A Coastal Pub Tour on Bicycles with notes on Topography and Local History on Greenwich in London to West Thurrock in Essex

Coastal Pub Tour | Greenwich to West Thurrock

Following our highly enjoyable prologue from Bermondsey to Greenwich yesterday, it was time to embark on our coastal pub tour. Our aim was to arrive at Foulness Island on the first Sunday of the month as this is the only day that the road is open to the public. With so much to look at along the Thames estuary we decided not to rush to Southend-on-Sea but spread the journey over two days, stopping overnight at the half-way point.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

Opening the curtains at the Premier Inn I felt a bit sorry for the ducks living in Deptford Creek. This looked as grim as it can get for a duck. Surely with wings you can relocate? Even the Swedish flatpack retailers have launched two remote-controlled 'Good Ship Ikea' boats to help clear up the rubbish that ends up in the creek.

As soon as we sat down for breakfast we had to quickly relocate because a boy on the next table was sneezing like mad and not putting his hand up to control the spray. Cyclists are known to obsess about a few things such as equipment, weight and always checking the weather forecast. However, the one thing a cyclist will always try to avoid is somebody with a cold. The risk of contracting a bug will ruin any planned riding and affect performance. We were out of there as quick as Sir Chris Hoy coming out of the starting gate.

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As I mentioned in the introduction, one can start and finish the route from anywhere on the coastline. However, the geographer within me determined that the logical place to embark on such a trip is the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. We had already crossed the Prime Meridian twice during the prologue and today we will be having some more longitudinal fun on the route.

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The views across London are fairly good from the Royal Observatory. Beyond the old Royal Hospital School and Royal Naval College are the glass and steel towers centred around Canary Wharf. I reflected that it is still within the living memories of some older Londoners, or those relocated to Essex, to look across at busy dockyards, iron works, saw mills, cooperages and cranes that served a function rather than acting as decorative evocations of another age. I realise that I am romanticising the past but I feel nothing for the offices where papers are shuffled and keyboard buttons are pressed. It seems that, within my lifetime, the UK has gone from making all manner of goods to having it all delivered from places where people are paid jack shit. Long before the philanthropists like William Wilberforce forced legislative change, the docklands helped to make London rich through the slave trade but one has to wonder if we are still culpable in the exploitation of overseas labour. But people do not seem to mind if their vacuum cleaner or washing machine is made in Malaysia rather than Malmesbury. We even give gongs and titles to the industrialists who prefer not to pay a decent wage.

The gates of the Royal Observatory do not open until 10am so we joined a large party of tourists from the far east wandering around and taking in the panoramic views. They were taking photographs of anything that moved so just for a bit of devilment I wandered over to a drainpipe and reached for my camera. Within a minute I had six people gathered around taking a photograph of the drainpipe like it was some important element not to be missed!

One woman close to the gates of the Observatory was taking photographs of herself using a selfie-stick. She was continually fluffing up her hair and taking several shots of herself before moving two centimetres and doing the same thing again. She photographed herself half a dozen times per minute, most of the shots ending up on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook no doubt. I hope one of the captions read : "Hey! look at me next to an important drainpipe." Driven by social media, narcissism has gone to another level with people conveying their perfect life so they can be the envy of all their friends and contacts. And all with an Instagram face.

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Although we have witnessed it on another visit, we could not delay our departure for the Time Ball drop, an anti-climax for most people who hang around for ages waiting to see this daily event. However, in days of old it was an important visual time signal that enabled navigators on ships in the Thames to check their marine chronometers. It can be fun watching the tourists trying to figure out the Galvano-Magnetic Clock. I am convinced that there are lot of very confused people who traipse up this famous hill trying to figure out a very simple thing called time. Perhaps it does not help that signs are in both GMT and BST. The former telegraphist in me prefers to stick to a time zone called Zulu wherever I may be on the planet. Much easier to figure out. Mind you, the whole Greenwich thing is behind the times. Not even the marking strip at the Royal Observatory lies at zero degrees, zero minutes, and zero seconds. Indeed, as I type the meridian is 102.478 metres to the east.

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Heading down the hill towards the boating pond we crossed the Prime Meridian again when taking a look at the Millennium Sundial - or did we? The installation has becoming something of a laughing stock and adds fuel to the fire for those who claim Britain cannot make anything these days. It was planned to have the base of the gnomon directly on the Prime Meridian first defined in 1851. However, between the drawing board and the builder's trowel something went seriously adrift and it is in the wrong place. Not only is it in the wrong place, it is in the wrong position because, rather than being directly in line, it is skew-whiff by around 3½° so it does not even tell the time accurately. Depending on the season, it can be up to fifteen minutes out! And to cap it all, the hour marks are in the wrong position too. What a total fuck-up! Only Laurel and Hardy could have made a greater mess of the job.

The Millennium Sundial was supposed to act as a centrepiece to twelve smaller analemmatic dials but, having spent £90,000 highlighting the flaws of British engineering and construction, the project was shelved - the shelf would probably be wonky too! A lorry driver trundled over the sundial during the 2012 Olympics and another bill was run-up to repair this showcase of longitudinal inexactitude.

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We did not linger too long up the hill as we had a packed programme today plus it allowed us time for a flying visit to the National Maritime Museum. We went along the manicured gardens next to Queen's House, the former royal residence designed by Inigo Jones for Anne of Denmark. The architect pencilled the building after returning from a Grand Tour in 1613-15 and, as a result, it is the first consciously classical building constructed in England. Part of the building is now occupied by the National Maritime Museum.

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Outside the main entrance to the National Maritime Museum is Yinka Shonibare's "Nelson's Ship in a Bottle," a work commissioned by the Greater London Authority and first displayed at Trafalgar Square in May 2010. For this commission, the artist travelled back in time to 1765, along with the scientists in the 1966 film "Fantastic Voyage," and shrank the ship to fit inside the neck of this giant bottle. Eventually, of course, the ship will slowly return to its original size and will burst out of the bottle. It will then be transported via a truck that will reverse over, and crush the Millennium Sundial to tip HMS Victory into the boating pond. The helmsman will do his utmost to hold a course along the Prime Meridian but will be confused when the satnav sends him eastward as it cannot cope with Airy's Transit Circle.

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We nipped into the National Maritime Museum so we could learn about some of this island's glorious and not-so-glorious naval history. As you would expect there is plenty of information about how the navy trampled over the lives of foreigners. However, there are plenty of exhibits devoted to scientific discovery, art, cartography and navigational instruments. I particularly liked the display of ship figureheads. The figurehead central to the above photograph shows a woman wearing a mural crown. This was attributed to HMS London, a first-rate ship of 104 guns that was renamed the Royal Adelaide before it was completed in 1828. It took nine years to build the vessel launched at Plymouth by the Duchess of Clarence.¹ To the right is the figurehead of HMS Megæra, named after one of the Furies of Ancient Greek mythology. The iron screw frigate was built at Fairbairn's shipyard at Millwall in 1848-9. The vessel was used as a troopship but in 1871 was beached as unseaworthy on St. Paul's Island in the Indian Ocean. By all accounts it was a rustbucket ill-suited for most practical tasks. The captain, Arthur Thomas Thrupp, faced a court martial for the ship's loss but was acquitted when it was determined that they had sent him on a mission equivalent to asking a racing driver to enter the Paris-Dakar Rally with an Austin Allegro.²

"The Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805" by J. M. W. Turner, Oil on canvas [1822-1824], National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Public Domain.

We had to manoeuvre around the museum to avoid the parties of school children. However, possibly because it is boring to youngsters, we had the Turner room to ourselves. "The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805," an extraordinary work, is the largest painting and only royal commission undertaken by the eccentric curmudgeon. The accompanying audio was most interesting and helped us appreciate sections of the painting that we may have overlooked. Reportedly, 30,000 visitors a day queue up at the Louvre for a glimpse of the Mona Lisa but, in my mind, there are more layers of complexity in this work, and no queue!

La Goddess du Vélo tried her hand executing a rescue mission in the ship simulator. She is such a notorious land-lubber, I am still trying to figure out how she kept her breakfast down! She almost crashed the ship though I was urging her to ramp it up to ramming speed! Achieving a score of 70 we felt confident that she could walk straight up to the helm of the Thames Clipper and drive it herself. I mean, 70 points must be enough qualification to completely trash the landing stage at Canary Wharf! If she had notched up a couple more points she could have filled in the application form for the next Bond film.

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We headed over to the Gipsy Moth and Cutty Sark to cross the river. I did not think La Goddess du Vélo would enjoy this subterranean experience but it turned out to be one of her highlights of the day. Another triumph of Victorian engineering, the Greenwich foot tunnel was designed by Sir Alexander Binnie with construction beginning in 1899. The tunnel was declared open to the public on the August Bank Holiday 1902.³ The three year project was only a tadge over budget. These days it would take an age just to get through the initial committee meetings and form-filling with costs spiralling out of control. In the world of Gerry Anderson, the whole thing would be dreamt up over breakfast, with Virgil and Scott Tracy in the Mole of Thunderbird 2 completing the job by lunchtime.

Illustration of the Greenwich Foot Tunnel by William B. Robinson published on Page 20 of the "Illustrated London News" on Saturday August 9th, 1902

It was actually in May 1901 that workmen cutting the tunnel completed the connection. The engineer and several others came through the tunnel to the Greenwich end, and returned by the ferry. Flags were hoisted on the cranes at both side to celebrate the occasion.⁴

In the old days there used to be lift operators employed by the London County Council. The pay probably did not reflect the amount of hassle or abuse they could suffer at the hands of idiots. In August 1926 Frederick Bowyer, of Syssell Street, Cubitt Town, was summoned for assaulting Edward Baigent, one of the lift operators. The Bench heard that Bowyer was a passenger in the lift, with is bicycle. He tried to rush out first, pushing the dirty wheels of his bicycle against people's clothes. The lift operator told him to wait a minute, and he replied that he would smash him on the face and struck him a blow which drew blood. The magistrates told the cyclist that "he was one of those inconsiderate, selfish young me who needed a lesson in decent behaviour." They fined him £3, or in default, 14 days in prison.⁵

Today there are no lift operators and the lifts can play up at both ends of the foot tunnel but, thankfully, it was all tickety-boo on this trip. I would not fancy carrying my pannier-laden bike up and down the spiral staircases. There are 87 steps on the northern side and 100 steps at Greenwich. We did adhere to the No Cycling rule but were passed by flying arseholes travelling at silly speeds.

I am old enough to have survived the disaster movie era of the 1970s but, walking along the tunnel, one cannot help thinking that the roof is about to start leaking, particularly when you are about the midway point. But we only made the one journey .... in August 2002 to celebrate the centenary of the tunnel opening, a marathon was held under the river. To avoid the crowds, the race started at 2am and took in 58 laps of the 1,217 feet tunnel. Race organiser Ted Lancukci remarked at the time that is was "probably not the marathon to do if you're claustrophobic." ⁶

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At the northern end of the tunnel there is a section that, when looking along the tube, reminded me of a scene in the Stanley Kubrick movie "2001 : A Space Odyssey." This is much narrower that the rest of the footway. A plaque on the wall states that "this short length of the tunnel was repaired following bomb damage that occurred on the first night of the Blitz on 7th and 8th September 1940 during the Second World War. The damage resulted in the tunnel being closed immediately for repairs to stop leaks and potential flooding. Had the tunnel been more severely damaged, the resulting closure would have had a long-term impact on travel across the river. As the tunnel formed a much-relied-upon cross-river link connecting housing in the south and the industry and docks to the north, it was an essential part of the war effort. Preliminary repairs to stem the inflow of water were successful. By early 1941 the repairs had been completed and the tunnel fully reopened to the public." The repairs included the exposed metal ring lining which can be seen in the above photograph.

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Once out of the foot tunnel's north tower you are on the Isle of Dogs, a name that was recorded in the times of King Henry VIII. The etymology of the name throws up a whole host of possible origins. The Dutch, ducks and dykes feature amid the conjecture. I rather like the theory that it could stem from gibbets on the foreshore.

If you are following our wheels you may want to shave off a corner here. From the tunnel our plan was to turn right to follow the north side of the river. However, I could not resist turning left to have a look at a couple of sites of interest. We did not stray too far but my curiosity to learn more about the ferry got the better of me. This was reinforced on the previous day after seeing the slipway of the Vehicular Steam Ferry. Of course, the story of the ancient ferry involves a pub.

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So, turning left after the foot tunnel, it is a short ride along Ferry Street, formerly Wharf Road, to the Ferry House. This is in the old ward of Millwall in the Borough of Poplar. I think nowadays this is the ward of Island Gardens in Tower Hamlets but I do not go for all that modern stuff.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

The Ferry House stands on the corner of Factory Place, though that name, along with the heavy industry, is consigned to history. Factory Place is marked on the above map extract from 1895. The Ferry House was, indeed, amid a cluster of industrial buildings. Note the slipway of the Vehicular Steam Ferry, already out of use by the time of this map's publication date.

According to the pub's website "the Ferry House has stood on the Isle of Dogs since 1722 and is certainly the oldest pub on the island, and quite probably the Island's oldest building in continual use." There was a scare between 2015-6 when the pub closed for a spell until a new tenant was found. However, thankfully the place seems to be back on track.

With an extended ground floor, the Ferry House is quite a singular building. On the first floor there is a projecting rectangular stuccoed bay with a swept hipped lead roof. This may have been built over a former porch that served as a look-out for the ferry. The right section of the pub is a late 19th century addition. The interior of the tavern features some plain wood panelling, thought to date from the 18th century.

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Across the street a timber-clad apartment block thwarts a view of the slipway between Rigby's Wharf and Felsted Wharf, a pity as this marks the spot where the ancient ferry took people across the Thames to Greenwich. It is possible to view the slipway of the Steam Ferry from a car park to the west of the apartment block. The inn sign, perhaps a legacy from its days as a Courage house, depicts an eighteenth century scene with a woman being assisted onto the jetty. A man drinking a tankard of ale is donning a tricorne hat.

Extract showing the Isle of Dogs from a map by William Faden.

The above map extract dated 1818 shows that there was only scattered development on the Isle of Dogs, much of the land being submerged at high tide during this period. The Ferry House Inn is marked on maps of greater antiquity, along with the Chapel House a little further north. The Ferry House is certainly shown on a map dating from 1745 and just to the west was a gibbet where serious miscreants were hung and left on display as a warning to others. Residents of Deptford and Greenwich could hire field glasses to view the corpses in gory detail.

There is a Chapel House Street today but the old chapel stood closer to Spindrift Avenue. The chapel was first mentioned in the twelfth century, perhaps from the period when the land was first drained. William of Pontefract built the chapel on land that became the Pomfret Estate. However, subsequent flooding led to decay and abandonment, though plenty was still in evidence during the 18th century. It became a farmhouse around this time and the leaseholder rebuilt it in brick.

In the 17th century there was pretty much nothing of substance on the Isle of Dogs, apart from a water gate here at Potter's Ferry. The roads seen on the above map probably date from around 1812 when created by the Poplar and Greenwich Ferry Roads Company who had sought an Act of Parliament to operate a horse-ferry between Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs. This service ceased in 1844 but tolls were still collected at the gates of the roads until May 1885.

The earliest documented evidence of a ferry between Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs occurs in a will of 1450. The ferry, along with land in Hackney and Stepney was granted to Thomas, Lord Wentworth by Edward VI in 1550. The earliest building close to the ferry is said to be a starch house connected to the flour-milling trade that flourished on the western side of the Isle of Dogs in the late 17th century. However, Samuel Pepys wrote of a ferry house in July 1665. The Starch House, perhaps doubling as the Ferry House, was certainly in existence during the early 18th century and occupied by Samuel Hart and his family. It is this structure that is said to have become or rebuilt as the Ferry House, the name of which was in use from around 1740. In 1749 a 55-year lease for the Ferry House was granted to William Brown, a Greenwich victualler.

