4 ms·

Save the Last Remaining British Rail Hovercraft from Destruction

• dingaling 11y ago
  To be correct, in the 1970s you could cross the Channel by SR.N4s operated by either British Rail or its private-sector rival Hoverlloyd. They merged in 1981. Anyway the story of these two remaining hovercraft is sad and the hype-headlines about 'evil housing developers' with their wrecking-balls doesn't help address a problem which is widespread in the UK museum community: neglect of large exhibits until an emergency arises. The Hovercraft Museum ( it's more like a hovercraft graveyard, I've been there ) has notionally had them in their care since 2004 but in that time hasn't moved them to land it actually owns. They've been camped-out on someone else's land ( marked for housing development ), and the owner of the hovercraft hasn't been paying rent, and the Museum hasn't contributed to the rent either despite using the SR.N4s as their central attraction. Hence they have now been taken as payment for back-rent. Fair dues. Therefore I don't particularly feel that the Hovercraft Museum is the best trustee for the future but they've left everything to the last minute and positioned themselves as the de facto saviours. Headlines and petitions never tell the full story.