THE revived cross-Severn hovercraft link between the communities of Arlingham and Newnham-on-Severn has been hailed as a huge success.
"I have never seen people so proud of their village," organiser Sue Dubois said of the effort made by Newnham people to make the event one to remember.
In all the two hovercraft ferried 3,000 people out and back, which meant 6,000 people movements in Marine terms.
Sue praised the fact that Marines had only seen the terrain twice before the event yet managed a superb service from the temporary jetties built by KW Bell, with only minor hitches cause by mud on the vessels' skirts.
Long queues built up as the 14-passenger craft, provided and staffed by Assault Squadron 539, ran a non-stop service between 9am and 6.30pm on Saturday and Sunday, restoring a historic ferry link.
"We got everybody out and back – there wasn't a single soul left behind," said Sue.
Visitors packed into Newnham and its cross-river cousin Arlingham – normal population around 400 – to enjoy a host of activities and attractions, music and other entertainments.
"There were many visitors but in the main it was local people who had invited friends and relatives along," said Sue. Older people had been particularly pleased to see so many boats back on the river.
"We have not had time yet to do our sums but it looks as though our efforts to raise cash for millennium markers for both communities have done amazingly well."
She praised the efforts of the volunteers of both communities who had done so much to ensure its success.
And she said criticisms of the unannounced fireworks which ended the Sunday evening – a farewell gesture to the Marines – would not detract from the real success of the whole event.
"There were just two maroons and a few rockets. It was all over just a few minutes after midnight," she said, adding that apologies had been made to people near the slipway who were alarmed by the noise.