A hovercraft coming into Dover. Picture: Paul Amos The Hoverspeed craft would land on the beach Plage Bleriot in Calais, just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre.

Dover/Calais (dpa) – For 30 years riding on a cushion of air from the British port of Dover to Calais in France was one of the most spectacular ways of crossing the English Channel.

Because 100 miles east of Dover, another hovercraft service refused to let go. ‘The kids’ faces light up’ The "Island Flyer" links Southsea, England, with Ryde on the Isle of Wight.

1959: Hovercraft's first cross-channel voyage A revolutionary new form of transport that can operate on sea and land makes its first cross-channel voyage from Calais to Dover.

It shows how the cars would roll on and off the hovercraft, the way it lumbered off the dock in Dover and the sheer quantity of spray that would be thrown up as it sped across the Channel.

It was the end of the British hovercraft era. Except it wasn’t. Because 100 miles east of Dover, another hovercraft service refused to let go.

An event is set to be held to mark the 150th anniversary of the first successful swim across the English Channel. Captain ...