Hovercraft reunion marks 40 years

By the end of 1974 nearly 1.5 million people were using the service

More than 200 people have travelled to Thanet for a reunion to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first major cross-Channel hovercraft service.

The SRN4 hovercraft, which was capable of carrying 30 cars and 254 passengers, made its first commercial journey from Pegwell Bay to Calais on 2 April 1969.

Former Hoverlloyd employees from both Ramsgate and Calais have joined Pegwell Bay port staff to mark the occasion.

A party will be held at the Pavilion in Broadstairs later.

Organiser Robin Paine said: "We are staggered at the lack of knowledge in the Thanet area about Hoverlloyd and the hovercraft considering it played such an important part in the economy of Thanet in the 1970s."

He added: "To get 200 people back, many who have moved away from the area, has been a massive task."

Crossings from Ramsgate Harbour to Calais in a smaller two 36-seat SRN6 hovercraft had begun three years before the Pegqwell Bay service.

By the end of 1974 nearly 1.5 million people a year were crossing the Channel via Pegwell Bay.

Hoverlloyd eventually merged with Dover-based Seaspeed in 1981, to create Hoverspeed.

The former Hoverlloyd services from Thanet were withdrawn in 1982, but Hoverspeed continued operating from Dover until October 2000.

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