THE NEWHAVEN - DIEPPE SERVICE AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

Ships of the LBSCR & Chemins de Fer de L'Ouest

By Derek Longly

I came across the wonderfully evocative copy of the poster for the Chemins de Fer de L'Ouest and London Brighton & South Coast Railway services between Newhaven and Dieppe at a shipping event held in London.  At the time it was produced it must have been a great enticement to prospective passengers in France to travel across the Channel from Dieppe.

To compliment this nostalgic and colourful reminder of the past glories of the service here are a number of pictures of the ships that were maintaining the route in those days chosen from amongst my postcard collection.

Of these the picture of the 1900 Denny Dumbarton built SS Arundel is intriguing - why is the ship dressed overall and why is she lying in Sleepers Hole - any answers?

Note: The postcard of the Ladies Boudoir on the 1903 built SS Brighton I loaned to the Newhaven Maritime and Local History Museum who had an enlarged copy made, which I believe is still on display there.