h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi and thank you for reviewing my page. You will find the next page to review at:
http://www.h2g2.com/A166763 called Spring Sunday Morning Birdlife in Sydney, but before you move on, why not read what others have said, you may be able to add further comment and join in the discussions.
Thanks again
Ginger the Fiesty

Hi Ginger! I liked this article a lot!! Very nostalgic about an important local icon.
But I have a few questions (being a Yank and all!). What is the Solent? I assumed it was a river, but wasn't 100 percent sure. Also, what is the difference between the "floating bridge" and a ferry. On the Susquehanna River near my home, we have a "ferry" that sounds identical to your "floating bridge." In fact, many early American ferries were flat platforms on which wagons (and later cars) parked. To get across the river, a large man (later replaced by a winch) pulled the platform across the river.

No grammar or spelling flaws. And I really did enjoy reading this, the personal anecdote helps because it allows you to introduce your observations about the condition of the crossing.

Good job!!
It gets an 8.5 out of 10!

Thanks! Maybe I need to write an article on the solent and provide a link. I'm not quite sure whether it gets classified as a sea but it is certainly open water, not a river. It is quite a famous stretch between southampton water and the Isle of Wight!

I've had this discussion about what is a floating bridge with Bruce. In oz they call it a vehicular transporter. We do have ferries that take cars but this definitely wasn't a ferry how most english people would define it. I think I need help on how to get around this problem. I searched the web for a photo but none exist!

Your ferries are self-propelled ships that carry lots of cars, right?

If you've ever seen the Clint Eastwood movie "The Outlaw Josie Wales," you'll see what many Yanks think of when they hear the word ferry. It goes back to our frontier days when settlers didn't have the know-how or materials to build bridges.

I don't think that should limit the piece, perhaps you shouldn't worry about it (I don't even know if other parts of the US have ferries like the one I described). I think at most American ferry sites, bridges have replaced the boats. The one on the Susquehanna is more of an oddity than anything else.

People, myself included,drive upriver just to ride across it and then drive back down the other side of the river. It's a nice daytirp!

Do I need a life??

As for the Solent, I looked it up in my dictionary and it says that it's a channel! Sorry for the ignorance of your geography!

My lack of geographical knowledge is well documented - I put Devon and Cornwall the wrong way round on a map in a school exam! I only lived by the Solent for twenty years!!!!!

Continuing my legendary incompetence Ginger I put my review remarks on the other forum thread attached to the article.

They are called car ferries in New Zealand. Still popular in the more remote touristy areas. Cheaper than building proper roads and bridges.

A brother of mine lives near a place in Aussie called Wiseman's Ferry, an hour's drive north from Sydney. The Wiseman family ferried people, stock and buggies across the river in the 19th century. A motorised version of the original horse-powered (real 4-legged draught [USA draft] horses) ferry still operates today.

I liked this the first time I read it & I still like it!

;^)#

Wisemans Ferry is a marvelous thing. It forms part of a nice day m/bike ride for sunny weekends. The car traffic is so accustomed to bikes speeding along that they almost invariably get out of the way.
Unfortunately, this is not always true of the ones with the blue falshing lights.

The ride goes out of Sydney along the Old Pacific Highway, stop for coffee at the Mount White cafe, keep heading north. Turn right at Mangrove Mountain (only in Australia), along the north side of the Hawkesbury River, across Wisemans Ferry & stop for a late lunch at Wisemans ferry pub. Then back to Sydney's northern suburbs through Galston Gorge. All winding and reasonably narrow roads but good fun. About 160Kms (100 miles) full trip.

I think thats about enough topic drift for here.

;^)#

Wisemans Ferry could make a good guide entry Bruce. You are getting to know the whereabouts of all my family

Now back to Southhampton....

err umm that should be 'turn left at Mangrove Mountain'


;^)#

Ah sounds like a Ferry, we have one right here in South Australia in a place called Goolwa, they want to build a bridge to replace it, but the local Aboriginals claim that It is a sacred site, so the bridge is still on stand by! After about 4 years and a couple of Royal Commissions, I'm not even sure If it will be built!

Actually there are quite a few ferries still in operation around Australia, all sounding very much like the one in you entry!
Which by the way I enjoyed very much

Ginger - I put your text form on a page of its own - it works - don't take any notice to the preview error messages - it will format correctly on your page. it is at:

http://www.h2g2.com/P189579

vegiman

I see you ahve got it done - ignore previous message
veg

testing this edit box

Cheers veggie - Bruce fixed it and let me know by email - Bad Ginger! I should have updated the forum!

The grammar requires quite a bit of tweaking here. Several sentences lack commas that would prevent them from being run-ons, and there are some clumsy phrases as well. For instance, the first paragraph has the redundant phrase about the location of Southampton on the west bank. If you wish for more specific advice on this, leeme know, otherwise I'll let you sort it out yourself.

Otherwise, this is an informative article. Only advice on content I would offer would be to make this more of a third-person article. Personal experience is a good thing, but you change from 3rd to 1st person voice too often, and it makes it a bit confusing. I would either keep it all 3rd person, all 1st person, or make some sort of separation between the two voices. Maybe make the first part of the article all about the technical stuff, then follow it with personal observations, or vice-versa.

I think this article is a good idea, and it can be molded into a Guide quality entry, but in its current state i must give it a 3.

Some black humour in there, which is often good! The text is fine - some minor clumsiness in the first paragraph, but that's about it. Although it's in the first person, I think it happens to work fine (a rare case indeed).

Good stuff really. 8.5.

Someone has probably caught it already but "facilities" is spelled wrong in the third paragraph.

Also in that paragraph it appears "Solent" is a proper noun and ought to be capitalized.

I enjoyed this entry; it taught me about something that I otherwise would probably never have tripped across, and that sort of serendipity is one of the best features of H2G2. I give it a 7.

Incidentally, the title is a bit strange...surely this is not the ONLY floating bridge in the world. In fact, as an ex-Seattleite, I found it a bit confusing, for there are in fact two floating bridges (commonly referred to as such) crossing Lake Washington. In the case of the Seattle floating bridges, though, they are actual bridges from one shore to another supported by massive concrete pontoons.

I enjoyed your article, also enjoyed the discussions about definition of a floating bridge. Years ago there was a floating bridge across Fowey harbour in Cornwall - this consisted of a pontoon structure strapped to an engine driven boat. We called it a ferry, others called it a floating bridge, so I guess that the definition depends on where you live.

I like it, especially the twists that were put in.
The sticky end in the carpark bit for instance.

It's written with an air of reminiscence, and that makes it very vivid. I can almost feel myself rocking crankily abourd that floating bulldozeryellow beast.

Good one.