Island Life - April/May 2010
history
a number of byelaws, one forbade smoking in the ladies’ cabin,
another prohibited gambling with a fine of up to five pounds.
The Ferry Committee formed to run the ferry issued metal
tokens as reusable tickets.
The new steam powered chain ferry in 1909 cost £3,200.
Built of steel, it had an electric light system and used its steam
power to raise and lower the ramp. Though it was the fourth
floating bridge, it was named “Number 1 Bridge” which has led
to confusion ever since.
Bridge Number 2 in 1925 was the last steam powered ship
used on this route and was sold for use at Sandbanks after
Bridge Number 3 costing £12,000 came into service, the first
diesel-electric powered vessel in the country.
In 1952 Bridge Number 4 appeared and stayed in use until
1975 until the present-day chain ferry arrived. Bridge Number 5,
manufactured by Fairey Marine in Cowes to take twenty cars, is
a diesel hydraulic model and it’s held on two heavy chains, fixed
from one side of the Medina to the other, to keep it in position
against the flow of the river. The machinery on board the vessel
connects on the chains to pull the ferry across the river.
When a record tide prevented a ferry reaching dry land on
Christmas Eve, 1999, the crew carried women and children
ashore. The timetable says, “the service frequency and crossing
time depend on river traffic, tides and weather conditions”
and in July, 2003, the floating bridge service was suspended
for eight hours after it became stranded by a high tide at East
Cowes.
Today the service receives a subsidy from the Isle of Wight
Council and carries around 1.5 million pedestrians and cyclists
free of charge annually and around 400,000 cars, vans,
motorcycles and lorries paying a variety of tolls.
Since Victorian times there have been rumblings about
replacing the chain ferry with a tunnel or road bridge but the
Cowes Floating Bridge is one of the six remaining chain ferries in
the country and much loved by Islanders. Where else could you
take a free crossing on a ferry and see onboard a “Cabinet of
Curiosities”, all done by local schools?
Visit our new website - www.visitislandlife.com
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