Woolwich Markets 1940s

A Memory of Woolwich.

I used to lived in Eltham from 1940 until 1951 - before that it was Plumstead. I visited Woolwich Markets numerous times. My last school was Woolwich Politechnic just a stroll away. I recall eating eel soup at fourpence a bowl in the fish restaurant right on market square. Then there was Dirty Dick's Hotel close by. And of course, the trips on the old paddle-steamer ferries across the Thames, and even the long, long walk along the under-river tunnel... how different it was then. I recall the red sails of the sailing barges, and the tug boats hauling lines of barges. The lines of cranes and ships funnels sticking up all along the docks on the North side of the river. To get to school I'd take a 361 bus, change at the Eltham main street and catch a double-decker tram right into Woolwhich, going past a park, then the playing fields which belong to Woolwich Polly, and the the Royal Artillery Barracks.

I left all that behind when my family and I boarded the migrant ship which brought us to Australia in 1951. I've never been back.