Bicentennial Exhibition Newhaven -Dieppe Ferry
Date published: October 19, 2025
Stunning new exhibition marks the Bicentennial of the Dieppe to Newhaven Ferry.
Ferry service marks two centuries of cross-Channel travel between Newhaven and Dieppe with a new exhibition on the Bicentennial Line at the Marine Workshops, Newhaven.
Managing Director of SMPAT, Francois Bellouard, Harbour Master Stephen Tindale and colleagues from Transmanche Ferries and the NPP joined VIPs at the exhibition launch on Friday, October 10. The Bicentennial exhibition is located on the top floor of the Marine Workshops overlooking the port with views to the ferry. The exhibition contains some amazing historic photographs, vintage posters and stories of passengers and crew members charting the route’s evolution from the days of the steamships through to the more modern ferries.
Long-standing links between Dieppe and Newhaven
The Newhaven to Dieppe route is the UK’s longest continuous ferry route to France and was once the fastest route from London to Paris, before the Channel Tunnel was opened in 1994.
The long-standing link between Newhaven and Dieppe has forged a lasting relationship between Sussex and the Seine Maritime through tourism, culture and the local economy. Archivists from Seine Maritime have collated the 200-year Dieppe to Newhaven exhibition. It toured Normandy this summer before arriving in Newhaven via a collaboration supported by Lewes District Council and Eastbourne’s Towner Gallery.
The Syndicat Mixte de Promotion de l’Activité Transmanche (SMPAT), also known as Transmanche Ferries, owns and subsidises the route, which is used by 410,000 passengers a year and more than 380,000 tourists. The current ferry service is operated by DFDS, under a contract with the French authorities, which runs until 2027.
Francois Bellouard, MD for SMPAT, spoke at the launch and said that in 1992, before the tunnel, 1.2 million people per year used the route. Catamarans and hydrofoils have been trialled over the years, but the future is new low-carbon ships. The line is particularly popular with cyclists as it joins the Avenue Verte cycle route from Dieppe to Paris.
Graham Precey said, ‘It captures the spirit of trade, tourism and friendship between two countries, two regions and two towns and that it is important that we remember, especially in times of division, that we have friends everywhere.’
The free exhibition is on at the Marine Workshops and open to the public between Thursdays and Sundays, until November 1.
In addition to the French exhibition, there is a 360 immersive experience by Julia Vogado of All Abroad Bus, who will return with the sights and sounds experience of Dieppe on October 30, 31 and November 1.
The Newhaven Museum, next to Paradise Park, has a complimentary exhibition portraying the 200th Anniversary of the line. This exhibition includes the famous and infamous travellers, the impact of the coming of the railway, and the role of the ferries during WW1 and WW2. This exhibition is open until October 25.
