Forgotten ferry THE SEVERN PRINCESS
How much do we charge for a hearse, Mr Williams?” asked the ticket seller on the Severn Princess ferry. The smart reply was “Better make it the same as a large van but if there’s an occupant in the rear, charge for an extra person”. Well, business is business.
The ferries – the Severn Princess, Severn King and Severn Queen – plied the lethally dangerous waters of the River Severn between Wales and England. The slipway at Beachley near Chepstow was adjacent to the confluence of the Rivers Wye and Severn and the ferries ran to the Gloucestershire shore at Aust. For motorists this service avoided a long road journey and the Severn View Services on the M4 motorway now overlook the former route of the ferries.
My brief acquaintance with these rather eerie locations goes back to the summer of 1965. Children’s school treats today seem to consist of exotic study trips to far-flung locations in Europe and the ferry. But we loved it. Looking back, how lucky we were for all too soon the ferry would have been denied to us. Shepherded on to the at Beachley we cast off to pass under the yet to be finished Severn Bridge; its aerodynamically-shaped roadway had several final sections to be lifted into place to complete the essential road link between Welsh and English shores. Just twelve months later, the impressive suspension bridge was opened by HM The Queen, so making the ferry surplus to requirements.
