Comments on: Among the Lightermen https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/08/27/among-the-lightermen-2/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Mon, 22 Aug 2022 09:56:13 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Keith Watson https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/08/27/among-the-lightermen-2/#comment-1478206 Mon, 22 Aug 2022 09:56:13 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=69764#comment-1478206 I was a Thames Lighterman. These are some of the firms I worked for (sent from the pool).
Atlas. Beaumont. Blackfriars. Braithwaite. Charrington. Cook. Cory. Cunis. Dagenham. Darling. Erith&Dartford. Everhard. Fielder&Hickman. Fisher. Flower&Everett. General. Harrison. Hawkins. Humphrey&Grey. Irongate. Limited. London Barge Company. London Rochester. Marriot. McDougal&Bonthron. Merc. Odell. Orient. Phillip Mills. PLA (Surrey Dock).
River Lighterage. RTC. Silvertown. EW Taylor. Union. Whitehair. Wrightson. And relief mate for Gaselee and JP Knight.
I was what was called “unattached” which meant I was not regularly employed by one company until decasualisation in the 60s. Sorry about the red lines my word processor tries to correct what I write.

]]> By: ault https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/08/27/among-the-lightermen-2/#comment-62857 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:57:48 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=69764#comment-62857 Oddly, the morning after I read this I noticed a new development along the bank of the Seine in the heart of the 7e arrondissement (I live in Paris).

While the river is home to a fair amount of commercial shipping, it is mostly building materials (sand, rock, cement) and rubble. One of the paper shredding/recycling companies also use barges.

The supermarket chain Franprix has recently opened a small container handling facility just upstream from the Pont de l’Alma. Before dawn, containers are transferred from a barge to waiting lorries to distribute the stocks to the shops around town. From the containers visible, I would estimate that it saves at least 20 lorry journeys into and out of Paris every day.

Surprisingly, the site is small. A concrete pad no more than 100m long by 20m deep. Essentially a small car park with a very large forklift-ish plant in it. I can imagine there are similar sites available along the Thames in London. If only a business had the imagination to make a business case to use them.

]]> By: Laura Passey https://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/08/27/among-the-lightermen-2/#comment-61305 Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:23:09 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=69764#comment-61305 I just love the gritty real life imagery and stories on Spitalfields Life!

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