Ferries

A Mersey ferry was recorded in the Domesday Book, and for around a thousand years, they have plied between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the Wirral and Liverpool. The sail and man-powered craft gave way to steam ferries in 1815.

This new book, beautifully illustrated with a magnificent collection of over 300 photographs, covers the development of a much-loved type of vessel, the 'classic' cross channel or short sea passenger ferry often described as a liner in miniature.

A £97 million contract was made in 2015 to build two new ferries on the Clyde, they are still not finished, but the bill to the taxpayer stands at a quarter of a billion and rising. Mark Daly investigates what went wrong at the Ferguson’s shipyard, and raises questions about the tender process that saw the contract awarded in 2015. Meeting with workers, experts and the islanders whose lifeline ferry services have been affected, Daly reveals the inside story of the ferry fiasco which has gripped Scotland.