Hampton Loade Ferry is a pedestrian

Pedestrian

A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...

 cable ferry

Cable ferry

A cable ferry is guided and in many cases propelled across a river or other larger body of water by cables connected to both shores. They are also called chain ferries, floating bridges, or punts....

 linking the villages of Hampton Loade

Hampton Loade

Hampton Loade is a village in Shropshire, England along the Severn Valley. It is situated on the east bank of the River Severn at , and is notable for the unusual current-operated Hampton Loade Ferry, a cable ferry to the hamlet of Hampton on the west bank...

 and Hampton across the River Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

 and providing a link to Hampton Loade village from Hampton Loade station

Hampton Loade railway station

Hampton Loade railway station is a station on the Severn Valley Railway heritage line, close to the hamlet of Hampton on the western bank of the River Severn; Hampton Loade itself is on the eastern bank, and may be reached by the Hampton Loade Ferry across the river.-History:Hampton Loade station...

 on the heritage Severn Valley Railway

Severn Valley Railway

The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...

, in Hampton village.

The crossing has been in use for around 400 years, and may have provided a route across the Severn during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. In 2004 a new ferry was built by the nearby Ironbridge Gorge Museum

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is an industrial heritage organisation which runs ten museums and manages 35 historic sites within the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, widely considered as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution....

 to the design of the previous boat, which had seen 38 years' service. The new craft is of wooden construction, measures 20 feet by 9 feet, and carries up to 12 passengers.
The ferry was affected by the floods of 2007

2007 United Kingdom floods

The 2007 United Kingdom floods were a series of destructive floods that occurred in various areas across the country during the summer of 2007. The most severe floods occurred across Northern Ireland on 12 June; East Yorkshire and The Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, The Midlands, Gloucestershire,...

, which damaged the river banks and access roads and also affected the Severn Valley Railway, with a consequent loss of tourist revenue to the ferry. As a result the ferry did not operate during the remainder of 2007 or during 2008, and the owner put it up for sale. Local people created the Hampton Loade Community Trust, a charitable trust

Charitable trust

A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...

, to reopen the ferry. This was achieved in April 2009.

The Hampton Loade Ferry is a reaction ferry

Reaction ferry

A reaction ferry is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the river...

, propelled by the river current

Current (stream)

A current, in a river or stream, is the flow of water influenced by gravity as the water moves downhill to reduce its potential energy. The current varies spatially as well as temporally within the stream, dependent upon the flow volume of water, stream gradient, and channel geometrics...

. An overhead cable

Wire rope

thumb|Steel wire rope Wire rope is a type of rope which consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a helix. Initially wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes....

is suspended across the river, and the ferry is tethered by a second cable, to a pulley block that runs on the suspended cable. To operate the ferry it is angled into the current, causing the current to move it across the river.

External links

• Hampton Loade Ferry web site
• Panoramic view of the ferry, courtesy of the BBC
• Hampton Loade: Village and Ferry (Site dormant since 2009)