skirt" approach, which used
11592-632: The launch of these services, it was publicly acknowledged that the SR.N6 was unable to compete with conventional ferries in terms of ticket price alone. Despite this, hovercraft services held a competitive advantage in that they were significantly faster than these ferries, being able to rapidly traverse the English Channel with 'flight times' reportedly as low as 22 minutes. In addition to the provision of an initial revenue stream, SR.N6 operations provided valuable operating experience, guiding future routing decisions via knowledge of dominant weather conditions and such factors. These experiences were transferable to
11718-422: The loss of lift at that point, and this led to further pressure on the skirt. After considerable experimentation, Denys Bliss at Hovercraft Development Ltd. found the solution to this problem. Instead of using two separate rubber sheets to form the skirt, a single sheet of rubber was bent into a U shape to provide both sides, with slots cut into the bottom of the U forming the annular vent. When deforming pressure
11844-458: The mid-1960s. These included the SR.N4 , a large cross- Channel ferry capable of seating up to 418 passengers along with 60 cars, and the SR.N5 , the first commercially active hovercraft. The origins of Hoverlloyd can be traced back to a decision made by Swedish Lloyd shipping company in 1964 to investigate the possibility of operating a hovercraft service, which was then a pioneering and untried concept to any business. The company soon formed
11970-457: The midst of a global recession , it was obvious that cross-Channel hovercraft operation could only continue economically if the two operating companies merged, with consequent rationalisation. Hoverlloyd's owners were adamant: If the merger did not take place, operations would cease. Hoverlloyd had already been put for sale in October 1979 as a going concern but had not attracted interest. Finally, in 1981, Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed merged to create
12096-580: The modern features of a lift engine blowing air into a flexible envelope for lift. Kaario's efforts were followed closely in the Soviet Union by Vladimir Levkov, who returned to the solid-sided design of the Versuchsgleitboot . Levkov designed and built a number of similar craft during the 1930s, and his L-5 fast-attack boat reached 70 knots (130 km/h) in testing. However, the start of World War II put an end to his development work. During World War II, an American engineer, Charles Fletcher , invented
12222-559: The nationally and internationally recognised Pan Disability categories. The club trains at Chatham House Grammar School and plays in Kent Disability Football League in three age bands: U-11, U-16, and 16+. In their first season (2008/2009), the adult A team won the Kent Disability League Adult Championship. Ramsgate's sports facilities include a public swimming pool, and a fitness centre with
12348-516: The only year-round public hovercraft service in the world still in operation serves between the Isle of Wight and Southsea in the UK. Oita Hovercraft is planning to resume services in Oita, Japan in 2024. Although now a generic term for the type of craft, the name Hovercraft itself was a trademark owned by Saunders-Roe (later British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC), then Westland ), hence other manufacturers' use of alternative names to describe
12474-585: The patterns of historic character in the town, using geological and topographical surveys, and covering aspects from the Neolithic, medieval, Georgian, Victorian, and through to the First and Second World War periods. Ramsgate is located 78 miles from central London in an east south-easterly direction at one of the most easterly points of the United Kingdom (the furthest point east is Lowestoft in Suffolk ). The town
12600-420: The pilot and co-pilot with only a slight reduction in hover height proportional to the load carried. The SR.N1 did not have any skirt, using instead the peripheral air principle that Cockerell had patented. It was later found that the craft's hover height was improved by the addition of a skirt of flexible fabric or rubber around the hovering surface to contain the air. The skirt was an independent invention made by
12726-538: The possibility of establishing a permanent service is still under consideration. Since the Channel routes abandoned hovercraft, and pending any reintroduction on the Scottish route, the United Kingdom's only public hovercraft service is that operated by Hovertravel between Southsea ( Portsmouth ) and Ryde on the Isle of Wight . From the 1960s, several commercial lines were operated in Japan, without much success. In Japan
12852-447: The rival Seaspeed's services. Staff typically displayed a high level of loyalty to the company, an outcome which has been attributed to the company's amenable management style, which positively affected industrial relations. Crew received extensive safety training, including weekly drills, so that they were able to readily respond to a wide range of emergency situations. Hoverlloyd sold various duty-free goods on board their SR.N4s during
12978-497: The river is beginning to freeze to minimize damage to the river ice surface. The hovercraft is able to operate during the freeze-up period; however, this could potentially break the ice and create hazards for villagers using their snowmobiles along the river during the early winter. In 2006, Kvichak Marine Industries of Seattle , US built, under licence, a cargo/passenger version of the Hoverwork BHT130 . Designated 'Suna-X', it
