SRN4 Hovercraft Princess Margaret Departing Dover Summer 2000 - Highlights From Escape From Thanet 

I used to travel back and forth across the Channel regularly on these wonderful craft; at one point daily. Latterly, I got to know the crew so well that I used to be invited up into the pretty small cockpit, and would spend the crossing chatting to the pilots. An amazing way to travel, and a splendid view. I also, accidentally, wound up on the last ever scheduled crossing: I'd arrived at Calais shortly before the due departure as normal, and as I drove straight up the ramp, I was surprised to see crowds outside, and the cabin packed. We set off, and part way across, the Captain came on the tannoy to make an excellent and very emotional speech about this being the last ever flight, etc. (which I hadn't realised until then). I then also realised that most of the passengers were Press - no doubt appreciating the glasses of champagne being handed out to us all. When we arrived at Dover, it was amazing. Every bit of the harbour wall was packed with spectators and well-wishers, with cameras all over the place. As I was one of the last off, I had time to pop up to the cockpit and say goodbye properly to the crew, as well as to the engineers who'd appeared. They were truly beautiful craft, and a good 15 minutes quicker than the Eurotunnel, despite what everybody says - I've done crossings on both when they left as soon as I was on board. The crews were extremely friendly, thoroughly professional, and did wonders keeping some pretty aged craft running on a wish and a prayer. What a great shame that nobody has produced replacements yet.

These crafts were awesome to see running, I'm from Dover (still live here) as a kid I used to go fishing off the admiralty pier and watch these dock in and out for hours, they were soo impressive to see running, when they come in from France they'd make a right scene no mucking about straight in and up to the hoverport like thunder out of a cloud of mist and a roar that went right through ya, memories and nostalgia, bless these gorgeous beasts where ever they might be

Love the sinister belch at 5:34😂

I worked by the Hovercraft Museum where they were both stored and had to watch while they ripped Margaret apart for scrap.It was heartbreaking to watch

I was lucky enough to have witnessed one of these beasts rising up and heading out when I was about 15. It was one of the most amazing sights to behold.

Fantastic video I love these old beasts and they are enormous

My old school was in Ramsgate, not too far from the old hoverport between ramsgate and sandwich. I was a young lad when the the hoverport was decommissioned and all that's left is just bits of the concrete apron going into the sea. I 've never seen one of these in real life, but it was awesome to see it just inflate the main cushion so fast and then drift backwards. Thank you for posting it

Great video. I had many great holidays on the continent as a kid and we always went by Hovercraft. Thanks for posting, great memories.

I was fortunate enough to watch this live and ride them as well. No recording could ever capture the sheer visceral vibration of the event!

A great way to cross the Channel, sadly missed! The only hovercraft service I know of now is between Ryde and Southsea.

Lucky enough to have flown to France and back on one of these. Rough and lumpy outbound, smooth as millpond coming home. Thanks for the memories, thanks for posting the video. Cheers.

That was awesome!! Thank u for the upload....👍

Rode on the Princess Margaret when we visited England in August 1979...I was 13. Pretty cool experience!

Fabulous video. Great seeing how the thing rises so suddenly when they dumped air in the cushion. 👍🏻

Lovely sight. And a great belch at 5mins 30. x

Had a few rides on one of these as a kid and have never forgotten that initial rising up. Great experience.

You've preserved, nicely, a great piece of industrial age machinery. Pretty amazing sea craft...

Remember being lucky enough to travel on one on a crossing as a kid, remember it being quite exciting if not a little on the rough side, thanks for the upload

Got to ride that baby once before they retired. What an awesome machine. Noisy, fast, bumpy, exciting! Why do they kill off everything that is that.

As an apprentice working at Saunders Roe in the 60's we were often chased across the grass by a working model of SRN4 being operated by technicians. At that time they were building SRN6's a much smaller craft. When we were not in the apprentice training centre we were used in the main factory to put Loctite on the hundreds of bolts that held all the rubber sections of the skirt together. Great days, such a shame most have now gone.

This was definitely way before it's time, such a shame, that must have been a sight to behold, RIP Princess Margaret

I loved it. Missing it. This is something the next Generation will Never get to Ride

This was surprisingly cool! I haven't seen anything like this before. Cheers.

