When the Woolwich Ferry saved me from a telling off .......... 132 years of crossing the River

You can never have enough pictures of the Woolwich Ferry, and so it proved again yesterday when I posted a picture of one of the old ferries.

1905

Now I say the old ferries, but the James Newman, John Burns and Ernest Bevan were the newcomers, going into service in 1963.

Before them there was the The Squire which started ferrying passengers and things in 1923, followed by the Will Crooks, and The John Benn seven years later.  

They replaced the Gordan, the Duncan and the Hutton, the first of which began chugging across the river in 1889.

And before that, the Royal Arsenal operated their own ferry service in 1810, followed by various commercial venture.

Nor I suspect was the Royal Arsenal the first, because given the need, there must have been  plenty of enterprising people who saw a potential money making enterprise.

2012

So with all those in mind, and in honour of the Ben Woollacot and the Dame Vera Lynn which are the two new ferries which entered service in 2019, here  is another ferry story which features some of those ferries dating back to 1905.

Anyone who was born or grew up in Eltham, will have used them at sometime, and for me crossing the river by the free ferry has always been magic.

It might not take long but in the short time while on board the trip offers up spectacular views, and of course that distinctive smell that you only get from big powerful rivers.

I have never lost my love of the Woolwich Ferry, so much, that a few years ago on missing the M25 on our way north from Kent, I seized the opportunity to make the river crossing at Woolwich.

2021

Now I could have owned up straight away and blamed my map reading, but instead as you do I turned it into an adventure, confident that Tina would also fall for the magic of  the ferry.

The journey from Well Hall up to Shooters Hill was pleasant, the fall down into Woolwich quite spectacular and the river crossing something else.

Of course those of us who have used it all our lives can be a tad dismissive of the journey.

You often have to wait a long time to get on, the trip across is short and often accompanied by gust of cold river wind, but it can still be pretty good.

On the day we made thee crossing, the sun was hot, the water almost blue, and we were set up for the long drive north.

2021

But then even for that short journey the Thames didn't disappoint us.

I do miss the cranes and barges, and the busy doings of a working river.

And before I slip into romantic tosh about a bustling living water way it is as well to remember it was dirty, noisy and for those who made a livelihood beside the river it was hard dangerous work and the rewards were not always that good.

2012

But it was my river.

Location; Woolwich, London

Picture;  the Woolwich Ferry, 1905 courtesy of TuckDB, http://tuckdb.org/postcards, the ferry in 2012, from the collection of Andrew Simpson and Dame Vera Lynn courtesy of Gary Luttman and Paula Nottle

Posters from the Past ........... no 11 ........ coming home

Now the project is simple, take a modern image of a building we all love and turn it into the style of poster which was popular in the middle decades of the last century.*

Although in this case it is the ferry, which for many of us will always be special.

As kids it was the start of the adventure that took you across the river to that “other place” and for countless grownups the way you got to work.

The last time I used it was  when we were heading back north from Deal and having lost the M25 I managed to navigate a route that took us in to Eltham past our old house at Well Hall, and always one to seize an opportunity I suggested we make the river crossing at Woolwich.

And that pretty much restored my creditability.  Tina who is Italian just loved the experience.

And yes I know we had had to queue and the journey takes just a few minutes but she found it magic as did I.

All of which just leaves me to adapt that Samuel Johnson comment about London, “the best prospect any of us can see is the ferry crossing at Woolwich that takes us home.”*

Location: on the Thames at Woolwich

Painting; Coming home to Woolwich, © 2017 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,  from a photograph by Andrew Simpson, 2012

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk 

*Posters from the Past, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Posters%20from%20the%20Past

**“The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!”
Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

Crossing the Thames at Woolwich on the Will Crooks

This is one of the old ferries which plied the crossing taking thousands to work and not a few just to see north Woolwich.

The crossing is still one of those things I like to do although it is usually just for the pleasure of travelling across the water.

This was the Will Crooks built in 1933 and replaced thirty years later by the current fleet.

Now this is not going to be the story of the ferry, that is easily available, instead it will just be a short reflection on how much I enjoy using it.

At one time it was something you did just because it was free, and offered up the opportunity to watch a busy river at work.

No one seemed to mind that I went backwards and forwards often not even bothering to get off.

It didn’t matter that the rain might drive in across the water and that the wind could cut through even the warmest of clothes.

But I grew up, had more important things to do and only rarely even bothered to clock its existence as I waited for buses at the stop almost opposite the terminal.

And then one disastrous day travelling back from Kent and missing the M25 I realized were heading for Eltham, past our old house at Well Hall and it just made perfect sense to carry on over Shooters Hill and fall down into Woolwich and make the river crossing by the ferry.

I had forgotten the long queues but the short journey with its views across the Thames were well worth it.

I rather wish I could have done the trip on the old Will Crooks if only to have experienced crossing under steam.

Picture; courtesy of Kristina Bedford from her book Woolwich Through Time, 2014 and from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Crossing the river at Woolwich

Growing up in Eltham meant that you were never far from the River.

But this was the working part of the Thames and not that pretty bit admired by tourists or the picturesque section further up river where the glittering and wealthy favour.