Prize fights took place at the Ferry House Inn during the early 19th century. In one fight in April 1827 Bill Mason, a print-colourer went up against a plasterer named Warren. The journalist reporting on the contest was fairly uncharitable with his words, stating that "it was little more than an apology for prize-fighting. Two hours were frittered away between them over seventeen rounds, when the fight terminated in a wrangle, Mason, it was contended by the opposite party, had given a foul blow and Warrener was taken away." ⁹

Extract showing the Isle of Dogs from a map by William Faden.

In a real-life case akin to "Jarndyce and Jarndyce" in Bleak House, ownership of the Ferry House was contested in the courts during the late 1840s following fierce fighting in the pub. Robert Shepherd was the landlord and tenant of the house when William Blake Downing, a broker, of Goodman's Fields, entered the house with some 'heavies' to seize goods he said were owed due to non-payment of rent to the owner, Mary Ann MacDonald Pollard. One of Downing's gang was a man called Sheen who had been tried some years previously for cutting his child's head off. The potman and barmaid rallied to the publican's defence, probably helped by some of the patrons, and the invaders were ejected, some of them reportedly opening the windows in order to jump out and flee. This sounds like it was a most dramatic night in the Ferry House.¹⁰

Robert Shepherd was willing to pay his rent but not directly to Mary Ann MacDonald Pollard. He told the court that he was a tenant of Messrs. Larchin and Co., brewers, of Ratcliffe Cross. However, Pollard claimed to be the owner of the premises. In 1839, a gentleman named James Macdonald was the owner of a leasehold estate on the Isle of Dogs, of which the Ferry House occupied by Robert Shepherd formed part. It was stated that a gentleman residing in Poplar obtained judgment against Macdonald for £500, and to avoid payment Macdonald went abroad, having previously by deed, properly stamped and executed, in consideration of £1,999, sold the estate to Charles Francis Doyle. Some time afterwards Doyle died, having bequeathed the same property by will to his brother, who took possession, and granted, amongst others, a lease for the Ferry House Tavern to the brewer Henry Larchin. Mary Pollard asserted that she was the niece of Macdonald, who died, leaving the whole of the property to her. By now the magistrate probably had his head in his hands. The matter went to a superior court and the costs of the case amounted to a very considerable sum. The proceedings lasted for some 12 years.¹¹

In July 1864 Captain Griffiths, a 56-year-old master of the schooner Nimrod, moored off the Ferry stairs, was seen by several of his crew drinking in the Ferry House Inn. It would appear that the mariner had a tipple too many for it was reported when he left the tavern he was very tipsy. He walked along the relatively narrow plank in safety but when he went to vomit over the stern of the vessel he fell overboard and drowned.¹²

The opening of the Greenwich foot tunnel in 1902 was the final nail in the coffin for the foot ferry service. By this time, however, the Ferry House Inn enjoyed trade from the army of workers employed in the expanded industrialisation at Millwall. In more recent times the pub has had to adapt to a changing landscape and customer base.

The Ferry House generally has a beer on sale from the Brockley Brewery of South London. The brewery was established in a disused builder's workshop in Harcourt Road and the first beers were produced in March 2013. The pub often has Brockley Pale Ale on tap, the brewery's best-selling flagship ale which is full-bodied and bittered with a balanced bouquet of Kentish hops, giving an initial bittersweet taste, followed by hints of apricot. The Ferry House also sells a couple of keg beers from the Camden Brewery.

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Amid the homogeneity of Millwall's nondescript apartment blocks fragments of the old iron works can be seen at Burrell's Wharf Square, including the former Plate House. Developed in the mid-1830s, the Millwall Iron Works was one of the early industrial complexes to be built on the former meadowland of the Isle of Dogs once owned by the St. Martin-in-the-Fields haberdasher Simon Lemon. The ship-building works was started a decade later by the Scottish engineers William Fairbairn and David Napier. The works was acquired by a partnership headed by the aforementioned John Scott Russell in 1848. The business was highly successful until Isambard Kingdom Brunel came to him with plans for his enormous steam-powered steel vessel. The project was to be the ruin of Russell. The works was rescued and, under the management of the Welsh industrialist John Hughes, traded as the Millwall Iron Works, Ship Building & Graving Docks Company Ltd., which itself went pear-shaped in the Panic of 1866, a financial crisis that led to a great reduction in shipbuilding in London.

In 1888 Alfred E. Burrell acquired a central part of the old iron works. His colour and varnish-making firm was founded in 1852 and had established factories at Southwark, Mile End and Limehouse. The docks at Millwall facilitated the importing of raw materials for the new factory which, at first, was used solely for paint-making. The site was expanded over the years as the firm expanded into chemical colours produced for use in the making of paints, printing inks, plastics, rubber and paper. During the Second World War Burrell's produced a variety of chemicals for the government, including a constituent of flame-thrower fuel. The firm moved in 1986 as the land value had increased enormously during the redevelopment of the Isle of Dogs.¹³

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Just before Napier Avenue are what is thought to be the remains of the ramps used to launch the S.S. Great Eastern. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by John Scott Russell : Co. at Millwall Iron Works, the ship was a colossus of maritime history. The London Press said that the pair were building Noah's Ark. The ship was originally named the Leviathan, but the spiralling costs of construction and launching ruined the Eastern Steam Navigation Company. The ship, Brunel's final engineering project, lay half-completed on the dock for around a year before it was sold to the Great Eastern Ship Company. Accordingly, the vessel, dubbed "Great Babe" by Brunel, was officially renamed the Great Eastern. A pub near the dock also adopted this name.¹⁴

Scene at unsuccessful launch of SS Great Eastern, Isle of Dogs, 1858. Public Domain

The original launch was a disaster. The sheer weight of the vessel was a bugger to shift and the dignitaries invited to the launch, along with a great crowd of people, witnessed a non-event. Tragically, two men were killed and several others injured when the windlass at the stern was violently ripped around. This event led many to declare the Great Eastern as an unlucky ship. Brunel himself died before the maiden voyage of the SS Great Eastern. It was whilst the vessel was being fitted out that he collapsed from a stroke in September 1859 after being photographed on the deck. The SS Great Eastern was unique at the time for being launched sideways from the slipway. In many respects, it did turn out to be an unlucky ship. When it failed as a passenger liner it was used to lay cables, playing a key role in the Transatlantic telegraph cable connection of 1866. The vessel suffered some ignominy when it was later used as a floating music hall. Worse was to follow as SS Great Britain ended up as an advertising hoarding in the River Mersey. The ship was broken up in 1889.¹⁴

It was only an extra 886.57 metres extra distance from the tunnel portal - and, of course, 886.57 metres back. So, not too much of a detour for some bonus sites of interest. We picked up the Thames Path through Island Gardens, an area once known as Scrap Iron Park. The north tower of the foot tunnel was close to Johnson's Draw Dock and the Victoria Iron Works. There are good views of the Old Royal Naval College and Greenwich from the gardens.

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At one time there were a gazillion pubs on the Isle of Dogs but most of the taverns that served the needs of dock workers have vanished. Many of the public-houses had names associated with the river and sea but others such as the Gut House, Folly House Tavern, Vulcan and Windmill commemorated land-based buildings and activities. Crossing the old divide between Millwall and Cubitt Town, both in South Poplar, the first of the surviving public-houses we encountered was the Great Eastern, a boozer that formerly traded as the Waterman's Arms but was originally called the Newcastle Arms.

Erected as part of a planned development by William Cubitt, the Newcastle Arms is thought to have opened in 1853, around the same time as the Newcastle Draw Dock. Early customers could have checked on progress of Christ Church across the road. The building, paid for by William Cubitt, was designed by Frederick Johnstone,¹⁵ It was completed in 1854 but was not consecrated by the Bishop of London until January 1857.¹⁶ Perhaps the clergyman thought he would wait until more people had settled in the new town? The Newcastle Arms was certainly mentioned in 1853 when George Henry Wood, step-son of the publican, William Harris, was charged with stealing a horse.¹⁷

One of the great master builders of the 1830s, William Cubitt constructed Covent Garden, the Fishmongers' Hall and the portico and original station buildings at Euston. Towards the end of the 1840s, he poured his energy into politics. In 1847 he was elected a Sheriff of London and Middlesex and, at the same time, he became MP for his home town of Andover. He served as Lord Mayor of London in 1860-61 and was re-elected in 1861-62. He died in 1863 at the age of 72.¹⁸

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

Published in 1895, this map extract shows the fully-developed area around the Newcastle Arms. Abutting the south-west wall of the dock was Cumberland Mills, a processing facility of Nicholay, Graham & Armstrong, established by 1857.¹⁹ In November 1861, probably because of overloading but perhaps due to a construction fault, the flooring of the upper floor gave way under the weight of the oil seed. The seeds poured down upon fifteen people working on the floor below. Most managed to escape but four poor souls were suffocated in the seed.²⁰ The men were later named - William Gilham, John Gilham, Thomas Gilham and Charles Nye. Looking at the cenus I think William was the father of Thomas Gilham, John being his brother.²¹ The subsequent inquiry was held in the Newcastle Arms during which the jurors stated that the builders generally should use wrought-iron corbels instead of cast-iron.²²

Extract from page 3 of the "East End News and London Shipping Chronicle" published on January 22nd, 1904.

The most notable period of the Newcastle Arms was the early 1960s when the biographer and television journalist, Daniel Farson, acquired the pub, changed the name to the Waterman's Arms and revived the music hall tradition and atmosphere in a lavishly-appointed room.

Later described as mythomaniacal by the Independent newspaper, Farson was something of a celebrity during his Bohemian days in Soho during the 1950s. His connections enabled him to attract top performers such as Shirley Bassey. For a brief spell the pub was the place to be seen. Actors and gangsters rubbed shoulders in the packed house that would later feature in films and television, most notably when Bob Hoskins propped up the bar in "The Long Good Friday," a film which flirted with a sub-plot of criminals and gangsters profiting from the displacement of traditional dockland industries during large-scale redevelopment. Regardless of the accuracy of this part of the film's plot, this movie is worth watching to see how the local landscape has changed over the years.

1965 LP Cover : Kim Cordell : "I Sing In A Pub" with cover art from the Waterman's Arms.

This is the front cover of a record by Kim Cordell who can be seen performing in the Waterman's Arms. The Clacton-born singer became a well-known figure on the British variety, club and pub circuit during this period. Inevitably, the bubble burst and Dan Farson lost most of his investment in the business. But for a few years, this pub enjoyed some great times.

Daniel Farson : "Never A Normal Man" [HarperCollins 1997]

If you want to read more about this publican who lived a singular life. an autobiography was published in 1997. His CV would extend to several sheets of paper, including National Service in the US Army Air Corps, staff photographer for "Picture Post," merchant seaman, television personality and food critic. There are also reminiscences on the Kray twins. For example, when living in this area they provided him with a live-in minder against burglars. This was none other than Edward "Mad Teddy" Smith.

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We cycled along the north-east side of Newcastle Draw Dock to rejoin the Thames Path. Here there was a memorial embedded within a relatively recent wall, part of the housing development on the former Grosvenor Wharf. I took the photograph thinking I could research it when returning home. However, I have not found why, what or when online. It appears to be a memorial to somebody lost at sea, or to the widow who lost a husband at sea. I think this may have been part of the landscaping around the dock undertaken in 1997. I suspect that the stone memorial was removed from the site of a church or chapel demolished around this time. Or perhaps it was retained from a building bombed during World War 2. To the left of the kneeling woman there is a small stone that reads : "Re-Erected 1882 F. W. Gunning, Builder." It is possible that this is not related to the memorial stone. So, I went in search of F. W. Gunning and found that the builder lived for many years at 27 Swaton Road at Bow. His name was Frank William Gunning. He was present at the front of a meeting held at Limehouse Town Hall during December 1882, the gathering "promoting the ventilation of the grievance in relation to the disturbances of tomb stones in the Bow Cemetery, designated as not only a desecration of the dead, but an insult to the living." ²³ This would suggest he was engaged in work for the local authority and churches. Intriguing. If anyone knows more about this memorial please get in touch.

Following the Thames Path we cycled into an area known as Saunders Ness, another name that was in use by the 16th century. It is difficult to visualise the place of old as everything has seemingly vanished. The old streets laid out by William Cubitt were lined with sturdy terraced housing. We were not enamoured by some of the replacement housing stock. Cubitt's planned industrial development of the foreshore has also vanished. Where it was once easy to identify how people earned their peas, one now wonders who does what in this place. The old soundscape of the Isle of Dogs has also been lost. As for the smell of industry - that is so 20th century.

The remains of the Cubitt Town Dry Dock can still be determined. Some of the old wharves are also remembered in street names. Dudgeon's Wharf was leased to John and William Dudgeon, engineers and boiler makers. However, following the collapse of the firm the site became an oil and petrol storage facility, with a number of tanks along the foreshore. At this former wharf there stands a memorial to five firemen and one civilian who died in July 1969 when a 20,000 gallon tank of turpentine exploded. In the worst incident since the Second World War, it took 60 firemen to bring the fire under control. It was reported that the civilian had been working with an oxy-acetylene torch on the top of the tank when a small fire broke out. The local fire engine had seemingly extinguished the fire when the tank suddenly exploded hurling some people 60 yards onto the foreshore.²⁴

We crossed the entrance to South Dock and headed into Blackwall, a term thought to derive from the colour of the ancient river wall. It is possible to find fragments of the past here but, like the rest of the Isle of Dogs, so much has been lost. Even the house of Sir Walter Raleigh was demolished during construction of the Blackwall Tunnel which - and here is one for Nigel Farage and the Brexiteers - was largely built by immigrant labour.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

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A flavour of old Blackwall can still be captured in Cold Harbour where there is a public-house called The Gun. Sometimes a pub has to adapt to survive and this is exemplified by this Fuller's house in Cold Harbour. Those who patronised this docker's and stevedore's boozer back in the day would probably dislike the character of the place in the 21st century but at least it is still trading, albeit gentrified to the max. Although there is a small bar area, The Gun essentially exists to offer an upmarket dining experience. The conversation is no longer centred on cranes, rope-making, metal-bashing and cheap fags but more likely to follow the fortunes of the money markets. However, what is completely undeniable is the extremely warm welcome afforded to us during our visit.

The Merchants' Plan of the London Docks, by D. Alexander, 1796

There is a large history panel on the front wall of The Gun on which it states: "there has been a pub on this site for over 250 years, the area being home to the dockside iron foundries which produced the guns for the Royal Naval fleets." The house had a number of names before the sign was allegedly changed "to celebrate the cannon that was fired to celebrate the opening of the West India Import Docks in 1802." Sounds feasible and I might have gone along with it but I notice that the building was marked as the Gun Tavern on a Merchants' Plan of the London Docks by D. Alexander in 1796. Indeed, the pub's name was changed to the Gun Tavern by 1771. The old premises were erected on a road that led south from Blackwall Stairs. The road was almost certainly laid out on an ancient footpath that crossed the former marshland.

