| Ramsgate International Hoverport | |
| Location: | Cliffsend, Kent |
| Opened: | 1969 |
| Closed: | To passengers 1982 Site closure 1987 |
| Owner: | Hoverlloyd |
| Type: | Hoverport |
| Size: | 11.5acres[1] |
The Ramsgate Hoverport or Ramsgate International Hoverport was the world's first purpose-built hoverport constructed on the coast at the village of Cliffsend, around 2miles from Ramsgate, with direct access to Pegwell Bay. The hoverport was purpose built in 1969 by hovercraft operator Hoverlloyd to serve the English Channel crossing market using SR.N4 hovercraft. It operated passenger services until 1982 following a merger with rival Seaspeed to form the combined Hoverspeed, and operated exclusively from Seaspeed's Dover hoverport. The site remained in use for administration and engineering until December 1987.
The Hoverlloyd company was formed in 1965 to take advantage of the new form of transport of hovercraft, with the intention of starting a cross-channel service to compete against the ferry services.[2] The company initially started operating smaller SR.N6 craft from a pad within Ramsgate Harbour whilst looking for a longer term base for larger craft.[3] Having discounted other options along the Kent coast, they settled on Pegwell Bay, which was sheltered from weather conditions by the Goodwin Sands.[2]
The building of the hoverport was controversial, with objections from a range of interest parties including local residents represented by the "Pegwell Bay Committee",[4] bird watchers, those wishing to conserve the coastline, and yacht operators.[5] The Kent Trust for Nature Conservation raised money to purchase 100 acres of land in order to block the construction.[6] Multiple rounds of public inquiry were held, before the inspector Charles Hilton recommended granting of permission, with the ministerial approval being given on 10 January 1968.[7] A second inquiry was then held in September 1967, again by Hilton, following the announcement of British Rail building a hoverport for their Seaspeed service at the Port of Dover. It was agreed that both Dover and Ramsgate should have hoverports, as they were offering different types of service.[8]
The construction was completed by Cementation,[9] [10] who started construction in July 1968.[11] [1] The build required the tipping of 300000LT of colliery spoil to form the base.[12]
The purpose-built hoverport opened on 2 May 1969 with the delivery of the company's first two large SR.N4 craft, Swift and Sure, which started operations on the route to Calais.[13] [14] The port cost £1.5 million, and the formal opening was performed by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[15]
The site continued to operate through the 1970s, eventually operating four craft, including the first SR.N4 Mark II, the Prince of Wales (GH-2054) which started operations from Ramsgate on 18 June 1977.[16]
The oil crisis of the 1970s caused significant cost pressure on hovercraft operators due to the amount of kerosene used by the craft, and in 1979 Hoverlloyd was put up for sale as a condition of the bailout of then parent company Broström Shipping Group by the Swedish Government.[17] There was no successful interest and in 1981, the operator merged with the rival, and also loss making, British Rail-owned Seaspeed to form Hoverspeed.[18] Thanet Member of Parliament William Rees-Davies went on the record to the Thanet Chambers of Commerce that any merger were not threaten operations at Ramsgate.[19]
For the 1982 season, operations continued from Ramsgate Hoverport under the Hoverspeed branding, but following a final trip in late October 1982 all passenger and vehicle services were moved to Seaspeed's operating base at the Port of Dover.[20]
The hoverport remained as an operational and maintenance base,[16] with administration taking place on site until October 1985, and engineering (particularly hovercraft overhauls) continuing until December 1987.[2]
The buildings on the site were demolished in August 1995.[21]
A go-kart circuit trading as Ramsgate Kart Circuit was laid out on the North-east end of the site in 1993, including using part of the old maintenance building,[22] and further parts of the site were used a satellite lorry parking and storage site for ferry operations from Port Ramsgate by Sally and Oostende Lines. Both uses finished in 1995.[23]
In the mid-1990s the site was proposed to be the site of a major leisure complex with 250 holiday apartments, an indoor ski slope, ice rink, swimming pool, and other amenities, which was proposed to be part-funded with European Union development grants, and developed by Jimmy Godden who owned Dreamland Margate,[21] [24] and permission was gained from John Gummer, then the Environment Secretary,[25] [26] but negotiations broke down with Thanet District Council in 1996.[27]
The site is disused although the hovercraft pad, car-marshalling area, and approach road are still identifiable at the site.[28]