Sorry Suedehead…I went to post a reply and ended up starting a new thread.
lenny, just talking to baccy bill and he has reminded me
that jimmy the pump was on that boat at felixstowe,
when he was rescued he was found walking along
the side of the boat, which by then was the top.
bloody hell bobby,i knew a couple to the rh freight drivers on there,didn,t
know jimmy was on there to,i can remeber sailing past her it was just
twisted metal,hows baccy bill ok i hope.
K.Adams:
Baby Spider:
i would be intrested to know about that too i can remember a few crossing with my dad and with allelys as a second man and one ship in perticular had railway lines i think it was called the nord pas des calais■■?Ex sealink boat owned by Seafrance now.
There was 4 boats i think
Nord pas calias
Fantasia
Challager
InvictorThe challager was the best but the nord pas was crap I remember my dad arguing with the purser coz I wasnt paying for the meal the chcken was green.
the other three boats you refer to were in fact operated by the uk side,
the nord pas calais was run by the french along with the fluer de lys
and one other, the name of which escapes me at the moment, which
does not matter now, because they were all equally bad,
green chicken? that would have been corn fed 
Suedehead:
Sure i read somewhere about a firm from Sheffield(Sheffield refactories)? that used the Tilbury/Antwerp ferry and they were running Leyland Octopus motors?
Very early 60s.If they went over the water prior to ro/ro surely the trucks must have been craned on?
or did they use the Hovercraft?
When did that start running anyway?
Hi Suedehead,
The British Army of the Rhine ( B.A.O.R. ) and Royal Air Force Germany ( R,A,F,G,) sent quite a few lorries over to the continent in the early 50s. I dont know where they shipped from or who they shipped with ( it might of been with the Navy ) but I do know that they used the Port of Antwerp a lot.
R.A.F. Henlow used to send a lorry load of radio equipment to Berlin on a regular basis and in the 60s were using Dover/ Zeebrugge.
As regards the Hovercraft, I remember seeing one in the 60s but the only time that I ever went on one was in 1975 from Ramsgate to Dunkirk. I can’t remember seeing any trucks on it but looking at this picture it seemed that they might of had the height. 
Hi
just picked up this old thread.
1976 onward I remember traveling on Sealinks Earl Seaward and Earl Leafric ? travaling out of Eastern Dock
The crew told us they were old Irish cattle boats converted for vehicles but had flat bottoms and no stablizers so the crossing was always rough.The French boats of that time were The Chartris and Chantily, good food 
TT had two or three ships Freeenterprise v111?
there was also Prince Albert and its sister ship, its name escapes me on the Ostend route Anyone remember the so called soup they used to serve you.
I remember reversing onto the train boats out of Western docks but cannot remember their names, its a long time ago.
Used to go on Truckline from Poole now and again, the ferry could take 24 trucks but only had a licence for 12 passengers so they would take the “spare” drivers by taxi to Hern airport, fly you over to Cherberg, take you for a meal and return you back to port in time for the ferry to dock.
Regards Keith.
fantastic dessert driver , I remember flying Poole/Cherbourg , The ship you are thinking of tere is ,or was , The Antelope , and Dover , I remember with no affection whatsoever , The infamous , Autocarrier !!! 9 hrs Dover > Zeebruge !!! good old days ■■? not so sure !!!
boyzee:
Blimey boyzee! I remember the tokens, I thnk if you saved 50 you got a black “stena freight” jacket. I shipped out Newhaven quite a bit and got on well with the booking staf both sides of the channel. Managed to get a good few jackets
Best boats I recall for me were the Harwick-Hook “Beatrice?”, the Sheerness “Olaun Lines?” and a few of the short crossing P&O ones.
Worst for me were the freight ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre (for hazardous, bloody awful but good for extra duty free!) and Felixstowe to Holland (a back-on job, but bloody awful food and bed!)
I never minded any of the short crossings, if you didn’t like the boat you didn’t suffer long. It was the overnighters I wasn’t keen on, especially if you was late getting on, cabin sharing with cigar smokers, heavy snorers, soap dodgers etc. Don’t miss that at all.
brookie.
I can remember having to reverse on to the Ferry at Dover [cannot recall name of ship] & the last truck on had to drop the trailer & park the unit along side ! Alternately a “tug” would put the trailer on for you & unit went on solo – I seem to recall if the driver did all the work he got a “bottle” or 200 ■■■■ free !!
The train-ferry [out of Folkestone ?] had to be levelled up to allow for tide etc [seawater ballast ?] so as the train could roll on !!
Out of Poole to Cherbourg there was a ferry [L’aud ?] where to gain access from vehicle deck to drivers restaurant etc meant climbing a fixed builders pole ladder or exiting the ship and reboarding via a gang plank/companionway !
Out of Poole once again – your truck was lifted from loading deck to upper open deck on an open lift… If you could get up on that first you could kip in the truck [as opposed to a cabin] + in the morning you got a lie in whilst the bottem deck was cleared & the top deck made clear so you could exit via the lift !!
All the Greek ferries [bar one] were reverse on, and somewhere in the mists of my memory I recall turning round inside a ferry as the crew threw water under the trailer wheels !!
