Ports & Harbours of the English Channel

History

The original harbour was naturally sheltered by the south coast of England, Chesil Beach and the Isle of Portland, providing refuge for ships against weather in all directions except east. The harbour had already been used by ships for centuries when, in the 16th century, King Henry VIII built Portland Castle and Sandsfoot Castle to defend the anchorage. Prompted by the expansion of the French naval port of Cherbourg, just across the English Channel, the Royal Navy established a base at Portland in 1845; a scheme for the harbour to be transformed into a refuge had been granted parliamentary approval the year before. Portland was the first naval anchorage specifically designed for the new steam navy.

History

The harbour was constructed in the early 19th century. Previously, ships coming into the town had only a small jetty at the site now called the English Harbour and the French Harbour. The Chamber of Commerce urged the States Assembly to build a new harbour, but they refused, so the Chamber took it into their own hands and paid to upgrade the harbour in 1790. A new breakwater was constructed to shelter the jetty and harbours. In 1814, the merchants constructed the roads now known as Commercial Buildings and Le Quai des Marchands to connect the harbours to the town and in 1832 construction was finished on the Esplanade and its sea wall. A rapid expansion in shipping led the States of Jersey in 1837 to order the construction of two new piers: the Victoria and Albert Piers.

History

The earliest evidence of shipping was the discover of a wreck in 1982 in the entrance of the harbour, which has been named "Asterix". It is thought to be a 3rd-century Roman cargo vessel and was probably at anchor or grounded when the fire broke out.

The first breakwater, from before the 13th century was a mole, made of loose stones, where the Albert Pier now stands. In 1605, a Royal Charter authorised a pettie Custume tax on imports to Guernsey to pay for harbour development.

The English Civil War saw the harbour in the firing line in 1643 between the Royalist held Castle Cornet and the Parliamentarian held town. Cannonballs fired from the castle caused some damage to the town.

In 1831 gas lamps replaced oil lamps on quays, in 1857 electric lights were demonstrated.

Harbour Facilities

A passenger terminal and customs facilities are located on St Julian's Pier.

Facilities at the harbour include two ro-ro ramps for cars and lorries that travel on car/passenger ferries such as the 97m long catamaran Voyager or freight/car/passenger traditional ferries such as the Islander.

Two large cranes and a number of smaller ones facilitate the loading/unloading of containers.

The southern arm of the original harbour going east from near the Town Church was originally a mole, referred to in 1275 by Edward I of England when it was mentioned as needing reconstruction, given permission to raise a local tax to cover the cost, little was done until a dry stone pier, was constructed by 1580.

Geography

The harbour is located at the mouth of the River Dart (the name 'Dart' is Brythonic Celtic meaning 'river where oak trees grow'), which rises high on Dartmoor, and enters the sea at Dartmouth. The river begins as two separate branches (the East Dart and West Dart), which join at Dartmeet. The rivers are crossed by a number of clapper bridges, notably at the hamlet of Postbridge. At Totnes a weir (of the 17th century vintage rebuilt in the 1960s) has been constructed across the river. The river reach between the Totnes weir and the port is tidal and hence navigable, and there are no bridges across the river in this reach. The banks of the lower Dart are covered in ancient woodland of native oak. The entrance to the river from the sea is rocky with cliffs on either side.

History

In 1541, King Henry VIII of England was about to wage a war against the French. A plan was made to use Folkestone as a port of embarkation to supplies and troops. He sent a Master Tuk and Master Captain of Sandgate to look for a site for the new harbour. Plans were made but never implemented. On 2 May 1542, the king came to Folkestone but then headed to Dover on 6 May. The Folkestone Harbour plan was abandoned.

In 1703, a heavy storm swept away one of the fishing boats on the shingle beach and damaged many other boats. Also several houses had their foundations undermined as the beach was carried away. An engineer from Romney Marsh advised the local fisherman that the construction of three timber/stone jetties would protect the cliff (below the parish church).