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Erected on an estate owned by the Hall family, the pub is thought to have been built in the second decade of the 18th century and, by 1722, was trading as the King and Queen. The inn sign was changed to the Rose and Crown and in the mid-1740s became known as the Ramsgate Pink, changing in 1771 to The Gun.²⁵

The Hall family were forced to sell the freehold of the estate in 1750 and it was acquired by George Stevens, a retired East India captain. The last owner of the estate was Sir Robert Preston, a director of the East India Dock Company, before it was broken up in the early 19th century. An auction for the freehold of the Gun Tavern was held in June 1810. A notice for the auction listed George North, deceased, as the owner, the premises being leased to Mark Hodson. The particulars stated that the house "possessed every requisite convenience for carrying on the business to almost any extent, and contains numerous sleeping-rooms, two very pleasant summer-rooms, large parlours, convenient kitchen, roomy bar, tap-room, wash-house, excellent cellaring, large yard, good stabling, with hay-lofts and out-buildings." ²⁶

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Some of the original tavern probably lurks beneath a revamp of the building in the mid-1870s. A building plan dated 1870 suggests that the early tavern occupied the ground-floor single-storey structure to the left of today's main building which was put up around 1875. This has a façade of painted brick with rusticated quoins. The cornice and frieze was continued along what was probably the original tavern. Why this is a single-storey structure is unclear. If this is what happened at the Gun Tavern then the bedroom that is said to have been used by Lord Nelson for intimate naughtiness with Lady Emma Hamilton has long gone.

The history panel on the exterior also states : "The Gun has a long association with smugglers landing contraband on this site and distributing it via a hidden tunnel. To this day there is still a spy-hole in the secret circular staircase to watch out for the revenue men." Wandering around the ground floor I was taken by the large collection of pistols and guns on display. I would not fancy tucking one of these down my trousers in order to thwart a customs officer about to nab me for smuggling. One wrong move and it would be a case of instant gender reassignment.

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Unlike many other old pubs in the locality, The Gun does not look incongruous within its surroundings because the neighbouring terraced housing on what was South Dock Terrace has also survived. The cranes provide a welcome sense of continuity in the neighbourhood. The houses were erected at the end of the 1880s on a site that formed part of the pier head alongside the entrance to the South Dock - hence the name. The developer was William Warren, an estate agent who engaged the Plaistow builder George Larman to construct the buildings. Early occupiers of the houses paid a weekly rent of 8s. 6d. The blue collar workers who paid these rents would be staggered to learn that these relatively small properties in the early 21st century exchanged hands for around £600,000. Being a low-paid member of the lower orders, I have no idea how people afford the prices of property in the London area. Not everyone earns a fortune in the ivory towers? Having said that, you need a few bob to wine and dine at The Gun where a Chateaubriand Steak will set you back £58. A starter plate of Linguini is £15.50p.

A fire broke out in the Gun Tavern in 1828 but the quick actions of the watchman, together with the publican, Mr. Ferguson, extinguished the flames before the whole house went up. In the end only the tap-room required repairs.²⁷ In the following year the Gun Tavern had new competition for trade when Samuel Lovegrove erected the West India Dock Tavern across the street. Costing in the region of £8,000, a very considerable sum in those days, it was a large edifice of three storeys and nine bays. It is worth telling the story of Samuel Lovegrove as he was one of London's great entrepreneurs of the early 19th century.

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Samuel Lovegrove was born in Oxfordshire around 1781. It was reported that his parents, James and Martha, kept a tavern whilst farming in Buckinghamshire but records suggest that they lived at Holton in Oxfordshire. It is true that his mother, Martha Parrott, hailed from Buckinghamshire. She was the daughter of a substantial yeoman of that county. After helping out in the family business, Samuel Lovegrove moved to London where he became a waiter at the Three Cups Inn, a tavern of Aldersgate Street, kept by William Scott Smith. He learned the art of running a successful tavern and during his term became the head waiter. He took a similar position at the St. Paul's Coffee House, the proprietor also running the London Coffee House. Having gained the nouse of running such an establishment he set up on his own account by taking the Horn Tavern on Godlyman Street. He kept this house with his wife Kezia. Through careful management the couple elevated the status of the house, increased its trade dramatically and also the value of the lease. Before leaving the Horn, Samuel Lovegrove became lessee of the Crown and Sceptre, a very fashionable house at Greenwich. He also developed his business as a wine and spirit merchant. It was while at Greenwich he built the West India Dock Tavern. He occupied the house for about six years, and upon the failure of John Leech, he took the London Coffee House. He shortly after became lessee of the Brunswick Coffee House, built by the East India Dock Company. Up to the time of his death, he was the proprietor of the last three named establishments. He entertained many influential people and dined with the lord mayor. As a councillor and publican, he became a well-known member of society.²⁹

One journalist writing for the London Weekly Times, described a visit to the West India Dock Tavern during the spring bank holiday of 1832 ... "In the course of our holiday rambles, we did not neglect to call on our old friend - the public's favourite - Lovegrove, at the Crown and Sceptre, at Greenwich. We found the house in its usual order - the attendants, as they always are, civil and attentive, the refreshments, viands, and wines the best of their kind; but we looked in vain for the good-humoured smiling countenance of our worthy host. Enquiries as to the cause of his absence were natural on our parts, and the explanation which we received informed us that he was on the opposite shore, superintending his splendid establishment, the West India Dock Tavern. Having heard much of the magnificence of this establishment, and wishing to try if the white bait was on the Middlesex shore equal in flavour to that which we had frequently tasted on the Kentish banks, we crossed the water; and on landing near the West India Docks, was received by our worthy host with one of his usual courteous salutations and smiles of welcome, and straightway ushered into the Tavern, of the interior accommodations of which we made a minute inspection, and soon found that the reports which we had heard of its facilities for affording comfort and accommodation fell far short of the reality. For beauty of situation, for the views which are presented from the various apartments, for the extended prospects on the opposite shore, and the comprehensive scope of river scenery which meets the eye, there is nothing on the banks of old Father Thames eastward between London Bridge and the Pier at Margate which can approach, much less vie with it, in the temptations which it holds out to the visitor during the summer season. The house itself contains a splendid room for the accommodation of large public companies; whilst lesser apartments present all the conveniences and comforts of a domestic circle to private parties; and an extensive garden, tastefully laid-out, offers a source of enjoyment not usually to be found in houses situate within so short a distance of the metropolis. To a11 these charms we may add, that the white-bait is indeed a tempting bait, the wines generous, and the punch inspiring; the whole characteristic of the liberality of its spirited proprietor, who, by activity, attention, and an almost princely expenditure of capital, has, within a space of not more than two summers, as it were by magic, created this delightful spot." ³⁰

The Booksellers' Provident Institution held their dinners at the house of Samuel Lovegrove. The members included most of the principal publishers, booksellers, printers, and stationers of London. Little wonder that the host was so well known in the city. And check out the guest list for the Ministerial Dinner held at the tavern in August 1833 ...

Extract from Page 3 of the "Morning Post" published on Monday August 19th, 1833.

The West India Dock Tavern also hosted white-bait suppers for VIPs such as Lord Morpeth and the Duke of Wellington.³ With the West India Dock Tavern becoming a fashionable hot-spot, one can only wonder what the people running The Gun made of it all. Mind you, they possibly enjoyed additional footfall - or boat traffic - as a result of the presence of the charismatic Samuel Lovegrove luring his circle of friends to Blackwall. Forming a company, including his son, Messrs. Lovegrove expanded their business interests. This included the Salt Hill Hotel at Cork.³² Quite how the logistics of this worked is a mystery. However, back in Blackwall, it would seem that Samuel Lovegrove was the West India Dock Tavern and, following his death in 1840, the fortunes of the establishment gradually waned.

Extract from Page 8 of the "Morning Herald" published on Wednesday March 3rd, 1841.

The executors of Samuel Lovegrove's will offered the lease of the tavern in March 1841. The auction notice [above] details the pleasure gardens of the West India Dock Tavern, along with other surrounding land. Interestingly, the lease of The Gun was part of this sale. The dwelling house mentioned was, for a time, used as the residence of the harbour master.

Perhaps Samuel Lovegrove was too much of an act to follow and it proved difficult to find a tenant. The West India Dock Tavern did continue and, by all accounts, was still a favoured destination for important bodies. For example in 1846, under the stewardship of one of the sons, the tavern hosted a testimonial to Rowland Hill, creator of the penny post. The post-match report stated that the guests had "an evening very pleasantly spent in the enjoyment of Mr. Lovegrove's refined cookery and choice wines ... the whole arrangements were excellent, and the studious attention to the palates of the guests was not a little heightened by the beautiful position of the tavern, and the fine view which its commands of the river and the surrounding country." ³³

That evening was one of the last big events at the West India Dock Tavern. Later that year, in November, the contents of the house were sold at auction. Absolutely everything was to be knocked down by the auctioneer's hammer, including the furniture, beds, mahogany dining-tables, 250 mahogany chairs in sets, Grecian suspending lamps, chandeliers, Brussels carpets, assemblage of rich cut-glass, table cutlery, 450 dozen of choice wines, a spring-cart, and even the greenhouse plants.²⁴ I believe the building stood empty for a few years until it was stripped of everything else to be sold in May 1852 at auction, including kitchen stoves, mahogany counters, copper cisterns and pipes, along with the trees in the grounds - a complete clearance prior to the demolition of the tavern.³⁵ Some of the mahogany furniture and fittings must be still knocking around, perhaps in another London tavern?

Of the sons, Edward Lovegrove became a stockbroker but died suddenly, aged 36, not long after the clearance of the West India Dock Tavern. Samuel focused all his efforts on the London Coffee House. And so the lifespan of the West India Dock Tavern was very short-lived. It is an extraordinary story of how it rose quickly to become a favoured resort for the gentry only to fall into decline in less than two decades.

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Meanwhile, back at The Gun ... the tavern once had a skittles alley and it was the venue for a wager between the licensee Evan Jones and the publican of the Steam Packet at Limehouse Causeway in January 1888. The two landlords played for £5 and a spread to be laid on for patrons of each house, many of whom worked in the brewery trade as they were described as "Brothers of The Bung". Unfortunately for Evan Jones, his opponent A. Wooten, played well and gained 7 chalks to the host's 4.³⁶

In September 1895 a regular customer of the Gun Tavern was found drowned in the South West India Dock. At the subsequent inquiry Eliza Jones, daughter of the aforementioned Evan Jones, stated that German-born Edward Meggenhoffen had been a patron of the Gun Tavern for around five years. The music teacher had taught her sister. The landlord's daughter stated : "that on Thursday morning he came into the bar with his face bleeding and in a trembling condition." He told Eliza Jones that he had had a fall. She served him with whisky, and he left. About eight o'clock that morning she heard that his body had been found in the dock. When the music teacher's clothing was searched the only articles found were two tuning instruments and a piece of paper, on which the names of several pieces of music were written. An open verdict was returned.²⁷

The Gun stocks a wide range of Fuller's beers. Bohemian Way, a limited edition pale gold citrus beer was on tap, along with Sticky Wicket, a summer ale that was only supposed to be sold between May and July but, unlike the England team, remained at the crease in September for The Ashes. The pale ale combines English and Australian ingredients in a tropical-flavoured ale featuring grapefruit and lychee notes. The official brewer's notes state that "Sticky Wicket is brewed to 4.7% ABV, and opens with a pale gold pour and the appealing aromas of fruity hops. On the palate, the Topaz hop adds a resinous grassy flavour with gentle hints of lychee, while the Ella hop hits the winning runs with tropical grapefruit notes and a subtle spicy finish."

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Hardly the stuff of Paris-Roubaix's Trouée d'Arenberg, the bumpy cobbles of Cold Harbour made a decent effort of shaking our bones a bit. It was tempting to ride on the pavement. However, it is great that a small part of an old Blackwall thoroughfare survives. Further to the north on the same side of the street as The Gun there is a small fragment of another public-house. The above photograph shows some brown glazed brickwork, probably the remains of a pilaster or column favoured by the large brewers when pub frontages were altered or built in the Victorian and Edwardian periods. In this case Watney Combe & Reid, a company operating from the Stag Brewery in Pimlico, ordered a rebuild of the front section of the Fishing Smack Inn during 1893.

The original building on this site dated from the mid-18th century and was known as the Fisherman's Arms. The inn sign had changed by 1808 for it was reported on August 1st that: "as a young woman, a servant in the Fishing Smack public-house, Cold Harbour, Blackwall, was standing on the steps leading to the river, she was so much alarmed by a flash of lightning, that she fell in the river and was unfortunately drowned." ³⁸

Cold Harbour, Blackwall by Charles Napier Henry [1896]

The Fishing Smack Inn was a tall weather-boarded building from where it is claimed Charles Dickens drew inspiration for some of his characters whilst sampling stout beer with oysters, the latter brought to London from smacks sailing out of Great Yarmouth - hence the change in name to the Fishing Smack Inn. A Dickensian flavour of the house can be perceived in the above painting by Charles Napier Henry that dates from 1896.

Insurance Plan of London Vol. xi: Sheet 359 by Chas E. Goad Limited showing the Fishing Smack Inn on Cold Harbour.

The Fishing Smack Inn did not seemingly enjoy bumper trade. The licensee, Greenwich-born Frederick Hobbs, had to find other work to keep his family. He worked as a draughtsman in addition to running the establishment. His daughter Mabel would later become licensee during the Edwardian period. Trade fell away and eventually the pub closed. The building is thought to have been demolished in 1948.³⁹

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A few doors from the remnant of the Fishing Smack Inn stands Nelson House [the yellow painted building in the above photograph]. This had been two separate properties but amalgamated into one residence in 1820-1 by the coal merchant Samuel Granger. Following his death, the East and West India Dock Company purchased the property from his widow in 1861. The house was subsequently used as a dockmaster's residence. A local myth pervades that the house was used by Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton as a late-night tryst but, whilst the titillating tales are amusing, they are without foundation.

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No.1 Cold Harbour, also known as Isle House, was designed by John Rennie for the West India Dock Company in 1825-6 and also served as a dockmaster's residence. It replaced a house built only fifteen years earlier but had been compromised by poor construction and was being held up by braces. The site had earlier been occupied by two dilapidated properties. The first occupant of the house was the Blackwall Dockmaster Captain Thomas Harrison.³⁹

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After crossing the New Blackwall Entrance and to get around the Northumberland Wharf Waste Transfer Station, we cycled along Yabsley Street and rejoined the Thames Path which runs on boards past new glass and steel structures. Our diversion, of course, meant that it was not possible to roll our wheels over the sites of former famous taverns close to Blackwell Stairs, all of which were demolished to make way for the Blackwall Tunnel and a goods station for the railway. One of the most celebrated of the riverside inns at Blackwall was the Artichoke Tavern, a house built around 1731 and famous for its whitebait suppers.

Charles Dickens was one of many who came to Blackwall to enjoy a repast at the Artichoke or one of the neighbouring inns on the riverfront, including the Plough, George, Britannia and King's Arms. Of the locality, Dickens wrote: "Hemmed in by the whitebait taverns, is Green's ship-yard. A notable old place this; more so, than any other private shipyard, perhaps, in this country. It is no small thing that, for a period of two hundred years, there has been little if any cessation in the making of foothooks and keelsons, bowsprits and sternposts, ribs and beams, decks and masts, in this identical spot; and all for and by private owners. First, there was a Sir Henry Johnson, who, in the time of Oliver Cromwell, was owner of this yard, and who it seems to have been a great benefactor to the neighbouring village of Poplar. Then, throughout the reigns of Charles the Second, James the Second, and William and Mary, the shipyard maintained its importance, under the ownership, first of one Sir William Johnson, and then of another."

Blackwall, London 1872 by Charles Napier Henry [© Museum of London]

In the mid-18th century Peter Lord, landlord of the Artichoke Tavern, made several improvements to his establishment. These included the opening of a Long Room which he advertised as "a fine place for seeing the ships launched." A later painting by Charles Napier Henry [above] shows the sort of view that could be enjoyed from the tavern. For hundreds of years the Blackwall Yard was the centre of considerable ship building and ship repair work and many notable vessels were launched from here. Some of these ships were commissioned by Samuel Pepys when the yard was operated by the shipwright Sir Henry Johnson.

