Encyclopedia
The
English Channel is the part of the
Atlantic Ocean that separates the
island of
Great Britain from northern
France and joins the
North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about 563 km long and at its widest is 240 km . The
Strait of Dover is the narrowest part of the channel, being only 34 km from
Dover to
Cap Gris Nez, and is located at the eastern end of the English Channel, where it meets the
North Sea. During the period of
ancient Roman hegemony the channel was known in
Latin as the
Oceanus Britannicus and up until around 1549 it was known as the
British Sea.
The channel is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 120 m at its widest part, reducing to about 45 m between Dover and
Calais. From there Eastwards the sea continues to shallow to about 26 m in the
Broad Fourteens where it lies over the watershed of the former land bridge between East Anglia and the Low Countries. The
Channel Islands lie in the channel, close to the French side. The
Isles of Scilly in the
United Kingdom and Ushant in France mark the western end of the Channel. The
French département of Manche, which incorporates the Cotentin Peninsula that juts out into the channel, takes its name from the surrounding seaway.
Formation
Before the end of the
Devensian glaciation around 10,000 years ago, the British Isles were part of continental Europe. During this period the
North Sea and almost all of the British Isles were covered with ice. The sea level was about 120 m lower than it is today, and the channel was an expanse of low-lying
tundra, through which passed a river which drained the
Rhine and
Thames towards the Atlantic to the west. As the
ice sheet melted, a large freshwater lake formed in the southern part of what is now the North Sea. As the meltwater could still not escape to the north the outflow channel from the lake entered the Atlantic Ocean in the region of Dover and Calais.
At some point around 6500 BCE, catastrophic
erosion swept away the
chalk to create the English Channel, leaving the iconic
white cliffs of Dover.
Wave action on the soft, chalk cliffs widened the Channel further, a process which continues today.
History
The channel has been a key natural defence for Britain, allowing the nation to intervene but rarely be dangerously threatened in European conflicts, mostly notable in the fight aganist
Napoleon during the
Napoleonic Wars, and
Nazi Germany during the
World War II. Nevertheless, the channel has been the scene of many invasions and attempted invasions, including the Roman conquest of Britain, the
Norman Conquest in 1066, the
Spanish Armada in 1588, and the
Normandy landings in 1944. The channel has been the scene of many naval battles, including the Battle of Goodwin Sands , the
Battle of Portland , the
Battle of La Hougue and the engagement between USS
Kearsarge and
CSS Alabama .
At times the channel has served as a link joining shared cultures and political structures, from pre-Roman
Celtic society, the
Roman culture, and the foundation of
Brittany by settlers from Great Britain, to the
Anglo-Norman state.
Today
Cross-channel trade has been a significant factor for societies on both sides of the Channel from prehistoric times, and a number of important
seaports and
ferry locations have developed in both England and France .
Important ferry routes are:
- Dover-Calais
- Newhaven-Dieppe
- Portsmouth-Caen
- Portsmouth-Cherbourg
- Portsmouth-Le Havre
- Poole-Saint Malo
- Weymouth-Saint Malo
- Plymouth-Roscoff
Adding to the high level of cross-channel traffic is the very significant traffic passing through the channel, linking the economies of northern Europe with the rest of the world. Combined, this maritime traffic makes the channel the busiest seaway in the world, accounting for a large share of global maritime trade .
The coastal resorts of the channel, such as
Brighton and
Deauville, inaugurated an era of aristocratic tourism in the early 19th century, which developed into the seaside tourism that has shaped resorts around the world.
Channel Tunnel
Nowadays, many travellers cross beneath the English Channel using the
Channel Tunnel. This engineering feat, first proposed in the early 19th century and finally realised in 1994, connects the UK and France by
rail. It is now routine to travel between
Paris,
Brussels and
London on the
Eurostar train.
Channel crossings
| Date | Crossing | Participant | Notes |
|---|
| 7 January 1785 | First crossing by air
| Jean-Pierre Blanchard
John Jeffries | — |
| 15 June 1785 | First air crash
| Pilâtre de Rozier
Pierre Romain | Attempted crossing similar to Blanchard/Jeffries |
| 25 August 1875 | First person to swim the channel
| Matthew Webb | Attempted crossing on August 12 the same year;
forced to abandon swim due to strong winds/rough sea conditions |
| 25 July 1909 | First person to cross the channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft
| Louis Blériot | Encouraged by £1000 prize being offered by the Daily Mail is a British [i] newspaper [i], currently a tabloid [i], first publish ...
for first successful flight across the channel |
| 23 August 1910 | First aircraft flight with passengers | John Bevins Moisant | Passengers were mechanic Albert Fileux and Moisant's cat. |
| 12 June 1979 | First human-powered aircraft to fly over the channel
| Bryan Allen | Won a £100,000 Kremer Prize; Allen pedaled for three hours |
| 1997 | First vessel to complete a solar-powered crossing using photovoltaic cells. | SB Collinda | — |
| 14 June 2004 | New record time for crossing in amphibious vehicle
| Richard Branson | Completed crossing in 100 min 06 sec. Broke record by about six hours. |
| 26 July 2006 | New record time for crossing in hydrofoil car
| Frank M. Rinderknecht | Completed crossing in 800 min 49 sec. |
|
By boat
William Murdoch's
The Caledonia became the first steamboat to carry out a cross-channel crossing.