I inadverdently get a deep felt smiling face, when I see this video. We once made a family vacation visiting Great Britain. On the way to GB we took the Sea-Cat from Ostende to Dover and on the way back we boarded the Hovercraft from Dover to Calais. Both parts were impressive in their own ways. (unfortunately the Sea--Cat's engine-exhaust fumes were unpleasantly scratching our noses at the stern of this catamaran, but i always want to see how a boat or ship glides through the water). The Hovercraft ride was a little bit choppy, but very FASCINATING (... as science officer Spock in spaceship NCC 1701 would comment it! ). I hope some day GB will operate new King-Size, (flexible?) Hovercrafts again! The sound when those 4 large propellers throttled up in Dover at the start of the ride is unforgetable.

Even today these things are futuristic, yet they are retired. Mind boggling.

The Princess Margaret, Mountbatten Class… the Brits sure know how to make exciting things sound dreary.

Great video. I was 15, when I was hovering for the very first time from Dover to Calais. Sadly to say it was the first and last time. Later I used to travel to UK always by plane, it was and still is the cheapest and fastest way to reach the UK.

Great Film man, remind me of myself and the lads on our spotting days out, Should of made the effort to see one of these

5:34 :D :D great !!!

Happy days, I used to travel Hoverlloyd from Pegwell Bay. Fascinating machines and a great way to travel

Great to have this footage of the cross channel hovercraft - and the acrobatic seagull as a nice contrast!

I travel via hovercraft regularly to visit my sister on the Isle of Wight. Southsea to Ryde in ten minutes. It’s a thrilling experience every time! The flights can be a bit bumpy sometimes, but that just adds to the excitement. 😊

Me and my family ended up riding on a Hovercraft between Dover and Calais back at Easter 2000. We were meant to go on the Sea Cat to Ostende but the ferries were all being diverted to Calais due to bad weather. Remember the Hovercraft crossing being extremely bumpy and really unpleasent. By some miracle me and my family all avoided being ill but most of the other passengers weren't so lucky. It would have been nice to have experienced it in smoother conditions.

5:33 lol

I remember going on the Princess Margaret many times for the infamous booze cruise. Amazing ride, but you could hear these things way before you could see it! Such a loss when it went!

Remember a holiday in 1999 at St Marys at cliff a few miles from Dover could that magic noise half way across the channel,Took a trip across on her on the day of the eclipse.

What a machine! What a video.

She was scrapped a couple of years ago. Today, only her sister: princess Anne survives.

Hard to imagine that they were introduced over 50 year's ago. Way ahead of their time.

After the Chunnel opened up, they should have reconfigured the ferry-routes of the SR-N4s to another destiny, preferably a longer route!

During August, 1968, British Rail commenced a cross-Channel service using the SRN4---a one hundred and sixty-five ton hovership suitable for all-the-year round services over open coastal water routes such as the English Channel, and capable of journeys up to one hundred nautical miles over waves as high as eight to twelve feet.

I miss it so much

It is coming up to 20 years, since these great machines were retired from service. What a shame they were never converted to Diesel. If so they would have remained competitive, for several more years.

this video got the sound right. We could hear it in the hotel in Dover, too.

I can still remember my girlfriend and I, travelling to Calais and back on the Cross Channel Hovercraft service, quick and loud! But I still preferred the more leisurely ferry service! Now the shuttle is my travel choice quick and convenient and the dog can sit with us!!

Please bring them back!!

My (US) family and I toured England in '97 then crossed over to the Continent. The Eurostar was faster, of course, but you don't see anything crossing the channel that way so we decided to do the hovercraft going over to Calais and the Eurostar coming back a couple of weeks later. I'm glad we did it that way and experienced both. We still have a video of our hovercraft crossing laying around here somewhere. The funny thing was, the passenger compartment of the hovercraft was nearly full on our crossing but we were the only non motor vehicle-borne passengers on the craft who upon arrival in Calais did not turn right around and get in line to return to Dover. We asked why people crossed the channel just to immediately turn around and go back and we were told, "Duty free alcohol".

Bloody HELL... I remember THAT!!! :)

What a shame, they were never converted to Diesel. If so, they could have continued to remain in competitive service, for many more years.