Competing for trade with The Plough, the Artichoke Tavern remained a popular establishment during the time of Dickens and a small army of staff were required to keep the place ticking over. It became a Charrington's house until acquired by the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1888. The building was subsequently demolished for the construction of the Blackwall Tunnel.

Our journey along the Thames Path here was only a few hundred metres as the Radisson Blu Hotel and the new Reuters Building have fenced it off. The latter was erected on the partially filled-in Upper Graving Dock, the last of the Blackwall Yard complex to close in 1989. I realise that things move on and the landscape has to be re-used but it is hard to get any sense of the considerable maritime history of Blackwall Yard when every fragment has been removed. Other dockyard sites around the UK tend to preserve the odd relic which helps people comprehend its timeline or sense of history.

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Well, being as we were having to go around the new Reuters Building, we thought it would be good to have more fun with the Prime Meridian. So, we pedalled towards the East India Station on the Docklands Light Railway. Cycle underneath the railway and the Prime Meridian can be seen on Tower 1 of the Elektron Building. A metal strip within the cladding runs all the way up the tower and down the other side. However, it is not exactly on the Prime Meridian as the laser beam projected during the night from the Royal Observatory misses the building by some centimetres!

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We returned to the river along the Thames Path and Meridian Walk that leads to a compass point. This is where the Brunswick Hotel stood next to the Brunswick Stairs. I know this because the building, according to a newspaper article dated 1930, was situated on the Prime Meridian and a mark to indicate this was cut on the parapet under the direction of the Astronomer Royal.³⁴

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The Brunswick Hotel was another of the 'whitebait taverns' favoured by the likes of Dickens. It was erected by the East India Company for the use of officers and passengers using their ships. In 1837 it was tenanted by Samuel Lovegrove, the aforementioned entrepreneur who operated the West India Docks Tavern in Cold Harbour.⁴¹ He pitched the Brunswick Hotel at affluent patrons and fitted up the building in style. Long after his death, the fortunes of the hotel declined. Indeed, the whitebait trend went out of fashion. The business closed in 1873 and the building served as an emigrants' depot for the New Zealand Government. It was from here that many sailed for a new life on the other side of the world. In the Edwardian period the former hotel was used as children's convalescent home before conversion into a barracks during the First World War. The building was demolished in 1930.

The site of the Brunswick Hotel formed part of the land used to construct the Brunswick Wharf Power Station, a landmark structure from 1947 to 1989. The power station was built on the site of the East India Export Dock in stages between 1946 and 1956. The remainder of the dock was in-filled and later developed. The entrance basin remains as a wildlife refuge and we headed towards it along the Thames Path.

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The Thames Path follows what was formerly Brunswick Wharf and Brunswick Pier, the latter being in front of the London and Blackwall Railway Terminus. All traces of this have gone but, hang on folks, there is a pub story here involving the restored Virginia Settlers' Memorial which stands on the opposite side of the river from the O2 Arena. Unveiled in 1928, the original memorial plaque, commemorating the voyage of three ships that left near this spot in 1606 to create the first permanent English settlement in North America, was mounted on the wall of an old public-house called the Railway Tavern.⁴² The building seen to the right of the above photograph is roughly where the Railway Tavern stood.

The Railway Tavern was built by the dock company at the eastern end of the railway terminus in 1844. It was seen to be an altenative refreshment house to the rather exclusive Brunswick Hotel. The tavern was even designed by the dock company's surveyors and, when erected, was leased to Samuel Lovegrove Jr. The family would be monopolising trade at the quay, wharf and terminus! Unfortunately, following complaints from ship owners that the Railway Tavern 'encouraged drunkenness in sailors,' the place was closed down in 1871. Although several alternative uses were considered, including conversion into a river police station, the building became a dockmaster's house. Damaged in the Blitz, the former tavern, along with the extensive remains of the station were demolished in 1947.

The bronze plaque which had been mounted on the wall of the building was saved. It had originally been commissioned by the Association for the Preservation of the Virginia Antiquities. Erected in 1951 by the Port of London Authority, a new memorial, designed by the Ulster-born sculptor Harold Brown, included the original bronze plaque. A replica of his work was actually shown in the previous year at the Port of London Authority's stand at the United States International Trade Fair at Chicago. The above Pathé film clip recorded the unveiling of the memorial by the U.S. Ambassador Walter S. Gifford. The memorial stood 18 feet 6 inches high and consisted of a granite base, hewn from the old quay wall of the historic West India Docks, on which was mounted the original commemorative plaque, and the whole was surmounted by the bronze figure of a mermaid in a sea-shell, riding the waves of the Atlantic. It was reported that the sculptor had to use four different models for the mermaid, the difficulty being to find a model with very long hair! ⁴²

Over the years the monument was vandalised and the mermaid stolen. Barratt Homes, the developers of the housing here, commissioned a new monument. Unveiled in September 1999, the memorial stands in a new position and the mermaid was replaced by a mariner's astrolabe designed by Wendy Taylor. It was presumed that the bronze mermaid had been melted down for scrap but, incredibly, it turned up at an auction in 2007. The owner, Alan Marks, told reporters that he bought it from a man in Hatfield Heath some 15 years previously and used it as a display piece in his back garden. In redeveloping the area into Virginia Quay and spending some £90,000 rebuilding the monument, Barratt Homes were not interested in acquiring the piece. I wonder where the mermaid lives today?

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We crossed the Grade II-listed lock gates of the East India Dock Basin, the only intact part of the former East India Docks complex. The gates were refurbished in 1997 and I assume this is when the foot and cycle crossing was installed - we are grateful for such work. Allowing larger vessels access to the docks complex, the entrance lock was opened in August 1879 as part of an extension to the dock. The works added six acres of water space with two long warehouses. The gates and hydraulic machines at the entrance, along with the hyrdraulic quay cranes, were constructed by the East Ferry Road Engineering Company Limited. The first vessel to pass through the new entrance was the 385ft-long steamship, Cuzco. ⁴³

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In terms of maritime history and industrial archaeology there is not much to see at the East India Dock Basin. The water level was extremely low and was almost mud. Trying to envisage the scene in its heyday it was rather pitiful. The docks were constructed between 1803 and 1806 and were the third set of wet docks built on the Thames in the early 19th century. Founded in 1600, the East India Company shipped valuable goods from the East to the Thames. It was a rich, powerful and well organised body using the largest ships that frequented the Port of London. At its height, the company accounted for half of the world's trade, particularly in commodities such as cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, spices, saltpetre, tea, and opium. A legacy of the company is that it stimulated the growth of the British Empire. Depending on your political and ethical views, this had either a great or terrible impact on the lesser-developed world. Ports such as Bristol and Liverpool have acknowledged the darker side of their history but this is not so palpable in London's docklands.

Many plants on the shore of the northern edge of the basin are salt marsh species that have evolved to cope with the high levels of salt and regular inundation by water on the highest tides. This kind of habitat is very rare in south-east England, where most shore that would develop salt marsh have been heavily engineered to allow boats the access the land or to grant permission to building right up to the water's edge. The East India Dock Basin now enjoys a new lease of life as a wildlife sanctuary where Kingfishers can be seen, along with occasional Black Redstarts and nesting Common Terns. However, all we spotted was a gang of herons. We were quite excited by this as they didn't give two hoots about us and sat in the trees, chilled out, ready for the next feeding session.

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From the East India Dock Basin we took a path to Orchard Place where many moons ago there was the Steampacket, Crown, Trinity Arms and the Orchard Place Tavern. All of these pubs would have served the employees of the Thames Iron Works, Graving Dock Ship-Building Yard, the cement works and a large cooperage. We headed eastwards to the end of the Leamouth Peninsula. Well, we couldn't miss out a peninsula! Besides, there was a good reason to cycle into Trinity Buoy Wharf as it is the site of London's only lighthouse. We like lighthouses, particularly when they contain an audio arts project. Would it be open? We do not have a good record when it comes to such luck and, lo and behold, Bow Creek Lighthouse was closed.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

There are other things to see at Trinity Buoy Wharf, particularly a shed in which there are exhibits relating to Michael Faraday's work. It was at this location that he carried out the first experiments in electric lighting for lighthouses.

The purpose of Bow Creek Lighthouse was not the familiar one of maritime navigation but to experiment and develop lighting for the network of lighthouses and lightships maintained by Trinity House, the official authority for lighthouses in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar. The organisation was once formally known as The Master Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St. Clement in the Parish of Deptford Strond in the County of Kent so it easy to see why an abbreviation was applied!

At one time there were two lighthouses at Trinity Buoy Wharf. An earlier structure was built in 1854 but demolished in the late 1920s. This was the building used by Faraday, scientific advisor to Trinity House, to pioneer electric lighting for the South Foreland Lighthouse in Kent. The present lighthouse was built in 1864, and like the older building, was used to test maritime lighting equipment, including the red and white flashes for the Wolf Rock Light in 1869. The roof space adjoining the present lighthouse housed Faraday's workshop for examining lenses and other apparatus.

Another key role of the experimental lighthouse was as a training facility to teach lighthouse-keepers. The lighthouse is now home to Long Player, a unique sound installation by Jem Finer and Artangel. It features a twenty minute recording of the sound of Tibetan "singing bowls," continuously repeated, and infinitely varied by a computer programme which ensures that the same sequence of sound will never be heard more than once in a thousand years. Look, I have to completely honest, it does not float my boat but check out the video link below for a flavour of the sound. I love some of the comments though, such as "wait for the bass drop in 2751, its fire bruh..." or "So in 3000, will there be a Long Player Remix?"

Blimey, it was late morning already and we had only covered a few kilometres. Just time for tea and cake at the Orchard Café where the service is rather arsey. Still, the view is interesting next to the lightship and the toilets are extraordinarily clean considering there is an army of construction workers milling around the place.

The only way over Bow Creek and the River Lea is the busy A1020 but there is a dedicated cycle path so it is perfectly safe. As this website adheres to the old Borough boundaries we were also leaving London and heading into Essex. Apart from a small anomaly at North Woolwich, the rest of this journey to West Thurrock is in Essex. I was pretty horrified at the loss of so many pubs in the Canning Town area. Whole streets have simply disappeared. We rolled along Dock Road towards Silvertown, a settlement that gained its name from the factories established by the London merchant Stephen William Silver. However, the chief industry in the 21st century is that of the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery so perhaps there is an argument for the place to be called Silver Spoon Town. The pong of a sugar refinery is probably preferable to that of the rubber works of S. W. Silver. Of course, he did not have to endure this himself for he lived in style at York Gate, the entrance to Regent's Park. His Silvertown works developed into the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Cable Company.

Silvertown, along with Canning Town, attracted more smelly industries such as a manure and chemical works, along with paraffin and oil storage depots. The large workforces required to operate the factories resulted in dense housing and lots of public-houses, fostering a tight-knit community. Badly damaged during World War 2, much of old Silvertown has vanished in regeneration projects that has seen new apartments and housing being erected. The old street patterns have changed considerably.

© Image supplied by Husk Brewing in 2019. DO NOT COPY

We rode along Dock Road at West Silvertown but did not see any activity at the railway arches on the North Woolwich Road where Husk Brewing are based. We were hoping for a sneaky peak and maybe a taster from this small family-owned brewery established in 2015 by Chris van der Vyver and his partner Martha. The tap room is only open on Friday and Saturday between 17.00hrs and 23.00hrs so we were just hoping that somebody would be around. They supplied me with the above photograph of the tap room to give you a sense of how it looks. The couple are running the place with a sound ethos - for example, they are initiating a work experience programme for local young people with disabilities and establishing a monthly home-brewing club. Husk Brewing has a core range of six beers with seasonal brews throughout the year.

UPDATE : This brewery has since moved a short distance away in part of the Factory Project at the Thameside Industrial Estate.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

Lurking under the concrete of the DLR railway on the opposite side of the road is the former Ram Tavern, a pub rebuilt and operated by Truman, Hanbury & Buxton Co. Ltd. In more recent times it was converted into a nightclub specialising in Afrobeats which sounds rather exciting. This was one of many pubs on Dock Road and North Woolwich Road. Upsetting the publicans of the City Arms and the Bell and Anchor, who feared competition for trade, an application for a licence was submitted by Morrison Longlands in September 1867. By 1870 the original Ram Tavern was being run by Southampton-born Arthur John Bennett. In fact, he kept the house for the rest of the 19th century. One of the largest pubs was the aforementioned Bell and Anchor which stood close to the swing bridge that crossed the waterway linking the tidal basin of Royal Victoria Dock with the River Thames. The swing bridge created problems for the road to Woolwich Ferry and led to the construction of the elevated Silvertown Way, one of the earliest urban flyovers in the UK.

© Photo by Greenwich Time After Time and reproduced with kind permission.

More industry was established at Silvertown and by the First World War the shoreline of the Thames was lined with factories. As part of a clean-up for new residential development, one of the most impressive land conversion schemes has been undertaken near the Thames Barrier. A large park was opened on the site of a petrochemical and acid works in November 2000, making it London's largest new riverside park for over 50 years. The park is the result of collaborative work by the Paris landscape architect Allain Provost and architects Patel Taylor of London. The subsoil was so contaminated that it required a six-foot layer of crushed concrete before work could begin on fresh top soil. The Green Dock sunken garden is the centrepiece of the park and a real beauty. The undulating hedgerows, reminding us of the river waves, encourages a sheltered microclimate in which a variety of plants and wildlife can thrive.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

I cannot help but wonder if the UK could build a Thames Barrier nowadays. The government would probably telephone the French and/or Chinese to build something to prevent oligarchs from having to empty buckets of water out of their bedroom windows onto the heads of the lower classes. With rising sea levels, a bigger barrier will be needed to stop the Houses of Parliament from flooding. Some might argue that would be a good thing.

Our experience of the Thames Barrier was somewhat disturbed by an African bloke having a photo-shoot with the flood defences acting as the backdrop. Rather portly in appearance, he was hardly a looker so I wondered to whom he would be pitching his portfolio folder.

The Thames Barrier is clearly not made of Lego otherwise it would not have survived 15 boat collisions over the years. I can imagine a ship's captain ringing his nearest-and-dearest with a message "I will be late for dinner darling as I seem to have driven into the Thames Barrier and there will be a bit of paperwork to fill in." Unfortunately, the Boaty McTwat-face that is Jeremy Clarkson made it through unscathed when racing fellow twonks James May and Richard Hammond to London City Airport. If he had made a splash on the red-top pages he would probably once again blame everything on the fact that a fellow Repton scholar did a shit in his tuck box.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

Whilst on this side of the railway track, we went to look at the Church of Saint Mark. It is not a church these days, the building being occupied by the Brick Lane Music Hall. The church had been declared redundant in 1974, largely due to the decreasing congregation, the remaining parishioners having to worship at St. John's. We could only peer through the railings at the lovely edifice designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon. His trademark polychromatic brickwork can be seen here and rather wonderful it is. The church was damaged by fire in 1981 but, thankfully, Newham Council replaced it during the ensuing years.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

We had to meander a bit to get onto Connaught Road. Although the Railway Tavern has gone, I have to pick out the location as it was the place where workers used the public-house as their headquarters during a notable strike in 1889. A block of apartments now occupies the site on the corner of Constance Street. There is perhaps a case for a blue plaque to be mounted on the building because this industrial action is thought to have contributed to the formation of the modern Labour movement.

