Scotts Wharf - memories of a working
wharf in the 50’s and early 60’s.
Between
Tower Bridge and Cherry Garden Pier on the south bank of the Thames was an
inlet of some 500 yards long. The landward side was close to the busy Dockhead
Road. Wharves on both sides handled barges carrying cereals, tinned fruit and
hessian transported by barges from the larger docks downstream. However the
main activity centred around Scotts Wharf. At high tide there was easy mooring
and lightermen would wait for this to bring their barges in and out. Scotts
Wharf had a small permanent workforce and relied on the Pool to bring in the
labour needed for the day's work.
I worked as
a stevedore for some 5 years frequently at Scotts Wharf. It wasn’t a popular
wharf because the pay wasn’t as good as other wharfs, cargos of hessian bales
paid a lot less per tonnage and the pay was poor in comparison with other
wharves like Chambers Wharf.
A typical
day went like this…
At the
beginning of the day Dockers would assemble under a huge shed on Redriff Road
(the Pool) with an office at one end, waiting their assignation to various
wharves needing cargo unloading. Often a docker would be sent to replace a sick
or injured man. Once you got your assignation you then, depending on where you
were going, took public transport to your wharf.
If there was
no work you would ‘bump on’. It meant you had arrived for work, signed on but
none was available so you still got a minimum pay. You might go to the Lady
Gomm Club which was made available to dockers in the daytime and had coffee. There you might wait for another
chance and try again at the 1.30pm afternoon call.
The foreman
would allocate jobs; 2 men in the barge, 4 men dockside, 2 men at the loophole.
Usually it was younger dockers who worked in the barges. It was less strenuous
work at Scotts Wharf and I was sent there as I had injured my leg but still
able to work in the barge. The barges brought in cargoes of hessian in 2
hundred weight bales. We attached a strong rope (a strop) under the bales and
fixed the hook . A high crane performed the necessary unloading. The cargoes
were then transported by hand trucks to the front of the wharf which faced the
main Dockhead Road ready for easy transport by lorry. Sometimes the high crane
loaded straight on to waiting lorries. A full barge would take nearly a day to
unload. If it was after 2pm when the work was completed the dockers were free
to go home. They would then report to the Pool again the following day. If you
were unlucky enough to still be working when the tide went out in a worse case
scenario you may have had to stay the night on the barge.
Patsy was
the foreman at Scotts Wharf. He had a strong sense of humour and was always
laughing.
Joe the old
timer had worked most of his life at Scotts Wharf and was still working into
his seventies.
Ron Weldon
was the high crane driver. When things were slack he took on other work, he was
also a bouncer at various venues one being Chislehurst Caves. He kept order at
musical events. It was his job to go round when the session ended to root out
the couples that wanted to stay the night in the caves. This sometimes ended in
fights since the couples resented being turned out! He was a good friend to me,
he helped me transport paintings and when I had my first evening class in the
early days it was about to fail due to lack of numbers Ron and Charles (another
docker) presented themselves as students. The visiting Principle on seeing
these two big tough looking men working away on their drawings was suitably
impressed and allowed me to keep the class open even though I was short on
numbers. It was a great kindness of Ron and Charles which I never forgot for
without their help I would have certainly lost the class and the valuable
teaching experience which helped secure later work.
Some interesting links on the history of the area...
St Saviour's Dock - A London Inheritance