Class video. LOL at the belch.........!

I did so many £1 French flyer trips in the early 1990s ..used to love these then the channel tunnel killed them off ..sadly missed

Went on this once with a car, what a great experience, still unsure why this service stopped

Amazing I wish I could have ridden it

For those in a real hurry, they were an improvement over the ferries, of course. However, I found them a very bumpy and uncomfortable ride. Since I have never really been in hurry when crossing the Channel, since I dislike the idea of travelling for so long under water and like travelling by train, I tend to travel to the Continent by train and ferry. It makes a very leisurely journey.

where ever in dover you where ( buckland,maxton,whitfield)ect. you would hear her and her sister fire up then roar as they exited the breakwater and went full throttle,lucky enough to have flown in them a few times and the funny looking french one which was in service for a few years SN500 i think it was 3 engines at the back and 3 times as high

So fast 💨 awesome 👏

Has the one at the museum still got its engines fitted?

5:34 turboBurp hovercraft 😂😂😂😂

I used to work on them. Unusual for them to start an inner engine with stern doors open.

Loud things they were!

BEAST! Sadly almost everything in this film is gone now, even my goatee!

I cried years ago and I am crying now at the power - the build up and the majestic way it leaves the ground to the sea. What a silly billy I am... Does anyone else get emotional?

yes i heard the burp...lol

I was there in 2000, as a tourist from Italy, and I was wearing rollerblades... I was amazed by the extremely loud noise that this thing was doing and I was hanging to the gate of the harbor (you can see it in the last minute), and I can remember it was almost unbearable the thrust it had.... Since I was on my rollerblades I had to stay tight to the gate not to roll away... Unforgettable memory of my childhood!

wow, it's huge!

As a kid in the 1970s I wanted to travel on one. Just never had a reason and the only time I went to France it was on an airliner. Now I never will get that chance.

Many years ago I travelled both ways across the Channel aboard one of these Hovercraft. It was terribly noisy and uncomfortable, everybody was sick ! No such problem nowadays with the Shuttle...

i'm sure it was hoverlloyd, when i went on it in 1980

What i like to call "The concorde of the seas"

Did someone belch at 05.35?

That was hella cool! Gosh it's noisy though, huh?

Why does British ingenuity have a legacy of falling flat on its face?

Nothing like the "gulls of Dover" or is that the "gals of Dover"? Either way their both British birds, aren't they? (had to sneak one in for my love's, "The Hill's Angels"! - LOLOL, LOLO, LOLOL !

I’m only here for the Burp 🤣

5:32 best part of the video - added sound effects :)

Looks like that was the Norwegian Dream docked at the port.

IT'S ALWAYS AMAZING, WATCH THE HOVERCRAFT'S DEPARTURE FROM DOVER!!!!!!!!!

How did he know the bloke is on the roof and not to turn the engines on?

1:02 looks like someone I used to work with, James

Where are they today? All scraped or has one of them somewhere survived? P.S. i have one of them as a Scale Model in 1:720.

5:43 "More tea vicar?"

She did require a lot of pumping to get her going.

Was is scrapped or preserved ?

everything good gets retired ( concorde and this beast ,QE2 and so on )

Well those guys really know how to show a girl a good time.

What ever happened to these beautiful machines. It sounds like a Lancaster bomber on takeoff

super

They looked great, seemed like a lot of fun (James Bond and all) but I know the big draw back.....they were REALLY, REALLY, NOISY...eh,? What's that you say? - LOLOL, LOLOL, LOLOL !

Who is this girl @1:14? She's so beautiful. I miss these hovercrafts. I just traveled with one of them in the mid 90s from Belgium (Oostende) to Ramsgate. Such a beautiful time. Greetings from Germany

👍👍👍👍👍

5:33 Barney,?? is that you? 😀

Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight not as big but just as good

They should mass produce them again

🥰

Was it the Channel Tunnel that brought the days of the hovers to an end?

At 5'33" the real engines sound.

I always felt sick as a dog travelling on these.

nice burp at 5:34

they use 4 rolls royce jet engines

Fabulous. This is a great video but can’t convey the noise and smell of kerosene. It really was an impressive machine