Woolwich Ferry Duncan, 1889 - 1920s, seen in 1920
Woolwich Free Ferry
1308: Woolwich ferryman, William de Wicton, sold his business and a house, to
William Atte, a mason, for £10.
1320: the people of Woolwich petitioned Parliament to suppress the ferries at Greenwich and Erith,
because Woolwich ferry was a "Royal Ferry" favoured of the king.
1811: Act of Parliament was passed for the purposes of establishing a ferry
across the Thames at Woolwich, from the old ballast or sand wharf, which
was opposite Chapel Street ( now Chapel Hill) where the dockyard
then terminated. This was to be a common ferry
consisting of one or more boats or such other vessels as shall be
sufficient and proper for the passage or conveyance of persons, cattle,
carriages, goods, wares and merchandise over the said river Thames.
1816: The 1811 Act was repealed. The watermen
of Woolwich were very dissatisfied with the monopoly given to the western
ferry by the act. There was a 40 shilling fine
for anyone carrying people or goods over the river within half a mile of
the ferry. The 1811 ferry however continued till 1844.
1838: Barge house ferry expanded -
The lessees of Woolwich ferry have within the last few weeks stationed here a new ferry boat of larger dimensions than any on the river, with a view to meeting the increase of traffic that has lately taken place between the two counties. Mr hose, the proprietor of the "Old barge house" is constructing an esplanade extending along the banks of the river, 300 yards, the depths upwards of 130 foot.
1850: onwards there were proposals for
superseding the ancient horse raft of Woolwich ferry by a steam vessel, the
prevailing idea being a flat bottomed boat grounding
on the beach.
1880: a public meeting was held in Woolwich to
see whether the parish could afford to set up its own steam ferry.
1884: after making a general survey of
existing communications across the Thames, the metropolitan board of works
agreed to provide the Ferry, and in the "Metropolitan board of works
(various powers act)" of 1815, obtained statutory authority to ferry
across the Thames at Woolwich, Passengers, animals, vehicles and goods, free of
all tolls, rates or charges.
1887: Messrs Mowlem & Co, were given the
contract to make the approaches and pontoons.
1889, March 23rd: The Woolwich
free ferry was opened by Lord Roseberry,
Chairman of the London County Council.
The opening ceremony took place amidst quite extraordinary rejoicing. Woolwich was arrayed in flags and bunting. The streets were lined with volunteers of the 2nd Kent (Plumstead) Artillery, the 3rd Kent( Royal Arsenal) artillery and the 3rd Kent (Royal Arsenal) Rifles. In procession through the streets of Woolwich, preceded by mounted police, came the various trade and friendly associations, with their emblems and bands. Behind came the official party, driving in open carriages. This comprised Lord Rosebery and other members of the London County Council, the local member of Parliament for Woolwich and representatives of the local board of health, and the Plumstead district board. On reaching the river, the party boarded the "Gordon", which took them across to North Woolwich, where they were met by another procession, which included in its ranks the steam fire engine from Beckton gas works, manned and decorated. Half an hour later, the party re-crossed the Thames, and Lord Rosebery, standing in his carriage before a crowd of 600 people, declared the ferry open, free for ever. To round off the day's proceedings, there was a banquet for 200 at the Freemason's hall.
The first ferries were 490 tons tons gross and had extreme width over the sponsons of 60 feet. They were 164 feet in length, with a draught of 4 feet. Soon after their construction, they were fitted with electric light throughout, a fact which was reported with great pride at the time. The ferries were driven by 2 pairs of diagonal surface condensing engines, each pair being connected to one paddle. They were capable of eight knots and licensed to carry 1000 passengers, with room for 15 to 20 vehicles.
Gordon, 1889 - 1920s
Hutton, 1889 - 1920s
Duncan, 1889 - 1920s
Woolwich Ferry Duncan, 1889 - 1920s, seen in 1920
1920s: the original boats were replaced by four similar paddle steamers. They were built by J.Samuel White Ltd of Cowes and had a gross tonnage of 625 tons, 166 foot in length and 44 foot wide. Because of the limited depth of water at the pontoons, at low tide, the loaded draught of the boats had to be kept to about 5 feet. The engines were coke-fired by hand stoking to avoid excess smoke, and worked at a pressure of only 60 pounds per square inch. Each ferry used about eight tons of coke a day.
Squires, 1922 1960s
John Benn, 1930 1960s
Will Crooks, 1930 1960s
Gordon, 1923 1960s
Woolwich Ferry Gordon, 1923 1960s, seen in 1960
1926 -
At 5.42pm one June afternoon, the Squires had just arrived
alongside the south pontoon, with 400 passengers on board. The
rope had just been made fast, when the Mate (who was in charge of the ship)
noticed a large steamer, steering an erratic course downriver towards the ferry
boat.