What was the Greek ferry Brindisi to Greece via Corfu ? With the slightly higher Brit trailers you were last to reverse on [headroom] but had to pull off at Corfu to allow traffic behind you to exit – then of course reload ■■
Volos ferry ? Anyone remember that ■■
If driving from Igonamitsa [spelling sorry] to Athens what was the little ferry that was like army landing craft & again I cannot recall names !!
It is only when I now try to recall ships names etc that I realise how old I must be getting & I never started International untill 1974 or '75 I seem to recall
Schiaffino – I know that’s been mentioned but was that the same as Worms cargo ? I recall at Ostende going up through the lock-gates & your passport was checked on board + a good agent took your paperwork [T forms] and you were cleared as soon as landing !! Schiaffino did they not have a ferry running Newhaven to Dieppe as well ■■
What were the two small ferries that ran from Potsmouth to Le Havre – German skipper but a Philipino crew ? I believe the French union stopped them running – but duty free you could have as much as you could afford !! I last saw one of them “lying up” in Zeebrugge & I believe they were Hamburg registered !
Hi been thinking today was Prince Alberts sister ship called Prince Lorent ?
remember reversing on a ferry for months after it hit the harber wall at Dover and they could not shut the front door. they kept running it until it was due for a refit. i think it was the Chartris be cannot be shore. Also spending 10 hours Calais / Dover on Chantily it was piching that much that in the bar the water was coming up the windows.
Regards Keith.
Big Leggy:
Schiaffino – I know that’s been mentioned but was that the same as Worms cargo ? I recall at Ostende going up through the lock-gates & your passport was checked on board + a good agent took your paperwork [T forms] and you were cleared as soon as landing !! Schiaffino did they not have a ferry running Newhaven to Dieppe as well ■■
What were the two small ferries that ran from Potsmouth to Le Havre – German skipper but a Philipino crew ? I believe the French union stopped them running – but duty free you could have as much as you could afford !! I last saw one of them “lying up” in Zeebrugge & I believe they were Hamburg registered !
Would they be the ‘Wuppertal’ & the ‘Fuldatal’ ?
Viking
That could well be the names – I just cannot recall… I know they were only allowed to carry 12 drivers & at any given crossing heading towards France that was usually 12 N.D. drivers ! They seemed to carry a lot of unaccompanied trailers & static caravans ! Philipino crew meant the food was a cross between Thai & Chinese + the first Carlsberg was free !!
Hi
Does anyone remember Jack that started the Routiers in Dover Eastern Dock.He did a lot of charity work and had a mechnical elephant he used to go around local shows with. anyway if a driver had had to much of the falling down water on the ferries the crew would radio through and Jack would meet the boat and drive the offending drivers truck off and park it up for him.
Here is a copy of my Routiers card. My father joined on the first day he opened on our way out and his no I think was GB10008 or 9 I joined on return trip and my number was GB10057. I do not know why but still carry it around with me now.Sorry deviated a little from the thread
Regards Keith.
I remember the Earl Seaward and Earl Leofric very well as I was almost always sick on them every week, usualy before we untied from the dock. I did get a little better when Chantilly and Pride of Dover along with Herald of free enterprise and Spirit of free enterprise came along. I could manage a storm 10 if I stayed in the cab and lay down.
dessert driver:
Hi
just picked up this old thread.
1976 onward I remember traveling on Sealinks Earl Seaward and Earl Leafric ? travaling out of Eastern Dock
The crew told us they were old Irish cattle boats converted for vehicles but had flat bottoms and no stablizers so the crossing was always rough.The French boats of that time were The Chartris and Chantily, good food
TT had two or three ships Freeenterprise v111?
there was also Prince Albert and its sister ship, its name escapes me on the Ostend route Anyone remember the so called soup they used to serve you.
I remember reversing onto the train boats out of Western docks but cannot remember their names, its a long time ago.
Used to go on Truckline from Poole now and again, the ferry could take 24 trucks but only had a licence for 12 passengers so they would take the “spare” drivers by taxi to Hern airport, fly you over to Cherberg, take you for a meal and return you back to port in time for the ferry to dock.Regards Keith.[/quote
It was the lovely old Shepperton where the gay waiters would nick your chips as they chatted with you at the dining table.
harry
At that time there were three French ships on the Calais crossing ex Dover #1 Compiegne #2 Chantilly #3 Chartres – all served good food in them days, just that some were better than others !! One of them though was uphosltered with green billious leather seating [Chartres] which I always thought appropriate on a rough crossing !!
On the Ostende crossing it was Prince Albert & Princess Beatrice the two vessels that were similar – what was the ship with the sideloading ? At Ostende how many of you remember having to park out of the docks [at the market/slaughterhouse] whilst waiting for a ferry booking ■■
Heavy Mob
I was always ok regardless of how rough a crossing – but I did once tell a “punter” that HGV drivers on ferries always ate strawberry jam sandwiches. He asked if that stopped sea-sickness, but I said no it’s just that they taste nice coming up as well as going down — never set eyes on him after that !!
Have a browse through this lot !!! hhvferry.com/main.html clic on any letter in the “alphabet” to find ferry names , have fun !!
There was a service from Southampton to Porto.Trailers only.