The public-house can be seen below as the Railway Tavern. Towards the end of its life as a boozer it traded as Cundy's Tavern. This was already a colloquial name for the house as it was kept by Simeon and Elizabeth Cundy from 1890 until just before the First World War. Born in Old Basford in Nottinghamshire, Simeon Cundy had previously served in the Royal Navy as a stoker on a number of vessels, including the Hibernia, Excellent, Penguin and Triumph.⁴⁵ On leaving the service he took up residence at the Railway Tavern at Custom House, Canning Town, a pub being run by his brother Thomas. He married Elizabeth Saddington at West Ham in March 1890.⁴⁶

© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

Just before their marriage, trouble was brewing at the factory of S. W. Silver and Co., the firm that had evolved into the works of the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Cable Company. Leading the world in cable production and installation, the company was making considerable profits and paying high dividends to shareholders. However, the conditions of the Silvertown workers were poor and the air breathed in by the community at large created health issues. Pay was low and, despite working long hours, there was no overtime. The women in the factory were not paid when the production line failed. Better pay and conditions had been secured by dockers in the East End and other large factories so 1,200 of the labour force at Silvertown started a strike for a better deal in the autumn of 1889.

A key influence in the refusal to negotiate with the workers was the pressure applied by the government and the establishment, many of whom, including the Prime Minister Lord Salisbury, held shares in the profitable concern. The managing director was obstinate and refused to negotiate with the workforce. Furthermore, he even refused to discuss terms of settlement with the Mayor of West Ham.⁴⁷

Led by key activists Fred Laing and Will Thorne, the strike committee held meetings in the Railway Tavern.⁴⁸ Leading figures in the bitter struggle included the trade unionist and founding member of the Independent Labour Party Tom Mann, along with Eleanor Marx, the daughter of Karl Marx.

It was reported that the company were paying dividends of fifteen per cent to shareholders. However, the management, pressured by the government and the establishment, were determined to break the spirit of the strikers. With picketing at the factory entrance, there was palpable anger in the streets. The term scab was far in the future but those who attempted to work were pelted by the women at the neighbouring jam factory. However, the combined interests of the company, shareholders, magistrates, and the capitalist institution, were determined to quash the action. Sadly, the Silvertown workers were eventually starved back to work. Their cause was not helped by the extraordinary action of the Amalgamated Engineers who continued to work at the factory. This was compounded by other work being outsourced, particularly at the company's plant in France where the French socialist Jules Guesde failed to prevent the undermining action of the workers.

With 'Tussy' Marx present at all the strike meetings, the solidarity and resolve of the workers gained wider attention with Engels commenting on the resoluteness of the Silvertown workforce. Their efforts would lay the foundations for future industrial action.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

Two streets to the east, on the corner of Wythes Road is the former Tate Institute, a community facility erected in 1887. The original function of the building ceased in 1933, the building subsequently serving as the local library.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

The Docklands Light Railway has bestowed Silvertown with its own Berlin Wall [see photo of the Tate Institute above]. In this case, rather ironically, one has to head into the east to get across the no-man's land where the track runs out. However, this affords access to North Woolwich Pier and Ferry. This is not too far from the location where, in September 1878, the paddle steamer S.S. Princess Alice was in collision with the collier causing the loss of around 650 people. This is the greatest loss of life of any British inland waterway shipping accident.⁴⁹ The paddle steamer was returning to London from an excursion to Sheerness when the accident happened. The tragic events are remembered at Tripcock Point so I will return to this disaster when we cycle back along the River Thames on the Kent side of the river.

© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

The paddle steamer S.S. Princess Alice was due to stop at North Woolwich Pier so that some passengers could disembark and walk across to the railway station to travel into the east end of London. Now in a rather ruinous state, the pier must have witnessed terrible scenes in September 1878 when large crowds travelled to North Woolwich and gathered at the pier to discover the fate of their relatives that had made the journey on the steamer.

Built just across from the railway station, the pier was a key connection between North Woolwich and Woolwich Arsenal on the south side of the Thames. Eventually, it was superseded by the municipally-operated Woolwich Free Ferry and the Foot Tunnel but in the 19th century many thousands of people walked the planks to awaiting boats. Owned by the Eastern Counties Railway, the two parts of Woolwich were connected by steam ferries, appropriately named Kent and Essex. The pier also acted as a terminus for boat and shipping services whereby passengers could board larger vessels after travelling to North Woolwich on the train. Indeed, the post-war photograph shows that it was being used by the L.N.E.R. Although the ferry service had ceased many years before, the railway company were using the pier for large boats operating a service to Southend-on-Sea and Margate.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

North Woolwich was like a ghost town during our cycle ride. It has always been at the end of the line but there was not a single soul around the old pier and railway station. All we needed was a bit of dust and tumbleweed rolling down the road and we could have revelled in a spaghetti western scene. We half expected a head to appear out of the window of the old ticket office to deliver the classic line: "There isn't anyone got the guts to face that killer, eh?"

Column-3

There was not much here when the railway built a station close to the river in 1847. The station was erected amid the former marshland and became the southern terminus of the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway. The sudden sight of Italianate architecture must have looked rather odd at the time. However, once a railway building was erected, a public-house generally enjoyed some spin-off trade by meeting the needs of travellers. Although a little to the east of the station, and located at the earlier ferry crossing point, the Barge House went from serving local shepherds to catering for tourists.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

The original Barge House was literally a wooden house built on a floating barge attached to the shore. A more permanent structure, also known as the Old Ferry House, was erected on dry land and, in 1840, the landlord, Thomas Lowe, completed the construction of a long esplanade in order to cater for visitors. In October 1854 an African steam vessel, when coming up the river, ran into a Dutch galliot lying at anchor near the Ferry House. The galliot, laden with grain, was sunk, but was close to the shore, enabling those on board, including the Custom House officer, to be saved. The crew escaped by jumping on board the African.⁵⁰

When George Lucy was the proprietor of the house in the 1860s, he advertised that it was the place for a pleasant afternoon. With a lawn overlooking the Royal Arsenal and Shipping, the Barge House offered swings, quoits and skittles.⁵¹ The Barge House was also the start and finish line of several boat races in the 19th century. By the way, it is thought that the older ferry crossing was operational by the early 14th century. The slipway seen in the above photograph is roughly on the site of the old ferry.

© Image courtesy of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust.

In December 1899 a giant bottle-nosed whale was spotted by a tug near North Woolwich and this started a frenzied whale hunt. The poor creature was chased to exhaustion and it ran aground on the river bank. It was reported that "scores of people put off in boats and tugs to look at him. In the afternoon someone hitched a chain round his tail, to hold him when the tide rose, and it was decided to tow him up the tide to the Barge House, where he may be dry-docked and exhibited for one day. It was suggested that for a few days the 'monster' should be exhibited at a small fee for the benefit of a local hospital or the Soldiers' Families' Fund. While this was being discussed a score of rivermen got jack-knives to work, and took home whale-tail steak for tea." ⁵²

A new, and rather more plain and functional station was built at North Woolwich in 1979. The old station buildings were later converted into a railway museum and officially opened by the Queen Mother in November 1984. However, the museum closed in 2008 with many of the exhibits being removed to the East Anglian Railway Museum, Mangapps Railway Museum and the Great Eastern Railway Society.

© Unknown. Could the owner of this photo please advise on permission rights.

Facing the old station was the Royal Pavilion Hotel. At the time of our visit the site of this famous establishment was surrounded by boarding. Some new development was being planned for this riverside location. The above photograph, possibly from the 1970s or 1980s, is doing the rounds on the Internet - I have not managed to see an image for sale on ebay so have slotted this image here. I do not know who owns the copyright - if the owner is reading this please let me know if it should be removed. It is a fine photograph to show how prominent the Courage sign was - possibly a welcome sight for thirsty sailor aboard returning vessels.

Extract from an information board for the Royal Victoria Gardens.

The above extract is taken from an information board installed at the Royal Victoria Gardens. The information is, however, incorrect. William Holland was involved with the business in later years, the licence of the hotel being transferred to him in May 1869.⁵² The Royal Pavilion Hotel was built as a result of the railway being opened in June 1847. One of the first references I have seen for the premises is dated June 1848. In that year William Holland was just 11 years of age!

It was at the Licensing Day for the Hundred of Blackheath, held on the last day of September, 1848, that James Hutt applied for a licence for the Pavilion, and also to the North Woolwich Railway Tavern adjacent thereto. I believe that he was to be the tenant, the people responsible for the enterprise being Samuel Morton Peto, G. P. Bidder, R. Tell and M. A. Borthwick. Signing a petition in favour of James Hutt, they told the Bench that "they had purchased land, and were about erecting premises for the public accommodation at this place." It was shown that "there would be £4,000 expended on the tavern, etc., and much laid out on draining the land." ⁵⁴

James Hutt was in business with his brother, Charles. However, this partnership was dissolved in April 1850.⁵⁵ James Hutt had only been trading a few months when three rough navigators were found guilty of being drunk and destroying the furniture of the publican.⁵⁶

Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

Samuel Morton Peto, was one of the leading builders of Victorian London. His firm were concerned with the construction of the Houses of Parliament and Nelson's Column. A key figure in the 1851 Great Exhibition, the liberal MP for Norwich, entertained 250 of his constituents at the Royal Pavilion Hotel. He expressed a desire for them to return to East Anglia armed with ideas from the exhibition. Perhaps it was not all altruism, for his hospitality probably did not harm his chances of re-election. His involvement in the development of North Woolwich is not surprising - at this time his company was engaged in many railway infrastructure projects.

Extract from Page 1 of the "Morning Herald" published on Tuesday August 20th, 1850.

James Hutt advertised the Royal Pavilion Tavern as a White Bait House, joining the multitude of riverside houses offering this popular fish dish. I would suggest that there were rather too many taverns chasing the same patronage, the socialites drifting from one place to another depending on which was fashionable at the time. It is interesting to note that the gardens are not featured in this early advertisement, suggesting that they were not fully laid out and that time was needed for plants and trees to mature.

Extract from Page 1 of the "Kentish Mercury" published on Saturday August 21st, 1852.

The August Bank Holiday of 1852 was seemingly the big rollout of the Royal Pavilion Gardens. With a programme of events to entice and excite Victorian Londoners, the trains arriving every half hour were packed with excursionists. More tourists arrived by steam boats at the pier. North Woolwich was THE place to be. Trying to envisage the scene only made our tumbleweed experience all the more disheartening. The tenant proprietor in 1852 was Henry Churchill Lovegrove - yes another Lovegrove - who also running the Ship and Billet Tavern across the water on Woolwich Road in Greenwich.

Extract from Page 1 of the "Kentish Independent" published on Saturday March 19th, 1853.

I would have thought that the older Barge House, or Old Ferry House, enjoyed spin-off trade from the increased footfall from the gardens. However, the tavern was offered for auction on the last day of March, 1853. I suspect that the freeholders of the Royal Pavilion Hotel also acquired the land on which this house stood as it was featured in advertisements in 1852 as an additional place of refreshment for patrons of the gardens. As seen from the earlier notes, the Ferry House continued to trade under the stewardship of George Lucy.

I particularly enjoyed the florid tones of an item that appeared in the Shoreditch Observer before the Easter weekend of 1859. The article said that "Good Friday is marked in the calendar as a day of maceration, "sackcloth and ashes," saltfish and parsnips ought to be, according to ecclesiastical prescription, the dress and diet of every sinner in the land; the proprietor of these Gardens thinks otherwise, and fancies, as we do, at North Woolwich, that a merry dance in a pretty garden, on the eve of Easter, just before May bursts into her voluptuous bloom, will do something towards making man look horizontally at his fellow-creatures, and elevate his prospect towards that which is upwards and beyond his present sphere. Go to the Gardens! dance on Good Friday! Toss your paste-eggs on Easter Monday! Roll down the hill in Greenwich Park if you like on Tuesday. And thus, like good men and true, up and at it for sweethearts and wives." ⁵⁷

Extract from Page 4 of the "East London Observer" published on Saturday June 15th, 1861.

The lessees of the Royal Pavilion Gardens were probably under pressure to keep up a varied programme of attractions to ensure continued patronage at North Woolwich. The convenience of the railway was an important component of the hotel and garden's appeal. Possibly introduced by the wonderfully-named Isaac Churchyard Dowsing, also the proprietor of the Trafalgar Hotel at Saint-Martin's-in-Fields, the train fare was included in the entrance fee. In terms of the river, the Royal Pavilion Gardens was in competition with venues like Rosherville Gardens at Northfleet. The gardens here were constantly being updated or landscaped to provide further attractions. In the 1850s the facilities included a maze, rifle gallery, large ballroom and refreshment room. Stars of the stage were topping the bill at the Royal Pavilion Gardens. The summer of 1861 saw Harriet Coveney performing here at North Woolwich. The famous music hall singer and burlesque was part of a theatrical dynasty and first trod the boards at the age of seven. She married Charles Jecks, manager of the Adelphi Theatre. Their daughter, Clara, continued the family tradition by first appearing on stage as a baby.⁵⁸

On Whit-Monday 1852 alone, eighteen thousand people visited the Royal Pavillion Gardens. Yes, 18,000. Edward Macnamara was the manager at this time. He was no doubt delighted that Harriet Coveney performed a new song written for her by William Brough, son of Barnabas Brough, the brewer, publican and wine merchant.⁵⁹

I could easily fill a whole page on this establishment but I better fast-forward to the period in which the aforementioned William Holland was in charge of things. One of his early events was a Baby Show, in which 400 infants were on view on an enormously popular three day event in July 1869.⁶⁰ His fetes took the events programme to another level, including Grand Ballet, Velocipede Races, Leviathan Circus, Japanese Jugglers, and featured the likes of The Demon Hat Spinners and the Wonderful Singing Duck.⁶¹ I mean who wouldn't pay to see that? I noted in an advertisement for his first major fete that the entrance fee had been halved to sixpence, including the price of the fare on both train or boat. Perhaps this was one of the reasons for his failure at the Royal Pavilion Hotel. He clearly had the visitor numbers but was not turning a profit. In 1881 he was bankrupt. Mind you, it was not the end of his days as a theatrical manager. An extraordinary showman, he had been involved with a number of London's theatres. It was at the Albert Palace in Battersea where he lost a reported £30,000. He moved north in 1887 when he was offered the post of manager at the Blackpool Winter Gardens, putting the venue on the map as a major attraction. The man dubbed "The English Barnum" died at the Lancashire seaside resort in December 1895.⁶²

Despite the efforts of Charles Ackland in the 1880s, the fortunes of the Royal Pavilion Gardens waned, visitor numbers dropped and it was became unprofitable. When the grounds were closed it was feared that the site would be redeveloped. A committee was formed to raise funds to save the area as a public park. The Royal Victoria Gardens opened to the public in March 1890.⁶³ We had a quick whizz around the park, which had no other visitors, and, although this is a pleasant recreational area, there is little of the old Victorian layout, largely because it suffered from bomb damage during World War Two. The complete absence of people was in stark contrast to the scene that would have greeted us in the Victoria era.

© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

Although not the spectacle of old, the Royal Victoria Gardens remained a popular promenading area, particularly along the riverside path. This photograph seems to show a privet hedge forming an enclosed tea garden or terrace. I am not sure if this was part of the outdoor area of the Royal Pavilion Hotel. The women are wearing the extravagent hats popular during the Edwardian period.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

Exiting the park via the Pier Road gateway, and noting the interesting but manky toilet block, we rolled across the road to the rather sorry-looking former Three Crowns. Actually, it is beyond sorry-looking, and is an absolute eyesore. The once-resplendent building has been converted into residential use but the ground floor looks truly awful. It has been a few years since pints of beer were pulled in the Three Crowns, the public-house having closed in the 1990s. The building quickly deteriorated and in very little time was an excrescence of Pier Road. Still, I guess we have to be grateful that some tangible memory of the Three Crowns has been preserved - better than being flattened and lost forever.

