WHEN Christine Weller looks back on her childhood, her memories are always dominated by one thing in particular.

The Hythe ferry is important to many people in the village but to her family the crossing service was a way of life for many years.

Christine, now 79, is Hythe born and bred and will always remember how her father, Arthur Lane, devoted his entire working life to the vessel.

"The ferry was his life," she said. "We all spent a lot of time on it when we were growing up. On Sunday mornings after church, if there was a ferry available, my brothers and sister used to jump off the side and go swimming but I didn't because I couldn't swim.

"I loved sitting up on the top deck. Mum would make us all sandwiches and it was my job to pass them round to all the people that wanted them."

Although Christine cannot recall exactly when he started work for the company, she thinks her father probably did as soon as he left school at about the age of 12.

Records show that he was an engineer on the boat in 1916 when he signed up for war duty.

He was detailed to one of the Royal Navy's requisitioned patrol boats but returned to work for the Hythe ferry afterwards and eventually rose all the way up the ranks to become general manager.

Christine can remember the day when her father accompanied King George VI on the pier train.

The king paid a top-secret visit to Hythe and rode the pier train prior to D-Day in 1944.

A commemorative plaque marked the spot where the King sat but it was removed years later by an unscrupulous souvenir hunter.

Mr Lane had four children but Christine, who now lives in Dibden Purlieu with her husband Frank, is the only surviving member of the family.

She is horrified that the service is now facing potential closure after soaring business rates threaten to cost White Horse Ferries thousands of extra pounds.

"I can't see that they can ever disband it," said Christine. "It is such a popular way of going to Southampton. People enjoy the trip and the sea air. It's absolutely part of Hythe and part of the Solent."

Mr Lane died in 1966 aged 78.

"If my father was alive he would do everything he could in his power to stop it," added Christine. "He would put every last penny into stopping that from happening."