THAMES WATERMEN AND LIGHTERMEN
A waterman's trade is to carry people by boat. Until the 19th century,
the easiest way to get around London was by boat. A waterman's skiff
was like a taxi. You could hire one, and the waterman rowed you to
the river stairs closest to where you wanted to go. You could travel
along the Thames in one of the new steam-driven ferries. New docks
were built, so more and more big ships used the river. The river got
very busy. It was risky for people to travel in small rowing boats.
All these things meant that the watermen's work changed: instead of
rowing passengers in skiffs, they took lighters full of cargo up and
down the river. This is the trade of a lighterman. |
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