Dover has long been called the main sea gate of England. But it so happened that for many years of sailing to this country on passenger ships, I often went to London, occasionally to Southampton, Newcastle, but I never had a chance to visit Dover. And with him I pinned hopes to find out on which steamboats Vladimir Ilyich Lenin made trips between the continent and the English coast, who crossed the English Channel back and forth between 1902 and 1911 fourteen times and repeatedly visited Dover.


I wanted to find out which shipping companies existed in those distant times, which steamships they owned, how long it took to get to London from Paris or Brussels. I also hoped to get photographs of old steamships plying between continental Europe and the British Isles. These details, in my opinion, would allow us to better imagine and feel the circumstances of Lenin's life in those years.


And here's luck: our ship has a call at Dover. In the distance appeared the famous chalk cliffs, an ancient castle built by the Normans. Multi-deck passenger ferries were leaving and entering the port, swaying slightly on the waves, and nimble hydrofoils were about to rush "on all sails". The English Channel, as the English call the Strait, or the English Channel, as the French called it, they cross in 35-40 minutes, it takes an hour and a half for ferries.


The representative of the oldest maritime agency in the port, George Hammond, D. Sullivan, listened attentively to my request.


"Has Mr. Lenin ever been to Dover?" Very interesting! Regular passenger traffic between our port and the European coast has existed for almost a century and a half. You can rummage in the library and find the right material, but you're going to sea tomorrow!


"Leave an address and I'll send you what I can find," the Englishman said kindly. However, months passed, and I did not receive the long-awaited letter.


A year and a half later, a flight to Dover again. John Sullivan was the first to board. It is somehow inconvenient to remind about a long-standing request, but the guest himself is interested:


— Did you get my letter? I have collected some data on steamships plying between Dover and Europe at the beginning of the century.


— No, I didn't get it...


— That's weird. So, either our mail or your mail is not working well! But the case can be helped. I told about our conversation to a friend of the customs officer A. Faberi. He is an expert in the history of navigation, an avid collector of postage stamps, postcards with images of old steamships. I turned to him for advice when I was collecting literature about the "Lenin" steamships. Yes, here he is!


A gentleman of about sixty in a dark blue uniform of a customs officer entered the salon where the port formalities were held. His shift was already over, and he came with a request to repay three envelopes with stamps with a ship stamp and get a couple of postcards with a photo of our ship. Mr. Fabery responded to my request with alacrity.


— You, like me, are lucky! Due to the agreement between France and our country on the construction of a tunnel under the English Channel, interest in the history of shipping between Dover and the ports of France has now sharply increased. More recently, several works on this topic have been published. Forecasts are also made about the possible flow of passengers who prefer sea travel to high-speed rail and road under the channel, prices are compared. Personally, my opinion is that the ferry service will still be preserved.


This time, the parking of the ship instead of two days was delayed to four. The port authorities did not allow access to the sea because of the hurricane that played out on the southern coast of England. The Belgian port of Zeebrugge, where we should go, was also closed. During these days, the kind collector provided me with the most valuable literature, gave me the opportunity to make the necessary extracts and re-photograph interesting illustrations. Explore the wide array of greentube casinos and indulge in a gaming experience like no other.