IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Union Street, DOVER, CT17 9FJ

The crane had been used in test piling activities, which were due to start on 2 November and last two weeks; it would seem that the work had been completed. It can also been seen in Image

Dover Western Docks, Hoverport, Hovercraft SR.N4 "The Princess Anne". The SR.N4 (Saunders-Roe Nautical 4) hovercraft (also known as the Mountbatten class hovercraft) was a large passenger and vehicle carrying hovercraft built by the British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC). BHC was formed by the merger of Saunders-Roe and Vickers Supermarine in 1966. Work on the SR.N4 began in 1965 and the first trials took place in early 1968. The SR.N4 was the largest hovercraft built to that date, designed to carry 254 passengers in two cabins besides a four-lane automobile bay which held up to 30 cars. Cars were driven from a bow ramp just forward of the cockpit / wheelhouse. The first design was 40 metres (131 ft) long, weighed 190 long tons (193 t), was capable of 83 knots (154 km/h) and could cruise at over 60 knots (111 km/h). The SR.N4s operated services across the English Channel between 1968 and 2000, until the completion of the Channel Tunnel made their service unprofitable.

Dover, Kent, Port of Dover, Western Docks, Hoverport, disembarkation SR.N4 Hovercraft 'The Princess Anne'

Moored at the Prince of Wales pier is the Seacat viewed from the Admiralty pier facing toward Dover Castle

Port of Dover, Western Docks/Hoverport, Prince of Wales Pier, seen from Dover to Calais Hoverspeed Catamaran Ferry 'SeaCat Diamant'.

Seaspeed was a joint hovercraft service operated by British Rail in association with SNCF. They began cross-Channel services from Dover to Calais and Boulogne using SR-N4 hovercraft in August 1968. The two hovercraft were named The Princess Margaret and The Princess Anne. By the time this photograph was taken in 1979, both craft had been considerably lengthened increasing the passenger capacity of the craft from 254 passengers to 418. The cross-Channel service hovercraft closed in 2000 following the opening of the Channel Tunnel (in 1994) and due to the age of the SR-N4 hovercraft. Following the closure of the service, both craft are now preserved at the Hovercraft Museum at Lee-on-the-Solent. Dover’s “new” hoverport was opened in 1978, having been built in the Western Docks, adjacent to the Prince of Wales pier and facing the original train ferry dock over the entrance to the inner docks.

In the days when you could arrive at the hoverport 20 minutes before the flight, 30 minutes across, and on the French motorway 10 minutes later - an hour, road to road. But it was like sitting on the top of a badly balanced tumble dryer, even on a calm day.

Port of Dover, Western Docks/Hoverport, Prince of Wales Pier, Dover to Calais Hoverspeed Catamaran Ferry 'SeaCat Diamant'.

Dover, Kent, Port of Dover, Western Docks, Prince of Wales Pier, Hoverport, SR.N4 Hovercraft 'The Princess Margaret'