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| HENGIST MISCELLANY © matt@hhvferry.com |
| Hengist and Horsa were very much at the forefront of Sealink's promotional material through the mid 1970s. The 1974 ferry guide was especially notable for including an identical image of Hengist seen from astern no less than eleven separate times! There are only three other exterior images of ships in this brochure, again all of Hengist. The 1980s saw the Dover Saints and the St Nicholas claim the limelight of Sealink publicity, with the Folkestone-based ships receiving less national exposure, although a variety of local leaflets highlighted the more discreet charms of the smaller ships. At a national level, Sealink's oft-forgotten post-privatisation push towards presenting a high-quality image resulted in some particularly unique brochure photography from the sisters, usually of jewellery-clad couples relaxing in the luxury of the Orient Express lounges. |
| Above: Cover celebrating the inaugural Boulogne-Folkestone voyage of Hengist, posted on board on 19 June 1972. The ship had originally been scheduled to enter service on June 1st, and the Folkestone car ferry service itself did not commence until July 1st, one month late. In between times, Hengist spent two weeks running with passengers only. |
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| Above: A unique view of Hengist dressed overall at Newhaven on 7 June 1972. Having been formally delivered the prior day, the ship made her way to the Sussex port en-route to Dover to test the linkspan fit ahead of the delivery the following year of sister Senlac. This is the view on that occasion with the Falaise on the berth astern. |
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| Above: Inside the fully-equipped aft docking bridge, accessible via a dedicated stairway from the main bridge without having to go through the passenger spaces. The bridge, although not unique on English Channel ferries, was largely designed with potential future transfer to the Heysham-Belfast route in mind where its presence would enable the traditional stern-first entry into Heysham harbour to continue. It was removed as part of the work carried out during the 1986 refit. |
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| Above: The 1973 brochure, where the catchy strap-line is 'Let Sealink set you free'. Hengist makes an appearance as liberator-in-chief. |
| Below: The classic and much-used official Sealink portrait of Hengist made an appearance on the company's ticket stock for a long period in the 1970s until later being displaced by a similar image of St Anselm. This same picture (in colour) was also used on Sealink match boxes for sale on board where a pack of four boxes also featured separately Horsa, Senlac and St Edmund. |
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| Below: Sealink's late-1980s attempt at presenting an image of much greater quality is taken to its extreme in this page from the 1987 brochure featuring the Folkestone-Boulogne route. The location for the main image is the quiet luxury of the forward Orient Express lounge. The passengers have clearly come dressed down especially for the occasion, and are presumably just enjoying a quick drink before heading outside for a stroll on the open decks as the ship pounds her way across a stormy Dover Strait. |
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| Below: This 1986 leaflet celebrates the creation of the new Orient Express lounges, which were dedicated for Motorists' use when the train's passengers were not aboard. |
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| Below: The Welcome Aboard leaflet from Stena Hengist's final UK season in 1991 featured a small picture of the ship leaving Folkestone. The enclosed deckplan can be seen here. |
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| Below: An interesting contrast... A 1972 Sealink promotional picture taken inside the Hengist's original aft discotheque. |
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| e-mail: matt@hhvferry.com |