Woolwich, Men On The Ferry 1961

Photo ref: W460704

When I was a teenager back in the late 1950's I loved travelling by trollybus to explore Woolwich. At the time I lived at home in Welling but Woolwich always had much more of interest to offer. There was the endless fascination of the river Thames and the paddleboat ferry that crossed over to Silvertown and the Tate and Lyle factory. There were the markets, the live eel shop, the Tramshed and the ...see more

Around 3/4 yrs of age- 1948/49 - I came across my first foreign work men coming off the boats at Woolwich. The men wore a rough looking outfit - blue in colour - as I recall. Upon asking my father who they were and where they came from ,he stupidly replied ,'Smoked Irish men' and I believed him until mum said 'Teach the child sense' To this day it has been one of life's unsolved mysteries. Those men looked so poor ...see more

My dad opened his first shop in Ferry Approach, a cafe, it was situated directly outside the woolwich foot tunnel with plenty of dock workers and factory workers passing by every day and a constant stream of traffic queuing for the ferry. My brother and I used to go to the shop after school to help out, washing up and sweeping up. Dad went on to own the fag and paper shop next to the cafe also a greetings card ...see more

I lived in Little Heath opp the Woodman Pub and spent most of the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies in either Charlton, Woolwich and North Woolwich. I remember Powis St and Hare St very well, Great Shopping etc. miss the variety of shops.