It was instead the busy noisy waterway flanked by grimy power stations, timber yards, small boat building businesses and unromantic factories.

And of course of barges, work a day tugs and the occasional tramp steamer.

But because this was the doing bit of the Thames whole sections of the river side were locked off or just visible down a flight of slimy stone steps, all of which meant that travelling on the ferry offered up a chance to see the Thames at its best even if it was a tad smelly and dirty.*

That said I remember it as an adventure made all the more memorable on cold wet days in Februaruy when the wind swept in from the open expanse of water managing to get through all the layers of your clothes.

And even now when I come across that ozone smell it takes me back to the ferry crossing.

Not  that I ever travelled on the Gordon which had gone by the time we moved to Well Hall in the early 1960s but the power station was still doing its bit to keep the lights on.

“The first station was opened at the site in 1893 by the Woolwich District Electric Lighting Company adapted from boat repair shops, and subsequently taken over by the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich.

During later construction work in 1912 the timbers of a Tudor warship believed to be Henry VII's 1488 ship Sovereign were uncovered on the site.

The station was redeveloped in the 1920s and again in the 1940s and 1950s, ultimately having three huge brick chimneys. It occupied a site of just over seven and a half acres.”**

Some where I have a set of pictures I took of the place but they are so safely stored away that I have long lost any hope of finding them, which means these two from Steve Bardrick’s collection are pretty special to me.

I don’t have a date but they predate the introduction of the new ferries in 1963 and long before the reinforced concrete terminals which date from the following year.

Even with the new ferries and those giant approach ways a trip across can still be magic.

So having messed up on M25 and heading home we made the river crossing at Woolwich and the ferry’s power worked all over again this time on Tina whose family is from Naples and is no stranger to open water ferries and big ships.


Pictures; the Thames, the ferry and a power station, date unknown, courtesy of Steve Bardrick and the ferry in 2012 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Woolwich Ferry,http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Woolwich%20Ferry 

**Woolwich Power Station, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolwich_Power_Station

Pictures from a Woolwich window ........ no.4 ....... well almost ……. The new ferry and a clutch of figures

Now I have been wanting my own picture of the new ferries that ply their way across the river, and now I can add two which were taken last weekend.

They come from that new series which was inspired by a visit our Elizabeth and Colin made to Woolwich.

It began when they spent a few nights in an Airbnb off Thomas Street, and it occurred to me that the top window of a Woolwich flat must be a pretty neat way of seeing the world below.

And when it is the same window over the space of a weekend, then you have got yourself a project.

All you need is a camera, and the patience to record from the same spot, and the rest as they say is Colin and Elizabeth’s “Pictures from a Woolwich Window”. *

But not content with just looking out of the window, they also ventured out in response to my request for pictures of Woolwich today and that ld o these three.

Location; Woolwich

Pictures; walking across Woolwich, 2019, from the collection of Liz and Colin Fitzpatrick

*Pictures from a Woolwich Window, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/04/pictures-from-woolwich-window-no1-night.html

Crossing the Thames at Woolwich in the July of 1905

The ferry in 1905

I have never lost my love of the Woolwich Ferry, so much that I recently took advantage of missing the M25 on our way North from Kent, just so we could make the river crossing at Woolwich.

Now I could have owned up straight away and blamed my map reading but instead as you do I turned it into an adventure.

The journey from Well Hall up to Shooters Hill is pleasant, the fall down into Woolwich quite spectacular and the river crossing something else.

Of course those of us who have used it all our lives can be a tad dismissive of the journey.

The ferry in 2012

You often have to wait a long time to get on, the trip across is short and often accompanied by gust of cold river wind, but it can still be pretty good.

Add to that a hot sunny day and we were set up for the long drive north.

But then even for that short journey the Thames doesn’t disappoint you.

I miss the cranes and barges and the busy doings of a working river so this 1905 Tuck and Sons postcard has a lot to offer.

The first ferries were side-loading paddle steamers named Gordon, Duncan and Hutton. Each was powered by 100nhp condensing engines by John Peen & Son of Greenwich.

Looking to the south side of the river

They were replaced between 1923 and 1930 with The Squire, the Will Crooks and the John Benn.

The current three vessels were built in 1963 and were each named after prominent local politicians: John Burns, Ernest Bevin and James Newman.

And before I slip into romantic tosh about a busttling living water way it is as well to remember it was dirty, noisy and for those who made a livilihood beside the river it was hard dangerous work and the rewards were not always that good.

Locaton; Woolwich, London

Picture; of the Woolwich Ferry, 1905 courtesy of TuckDB, http://tuckdb.org/postcards and the ferry today from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Crossing the Thames at Woolwich in 1907

Now you can never have enough pictures of the Woolwich Ferry.

Anyone who was born or grew up in Eltham will have used it at sometime and for me crossing the river by the free ferry has always been magic.

It might not take long but in the short while on board the trip offers up spectacular views and of course that distinctive smell that you only get from big powerful rivers.

This one comes from a new book on the story of Woolwich.*

Picture; Woolwich Ferry, 1907, courtesy of Kristina Bedford

*Woolwich Through Time, Kristina Bedford, 2014, Amberley Publishing,