Thursday, March 28, 2024

Greenwich Steam Ferry

London The Unfinished City
The Greenwich Steam Ferry was an engineering feat, but also a commercial failure.

Ferries had operated historically from Greenwich, at Billingsgate Dock, Garden Stairs and elsewhere, to the southern tip of the Isle of Dogs, since at least 1333.

Billingsgate was the main dock in Medieval Greenwich and was home to the large Greenwich fishing fleet, which relocated to Hull and Grimsby in the 1850s. This relocation was, in part, due to the arrival of rail transport. 

The earliest ferry from the Isle of Dogs to Greenwich was called Potter's Ferry, which began in the 17th century. This lucrative route's rights were coveted by Watermen who wished to control the waterways.

Up until 1812, only foot passengers were permitted to be ferried across the River Thames. Following an 1812 Act of Parliament a horse ferry was established.

The Billingsgate ferry was replaced after 1821 with one at Horseferry Dock, a little further down river. Billingsgate Dock was widened and enlarged, by an Act of Parliament  in 1850, to help improve the docks use by the public.

These ferries ran until they were closed by the Metropolitan Board of Works Act of 1883. Five years later, in 1888, the Greenwich Steam Ferry began operation.

The Greenwich Steam Ferry was an innovative design whereby passengers and vehicles were transported down the foreshore on moving platforms to waiting ferries. This design, although unique in England, was used throughout America and overcame the problem of reaching the ferry at low tide.

London The Unfinished City
Diagrams of the moving platforms and pulley system.

These moving platforms were pulled up and down on cables operated by engines in the cellar of the ferry terminal buildings. These landing platforms could be raised and lowered according to the tide, thus allowing the heavy cargo trucks and carriages to have a smooth access to and from the waiting ferries.

Commercial and operational difficulties meant that the Greenwich Steam Ferry was suspended in the 1890s. Then, with the Blackwall Tunnel opening in 1897 and construction of the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, beginning in 1899, the Greenwich Steam Ferry finally closed in 1899.

The ferry terminal building, on the south bank, remained standing until the 1990s.

London The Unfinished City
The ramp on the south foreshore.

Today, all that remains are the concrete ramps, on the north and south foreshores, and the walls on south terminal still retain the three cable ports, used to raise and lower the moving platforms.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Jukebox at St Pancras International

St Pancras Jukebox
The St Pancras free-to-play jukebox.

If you enter St Pancras International station, from Pancras Road, and head to your right, you will see a jukebox tucked away below platforms 11 to 13.

It was installed in 2017 and is free-to-play and has over 50,000 tunes to play. These cover Top 40 hits from the last 50 years from over 18.000 artists. 

These include: The Beatles, David Bowie, Ed Sheeran, Elvis Presley, Iron Maiden, Rag'n'Bone Man and many more.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

'Dock Life Renewed': A talk by photographer Niki Gorick

Book Cover
'Dock Life Renewed' by Niki Gorick.

Thursday March 21, 2024.

It was a little bit of rush to leave work, head home, get changed and walk to Watford Metropolitan station, to catch the train to London. My mum, who had made her way to Croxley station, was waiting on the platform as my train pulled in.

Once aboard we settled down and enjoyed the ride to Finchley Road, where we switched to a Jubilee line train for the rest of our journey to the Isle of Dogs.

Arriving at Canary Wharf station we made our way along Bank Street and on to the South Dock, crossing the South Quay Footbridge to look for somewhere to buy a bite to eat.

Just along South Quay Walk, near Admirals Way, we found a collection of street food vendors. There was Burrito, Chinese, Greek, Indian and Lebanese. We opted for Lebanese, which was tasty and filling. The owner was friendly and obviously took a liking to the two of us, as he gave us a free drink and extra meat on our dishes. 

Street food vans
The Burrito Bro and Steam Momo vans. 

Lebanese street food van
Lebanese street food van.

With our hunger now satisfied, we made our way along South Quay Walk towards the Millwall Cutting and our destination... the Theatreship.

Theatreship nameplate
The venue.

After taking the obligatory photos of the surrounding buildings and the Theatreship we boarded the vessel, and made our way downstairs to the bar area. 

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