Pentland Venture ready to sail again in 50th anniversary year of John O'Groats Ferries
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Choppy seas have never been a problem for the Pentland Venture and its predecessors over the past half-century. However, troubled waters of a different kind have had to be navigated by John O'Groats Ferries in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the family business.
The pandemic ensured there were no sailings in 2020, which had been shaping up to be a record year for the Groats/Burwick service. With restrictions gradually easing, the ferry will be back on the route this summer – although Covid-19 protocols will mean a restriction on passenger numbers.
The business is now jointly run by Deborah Fermor, her brother Ivor Thomas and Deborah’s husband Fred. They acknowledge that it won't be a full return to normality but say they are looking ahead to a busy season, starting this weekend, and are optimistic about the long-term prospects.
"We had hoped to celebrate this year in style as it has been 50 years since Ian Thomas started the ferry service across the Pentland Firth from John O’Groats to Orkney," Fred said. "We can still celebrate but perhaps in a slightly less exuberant fashion than we would have wished."
Ian, from Barry in South Wales, studied metallurgy at Cardiff University before working at British Aerospace in Bristol and moved to Caithness to start a career at Dounreay in 1958. He met his future wife Sheila Johnston, from Holm in Orkney, and they often made the long voyage on the old Ola from Scrabster to Stromness and then all the way down to Holm, another 30 miles or so. "I suppose they realised that from their home in Brough overlooking the Orkney Islands they had travelled almost 50 miles by land and 20 miles by sea to reach a point not too far distant from their departure point, and that’s how the idea came about," Fred recalled.
"Ian was happy to leave his career and bought a little speedboat, the Pentland Atom, and began the service in 1971. He told me once it was a great way to make a living, racing round the open sea, as he was not really suited to being confined to four walls and the nine-to-five."
The business flourished and larger ferries were bought – the Pentland Spray, the Souters Lass and then the Pentland Venture.
Initially Ian ran to Burwick in South Ronaldsay with the speedboat but there was no pier there so enterprisingly he gave a free trip across to a few students who constructed a makeshift jetty in lieu of their fare. Low tide could be a problem but Ian was never one to let things get in his way – so, when that happened, he carried them ashore.
The larger ferries required a bigger jetty, however, and the long trip round to St Margaret’s Hope was undertaken for many years until Ian built a new pier at Burwick. Being a metallurgist, he knew about metal and bought an old pylon from the Causewaymire that had succumbed to a storm and this formed the basis of the construction works. The family helped build it, with daughter Deborah doing all the diving work necessary to construct the pier.
It was surfaced with railway sleepers that would come adrift in winter storms and the family, helped by Sheila’s brothers, would gather these up off the shore each spring in preparation for the summer sailings. Eventually this jetty was concreted and remained in use for many years before the service started using the terminal at Burwick, using a floating pontoon purchased and customised by the company in 1992.
Ian passed away in 1996 but it is still very much a family business. Sheila Thomas is still around, son Ivor is the skipper of the Pentland Venture, and Deborah has run the office for 40 years. Fred has been involved for the past 30 years or so.
"The business was growing successfully and summer 2020 was on target to be a record one," Fred said. "Then Covid hit like a sledgehammer. Overnight the shutters came down and the business had to take a break.
"Thankfully government assistance has been forthcoming in the form of furlough and grant assistance but without this it would have been very bleak indeed, and severe cost cuts and very unwanted decisions would have been necessary. However, the company is very glad it has not come to that.
"Despite this it has been a very difficult time and we are thankful that everyone in the ferry, all employees, are still here safe and have a job to look forward to this summer. In fact, that’s one real asset of the business – our crew and staff are great folk and we have a very cohesive team with loyal people, many of whom have been at our side for years.
"In fact, our other skipper William Bremner first started work with Ian in the 1970s, and our pier man in Orkney, Ali Gutcher, has just retired at the age of 80 after 45 years' service. We’ve certainly had our share of real characters over the years too and that all adds to the rich tapestry of life in the ferry.
"We plan to start our wildlife cruises on Saturday, May 29, and our Maxi Day Tour of Orkney on June 1. We have excellent Covid protocols in place but social distancing restricts capacity on the ferry itself, and more especially on the coaches in Orkney, and viability is still some distance off. Boris Johnson seems keen to lift all such measures in England by midsummer and we hope Scotland will follow so that we can welcome people again in the normal way.
"We are optimists and we’re looking forward to a great summer ahead. But we think of other lives left devastated by this terrible pandemic and we’re still very aware that safety is the watchword."
