Stories of London's Watermen and Lightermen
7.00pm Thursday 28th November 2024
Admission: Tickets £10.00 in advance only HERE In past times, The Thames was both London’s thoroughfare, and a barrier separating the city into North and South. Among the most important workers of the river were The Watermen who carried people providing them with a means of traveling quickly through the city when roads were slow and uncomfortable, and of crossing from one bank to the other when there were fewer bridges than now, and The Lightermen who carried goods. who lightened'(that is, unloaded) a ship and transferred cargo to another vessel, or the quaysides, a crucial role in the city's life as a major international port.
Both were said to be 'boisterous and dextrous', but for them, their passengers and cargo, trafficking The Thames could be a risky, terrifying, and at times fatal, business.
By the 19th Century, the Thames was busy with cargo ships, lighters, barges, and watermen’s boats, and the growth of steam packet traffic posed a risk to the safety of all who worked and traveled on the river, The Princess Alice disaster of 1878 with the loss of between 600-700 lives is well known, but accidents in earlier years resulting in deaths were commonplace and soon forgotten. Join Historian JON TEMPLE who tells of the history of the Guild of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, and London guide GEOFF FAIRBAIRN who recalls two forgotten tales of disaster on the river.
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JON TEMPLE is the author of Volume 5 (1883-1920) of the History of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames and has recently completed Volume 6. He is also the author of ‘Living Off The State: A Critical Guide to UK Royal Finance’
Following careers in IT and broadcast radio, GEOFF FAIRBAIRN is now a tour guide specializing in Lambeth’s and Bermondsey’s historical heritages and unearths the long-forgotten stories that are to be told in the otherwise unremarkable corners within those boroughs.
----------------------------------------------------------------Our home,
THE HORSE HOSPITAL,
is a unique Grade II listed not for profit, independent arts venue within the only existing unspoilt example of a two-floor, purpose-built stable with public access in London.
Built in 1797 by James Burton. the shell is constructed with London Stocks whilst the interior features a mock cobbled re-inforced concrete floor and ramps with slats to prevent the horses from slipping. Each floor has 5 cast iron pillars and several original iron tethering rings.