Of course, as can be seen in the photographs, this was not the original Three Crowns. Charrington's rebuilt the house in the early 20th century. The Three Crowns, like the rest of the public-houses in North Woolwich, stood on the Essex side of the River Thames but was administered with Woolwich across the water so formed a pocket of Kent. However, in the old licensing days, the pubs here closed at 22.30hrs which often saw a mad dash through the foot tunnel so that another beer could be ordered at Woolwich where the boozers did not call time until thirty minutes later.

The original Three Crowns was famous for its music hall where all and sundry performed on stage. Day-trippers may have come to North Woolwich for the elegance of the Royal Pavilion Hotel, river views from the Barge House, but for those seeking a right-old knees-up they piled into the Three Crowns. The pub's music hall tradition continued into the 20th century. This genre is maintained up the road at the former Saint Mark's Church which is now home to the Brick Lane Music Hall.

© National Brewery Heritage Trust under CC BY 4.0 / Cropped from original. DO NOT COPY

Dating from the mid-1850s, the Three Crowns was once part of the estate of public-houses operated by West's Brewery Company Limited, a firm based ironically at the Three Crowns Brewery on the Hackney Road at Bethnal Green. Ownership of the Three Crowns at North Woolwich changed when West's Brewery was acquired by Hoare & Co. Ltd. in November 1929. The Three Crowns was one of 60 public-houses taken over by Hoare's who were based at the Red Lion Brewery at Lower East Smithfield. Any new signs put up in North Woolwich lasted only four years because Charrington & Co. Ltd. took over Hoare & Co. Ltd. in 1933.

On a Saturday afternoon in February 1884 Samuel Dolby, a drayman for West's Brewery Company, when delivering beer to the Three Crowns, suddenly heard a woman crying out for help. When he ran around his waggon he saw Frances Elizabeth Charles lying on the ground. The woman had just been stabbed by her husband John Charles. The drayman grasped the handle of butcher's knife, the blade of which was sticking in the woman's left side, and pulled it out. He told his mate to look after the woman whilst he dragged John Charles across the road and into the police station.

It transpired that John Charles was a seaman and, on returning from a recent voyage, he "found some fault with his wife in reference to something which was alleged to have happened during his absence." Outside the Three Crowns, Frances Charles was seen by a local surgeon and conveyed to the Woolwich Union Infirmary. At the police station John Charles was charged with feloniously wounding his wife. However, this was upgraded to attempted murder.⁶⁴ He was tried at the Central Criminal Court in the following month and sentenced to ten years' penal servitude.⁶⁵

In May 1910 it was reported that the London County Council had approved plans for alterations at the Three Crowns Tavern, in order to make the premises suitable for kinematograph displays.⁶⁶ The publican at this time was Samuel Calcutt. He held the licence for 14 years, running the pub with his wife Barbara. For 18 years previously he he was Musical Director of the Theatre Royal, South Woolwich.⁶⁷ Leonard Calcutt, a son of Samuel and Barbara, was killed in action in France on October 20th, 1918.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

We had made a conscious decision to head inland at North Woolwich. With a mountain bike, I think it is possible to battle through some narrow gravel paths around the gungy industrial sprawl at Beckton and Creekmouth but there is also the River Roding to consider. To be honest we had no desire to get up-close-and-personal with Beckton Sewage Treatment Works so we planned a little diversion that would be much more enjoyable on two wheels.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

We headed north across the entrances to the Royal Docks via a relatively new flyover, part of which is named in honour of the Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave. The bridge passes over part of the Royal Albert Dock which is now used by the London Regatta Centre. The above photograph was taken from the bridge and shows the old Royal Albert Dock and London City Airport. As we pedalled across the bridge we encountered a man with binoculars. He was not here to spot rare birds heading towards Rainham Marshes but to tick off metal tubes landing or taking off from the airport, the airstrip for which is slap bang in the middle of the docks. Well, I guess many sad fucks have their cross to bear.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

Rolling down the north side of the bridge one can see the Gallions Hotel amid a sea of medium-sized tower blocks. One may think that the setting is rather incongruous but the hotel, as can be seen from the above late-Victorian map extract, has always been in a dissonant location. The reason is that the key role of the building was to serve officers and affluent passengers sailing on the more upscale vessels. When Henry Thomas Lewis, landlord in the 1890s, placed advertisements in the newspapers he stated that the hotel was suitable for "Captains, Officers and Gentlemen having business at the Albert Dock." I would have been viewed as an unsuitable patron if I had rocked up with my bicycle in the late Victorian period. Funnily enough, it is probably a similar situation today. Mind you, back in the day there was an entrance below in which the proletariat could seek refreshments.

Perhaps the most remarkable element of this hostelry's history is the fact that it has survived into the 21st century. It ceased trading in the early 1970s and the once-luxurious building slowly decayed and became almost ruinous. However, it became a listed building so the developers could not bulldoze the place. It was restored in recent times and re-opened as the Galyons Bar & Kitchen. Sadly, for us old lags, the old interior, primarily of rich oak, has long gone and it is all very modern, the sort of place that the Ikea generation will adore. They flogged the brown furniture handed down by their parents and rushed out for flatpack replacements. However, the exterior of the hotel is another story .....

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

The Historic England website states that the hotel was designed and erected by architectural practice of George Vigers and Thomas Wagstaff, and erected between 1881-83 in the manner of Norman Shaw. The standout features are the plaster frieze by Edward Roscoe Mullins, along with the shallow mullioned and transomed bay window. Perhaps the nymphs within the frieze was the reason that the locals dubbed the building "The Captain's Brothel."

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An old mariner writing for the Civil & Military Gazette in 1893, under the name of H.H.O., the correspondent stated : "At the Gallions Hotel you meet old salts and ship captains of all types; some, of the old-fashioned style, look as if they had just foregathered with their friends, Cap'en Cuttle and Bunsby, and shake their grizzled heads dolefully [as is the custom of grizzled heads all the world over] over the present degenerate age; they drink rum and hot water, with an enticing piece of lemon floating on the top out of fat glasses with a leg, called very appropriately "rummers," and stir up the seductive beverage thoughtfully with a fat glass spoon. Of a different stamp, and yet of the true British sailor breed, are the smart young captains and mates who are standing each other whiskies and sodas [plenty of whisky and very little soda. It is only the 'Qui Hai' who knows the proper strength for a whisky 'peg' at the bar. The genial landlady knows them all, and has a greeting for each; they come and go at intervals, and, in the meantime, have been round the world. It is a small journey now-a-days, this circumnavigation of the globe, and is thought nothing of at the Gallions. Many and curious are the tokens of affection and esteem brought home by these sailor-men to their kind hostess; her parlour walls are simply covered with curios of every conceivable kind, and some of them must be almost priceless; weapons from little known cannibal islands, jars from Japan and China which make your mouth water, if you are a lover of 'magnificent ugly' bric-a-brac; fish, stuffed and mounted, of uncanny shapes and colours; boxes of all sizes and patterns, in every style of carving, from all the isles of the sea where the British flag is known; and baskets of delicate make, woven by the deft hands of black and brown women in out-of-the-way countries, form a veritable treasure house of curios and nick-nacks, and make you break the tenth commandment 60 times a minute. I came home from the Albert Docks and the Gallions Hotel that evening, a much wiser man than I set out." ⁶⁸

We cycled along the north side of the Royal Albert Dock, watching rowers of different abilities as we pedalled along the waterfront. Originally planned as an extension of the Royal Victoria Dock, the Royal Albert Dock first opened to shipping in 1880 when it was widely regarded as the finest dock system in the world. One of the principal goods brought into the country at this dock was tobacco from the Americas. This was transported in large hogsheads. Following the closure of the dock in the 1980s, the site fell into decay. It has since been redeveloped with the Royal Albert Wharf housing development, along with quayside office and educational blocks.

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The Royal Docks were served by plenty of public-houses. Amid a sea of tightly-packed housing, there was once a pub on most corners of Victoria Dock Road. The housing and pubs have long gone. There is one interesting survivor in the Connaught Tavern. The former Truman's house did close for almost two decades but was re-opened in 2003 as The Fox@Connaught. The imposing red-structure was opened not long after the Royal Albert Dock was in operation, though the hotel was aimed at passengers disembarking from ships berthing at the Royal Victoria Docks. As a business model it was doomed as the times changed. Passenger numbers declined and the building increasingly relied on trade from dock labourers. It was rather grand for a docker's boozer! Things have partly come full circle in that the old Grade II-listed hotel now enjoys trade from the hotels dotted around the periphery of the airport. Sadly, however, the interior is rather soulless and looks like, well, most large restaurant pubs, trying to look like the sort of place operated by Wetherspoon's or Marston's.

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We made our escape from the spaghetti of busy roads and concrete and headed towards Newham City Farm, a lovely community facility opened in 1977 connecting youngsters with wildlife and animals amid an urban environment. Housing traditional farm animals and a few exotic creatures, the farm is an oasis within King George V Park. We headed along Stansfeld Road to pick up the Beckton Corridor, an arrow-straight cycle path created on the old railway once operated by the Great Eastern Railway. It has once been used as a line for the massive gas works close to Beckton Station. Passenger services closed in December 1940 though the line continued to be used to transport coal trucks until 1970.

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The former railway line was nice and quiet but the road up to East Ham could not have been busier. We could have found a quieter route to Barking but we wanted to take a look at the magnificent town hall. Built in the Edwardian Baroque style, it was erected between 1901-3 with a landmark clock tower. The imposing corner building was made with London stock brick clad and glazed red Accrington brick with biscuit-coloured terracotta details. It was designed by Henry Cheers of Twickenham and Joseph Smith of Blackburn. The building was officially opened by the newspaper owner and philanthropist J. Passmore Edwards on February 5th, 1903. However, at that time the attached technical school, fire station, public baths and coroner's court were still in the planning stage.⁶⁹

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

We regret not having much time to explore East Ham because, in addition to the town hall, there is plenty of architectural interest. However, time was marching on and we climbed back on the bikes and headed towards Barking.

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Barking is located in that contentious grey area where Greater London and Essex collide. I guess it is the old school who refuse to accept boundary changes of 1965 and defiantly proclaim themselves as staunch Essex folk rather than Londoners. I can relate to this as, nine years later, we had the new county of West Midlands imposed upon us. In the cases of Barking and Dagenham it was the post-war population growth that led to London taking 12 miles of the old county of Essex.

We would have drifted too far inland to take a look at Becontree, once the largest public housing estate in the world. Developed between 1921 and 1935, this massive development formed part of the government's "homes fit for heroes" programme. It was just about completed in time for the Luftwaffe to drop bombs on the heroes once again.

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The housing estate's name tips its hat to the old Hundred of the region, reminding visitors that this was once an ancient place with a royal monastery, the legacy of which is the partially-restored Curfew Tower. Within the grounds of the Abbey stands the Church of St. Margaret of Antioch, a building dating back to the early 13th century. However, it was a church of less antiquity with which we were more interested. Located in Blake Avenue, the Church of Saint Patrick is a triumph of minimalist Streamline Moderne. Constructed in the late 1930s and consecrated in July 1940,⁷⁰ the building was designed by the Chelmsford-based progressive architect Arthur E. Wiseman, a man who worked on many cinemas in their golden age. Indeed, the interior of St. Patrick's has been compared to a cinema whilst the exterior is reminiscent of a tube station. Sadly, repeated attacks of vandalism has forced the blocking-up of the clerestory windows so the interior is no longer flooded by light as intended by the architect.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

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We cycled a few metres to Mayesbrook Road to pedal towards the arse-end of Eastbury Manor House, a lovely pile built by the prosperous merchant Clement Sysley during the reign of Elizabeth I. Acquired and restored by the National Trust, it is thought to have been the first brick-built house in the area. Actually, although I have called it the arse-end of the house, the view of Eastbury Manor House from Mayesbrook Road is the best way to appreciate the octagonal brick stair turret and the ornamental chimney stacks, an ostentatious statement of wealth by the merchant who commissioned the house. Venturing into the front garden we could admire the array of almost two dozen mullioned windows, the panes for which were imported from Italy.⁷¹ Oh, nearly forgot, there is an annual lavender harvest during which some workshops are held.

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Leaving Eastbury Manor House we cycled along Keir Hardie Way, named in honour of the Scottish trade unionist and politician who founded the Labour Party. He won his seat in the House of Commons representing West Ham South in 1892. I love the fact that he refused to wear the "parliamentary uniform" forced upon working-class members and turned up in a plain tweed suit, a red tie and a deerstalker. Talking of left-wing politics ...

If I thought we would have had more time to devote to Barking I would have plotted a Billy Bragg tour of the town, visiting some of the landmarks of his formative years. Shops such as Guy Norris in Station Parade, a music emporium in which he worked for a short period. However, the shop has gone, along with many of the public-houses he used to frequent. In fact, his ancestors used to run the Hope & Anchor. The Bard of Barking has formed a key part within the soundtrack of our lives. Personally, I think "Levi Stubbs' Tears," a song in which the lead singer of the Four Tops remains a source of comfort to a woman who has been through the mill, is one of the most beautiful of songs in his rich canon of work. La Goddess du Vélo would select "Greetings to the New Brunette," another song from the album "Talking with the Taxman about Poetry." This is one of the Bard's comic-tragedies featuring the classic line "How can you lie there and think of England when you don't even know who's in the team?"

The route from Barking to Dagenham was flatter than the flattest pancake. My perceptions of Dagenham were partly influenced by the Nigel Cole film dramatising the sewing machinist's strike at the Ford car plant which acted as a catalyst for the 1970 Equal Pay Act. Although a half-decent British film, it was a cliché-laden romanticism of life on a massive housing development. In the post-war years almost 40,000 people worked at the Ford plant. We cycled past acres of derelict land once occupied by the works. Many of the people who were around in the 1960s have also left the region which, according to The Independent in 2015, was the worst place to live in Great Britain. The newspaper also reported that Dagenham is the UK's most burgled town. I had hoped to recapture some of the old magic by sticking my head inside the Ford Heritage Collection but, apart from the odd open weekend, it is not officially open to the public.

Like Barking and Dagenham, nearby Rainham became part of Greater London and is in the region known as Metropolitan Essex. However, we were getting closer to the boundary line and it felt like we were in the old county. Rainham is an old settlement and was centred around the Church of Saint Helen and Saint Giles. Mind you, this is the only ancient building remaining as much of the town was developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, a period when Rainham was visited by day-trippers who came along the river. At one time there was also a ferry between Frog Island and Jenningtree Point.

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In the 20th century industry and London overspill changed the character of old Rainham. The village that once had a wharf on the creek, facilitating trade with the wider region, seems to have lost its conspicuous relationship with the Thames, a perception compounded when the motorway - the A13 being a six-lane bearer of toxicity - sliced through the landscape, creating an ugly and unsightly divide. A place once characterised by the marshes and an agricultural economy is now littered with metal boxes, the sight from land and air being quite grotesque. And still they add to the landfill site. In many respects the modern economy makes Rainham a microcosm of how humans have disfigured nature. My hometown is exactly the same, along with a similar loss of pubs. Rainham has lost most of its old taverns. Rolling into the old village nucleus, it looked like The Bell had ceased trading. Indeed, I later learned that the premises had its license suspended, then revoked, after incidents of serious violence - a far cry from the mid-19th century when publican, Thomas Glanfield, who "after fitting up the interior with the strictest attention to neatness, comfort and convenience, respectfully solicited a share of the favours of the inhabitants of Rainham and the vicinity, assuring them of his best exertions to merit their support." ⁷²

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The war memorial at Rainham is unusual in that it is also a clock tower. The Grade II-listed structure was unveiled in November 1920 by Colonel F. H. D. C. Whitmore, D.S.O., in the presence of a large crowd. Constructed of red Belgian brick, with Portland stone dressings, the monument was erected by E. C. Lucy to a Georgian-styled design prepared Mr. H. A. Porter, of Grays. The hexagonal clock tower stands on a key triangular site on The Broadway. There are three dials, facing the old roads to London, Southend, and Upminster. Decorative pilasters provide the appearance of being supportive to a parapet with balustrade. The names of 61 men who were killed in World War One were inscribed on two stone tablets.⁷³ The name of Ralph Luxmore Curtis is notable as the flying ace shot down by Hermann Göring in September 1917 and died in a German dressing station. An additional inscription was added to the base of the clock tower and dedicated to the 54 men, women and children who were killed by enemy action in the Second World War.