The
Mountbatten class hovercraft entered commercial service in August 1968 initially operated between Dover and Boulogne but later craft also made the
Ramsgate to Calais route. The journey time, Dover to Boulogne, was roughly 35 minutes, with six trips a day at peak times. The fastest crossing was made in 1995 at just 22 minutes.
The youngest sailors to cross the channel Hugo Sunnucks and Guy Harrison aged 15 by boat . Set august 2006 and completed in 4hours 15mins
By swimming
The Sport of Channel Swimming traces its origins to the latter part of the 19th century when Captain Matthew Webb made the first observed and unassisted swim across the Strait of Dover swimming from England to France on 24-25th August 1875 in 21 hours and 45 minutes.
In 1927, , the Channel Swimming Association was founded to authenticate and ratify swimmers' claims to have swum the English Channel and to verify crossing times. The CSA was dissolved in 1999 and succeeded by two separate organisations: The CSA and the . Both organisations are registered with the international governing body for swimming and observe and authenticate Cross-Channel Swims in the Strait of Dover.
Although the swimming rules and regulations of the two organisations are virtually identical, the CSA has not always been prepared to recognise swims conducted under the auspices of the larger CSPF.
A comprehensive list of
all registered and verified swims is available from http://home.btconnect.com/critchlow/ChannelSwimDatabase.htm
For a list of Channel Swimming Association Records for swims registered only under the rules of the Channel Swimming Association and verified by that body, go to www.channelswimmingassociation.com
- On 24-25th August 1875 Capt. Matthew Webb made the first crossing of the English Channel from England to France.
- On 12th August 1923 Enrico Tiraboschi made the first crossing of the English Channel from France to England.
...
became the first woman to swim the Channel, breaking the men's record of the time by two hours.
- On 24 November 1927, Mercedes Gleitze, the first British lady, swims across wearing a Rolex Oyster.
- In July 1972, Lynne Cox became the youngest person to swim the English Channel at age fifteen, breaking both the men's and women's records. She swam the channel again in 1973, setting a new record time of nine hours and thirty-six minutes.
- The oldest verified male swimmer to cross is American George Brunstad, who was aged 70 years and 4 days when he crossed on the 27th and 28th of August 2004, taking 15 hours 59 min.
- The oldest male swimmer to cross under the rules of the Channel Swimming Association is Australian Clifford Batt, who was aged 67 years and 240 days when he crossed on the 19th of August 1987, taking 18 hours 37 minutes.
- The fastest ever verified swim of the channel was by Christof Wandratsch in 2005. He crossed the channel in 7 hours 3 minutes and 52 seconds.
- The fastest swim of the channel made under Channel Swimming Association rules is by Chad Hundeby of the USA on the 27th September 1994. He crossed the channel in 7 hours 17 minutes.
- The titles "King" and "Queen" of the Channel, held by those with the most successful crossings, are taken seriously by the swimming community and there has been some controversy over the refusal by some to recognise others' swims.
- The undisputed "Queen of the Channel" is Alison Streeter MBE with 43 crossings including one 3-way and three 2-way swims.
- The "King of the Channel" title is held by Kevin Murphy with 34 crossings, including three doubles.
- The Channel Swimming Association’s title of “King of the Channel” awarded to the male swimmer who has made the most number of crossings the English Channel as authenticated by the CSA, is held by Michael Read with 33 crossings.
- The Channel Swimming Association’s title of “Queen of the Channel” awarded to the female swimmer who has made the most number of crossings the English Channel as authenticated by the CSA is held by Alison Streeter with 39 crossings.
- Other swimming crossings include: Vicki Keith ; Florence Chadwick ; Montserrat Tresserras ;Marilyn Bell ; Amelia Gade Corson ; Mercedes Gleitze ; Brojen Das, the first Asian ; Comedian Doon Mackichan has also swum the channel.
The team with the most number of Channel swims to its credit is the International Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team with 35 crossings by 25 members .
By the end of 2005, 811 individuals have completing 1185 verified crossings under the rules of the CSA, the CSA , the CSPF and Butlins.
The total number of swims conducted under and ratified by the Channel Swimming Association to 2005: 982 successful crossings by 665 people. This includes twenty-four 2-way crossings and three 3-way crossings.
Total number of ratified swims to 2004: 948 successful crossings by 675 people . There have been twenty-five 2-way crossings . There have been three 3-way crossings .
On 4 July 2006 the British comedian
David Walliams swam the Channel in 10 hours and 34 minutes for the charity Sport Relief .
See also
External links
