We all know what it’s like on Fridays at work. With the prospect of two days away from the grindstone, your mind can start to wander.
Some people spend their time thinking about what they’ll get up to over the weekend.
Others allow the excitement to get the better of them and can find themselves getting up to mischief.
One such person has been having a bit of fun on Wikipedia it seems. Following a tip off from a VB reader, we pulled up the entry for the Cowes Chain Ferry.
Initially it all looked the same as usual with the intro reading …
The Cowes Floating Bridge is a vehicular chain ferry which crosses the River Medina on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The ferry crosses the tidal river from East Cowes to Cowes. The first floating bridge between East Cowes and Cowes was established in 1859 and is one of the few remaining that has not been replaced by a physical bridge. The service is owned and operated by the Isle of Wight Council, who have run it since 1901. Prior to ownership by the local authority the service was run by The Floating Bridge Company and The Steam Packet Company (Red Funnel). The ferry currently used is named No. 5, the fifth to be owned by the Isle of Wight Council, and eighth in total. It was built in 1975 and can carry up to 20 cars. The Cowes floating bridge remains the only way to cross the River Medina between the towns without taking a ten kilometre trip via Newport.
All fine and dandy, but then as we read on this changed ….
Recently, as part of a private finance initiative by the Isle of Wight Council, it has been mentioned that the current vessel could be scuttled in nearby Osborne Bay without explanation.
The council plan to engage the services of unemployed people, of which there are many on the island following the recent closure of the tourist industry. The ‘chaingang’, as David F***ing Pugh has suggested calling them, will be required to link arms across the river and allow fee-paying pedestrians and vehicles to travel over their miserable unobjecting heads.
These improvements will incur the necessity for increased charges, a family of four in a vehicle under 1m in length now being levied with a basic £150 charge plus £15 for each functioning body part and a surcharge for any conversation attempted during the crossing
Wonder how long it’ll be before it gets altered (and changed again)?
