AT THE WHEEL

A very young steersman

By John Quinton

This photo was taken in the early fifties by my father and shows me at the wheel of one of the ferries with my grandfather and grandmother.

My grandfather, Stewart Page,  worked on the ferries as a ship's carpenter and was Newhaven born and bred. He was born in the 1880s at the Hope Inn, where his father was the innkeeper. By 1891 they had moved to the Crown in Bridge Street. Although he died in 1958 I can remember him quite well.  He was able to speak French quite well, and his duties on board seemed to extend beyond carpentry, including helping VIPs with their luggage.  I have a book presented to him by Edith Sitwell on one of her journeys to France.