Working the river

These will be the last pictures of that stretch of the Thames from London Bridge to Tower Bridge.

Over the last few days I have indulged myself with images of the Thames when it  was still worked with warehouses, cranes and manual labour serving the many ocean going ships that delivered their produce into the heart of the city.

Now I have never been one to indulge in nostalgia or sentimentality and working the river was a dangerous and hard occupation, but it provided a livelihood for thousands and brought the river alive.

But I shall stop before someone points out the downside of labouring long hours in a casual trade with the ever present danger of injury and a life shortened by the sheer physical demands of the job.


Pictures, from Tuck and Sons, 1902-3, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/