He gave orders to let go the ropes and went
astern at full speed.
The five and a half thousand ton
US ship "Coahama
County" struck the
Squires a crushing blow on the port bow and caused the ferry to rebound onto
the pontoon doing considerable damage. In the event,
no one was injured, but had the Squires been moored, she would almost certainly
have sunk with great loss of lives. Damage to the
pontoon caused the service to be closed for about six weeks.
1963: It was
finally decided to replace the old ferries with modern "end-loading"
vessels and to build new causeways to make loading and off-loading easier. Three diesel engined ferry boats were
constructed in 1963 by the Caleden shipbuilding and engineering company, Dundee.
Each was licensed to
carry 500 passengers and 200 tons of vehicles. These
vessels are 185.6 foot long and 61 foot wide, with a maximum draught of six
feet. Each weighs 738.5 tons.
They are propelled by two pressure charged
Mirlees National 500hp diesel engines , type R4/AU7M, which in turn drive two
Voith Schneider Cycloidal propellers , type 20E (one at each end of the boat).
John Burns, 1963 - 2018. (John Burns was the person who referred to the Thames as "Liquid
history")
James Newman, 1963 - 2018.
Ernest Bevin, 1963 - 2018.
Ernest Bevin, 1963 - 2018 date, seen in 1970s
Ben Woollacott 2019 -
Ben Woollacott takes the the water at a shipyard in Gdansk
The two new boats that will run the Woolwich Ferry from 2019 have been successfully launched
for the first time at their shipyard in Poland.
Dame Vera Lynn and Ben Woollacott took to the water at the Rementowa shipyard in Gdansk earlier this week (2018),
ahead of the two-month closure of the ferry service this autumn,
which will see replace and modernise facilities.
The two boats, costing £20 million each, are replacing the existing three vessels –
Ernest Bevin, John Burns and James Newman – which have plied the route since 1963.
They will be the fourth generation of ferries since the free service began in 1889.
They will now be fitted out and painted before undergoing sea trials.
They are named after notable figures from each side of the Thames:
wartime entertainer Dame Vera Lynn, 101, was born in East Ham;
while Ben Woollacott was a 19-year-old deckhand from Swanley who drowned in 2011
while preparing one of the ferries for service.
The boats will be able to carry 150 passengers and 40 vehicles,
have a separate space for cyclists and will provide step-free access. TfL says they will also be quieter
and have fewer emissions, with two filtering systems like the ones used on London buses.
Dame Vera Lynn
"Sweet Thames Flow Softly" - Words & Music : Ewan MacColl - ©Stormking Music - Lyric as sung by Dick Gaughan
I met my girl at Woolwich Pier
Beneath a big crane standing
And oh, the love I felt for her
It passed all understanding
Took her sailing on the river,
Flow, sweet river, flow
London town was mine to give her,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
Made the Thames into a crown,
Flow, sweet river, flow
Made a brooch of Silvertown,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
At London Yard I held her hand
At Blackwall Point I faced her
At the Isle of Dogs I kissed her mouth
And tenderly embraced her
Heard the bells of Greenwich ringing,
Flow, sweet river, flow
All the time my heart was singing,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
Limehouse Reach I gave her there,
Flow, sweet river, flow
As a ribbon for her hair,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
From Shadwell dock to Nine Elms Reach
We cheek to cheek were dancing
Her necklace made of London Bridge
Her beauty was enhancing
Kissed her once again at Wapping,
Flow, sweet river, flow
After that there was no stopping,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
Richmond Park it was her ring,
Flow, sweet river, flow
I'd have given her anything
,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
From Rotherhithe to Putney Bridge
My love I was declaring
And she, from Kew to Isleworth,
Her love for me was swearing.
Love had set my heart a-burning,
Flow, sweet river, flow
Never saw the tide was turning,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
Gave her Hampton Court to twist,
Flow, sweet river, flow
Into a bracelet for her wrist,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
But now alas the tide has changed
My love she has gone from me
And winter's frost has touched my heart
And put a blight upon me
Creeping fog is on the river,
Flow, sweet river, flow
Sun and moon and stars gone with her
,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
Swift the Thames runs to the sea,
Flow, sweet river, flow
Bearing ships and part of me,
Sweet Thames, flow softly
1908:
when the ferries were getting very crowded, and when the railway ferry service
closed down, the council decided to seek powers to build a foot tunnel.
1912: The foot tunnel was opened.
Woolwich Foot tunnel