There was a terrible incident at Rainham during World War One in which seven people were killed and 69 injured following a fire at chemical works where dinitrophenol was used in the production of munitions. However, the incident was hushed up at the time and became the subject of a 1921 ruling in which two shysters named Samuel Feldman and Robert Partridge, proprietors of the 'business' - they were essentially profiteers - were found "personally liable for damages" by the House of Lords, then Britain's highest court.⁷⁴ It would be almost a century before a memorial of this event was planted outside the public library.

We rolled a few metres to look at Rainham Hall, a delightful example of a Dutch domestic Queen Anne style house.

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The three-storey brown and red brick house was built in 1729 for Captain John Harle, owner of the wharf on Rainham Creek. From the windows of this tall building the wealthy merchant could watch his ships moored at the port that he was instrumental in developing. A native of Newcastle, he traded in coal from the north-east coast, along with timber from Norway. The house was transferred to the National Trust in 1949 but it was not until a restoration of 2015 that the property was fully opened to the public. A café was established in the 18th century coach house and, accordingly, we sat in the courtyard and enjoyed tea and cake next to this elegant house.

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Across the road from Rainham Hall is The Phoenix. This is an ancient name here but the inn sign hung on two older structures. The late 18th century version was completely gutted by fire in July 1891. It took only three hours for the historic tavern to be destroyed. It was reported that the occupants "had barely time to throw on a few garments and escape, so rapidly did the fire extend." ⁷⁵ Ironically, the building operated by Ind Coope, was insured in the Phoenix Office. The Romford Brewery had sent their fire engine in an attempt to save the building, though the Barking Fire Brigade had already concentrated their efforts on the neighbouring buildings as the pub was beyond salvation.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

Having hopefully diverted around the gunky parts of the Thames, following our inland sojourn we picked up a cycle route to head towards the waterside again. So, we used the zig-zag ramps to cross the HS1 railway lines and headed along Ferry Lane which, in days of old, led to the Three Crowns Inn. Formerly known as Manor Lane, Ferry Lane is not the quiet track that used to cut through the edge of the marshes like days of old. Nowadays, it is all industry on the right-hand side of the lane and the noise of the A13 raised on pillars across the wetland. However, there was industry on the riverside in the Victorian days, with a cement works at Old Man's Head and a chemical works on Frog Island. Some of the regular customers of the tavern probably sunk plenty of beer to get the taste of cement dust out of their mouths.

From Victorian times to the post-WW2 years one would have had to look out for red flags at the lower section of Ferry Lane as the road passed the Rainham rifle ranges of the Musketry Camp. A red flag indicated that firing was in operation. The raised sandbanks which can still be seen amid the marshes were used to catch the rounds or bullets being fired on the ranges. When not firing, soldiers would be detailed to operate the targets from the mantlets which afforded them protection from being shot by their comrades!

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

There is a short footpath that leads to a vantage point of the site of the Three Crowns Inn, not that there is anything to see these days. With the industry now up to the riverside, it is hard to imagine that crowds of day-trippers used to gather on the sand and mud flats here. Locals would walk or cycle to the river whilst day-trippers would clamber off the London-to-Margate pleasure steamers when Rainham Ferry acted as a nautical bus-stop.

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It is said that the Three Crowns Inn, near the mouth of Rainham Creek, and once known as the Ferry House, dated from the 16th century and once served Canterbury-bound pilgrims crossing the River Thames to Erith. The Ferry name was used to refer to the Three Crowns Tavern when Henry Fetherston, a former publican, was declared bankrupt in 1842.⁷⁶

The isolated location of the property meant that the publican was often involved in a little smuggling. In the 18th century the sign of the French Horn hung outside the tavern but is thought to have become the Three Crowns in 1771. The tavern was destroyed in a fire during the 1830s and the house rebuilt.⁷⁷ In the mid-19th century the building served as a chapel for the community that had sprung up in the locale.

The Clapham family kept the Three Crowns Inn for much of the Victorian period. When the elderly Jane Clapham died in August 1898 a lengthy court battle ensued over her will. The landlady left all of her estate to her grandson Harry Boys, though he was not of age. However, her family claimed that the will was "obtained by the undue influence of the grandson who became the licensee of the Three Crowns. In court it was claimed that Jane Clapham was afraid of Harry Boys and that he had struck her and threatened to shoot her daughter Jane. However, the jury found in favour of the will on all issues.⁷⁸

On the last Saturday of November 1907, Rainham saw gaslight for the first time, a ceremony being held for the lighting of the first burner. It was lit by Jeanette Greening, daughter of the publican of the Three Crowns, and granddaughter of Arthur and Jane Taylor, the couple running the Phoenix Hotel. A fair number of Rainham residents rocked up for the offices of the Grays and Tilbury Gas Company where the ceremony took place. The Chairman, T. E. Bartlett advised the gathered townsfolk, many of whom were anxious to be lit up for the Christmas festivities, to make an early application.⁷⁹

The Three Crowns Inn closed around 1951. The premises were later used as offices by Murex Metals, a company that, during the inter-war years, acquired other premises on the riverside at Rainham. Murex, at one time the biggest employer in the area, specialised in extracting and processing rare metals including vanadium, molybdenum and zirconium. The company were acquired by British Oxygen in 1967.⁸⁰

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We were eager to cycle next to the river as soon as possible and took a rough track along to the silos of Tilda, the rice company founded by the Ugandan refugee Rashmi Thakrar. The company's brand name is a combination of his sisters names, Tila and Daksha. He fostered a bond between farmers in Gurgaon in the Indian state of Haryana and is credited with bringing Basmati rice to the UK and the rest of the world. Tilda became a global food brand before it was acquired by the Nasdaq-listed Hain Celestial, a company that also mopped up the Linda McCartney vegetarian food brands.

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One of the things that cycling around the coastline means is that you get to see every pier and jetty along the way.

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They are often irresistible to the camera and generally make for a good picture no matter how functional the structures may be. This jetty is for the unloading of rice directly into the Tilda silos where it is stored and dried before being transferred to the mill. The industrial buildings at Erith form the backdrop to the above photograph.

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Some recent work on the jetty means that there is a concrete path on which to cycle but this quickly turns into a narrow gravel path. One just has to concentrate a little along this section. However, this is only for a short distance when it opens out into a decent rolling surface. Inland the land rises somewhat but this is not a natural hill, but rather the ever-growing Rainham Landfill Site. London has a long history of dumping its crap further downstream of the city. There is a jetty at Coldharbour specifically for bringing all sorts of gunk to dump in a site measuring some 177 Hectares. Of course, the contents of the landfill often ignites and the fire brigade spend a good deal of their time tackling fires here. We passed an engine which was dealing with an incident in which the most awful obnoxious smoke was drifting towards the river. We held our breath and pedalled through as quickly as possible. Apparently, the landfill site is going to be a country park in the future. There will be no need for people to bring their own barbecue as there will be plenty of subterranean cooking fuel - visitors will be able to plonk their burgers on the steaming surface and they'll be good to go in no time.

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It is only a short distance to the concrete barges. I kid you not, they are barges of a steel frame and in-filled with concrete. Avoiding the fumes from the landfill fire, La Goddess du Vélo kept on pedalling. I just stopped to take a quick photograph of the shoreline. An information board on the path states that these "concrete monoliths on the Thames foreshore are actually concrete tank 'lighters' left over from World War Two. A total of five hundred concrete lighters were built by British forces as part of the naval fleet. Tank lighters were most commonly used for carrying water or fuel." The information board also claims that these lighters may have been used in the D-Day landings of 1944 but historians have cast doubt over this. It is thought that the barges were placed near Rainham Ferry in 1953 as flood defences and simply left here.

© andrew_j_w licensed under the the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

A few metres along the foreshore from the Concrete Barges stands "The Diver," a captivating sculpture created by a local artist John Kaufman. His grandfather, Friederich Johann Andreas Kaufmann, was a diver in the London Docks at the turn of the 20th century and this was the inspiration for this sculpture that acts as "a monument to this man and all working men of the area who have worked in difficult and dangerous conditions." Weighing three tons and constructed from galvanised steel banding and 3000 nuts and bolts, The Diver was installed here in 2000. Sadly, John Kaufman fell ill shortly afterwards and died in 2002.

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The path quality is good at Coldharbour and we sped along past the jetty for the landfill barges. Luckily, there was no vessel being unloaded. I suspect cyclists could get held up here waiting for earthmovers to trundle past with their noxious detritus from the city.

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Erected in the late 19th century, there is a navigational beacon at Erith Rands, marked by a bend in the river. Before being reclaimed in the 17th century, Coldharbour was an island and formed part of the parish of Wennington. The beacon was seemingly unable to signal through thick fog in November 1955 when a 534-ton motor coaster, Monica M, sank in the river here after colliding with the 1,575-ton L.C.C. sludge boat, Edward Cruse. The thick fog made rescue work difficult. The crew of seven of the sinking Monica M. were picked up by a Thames Police launch. The collision occurred on the sharp bend off Coldharbour Point, the junction between Erith Reach and Erith Rands. Shipping in the Thames, a busy river in those days, was brought to a standstill. Launched in the previous year, the Edward Cruse was one of four ships used by the London County Council to take Thames sludge to Black Deep, 60 miles out in the North Sea.⁸¹

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The path passes the disused Cunis Wharf. We can probably thank William Cunis for initiating Coldharbour as a landfill site. His company carried gravel and ballast to London and, rather than returning empty, they came back with refuse which was dumped in the worked-out gravel-pits. And when the pits were full they started on the marshland. The company operated a private rail network with steam locomotives. One of these, Avonside 1702 built in 1915, was hit by a German V2 rocket towards the end of World War 2. Note in the above photograph that in the distance the cable-stayed Queen Elizabeth II Bridge of the Dartford Crossing can be seen. Designed by German civil engineer Hellmut Homberg, the bridge was opened in October 1991 to alleviate congestion in the road tunnels following the completion of the M25 orbital.

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With possible sightings of Redshanks, Shelduck, Curlews and Lapwings, the path continues along what was the edge of Aveley Marshes. This land was particularly affected during the Essex floods of August 1888. The Tomkins family, occupiers of Aveley Hall, saved over 400 sheep by using two horses that swam from point-to-point pulling two carts in which the livestock were transported to safety. During the flood, communication with Purfleet was entirely cut off.⁸² Flood defence work to hold back the water goes back to Norman times. In the 17th century the Wennington Creek was diverted from its original course to enable the construction of a sea wall across its mouth, thus doubling the area of freshwater grazing marsh in the parish. However, the current line of the sea wall across Aveley Bay dates from the 1980s. The cycle path runs arrow straight parallel to the grassed wall.

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We rocked up to the RSPB visitor centre just in time for it to close. Well, we had five minutes before they turfed everyone out. Featuring solar panels, rainwater harvesting, natural light and ventilation and a ground heat exchange system, the award-winning centre was opened in 2006. Created on an area once designated as the site for the Euro Disney theme park, the reserve uses the former military firing range and has created an enhanced wet grassland and ditches to support many breeding and wintering birds. A variety of scarce wetland plants and insects can also be found here. The centre has a whiteboard on which news and sightings are flagged up so that the day's visitors know what to expect and encourages them to keep their eyes peeled. The wetland is certainly a fine place for seeing Blue-eyed Hawk Dragonflies, along with wasp spiders in the autumn.

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Not only did we roll up to the RSPB visitor centre as it was closing, we were here when the river level was high. We are good at bad timing. Visitors during low tide can apparently see part of a submerged forest on the nearby foreshore. Dating up to 6,000 years old and when sea levels were much lower, the forest consists of fallen tree trunks and roots including whole trunks of ash, alder and yew trees. The timbers seen from the bridge spanning the Mardyke River are the remains of old gunpowder wharves.

With a name meaning "boundary ditch," the Mardyke formed part of the divide between the Essex hundreds of Barstable and Chafford. There was once a water mill close to the bridge which, during the 14th century, was owned by the Knights Templar. During the First World War there was also a Prisoner-of-War camp.

With a fully-laden touring bike it is a tight squeeze to pass through the metal barriers placed on the bridge. These are to protect the nature reserve from speeding motorcycle joyriders, many of whom reside on the Garrison Estate on the eastern side of the river. I do have to highlight that this place has a very bad reputation. We cycled through the estate - not to prove how hard we are - but to see the place for ourselves rather than go along with all the prejudice. I have to admit that it is not a place were I would choose to live. But some people do not have a choice. In my humble opinion the design of the 1970s housing is partly to blame. The estate may have been built on a former garrison but there was no need to erect army-style housing in its place. Taking care of broken glass, when riding through the estate there was a hint of malevolence and I heard a couple of shouts and screams where some incident was seemingly about to kick-off.

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Cycling along the riverside path a former gunpowder magazine can be seen on the left - it cannot be missed! This was one of five magazines at Purfleet Barracks. The building, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, has been converted into the Purfleet Garrison Heritage and Military Centre. Run by volunteers, the former magazine contains a varied collection of military memorabilia including items from nearby RAF Hornchurch. I believe it is only open on Thursday and Sunday, along with some Bank Holidays. It was always going to be closed when we rolled up because it was early evening. Built between 1761 and 1773, the magazine supplied British military establishments with gunpowder and ordnance until 1950. Each magazine could hold 10,400 barrels of gunpowder. Protected by high security walls and a garrison of soldiers, the complex included a barracks, headquarters, barrel stores and proofing house. The construction of the garrison involved the removal of three taverns in what was already a busy wharf. The Bear, The Lighter on the Ground, and the Crown Inn were all demolished in the 1760s during the redevelopment of the site.⁸³

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We had a major change-of-plan at Purfleet. We had booked accommodation at the Premier Inn at West Thurrock as, like every other Premier Inn or Travelodge, we can take our bikes in the room for added security and peace-of-mind. Our original plan was to call at the Royal Hotel, the only remaining pub in Purfleet, to enjoy a beer and grab a bite to eat before heading to the motel. Although the Royal Hotel does not offer an exciting beer experience, it was in a convenient location for our journey. However, the large number of vans in the car park was a warning sign. We had arrived at the tail-end of a Friday early doors session and the place was full of builders and contractors rounding off the week with a piss-up. It was loud, the language foul and, worse still, there was only Doom Bar on tap. At times I like a rough-and-ready bar but, when on holiday and wishing to eat with La Goddess du Vélo, the place just didn't sit right. It was tempting to cycle inland to Aveley to visit the historic interior of the Ship Inn but a quick online map search suggested nowhere to keep the bikes safe. So, we did something quite unusual in that we rode into the next day's schedule and headed to Grays where there are two very fine real ale pubs. Despite it being a bit of a detour, it was an excellent decision. It would not have been possible to enjoy these pubs on the following morning so we were glad that we saw them at a proper time .... beer time.

