AT THE OTHER END OF THE LINE
Our ships in Dieppe
By Andy Gilbert
Londres, Brighton and a Dieppe 'screw'.
Kind permission of Jim Evans
We often see photos of our steamers, cargo boats and ferries in and around Newhaven. It is the Our Newhaven site, after all! But let's not forget our partner port of Dieppe on the other side of the channel.That's where our ships went every day, so what did they look like over there?
This is a lovely original photo that popped up on the excellent Ships Nostalgia website this morning. The photographer, Jim Evans, has kindly given me permission to add it to our site.
It shows the scene at the Quai Henri IV on a sunny afternoon in 17th August 1959. At the left, we see the bow of the Londres and in the centre, next to the Gare Maritime is the last British passenger steamer on the route, the stylish Brighton VI. She's moored where the first car ferry ramp would be built just four years later, heralding the end for all the vessels in the photo. Over at the right is one of the Dieppe 'screws', and it has to be either Rennes or Nantes. The third member of the trio, Brest, had a subtle difference in the black at the top of her funnel.
And is it just me, or did our ships look smarter in these traditional colours, rather than Sealink blue, Stena white or Transmanche yellow!