13104-544: The seat in the 2024 general election, representing a Labour win after Craig Mackinlay held the seat for the Conservatives in the 2015 General Election. Before 2015 the MP for Ramsgate was Conservative Laura Sandys . She was preceded by Stephen Ladyman , a Labour minister; he was preceded by Jonathan Aitken . Ramsgate was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1884. This was abolished in 1974, since when Ramsgate has been part of
13230-439: The second-busiest port after Dover , and just under 43,000 men passed through the port, transported onwards by 82 special trains. In 2017 Ramsgate was chosen as one of the first ten Heritage Action Zones (HAZ) by Historic England , with the aim of stimulating economic growth by taking advantage of Ramsgate's historic environment. Part of this project included a Historic Landscape Characterisation Study which assessed and mapped
13356-547: The services were subsequently stopped due to the lack of sufficient water transport infrastructure . In Finland, small hovercraft are widely used in maritime rescue and during the rasputitsa ("mud season") as archipelago liaison vehicles. In England, hovercraft of the Burnham-on-Sea Area Rescue Boat (BARB) are used to rescue people from thick mud in Bridgwater Bay . Avon Fire and Rescue Service became
13482-425: The sheet of fast-moving air presented a sort of physical barrier to the air on either side of it. This effect, which he called the "momentum curtain", could be used to trap high-pressure air in the area inside the curtain, producing a high-pressure plenum that earlier examples had to build up with considerably more airflow. In theory, only a small amount of active airflow would be needed to create lift and much less than
13608-428: The skirt design demonstrated a problem; it was originally expected that pressure applied to the outside of the skirt would bend it inward, and the now-displaced airflow would cause it to pop back out. What actually happened is that the slight narrowing of the distance between the walls resulted in less airflow, which in turn led to more air loss under that section of the skirt. The fuselage above this area would drop due to
13734-506: The smoothness required for operation. By the 1950s, Ford showed a number of toy models of cars using the system, but mainly proposed its use as a replacement for wheels on trains, with the Levapads running close to the surface of existing rails. In 1931, Finnish aero engineer Toivo J. Kaario began designing a developed version of a vessel using an air cushion and built a prototype Pintaliitäjä ('Surface Glider'), in 1937. His design included
13860-499: The target of bombing raids by Zeppelin airships and German Navy torpedo boats . By 1917 the Royal Flying Corps was well established and taking an active part in the defence of Britain. As RAF Manston , the aerodrome played an important role in the Second World War. It is now called Kent International Airport , but is currently not operational. In 1923, Ramsgate elected its first woman Mayor, Janet Stancomb-Wills , after whom
13986-408: The time; the most frequent service was London - Paris , while London - Brussels had fewer departures. In 1978, these were the only two destinations; London - Amsterdam was added during 1979. On the UK side, the coaches were operated with Hoverlloyd liveried coaches provided by Evan Evans Ltd - at that time a subsidiary of Wallace Arnold Tours of Leeds. Coaches did not cross the channel, although
14112-639: The town centre, offers shows, community events and a seniors' club every Monday. Talks on Ramsgate's history are frequently held there. Ramsgate has two paid-for newspapers, the Isle of Thanet Gazette and Thanet Times , both of which are owned by Northcliffe Media . Free newspapers covering the town include the Thanet Extra , part of the KM Group ; and yourthanet , belonging to KOS Media . Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East & ITV Meridian . Television signals are received from
14238-495: The trading ships coming from British India in the 1800s. The local council publishes a website specifically aimed at tourists visiting Ramsgate and neighbouring towns. There is an annual regatta event during the summer. Ramsgate Carnival is an annual parade that takes place during the summer. Other events include the annual Addington Street Fair and the French Market. The town's main football club, Ramsgate FC , plays in
14364-407: The vehicles. There have been many attempts to understand the principles of high air pressure below hulls and wings. Hovercraft are unique in that they can lift themselves while still, differing from ground effect vehicles and hydrofoils that require forward motion to create lift. The first mention, in the historical record of the concepts behind surface-effect vehicles, to use the term hovering
