Landing tapioca at Butler's Wharf, c. 1910. © NMM
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| Landing tapioca at Butler's Wharf, c. 1910. © NMM |
Between 1909 and 1939 the total tonnage of shipping going through the port rose from less than 40 million tons to more than 60 million. London's share of Britain's sea-borne trade rose from 29% to 38%.
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| The liner Euripides (1914) berthed at the London Docks. © NMM |
By the mid-1920s the PLA warehouses could store more than one million tons of goods.
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Ostrich feathers and elephant tusks, Hundreds of tons of costly tea, Packed in wool by the Cingalee, And a myriad of drugs which disagree. Cinnamon, myrrh, and mace you showed, Golden Paradise birds that glowed, More cigars than a man could count, And a billion cloves in an odorous mount, And a choice port wine from a bright glass fount.
You showed, for a most delightful hour, The wealth of the world and London's power. |
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| Surrey Commercial Docks in their heyday in the 1930s. © NMM |
By 1939 the PLA had built more than 30 hectares (80 acres) of new dock water and nearly 10 kilometres (6 miles) of extra quays.
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| Greenland Dock from the air, 1957. © NMM |
On the eve of the Second World War 100,000 dockers and other workers depended on the PLA. More than 30,000 were actually employed by the PLA itself.
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| Dockers with electric trolleys at the King George V Dock. © NMM |
This carried on after the Second World War (1939-45) once the docks had recovered from the German bombing.
By the early 1960s the docklands labour force was handling over 60 million tons of cargo a year.
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| Lightermen and their craft off Greenwich. © NMM |
Cargoes were unloaded into lighters or onto the quayside, then moved to warehouses for distribution. This was slow, inefficient and expensive.
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| The Menestheus (1958) in the King George V Dock. © NMM |
Changes in the pattern of global trade explained the closures. Many of Britain's trading partners were developing their own manufacturing industries and finding new markets for their goods.
For example, Australia, which had sent most of its wool to Britain, was sending more to Japan by the 1960s. Europe was also becoming a more important trading area. As a result continental ports like Rotterdam, making full use of new mechanized dock technology, began to overtake London.
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| Tilbury Container Terminal. © NMM |
However, the main reason was the increasing use of container ships, which required deep-water berths further down the Thames.
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| A model of the Walton Container Terminal at Felixstowe. © NMM |
There was no space available in London. Purpose-built container terminals, like those at Tilbury and Felixstowe, became the main site for this activity.
Tilbury and Felixstowe were better able to take advantage of the growth in Britain's trade with mainland Europe. This was because of their easier access and shorter sea routes.
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| Model of Northfleet Hope container terminal at Tilbury. © NMM |
Tilbury's wharves and warehouses were subsequently modernised to include facilities for containers, bulk cargoes (e.g. steel and grain) and roll-on, roll-off ferry traffic.
