THERE was a fond farewell for a former Norwegian car ferry which has been moored in the Thames off Erith for the last 29 years.

The Folgefonn was home for Erith Yacht Club and large numbers of club members turned out to wave the ship goodbye as it set off back home to Norway.

Now 72 years old the ship, believed to be the first ever roll-on/roll-off ferry, will be restored to working order in a naval museum.

Too fragile to make the journey on its own, the tug Elsa arrived to tow her down river to Tilbury and it was club commodore John Edmonds and a handful of helpers who released her last mooring lines.

Club members who followed, watched as a huge submergible cargo ship, the Eide Trader, sank down into the water to manouevre the Folgefonn onto her loading platform.

They then gathered at Gravesend Sailing Club to catch a last glimpse and vowed to visit Norway to see her during and after her restoration.

Folgefonn had been spotted by club members in Leigh-on-Sea in 1981, when they were looking for a replacement for the Trinity House lightship which served as their clubhouse.

Briefly commandeered by the Germans when they occupied Norway during the Second World War, she had been brought to England to be converted into a restaurant. but the plans fell through.

A £3m Olympic legacy redevelopment at the club, off Manor Road, Erith, has seen a new land-based clubhouse being built and one of its bars will be named after Folgefonn.

The new clubhouse means the club will be able to offer sailing to a much wider community, including disabled people.

It already has a new selection of club dinghies.

For details of its many new sailing courses, call Ed Sumner on 07853 929574.