UTV reporter Charlie Witherspoon visits the town of Portaferry near the tip of the Ards Peninsula in Co Down. Portaferry’s nearest neighbour is the village of Strangford, a short distance over the mouth of Strangford Lough but a forty-seven-mile trip by road. The journey could be made by ferry in just five minutes, but the ferry didn’t have scheduled sailings and had to be booked by telephone.
Various locals speak to Charlie about their hopes for a bridge, from politicians to local clergy. Despite the promise of a 90% grant from government, finance remained the problem. One local even goes so far as to name the new bridge with his suggestion being, “This Is a Bridge, This Is”.
Although
there had been a ferry system in place since 1611, the issue remained a problem
for connectivity between the Ards Peninsula and the South Down for centuries.
The hoped for bridge did never transpire but a vastly upgraded ferry service
was launched in 1969, and footage of its opening can also be found in the
Digital Film Archive.