There was a bus terminus at both hards on either side of the crossing, connecting foot passengers with the centre of Southampton and the city's south eastern suburbs.

A maintenance slipway and cradle were built to the North of the Woolston hard to enable the ferries (or "Bridges") to be hauled out of the water.

The third (or spare) diesel ferry was often to be found moored off the wires on the Southampton side of the river to the North of the hard in later years.

[8] It was largely reliant on long-distance travellers for profit since at the time few people lived on the east bank of the Itchen and those that did often qualified for toll exemptions.

c. cix) allowing the tolls to again be raised and the exemptions to be reduced resulted in the bridge returning to service.

[10] Traffic levels dropped again after 1929 when Southampton council purchased Northam bridge and made it toll free.

[18] On 12 June a further crossing was made carrying Princess Alexandra as part of the naming ceremony for the new Itchen bridge[19] When introduced in 1838, it was a wooden-hulled chain ferry designed by engineer James Meadows Rendel.

In 1879 a pedestrian-only ferry was introduced, followed by a second in 1881 to service the growing workmen traffic heading for the Thornycroft shipyard just downstream from the crossing.

The periodical "Engineering" carried a full description, including drawings, plans and sections, for Bridge Number 8 in the issue dated 26 November 1897.

[22] The switch from steam to diesel meant it was possible to reduce the crew from three to two[23] Originally the ferries were lit by oil lamps.

In the early 20th century, electric lights were fitted to No 8, powered by a steam-driven dynamo, replaced by a Lister diesel in 1949.

The term was first used by the engineer James Meadows Rendel, who had previously implemented a similar design of chain ferry at Torpoint in Cornwall and at Dartmouth in Devon.

In 1820, whilst the crossing was still served by the small boats of Itchen Ferry village, a toll house was built.

[29] This project was initiated by four of the proprietors of the Floating Bridge company, including James Warner the Younger of Botley, Hampshire, and was undertaken at their own expense.

[29] The inevitable further development alongside the road further eroded the common land, and helped the hamlet of Hedge End to establish itself as a village in its own right.

This is located in the Elephant Boatyard in Bursledon and served as the popular Ferry Restaurant on the River Hamble until 31 December 2019 when it closed down.