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Port of Poole
The Port of Poole is a cross channel port on Poole Harbour in Poole, Dorset, South West England. Along with Weymouth Harbour, Poole has the other major Channel Port in Dorset.
In World War II, the port was used in the Normandy landings.
In the late 1960s, Poole Harbour Commissioners were considering the option of establishing a terminal for a freight ferry service between Poole and Cherbourg to take advantage of the shortest distance between England and France, west of Dover (64 nautical miles). Reclamation work for the land the terminal was to be built on was commenced in 1971 with completion due two years later.
Truckline Ferries services launched on 29 June 1973 with a crossing by the French-built Poole Antelope (named after a pub on Poole High Street) from Cherbourg to Poole. The ship and the company were the first RORO ferry to use the new terminal at Poole and the opening of this part of the port helped to address the increasing conflict between the tourist popularity of Poole Quay and the commercial shipping needs of the port.
Over the first ten years since completion of the freight ferry terminal, freight volumes expanded considerably. In 1973, Truckline carried 2,324 lorries and by 1982 the figure was reported to be over 62,000 lorries and an additional 20,000 Italian car imports. This large increase in traffic, along with an unfortunate incident in September 1980 when the linkspan at was damaged to the point of being unusable after a collision between it and Countances, which lost power on docking, leaving both damaged and seeing Truckline services temporarily switch to Weymouth until the linkspan could be repaired, prompted Poole Harbour Commissioners to expand the ferry port to 44 acres, with a further a 10m wide linkspan, opened in October 1984.
In July 1985, Brittany Ferries announced they had purchased Truckline Ferries for an undisclosed amount, resulting in an immediate £3.5 million cash injection to develop the service further. This resulted in two major moves by the company; the first to 'jumboize' the freight ships Coutances and Purbeck, the second being to introduce a new passenger service under the Truckline brand during the summer season from June 1986, which was to become the first cross channel passenger ferry service from Poole.
After much speculation, British Channel Island Ferries announced in August 1988 its decision to focus services on the port of Poole from 2 January 1989, allowing them to reduce crossing times to the islands by up to two hours, resulting in the curtailment of their services from Portsmouth and Weymouth on 2 January 1989 and 1 October 1988 respectively.
The continued growth of both Truckline and the port at Poole resulted in a further expansion of the port. This was undertaken during 1989 with further land reclamations taking the total terminal area to 60 acres and included a third linkspan. The expansion was opened in April 1990 by former employment secretary Sir Norman Fowler.
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Port of Poole
The Port of Poole is a cross channel port on Poole Harbour in Poole, Dorset, South West England. Along with Weymouth Harbour, Poole has the other major Channel Port in Dorset.
In World War II, the port was used in the Normandy landings.
In the late 1960s, Poole Harbour Commissioners were considering the option of establishing a terminal for a freight ferry service between Poole and Cherbourg to take advantage of the shortest distance between England and France, west of Dover (64 nautical miles). Reclamation work for the land the terminal was to be built on was commenced in 1971 with completion due two years later.
Truckline Ferries services launched on 29 June 1973 with a crossing by the French-built Poole Antelope (named after a pub on Poole High Street) from Cherbourg to Poole. The ship and the company were the first RORO ferry to use the new terminal at Poole and the opening of this part of the port helped to address the increasing conflict between the tourist popularity of Poole Quay and the commercial shipping needs of the port.
Over the first ten years since completion of the freight ferry terminal, freight volumes expanded considerably. In 1973, Truckline carried 2,324 lorries and by 1982 the figure was reported to be over 62,000 lorries and an additional 20,000 Italian car imports. This large increase in traffic, along with an unfortunate incident in September 1980 when the linkspan at was damaged to the point of being unusable after a collision between it and Countances, which lost power on docking, leaving both damaged and seeing Truckline services temporarily switch to Weymouth until the linkspan could be repaired, prompted Poole Harbour Commissioners to expand the ferry port to 44 acres, with a further a 10m wide linkspan, opened in October 1984.
In July 1985, Brittany Ferries announced they had purchased Truckline Ferries for an undisclosed amount, resulting in an immediate £3.5 million cash injection to develop the service further. This resulted in two major moves by the company; the first to 'jumboize' the freight ships Coutances and Purbeck, the second being to introduce a new passenger service under the Truckline brand during the summer season from June 1986, which was to become the first cross channel passenger ferry service from Poole.
After much speculation, British Channel Island Ferries announced in August 1988 its decision to focus services on the port of Poole from 2 January 1989, allowing them to reduce crossing times to the islands by up to two hours, resulting in the curtailment of their services from Portsmouth and Weymouth on 2 January 1989 and 1 October 1988 respectively.
The continued growth of both Truckline and the port at Poole resulted in a further expansion of the port. This was undertaken during 1989 with further land reclamations taking the total terminal area to 60 acres and included a third linkspan. The expansion was opened in April 1990 by former employment secretary Sir Norman Fowler.