"Ferry coming in"

Leaving Appledore (crabbers in background)

“Ferry coming in, mind your legs!” shouted Sue Lane. The line of children, crabbing all the way up Appledore slipway, dutifully tucked in their legs and brought in their crab lines, as the Appledore and Instow Ferry turned broadside into the quay. As Sue helped the next twelve passengers onboard, I asked her if I could catch the ferry later. “We’ll be here if the tides here,” she said laughing. The ferry runs back and forth between Appledore and Instow for the three to four hours around the high tide between the hours of 9.30 and sunset.

 I caught the ferry an hour or so later, queuing with several families. The children on the boat loved it, squirming this way and that (having been told to stay in their seats) as we passed other buoys and boats on the water. The ferry takes pushchairs, bikes, even dogs so the whole family can come along (but there’s no wheelchair access because of the steps on Instow side.) If you’re a bit leary of boats –a short crossing, across a calm estuary is a great introduction. It takes less than ten minutes. Onboard, I bumped into someone I’ve been wanting to meet for ages, we chatted and the journey was over far too quickly.

Meeting new people was the reason all the volunteers I spoke to gave for working with the ferry. “It’s a fantastic way of getting involved with the community,” Sue told me.  This sentiment was echoed by Philip Coles, on duty on the boat and Sheila Moores, part of the group who got the ferry going again around four years ago. “For the first year we couldn’t get any major funding, so we hired a boat and ran it on a wing and a prayer,” Sheila told me. They proved the service was in demand, by carrying 8,000 passengers. Funding has now enabled them to buy two boats and last year they carried 18,000 people across the Taw and Torridge estuary. Sheila added that they had around 30 volunteers, but with three needed for each tidal shift, they would welcome more. I can see why the volunteers love it, busy calling on their walkie-talkies across the estuary.

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ferry across the water

It reminded me of a holiday job I had years ago, pulling a passenger ferry, across a small lake. I’d just had my appendix out, so I was on the look-out for children who would happily abandon their families and do the hard work for me. Interestingly, in the days before health and safety, children were often dumped with the ferryman for the day, while their parents had better things to do. Norman Johns, who ran the old ferry from Instow, appears at one point to have looked after two little girls for a week, while their parents went sailing! In his personal recollections of the old ferries he writes about how, back from the war, he decided to take the old ferry across to Appledore for a pint and ‘some people came down thinking I was the ferry and boarded the boat, so I never went back to London.’  Before the war there several ferries, the traditional, locally built ‘clinkers’ with a mast and sail or oars, lying in wait, on the mud or sand, vying for trade. While two ferrymen were haggling over the price of a journey, a third would nip in and grab the luggage and therefore the hapless passenger -  exactly as happens at many an airport today. The ferry actually runs from the Quay across the road from Johns of Instow and arrives across the road from Johns of Appledore: a fabulous local deli and the perfect place to buy your picnic and stock up for your day’s adventure.

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Why not take a day out and make the ferry part of an adventure? Crossing to Appledore you can continue the boat theme

1. Walk up the hill to the Maritime Museum, now open for the season. Compact but packed full of maritime history, photographs and tales of daring-do.
   
   
2. Walk along the quay, in the seawards direction - past the pastel coloured cottages of Irsha Street and visit the lifeboat station.
   
   
3. Take the kids crabbing. You can buy crabbing tackle from Johns and various other shops. I heard one father say ‘crabbing has kept my three busy all day!’
   
   
4. Catch another boat trip and journey up river or out to sea
   
   

5.  Sit and watch the boats come and go. Try a famous Hockings ice cream, fish n chips, Joe’s donuts or relax in one of many cafés and restaurants along the front.

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Instow beach in background

 If you’re adventure takes you across the water to Instow you could

1. walk along, sunbathe or swim from Instow’s long, sandy beach
   
   
2. Catch the Tarka (bike & walking) Trail and follow the river Taw to Barnstaple or upriver and across the bridge – follow the river Torridge to Torrington.
   
   
3. Head round to Instow Yacht club for a sailing or power boat lesson
   
   
4. Walk towards Instow’s famous cricket ground, join the coastal path and continue your adventure
   
   
5. Eat, drink and be merry in one of many hostelries or hotels.
   

A round eco-friendly trip must be possible travelling by ferry (maybe taking in the Tarka trail by bike or foot) bus and train. Both Appledore and Instow have a regular bus service which links to Barnstaple railway station and the Tarka Train line with connections to Exeter and London. There’s a challenge for someone - if you make it work, don’t forget to let Boat Stories know.

But remember the ferry only runs (April to October) when there is water in the estuary – so you’re working with nature and the seasons – but that’s the fun.   Jo Stewart-Smith  

 Ferry times: http://www.appledoreinstowferry.com/timetable-fares/timetable.html

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Skipper Dane Stanley arriving Instow

ferry trip and icecreams!