10 March 2010
Have just added this picture above which definitely has more than a hint of 'here come the girls!' about it. Yes its some of our tip top teamster forumites with the water ski supremo herself and of course all round TV celebrity, Christine Bleakley, who is now etched in the Channel hall of fame. From left to right its 'Lady Linda' Hannent, Colette Boland, Christine Bleakley, and Cllr Jan Tranter Dover's Deputy Mayor.
Irish
Conquer
Channel !
Pictures:Colette Boland
Yes indeed Christine Bleakley of The One Show, she with the silver tonqued Irish accent, made it across the channel in fine style on a cool grey day(Mar 12). The weather was thankfully calm, which is somewhat unusual these days, and at 7.45 she set out across the harbour at quite a rate of knots, clearly intent on taking no prisoners. She was cheered on by some early riser fans and a massed media gathering. A helicopter whizzed and groaned overhead, no doubt filming it all as she powered her way across the harbour and out into the open sea.
Hiccup free so far... thought yours truly watching with fully zoomed binoculours. After that she disappeared from view into the grey mist. We believe she fell a time or two but what would you expect with water skis? Its part of the inevitability of it all.
Latest news is that she made it to Calais at 9.26, which is probably quicker than the ferry. She may well be taking passengers next time...well everyone else seems to be doing it! But seriously though well done to the girl from BBC's One Show, and all to raise vast sums for Sports Relief. Great stuff!
The shot above shows Christine with her sister Nicola prior to Thursday nights programme which transmitted LIVE from the Seasports Centre. Nicola flew all the way over to delightful Dover from Belfast to wish her big sister Bon Voyage. The bottom shot just below shows Christine powering past the cement works with considerable panache!
DOVER HARBOUR BOARD’s PRIVATISATION PLANS THROWN INTO CHAOS says MP
Dover’s MP, Gwyn Prosser, says that Dover Harbour Board’s plans to sell off the Port of Dover have been thrown into chaos and confusion following threats by the major ferry operators to take legal action against the Board because of alleged misapplication of the so called ‘Terminal 2 Revenue Levy’
Gwyn Prosser said:
“Today’s dramatic announcement comes as no surprise to me because P&O and the other Dover Port users have been privately voicing their opposition and anger at the way the Board is making this voluntary bid to be privatised without talking to the major stakeholders who use their services and without ensuring that a new owner would guarantee developing the port and building the much needed new Terminal at Western Docks”
“I intend raising this new development with the Leader of the House in the Chamber this morning and asking her to call an emergency debate so as to expose the chaos and confusion being perpetrated by Dover Harbour Board in their unseemly haste to dispose of the port”
end.
This statement above from our MP Gwyn Prosser follows on from the news this morning THURS Mar 11, courtesy of the thisiskent website, that P&O, Seafrance, and Norfolkline, have written to Bob Goldfield of the Dover Harbour Board saying that their situation is becoming 'untenable' in the current climate of upheavel. This is of course in reference to the continued and escalating row over the Ports future, which has the potential to make life very difficult for the Ports main operators, particularly so with regard to the future financial arrangement which would follow a possible privatisation. As you can see in Gwyn's statement, there is even talk of legal action. The relationship between the operators and the DHB is at an "all time low", said one insider. The chaos grows ever larger.
