There are few areas of London that have changed in recent decades as much as the dockside areas of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe. As the importance of London as a shipping port declined in the post-war years, many of the city's docklands began to see changes. In Bermondsey and Rotherhithe almost the whole of the riverside was once devoted to the unloading and loading of goods of all kinds from ships that arrived from all over the world. The goods were stored in the gigantic warehouses that lined the river and factories, with famous names, grew up to process them close to where they were unshipped and stored. To service and maintain the port industries a multitude of workers and their families lived and worked in the often cramped and narrow streets that ran around and between the port buildings. This book recalls the days when these communities were at the heart of British commerce and industry, and covers particularly the years from between the wars to a decade or two after the Second World War. Drawing on the excellent collection of photographs and memorabilia held in Southwark Local Studies Library, Stephen Humphrey reveals the sights and sounds of an industrial heritage that is now all but gone and an area that is now the scene of major redevelopment.
