Oh no! What a shame…
I was saddened to see ‘another piece of history’ reporting the sad loss to the maritime scene on Deptford Creek. ‘The Greenwich Visitor’ often reports on Thameside matters and recorded the fiery death of the last of the working cranes once gathered on both sides of the Creek and nearby Thameside.
I write from Crane Street, named after the nearby site of a Tudor crane that served the Palace of Placentia and later the import of stone for the construction of Wren’s masterpiece. Of course, ship building which abounded hereabouts required machinery to hoist masts and rigging and to export goods around the world.
Priors Brewery Wharf is the last of the working wharves and a pair of coasters still plies to and from Denton in Kent with freshly dredged aggregates for the busy concrete making plant. A mobile crane has now been allocated to do the job by day and by night, according to tides.