Description

The inner harbour provides trot moorings for approximately 50 vessels, up to 35 feet in length.

Within the inner harbour there is a replica of Francis Drake's Golden Hind. The vessel is permanently moored and is used as a museum ship.

The old fish market is situated on the western side of the harbour. Nearby is the Old Market House, a Grade II listed building which is now used as a restaurant.

The outer harbour provides deepwater swing moorings for approximately 250 vessels, up to 100 feet in length, but generally up to 70 feet in length.

History

Jacques Cartier founded Canada in 1534 and gave it to France. He adopts the name Canada which signifies village in Huron. The King of France, Francis 1st, disappointed by the lack of gold or diamonds, decided not to exploit the land. It is only two hundred years later, in the 17th century, that Samuel de Champlain received orders to settle the vast territory. Having left Honfleur, he founded Québec. The orders of Louis XIV made the first settlements true Norman colonies. More than 4,000 peasants settled and planted the land. Fishing, hunting and the fur trade flourished.

The port was remodelled in 1681 by Abraham Duquesne, under orders from Colbert. The former port was a brushed-upon shore in a small haven.

History

The fishing village of Newhaven was of little maritime importance until the opening of the railway line from Lewes to Newhaven in 1847.

From 1864, under instruction from the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) which had acquired lands around the then fishing village, their Chief Engineer Frederick Banister was instructed to design a new commercial-scale port facility and transport access system.

In 1864, Banister enabled the construction of the Seaford branch line from Newhaven town to Newhaven Harbour, on the east side of the river and onwards to Seaford. This would later allow the bulk transport and supply of building materials to enable construction of the docks at Newhaven.

History

Le Tréport (the ancient Ulterior Portus) was a port of some note in the Middle Ages, when it experienced several invasions by English forces.

Louis Philippe I twice received Queen Victoria at Tréport, in 1843 and 1845.

The patronage of Louis-Philippe and his family, residing regularly in Eu, inaugurated Le Tréport as a popular seaside resort. The Parisian upper middle class wasted no time in building villas on the waterfront and led a social life there until the eve of the Second World War. The Tréport-Mers railway station, opened on 12 May 1872, gave Parisians access to the seaside resort and stirred its development. A casino was built in 1896–1897. An electric tramway served the city from 1902, as a corollary of the tourist trade.

Geography

A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some 21 miles (34 km) northeast of Dieppe at the junction of the D 940, the D 78 and the D 1015 roads. The mouth of the river Bresle meets the English Channel here, in between the high (110 metres or 360 feet) chalk cliffs and the pebbly beach. Le Tréport-Mers station has rail connections to Beauvais. Le Tréport is also a sea-side resort and home to a casino.

History

Joseph Treffry (born Joseph Austen in 1782) was the owner of the Fowey Consols mine and wanted a harbour to export copper and import coal. He started work on a harbour in the small cove of Porth in 1829. The first ships used it in 1833 and it was finished in 1840. The breakwater enclosed 36 acres (15 hectares) of harbour and was capable of taking up to about 50 vessels of 200 tons each. The port is tidal so the vessels would sit on the bottom at low tide. Cornish granite was exported from Par in the early days for such famous landmarks as Waterloo Bridge in London, Chatham Docks, Gibraltar Docks & Glasgow Docks. As the china clay industry grew in the area during the 19th century this became the main export through the docks.

History

Rye Harbour village dates from the early nineteenth century, having been built on an extension of the shingle beaches, progressively deposited by the sea over the last 800 years. These deposits limit access to the original open medieval port of Rye, now two miles (3 km) inland. The village has one of the chain of Martello Towers constructed during the Napoleonic Wars; it was built on the beachline of the time. The beachline has now advanced a further kilometre southward.

Its geography has thus been shaped by its position at the frontier with the sea and at the frontier of the United Kingdom.

The initial establishment was that of a company of dragoons in 1805, followed shortly after by the first fishermen's huts and the building of the Martello Tower (1809–10).