From the Thames to all the world
Dad's hands were like tortoiseshell. They were like tools really, like rough leather. He could hardly bend his hands, he had calluses that turned into hard shell. There wasn't machines to load, they had to do it by hand. He had tools to help him, forks, but he used to pick up a 200 pound bag of sugar on his back, run up and then drop it off. That's how they used to load the ships. It was just so incredibly hard.
The Cruise Terminal is still in use, but the old train station is a grade 1 listed building. If you ever get a chance, go in. It's like out of the 1940s, they still got the first and second class restaurant things and original flagstone. They use it in filming. It was a terminus. All the trains coming out of London would stop there, and the trains from Southend.
At one time, they used to get literally millions of people stopping off at the docks, because of the £10 Pom fares. They paid a tenner, went down to Tilbury docks and got on the boats. There was literally hundreds of ships coming in and going off to Australia. The only ships I know were the Oronsay and the Orion, because my brothers were on those ships. We nearly went. We were packed, but then my mum didnt want to go. I was 10.
From stories told at Tilbury Children's Centre.
Related Stories: 2, 7, 14, 23, 26, 27, 29
The Cruise Terminal is still in use, but the old train station is a grade 1 listed building. If you ever get a chance, go in. It's like out of the 1940s, they still got the first and second class restaurant things and original flagstone. They use it in filming. It was a terminus. All the trains coming out of London would stop there, and the trains from Southend.
At one time, they used to get literally millions of people stopping off at the docks, because of the £10 Pom fares. They paid a tenner, went down to Tilbury docks and got on the boats. There was literally hundreds of ships coming in and going off to Australia. The only ships I know were the Oronsay and the Orion, because my brothers were on those ships. We nearly went. We were packed, but then my mum didnt want to go. I was 10.
From stories told at Tilbury Children's Centre.
Related Stories: 2, 7, 14, 23, 26, 27, 29