Panic not, I will provide some information on the journey from Purfleet to Grays in tomorrow's route notes. However, before heading for the bar I must say a little about the Royal Hotel. The "Royal" name was applied after the hostelry was allegedly patronised by the Prince of Wales who partook in the whitebait suppers for which the place was noted. Rebuilt in the early 19th century, the hostelry was formerly known as the Bricklayers' Arms, a reference to the Bricklayers' Company of London which, under Caleb Grantham, operated several quarries in Purfleet. I guess the customers in those days were pretty rough-and-ready too!

Extract from Page 4 of the "Gravesend Reporter, North Kent and South Essex Advertiser" published on Saturday October 25th, 1862.

The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner stated that the old tavern was rebuilt in 1830. For some years it traded as the Purfleet Tavern and, along with its stylish grandeur boasting a fine position overlooking the river, it attracted an au courant clientele of artisans, thespians and the odd politician to be bribed over a whitebait supper. It was little wonder that the Whitbread brewery became involved with the business as the family were residents of Purfleet and admired the place from their pleasure boat. The hostelry was listed as the Royal Hotel by 1862, the hotel status possibly gained by John Wingrove, the licensed victualler. The landlord was seriously injured in July 1876 when he was thrown from his trap. The publican had only just got over that incident when he fell on slippy surface in the yard and broke his arm.⁸⁴ Worse was to follow in the latter part of the Victorian period when trade fell away and John Wingrove was declared bankrupt.⁸⁵ At least he was still alive - the hotel was used for coroner's inquests following accidents on the river. There were dozens of cases over the years, including experienced boatmen or weekend sailors.

Joseph Watson became the licensee of the Royal Hotel after returning as an invalid from the Boer War. He fell for one of the barmaids and married her in September 1903. Because of his injuries sustained in South Africa, he employed William Bedford to help with duties around the hotel. Bedford was a young lad from the training ship "Cornwall," moored in the river. He was popular and the publican promoted him, his key role being to run the billiard room. Meanwhile the landlord's wife had reportedly took to the drink. In 1905 Joseph Watson determined that she should go and live with her mother at Woodford for a while. However, word got back to the Royal Hotel that his wife was having an affair with his billiard boy, William Bedford. It transpired that they had been "taking liberties" at the hotel. Humiliated, Joseph Watson took the matter to court and was granted a divorce. This was not an easy thing to do in Edwardian times but the judge, after hearing all the torrid details, felt some sympathy for the hotelier.⁸⁶

Before leaving the Royal Hotel take a look at the green plaque across the road which claims that Count Dracula was moved to Carfax House in Purfleet during 1897. The story goes that he was transported in 50 boxes of earth from his Transylvanian Castle. It is thought that Bram Stoker, as business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, came to Purfleet on leisurely Sunday day trips. Carfax House is thought by some to be based on Purfleet House, a retreat built by the brewer Samuel Whitbread in 1791, and the inspiration for Stoker's novel published towards the end of the Victorian period. Nobody really knows if the author visited Purfleet but, hey, let's not allow the truth to get in the way of a good story. The wall on which the plaque is mounted is a fragment of the Whitbread family home. Following the sale of Purfleet House in 1920, much of the building was demolished and the materials used for Saint Stephen's Church which stands in the grounds the brewer's residence. The rest of the property was later used as the parish offices.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

If we had been heading to the Premier Inn we would have taken a look at High House and its restored octagonal brick dovecote. However, we were going directly to Grays without passing Go and sans two hundred in beer funds. What's an extra ten kilometres when there is good beer on offer? When on our travels at faraway places we do a little research beforehand. When choosing which pubs to visit on our travels we tend to steer towards traditional houses selling good beer and buildings that are of historic or architectural interest. If the prerequisites are combined it is a 'must-visit' pub. The White Hart at Grays ticks a number of our boxes. Painted by the noted artist, Peter J. Oldreive, the White Hart even has a fine inn sign hanging outside. Like his father and grandfather before him, Peter became a commercial artist. He studied Decorative Arts at Portsmouth College before a freelance career in which he produced a few thousand inn signs for breweries. The majority of his work was for Whitbread. He also produced backdrops and murals for the film industry. In retirement he still continued to paint, his key interest being in aviation.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

The White Hart has seen considerable change over the years. Not only has the role of the historic tavern altered, the building is different, in a slightly altered position, and in a street that has virtually vanished. Indeed, the pub has lost its old address. It would be hard to change anything else outside. Sadly, a few things have also been altered inside, but there are still enough original features of this late 1930s building for it to be listed by Historic England and to be recognised as an important survivor of the inter-war improved public-house.

© National Brewery Heritage Trust under CC BY 4.0 / Cropped from original. DO NOT COPY

The earlier White Hart Inn was a lovely-looking weather-boarded building dating from the 18th century, possibly earlier. Located at the heart of the busy port of Grays, many a bawdy night would have been enjoyed in the old White Hart. The port had more taverns than was required by the local inhabitants but were filled with visiting seafarers which often made for a riotous affair. It was great to see that the pub is still one of great vibrancy. We called in the early evening of a Friday and the main bar was heaving. The beer garden was also full.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

Oddly, nobody was using what I think is the most attractive part of the interior of the White Hart, that of the old saloon bar [this is to the right looking from the front of the building] At one time this room had a sliding wooden partition but this has sadly been removed. However, the attractive back bar structure is original and features a display parapet incorporating lettering for Charrington's ales. Beneath the clock there is a dumb waiter connecting to a kitchen above. The curved glazed screen separated the saloon bar from the off-sales department where customers used a vestibule accessed by a dedicated entrance.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

The main bar was formerly a public and private bar but has been opened out to create a larger room. The smaller private bar also had a curved glazed screen separating it from the outdoor. Only the wooden frame survives. There is, in my humble opinion, too much clutter inside the pub, particularly flags, and it would benefit from some minimalisation. But enough of the pub tour, let's get to the servery and order some beer. It was quite a ruck to get to the counter but a good tactic for cyclists is to leave your helmet on. This guarantees that the people serving behind the counter notice you! Despite working their socks off, the women behind the servery were really friendly. There was a fine selection of real ales on offer, none of which I had previously drank. What the heck, the only thing to do in such circumstances is to order one of everything. All were in great shape so it came as no surprise to learn that the White Hart had landed the South West Essex CAMRA Branch [Essex Area] Pub of the Year award.

The Brimstone was a decent session ale from the Bishop Nick Brewery which is run by Nelion Ridley, part of the family that once owned the much-loved Essex brewery mopped up, along with an estate of 73 tied-houses, by Greene King in 2005. Located at Hartford End, the brewery had been in operation by the Ridley family since 1842. After a spell working as a teacher, Nelion Ridley, a son of the last chairman of the company, started cuckoo brewing at the Felstar Brewery and supplied the Compasses Inn at Littley Green, a pub run by his brother. The brewery's name is an ancestral reference to Bishop Nicholas Ridley who was burned at the stake in 1555 for championing the Protestant cause against Mary Tudor. Clocking in at 3.9%, Brimstone is a red copper ale with a light citrus hop flavour. A nice opener at the White Hart.

We sat in the sunshine within the White Hart's beer garden and enjoyed another Essex beer. I do not know if it is a policy of the White Hart but it is great to enjoy locally-brewed ales when on our travels. Though billed as an amber ale, I thought that the Billericay Zeppelin was a similar colour to Bishop Nick's Brimstone. Although dropping very slightly in alcoholic strength, this 3.8% biscuity/smoky number boasted a more robust character - another enjoyable session ale. No prizes for guessing where this brewery is located! Trevor Jeffrey, proprietor of the microbrewery, first produced ales in 2012 but did not establish his own plant until 2014. This recipe, formerly called Dead Zeppelin, commemorates the shooting down of a Zeppelin airship in September 1916 at Great Burstead near Billericay. After discarding bombs near Purfleet, the airship, commanded by Werner Petersen, was shot down by the fighter pilot Lieutenant Fredrick Sowery. The German bomber crashed at Snails Farm, killing all 22 crewmen. Despite the loss of life, the incident boosted the morale of people living in the south-east who had been terrified by the Zeppelin bombing raids.

Enjoyable as the first two beers were, the pièce de résistance at the White Hart was the rather lovely Old Growler, a porter that has won Overall Champion at the CAMRA Winter Beer Festival on two occasions. This beer had also travelled a relatively short distance from the Essex/Suffolk border. The pump clip certainly states Essex but, rather confusingly, the brewery has moved across the River Stour on a couple of occasions. Nethergate Brewery was first established at Clare in Sussex by Ian Hornsey and Dick Burge. However, in 2005 they upped sticks and moved to Pentlow in Essex. In 2017 following a takeover, the brewery was moved two miles to Long Melford, a village in Suffolk, but I believe they have retained the Essex premises for some brewing - hence the Essex reference on the pump clips. Mind you, this could have been an older pump clip as it shows the Growler name and bowler hat version which I think was the idea of the former Adnam's trio who took over firm in 2010. The Nethergate name was reinstated when Dick Burge, one of the founders of the business, led a consortium to buy back the company in recent years. One thing is for sure, on the evidence of the beer tonight, Old Growler is top pedigree.

© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

Topping up on the Old Growler, it was most agreeable to be sat in the beer garden after a day on the bikes. The rear of the White Hart is not as attractive as the harmony of frontage. The building was erected to the rear of the older White Hart, at a time when the High Street was re-aligned. I could not help but wonder what the old place was like, a tavern kept by the wig-maker Benjamin Chesterton and his wife Susannah in the late 18th century. The tavern was once operated by Seabrooke & Sons Ltd., a brewery located a short distance away and founded in 1799 by the brick-maker Thomas Seabrooke. The old brewery was much closer to the river on the High Street but moved to a larger premises on two occasions in the 19th century. The business passed to son Charles and, later, to his grandchildren. The Seabrooke family were still running the business when Charrington's acquired the company and its large estate of public-houses in 1929. The brewery was closed soon after, though the buildings served as a laundry for many years before being demolished in 1969.

Like many taverns next to a wharf with sailors coming and going, the White Hart could be a rough-hole at times. Trying to keep order was not without risk. Elizabeth Howe, wife of the landlord, was assaulted by a roughneck in April 1887 when she tried to get rid of him. William Frost, publican at the end of the Victorian period, threw Emily Page into the street during a drunken session with two men in which she was singing, dancing and "pulling her clothes up." The wife of a barge captain, she was known to frequent the White Hart with different men when her husband was at sea. Today, the White Hart still has some boisterous behaviour which makes for a lively atmosphere. On tonight's evidence I would say it is a most excellent boozer.

© National Brewery Heritage Trust under CC BY 4.0 / Cropped from original. DO NOT COPY

We could have happily lingered for a session at the White Hart but within a few wheel revolutions there is another good pub in Grays. It is also one of the oldest public-houses of the former High Street. And like the White Hart, the Theobald Arms was once operated by Seabrooke & Sons Ltd. Indeed, at one time the local brewery had a virtual monopoly of beer sales in Grays. In the above photograph the pub can be seen in 1930 just after Charrington's had acquired the brewery and estate of public-houses. The company rebuilt the White Hart but elected to tidy up the Theobald Arms. They evidently did not skimp on the renovations which cost £2,369. The plumber's yard to the right of the pub was also owned by the brewery and rented out to W. J. Wilmott. At the time of the 1930 photograph the pub was run by George Wild. He handed over to Henry and Margaret Barrell in 1934.

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

The inn sign commemorates the Theobald family who were Lords of the Manor in the mid-18th century. The manor had previously been owned by the Palmer family before it was sold to James Theobold in 1754. It was a good time to buy because Grays Thurrock was about to grow considerably and the land value soared. Following his death, the manor passed to his wife Jane, though by 1817 it was held by Thomas Poole who had taken the surname of Theobald. Later in the century James Theobald granted almost 1,000 leases for building on his land. He was elected a Member of Parliament for Romford. In March 1894 he died following an accident at Romford railway station. He was rushing to catch a London-bound train that was leaving the platform. He grabbed a handle to jump aboard but lost his footing and fell between the carriage and the platform and was dragged some thirty yards before the train could be stopped. He suffered considerable injuries but insisted on being conveyed by stretcher to the Golden Lion Hotel. His wife was sent for and was in attendance when he died several hours later.⁸⁷ Some months before his death, James Theobald had sold the freehold reversions of most of the leases to Sir Julian Goldsmid. The remainder of his estate was broken up and sold. Grays Hall and the manorial rights were acquired by the Seabrooke family.

Like the neighbouring White Hart, the Theobald Arms has had a few ding-dongs over the years. In September 1883 Henry Lazell was charged with kicking-off in the pub and for assaulting John Warren. In April 1890, when Thomas Baldwin was the publican, Robert Hawkes entered the pub and starting shouting and swearing so he was told to leave. This maddened Hawkes who threw a glass at the publican. He had the brass neck to walk into the Theobald Arms on very next day so Thomas Baldwin ordered him out. On this occasion the unwanted customer put the windows in.⁸⁸ In the same decade George Smith got himself so plastered he fell into the creek opposite the pub. He was lucky in that he did not drown but it was with some difficulty that he was extricated from the deep mud. His saviours handed him over to Sergeant Wapling who carted him off to the police station where his clothes were removed and he was thoroughly scrubbed, cleaned and wrapped up in flannels. He fared better than a man called Mansfield who, along with two drinking pals, met up at the Theobald Arms and launched into a right old session in April 1901. They proceeded to four other public-houses and drank 15 pints of beer. Mansfield was so drunk he had to be lifted into a cart but on reaching home he was found "quite dead." ⁸⁹

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

On our visit to the Theobald Arms we did not witness any of the above nonesense. It would be harsh to state that the pub was rather staid compared to the White Hart. It was certainly less animated. However, this traditional house boasts a very convivial atmosphere and I liked the place and, indeed, the excellent choice of real ales. The two pubs seemingly vie for the Pub of the Year award and the Theobald Arms proudly displays the pump clips of ales that have been drawn up the pipes from the cellar over the years. The pub also stocks a range of bottled beers from UK breweries. There is a slightly faded sign for the Mighty Oak Brewing Company on the exterior wall of the Theobald Arms - it was too busy to ask if there was a link between the Maldon-based brewery and the pub. This Essex brewery hit the headlines a few years back when their Oscar Wilde Oscar scooped the Supreme Champion award at the Great British Beer Festival.

With the Brexit debate in full swing we opted for some European Pale Ale, a 3.7% beer with floral notes and a pleasant hoppy kick for such a low abv. This is probably because, in addition to Magnum hops, the brewer, Jordan Millington, slings in some Aurora, Bobek and Perle hops during production - a bit like a small nation state punching above its weight. Although not a local ale, we have not stumbled upon cask ales by this brewery so we had to vote 'yes.' 4T's was started in 2010 in a garage by John Wilkinson, a man who had previously worked as a drayman for Tetley Walker before running the Wilkies Tavern in Warrington. After a spell brewing up in Runcorn, the brewery returned to Warrington in 2015. John Wilkinson and Jordan Millington also dabbled with a smaller brewery set-up in the former Wilkies Tavern. This was known as the 2&9 Brewery.

Clearly, what we should have done was find an AirBnB place in Grays so that we could launch into a session at these two fine pubs. Sadly, we had to tear ourselves away and head back to West Thurrock to check into the Premier Inn. If we were not losing the light we would have ridden through Chafford Gorges Nature Park. We ended up cycling through part of the Lakeside Shopping Centre, a vast shrine to corporate homogeneity. You could level the same argument against Premier Inn but they serve a purpose for cyclists where a bicycle can be taken inside for added security. That said, this particular Premier Inn was particularly poor and could not even rustle up some porridge for breakfast. It is also quite dangerous to reach on two wheels. But it is no good dwelling on this part of the day because we had enjoyed an excellent adventure along a largely urban and industrial part of the River Thames.

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© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

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