14490-989: Was a chief embarkation point both during the Napoleonic Wars and for the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. The Official Illustrated Guide to South-Eastern and North and Mid-Kent Railways (June 1863) by George Measom from describes Ramsgate thus: 'It is impossible to speak too favourably of this first-rate town, its glorious sands, its bathing, its hotels, libraries, churches, etc. etc. not forgetting its bracing climate...The streets of Ramsgate are well paved or macadamed and brilliantly lighted with gas.' The architect A W Pugin and his sons lived in Ramsgate and built several important buildings there, including St Augustine's Church , The Grange , St Augustine's Abbey , and The Granville Hotel . The artist Vincent van Gogh moved to Ramsgate in April 1876, at age 23. He boarded at 11 Spencer Square, which
14616-436: Was applied to the outside of this design, air pressure in the rest of the skirt forced the inner wall to move in as well, keeping the channel open. Although there was some deformation of the curtain, the airflow within the skirt was maintained and the lift remained relatively steady. Over time, this design evolved into individual extensions over the bottom of the slots in the skirt, known as "fingers". Through these improvements,
14742-548: Was asked to slow down a little. On examination of the craft afterwards, it was found that she had been dished in the bow due to excessive speed, damage that was never allowed to be repaired, and was from then on affectionately referred to as the 'Royal Dent'. Testing quickly demonstrated that the idea of using a single engine to provide air for both the lift curtain and forward flight required too many trade-offs. A Blackburn Marboré turbojet for forward thrust and two large vertical rudders for directional control were added, producing
14868-468: Was by Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg in 1716. The shipbuilder John Isaac Thornycroft patented an early design for an air cushion ship / hovercraft in the 1870s, but suitable, powerful, engines were not available until the 20th century. In 1915, the Austrian Dagobert Müller von Thomamühl (1880–1956) built the world's first "air cushion" boat ( Luftkissengleitboot ). Shaped like
14994-422: Was envisioned to revolutionise the transportation system, with personal hovering self-driving cars that could speed up to 2,400 km/h (1,500 mph). The idea of the modern hovercraft is most often associated with Christopher Cockerell , a British mechanical engineer. Cockerell's group was the first to develop the use of a ring of air for maintaining the cushion, the first to develop a successful skirt, and
15120-458: Was no welcome from Dover to secure a hold lease at the Eastern Docks with British Rail members on the harbour board exercising their vetoes. This left Ramsgate as the only viable option. Hoverlloyd commenced operations from Ramsgate Harbour to Calais Harbour on 6 April 1966. Initially, the company operated an interim fleet of SR.N6 hovercraft; services with these craft were passenger-only. Upon
15246-550: Was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline, and its main industries are tourism and fishing. The town has one of the largest marinas on the English south coast, and the Port of Ramsgate provided cross- channel ferries for many years. Ramsgate began as a fishing and farming hamlet. The Christian missionary St Augustine , sent by Pope Gregory
15372-458: Was powered by a 450 hp Alvis Leonides engine powering a vertical fan in the middle of the craft. In addition to providing the lift air, a portion of the airflow was bled off into two channels on either side of the craft, which could be directed to provide thrust. In normal operation this extra airflow was directed rearward for forward thrust and blew over two large vertical rudders that provided directional control. For low-speed manoeuvrability,
15498-496: Was powered by an arrangement of four Bristol Proteus gas turbine engines; while these were marinised and proved to be one of the hovercraft's more reliable systems, they were relatively fuel-hungry, consuming significant amounts of aviation-grade kerosene . As the worldwide oil crisis of the 1970s caused fuel prices to rise sharply, the operation of the SR.N4 became increasingly uneconomic, especially in comparison to slower, diesel-powered ferries. Unlike ferry operators, Hoverlloyd
15624-597: Was powered by two turboprop aero-engines and driven by propellers . During the 1960s, Saunders-Roe developed several larger designs that could carry passengers, including the SR.N2 , which operated across the Solent , in 1962, and later the SR.N6 , which operated across the Solent from Southsea to Ryde on the Isle of Wight for many years. In 1963 the SR.N2 was used in experimental service between Weston-super-Mare and Penarth under
15750-492: Was recorded as 71.6% Christian , 0.3% Muslim , 0.1% Hindu , 0.3% Buddhist , 0.1% Sikh and 0.1% Jewish . 17.9% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 7.1% did not state their religion. For every 100 women, there were 91.2 men. The age distribution was 6% aged 0–4 years, 16% aged 5–15 years, 5% aged 16–19 years, 31% aged 20–44 years, 24% aged 45–64 years and 18% aged 65 years and over. The town's main attraction
15876-448: Was wholly reliant on non-freight business (cars and foot passengers), and unable to offset a decline in demand with other forms of business activities. Hoverlloyd was a highly leveraged company with debt accounting for one-third of operating profits in 1976 and 1977 to two-fifths in 1978, three-fifths in 1979 and four-fifths in 1980. The closure of the British Hovercraft Corporation restricted support options, meaning that maintenance of
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