Post by RitaLittlewood on Apr 11, 2005 22:39:58 GMT
From the Southern Daily Echo. www.thisissouthampton.co.uk/hampshire/southampton/news/SOTON_NEWS_NEWS5.html where there's a pic of Ian Smith holding the petition:
Date Published: Monday 11 April 2005
Neighbourly support!
STREWTH, mate! We knew we had a corker of a campaign on our hands to save the Hythe ferry but we were stoked to receive a heap of neighbourly support from Down Under.
The stars of Australia's most famous TV soap Neighbours rallied around when an intrepid traveller from the Waterside village seized the opportunity to ask them to climb aboard.
Becky Mulley, 25, has been backpacking her way across the globe since last September and could not resist the chance to meet some of the residents of Ramsay Street when she stopped off in Oz.
Weekly "Meet Your Neighbours" nights in Melbourne go down a storm with young UK backpackers brought up on the soap shown twice a day on BBC 1.
Becky had no problem persuading the Aussie actors behind characters including the legendary Harold Bishop, Lyn Scully, Connor O'Neill and blast-from-the-past Joe Mangel to pledge their support.
Becky, who downloaded the petition from the Internet, told the Daily Echo from Australia: "When I spoke to Harold, he actually said he knew which ferry I was talking about because he had previously worked at The Mayflower.
"We weren't allowed autographs, only photos, so I didn't bother taking a pen up there, or asking him to sign. But after he let me take the photo, he said, `I've got to sign this!' and made me go and find a pen so he could sign the petition!"
Ian Smith, who plays the bumbling coffee shop owner in Neighbours, appeared in Cinderella at the Mayflower as Baron Hardup during the 1993-94 panto season.
Becky, of Warrys Close, Hythe, decided to enlist some star-studded support because she was shocked to hear that the historic ferry service between Southampton and her home town is under threat.
She added: "It's the quickest route to Southampton, and without a train link it is necessary for those who can't drive. Buses take too long and it is good for tourism in Hythe too.
"I took the petition along for a laugh and to raise the profile of the campaign. With so many English people at the Neighbours Night I thought it couldn't hurt."
Ferry bosses have warned that they might be forced to close the route after soaring business rates threaten to cost them thousands of extra pounds that they cannot afford.
Director of White Horse Ferries Richard Lay said: "I have family in Australia and it is lovely to hear that support is being received from so far away. The international connection is something we never realised existed."
For more on the battle to save Hythe's ferry and the opportunity to download a copy of the petition - click the `Campaigns' link on the left of this page.
Date Published: Monday 11 April 2005
Neighbourly support!
STREWTH, mate! We knew we had a corker of a campaign on our hands to save the Hythe ferry but we were stoked to receive a heap of neighbourly support from Down Under.
The stars of Australia's most famous TV soap Neighbours rallied around when an intrepid traveller from the Waterside village seized the opportunity to ask them to climb aboard.
Becky Mulley, 25, has been backpacking her way across the globe since last September and could not resist the chance to meet some of the residents of Ramsay Street when she stopped off in Oz.
Weekly "Meet Your Neighbours" nights in Melbourne go down a storm with young UK backpackers brought up on the soap shown twice a day on BBC 1.
Becky had no problem persuading the Aussie actors behind characters including the legendary Harold Bishop, Lyn Scully, Connor O'Neill and blast-from-the-past Joe Mangel to pledge their support.
Becky, who downloaded the petition from the Internet, told the Daily Echo from Australia: "When I spoke to Harold, he actually said he knew which ferry I was talking about because he had previously worked at The Mayflower.
"We weren't allowed autographs, only photos, so I didn't bother taking a pen up there, or asking him to sign. But after he let me take the photo, he said, `I've got to sign this!' and made me go and find a pen so he could sign the petition!"
Ian Smith, who plays the bumbling coffee shop owner in Neighbours, appeared in Cinderella at the Mayflower as Baron Hardup during the 1993-94 panto season.
Becky, of Warrys Close, Hythe, decided to enlist some star-studded support because she was shocked to hear that the historic ferry service between Southampton and her home town is under threat.
She added: "It's the quickest route to Southampton, and without a train link it is necessary for those who can't drive. Buses take too long and it is good for tourism in Hythe too.
"I took the petition along for a laugh and to raise the profile of the campaign. With so many English people at the Neighbours Night I thought it couldn't hurt."
Ferry bosses have warned that they might be forced to close the route after soaring business rates threaten to cost them thousands of extra pounds that they cannot afford.
Director of White Horse Ferries Richard Lay said: "I have family in Australia and it is lovely to hear that support is being received from so far away. The international connection is something we never realised existed."
For more on the battle to save Hythe's ferry and the opportunity to download a copy of the petition - click the `Campaigns' link on the left of this page.
