A 16.7% increase in car ferry charges caused uproar at an Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce meeting held at the Guildhall on 21st June 1950.
Hoteliers had reported a tremendous number of cancellations of holiday bookings because ferry charges were now 74% higher than in the pre-war era, and that it had become impossible to get a car across the Solent at weekends.
One speaker at the meeting suggested that the ultimate effect of the ‘crippling’ charges would be the complete ruin of the Island.
A letter from local MP Peter McDonald (Conservative) informed the meeting that he had been in touch with the Chairman of British Railways and the Ministry of Transport concerning the matter and that he would table a question in the House of Commons.
The meeting agreed to support an all-Island conference of interested parties, called by the County Council to discuss ferry charges.
The Chamber had noted that the basis on which the charges for ferry fares were made had not changed from 25 years previously, when car traffic to and from the Island was limited to tug boats pulling barges a couple of times a day.
In 1950, the cost of transporting a car between Fishbourne to Portsmouth ranged from £2 6s 10d to £4 14s 9d and from £1 11s 8d to £3 3s 8d between Yarmouth and Lymington. These prices were for concessionary journeys when customers bought 4 tickets for the price of 3.
The Transport Sub-committee of the Chamber were unanimously of the opinion that a direct approach should be made to Government since charges had reached a level they could not stand and something must be done about it.
J F Lauder – Chairman of the Sub-committee – stated:
“For all these years we have been more or less talking and getting nowhere.”
A Mr Austin visualised a time when the cost of holidays on the Island was realised as being too high, which eventually might lead to not having any traffic at all.
The cheapest price for a ferry ticket for a motor vehicle in 1950 from Fishbourne to Ryde was £70 and £47 from Yarmouth to Lymington in today’s values. How does this compare with current pricing?
Whilst outwardly the fares in comparison might not seem ghastly, remember that wages were A LOT lower then than now, so, as a percentage of income they were no doubt seen as swingeing.
Also, as the service was being run by British Rail there SHOULD have been a public service agreement in place…
Ah, but then it was Sealink, a nationalised company as the shipping part of British Rail.
Since then, it’s been privatised. For excess profit.
How many times does it need to be said?
When they proudly told us private enterprise in these service industries would enable trickle-down effects to the rest of us and we’d all be better off…hands up who actually believed it?
Capitalism only works for those who have capital to begin with. The rest of us just keep paying what they’ll tell us to, thus making damned sure we are never able to amass any capital.
No, Sealink only came into existence in 1970.
My apologies, it was British Railways Shipping and International Division, which changed it’s name to the marketing name of Sealink in 1970. The BRSID came into existence in 1948 as a nationalised service.
The island has not learnt anything in all those 75 years.
If ferry prices were not extortionate more families would
holiday on the island.
What family in Labour 2025 Britain wants to pay over
£300.00 to cross the short solent crossing,
that £300.00 could go towards their accommodation
in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset or Cornwall.
Also these locations do not have a resort that looks
like derelict Sandown, also many of them don’t charge
50p to use toilets or have to pay a £2 nightly parking charge.
The island is finished as a holiday destination.
It barely survives on weekenders or midweek stayers.
Pretty much the same as now but just compare the size of a 50’s car to the overblown behemoths that pass for cars these days and I would say that today is good value…
Today’s value is appalling, doesn’t matter what size
a vehicle is.
The crossing distance is so small and is the most
expensive ferry crossing in the world per mile.
JF Lauder, was right back then and would be right today. All the talk in the world will not change a thing. Greedy profit making and an unwritten monopoly on crossing prices. The real world pricing will definitely put people off visiting or holidaying on the IOW. Having family on the island, I know that travelling at stupid o’clock in the morning and using a Saver ticket brings the price down. Even with a discount code, this is still is a hefty price tag. I’ll not say anymore, as there clearly,(as history has taught us), is no point.
JF Lauder, was right back then and would be right today. All the talk in the world will not change a thing. Greedy profit making and an unwritten monopoly on crossing prices. The real world pricing will definitely put people off visiting or holidaying on the IOW. Having family on the island, I know that travelling at stupid o’clock in the morning and using a Saver ticket brings the price down. Even with a discount code, this is still is a hefty price tag. I’ll not say anymore, as there clearly,(as history has taught us), is no point.
Nothing has changed then…