Severn Car Ferry

The 'Severn Queen' car ferry, which carried up to 17 vehicles, arrives from Aust at Beachley (both located in Gloucestershire), the supports of the partly-built Severn Bridge towering above it. Completed in 1966, the bridge made the ferry service obsolete and the 'Queen' was immediately scrapped, her fellow ferries (the 'King' and 'Princess') sold on. The ferry trip lasted only 15 minutes but the Severn's high tidal range and rip tides required an extremely capable crew.

The Severn ferries were unique in having on/off ramps built into their sides (tides forced ferries to arrive sideways-on at the landing stages) and on-board turntables (for manoeuvring cars off). This historic footage was shot by William Brenig Jones (1918-1978), from Pentre, in the Rhondda. He married Joan Mary Oakey and they had four children, their home in King George V Drive, Cardiff having been commissioned by Brenig Jones who worked for the Welsh Office, becoming Head of Finance. The ferry achieved international prominence when a photograph showing Bob Dylan waiting at Aust in 1966 was used to advertise Martin Scorsese’s film – and accompanying CDs - ‘No Direction Home’ (2005).