Cement loading; Picture by Sea Change
David Rye comes back on with some more info on yesterday’s post. “I believe,” he says, “the ‘Stone Heaps’ are off Shotley Point, where the Orwell and Stour meet – a well used barge anchorage in the old days. I don’t think that is exactly its correct name. As to peanuts and oil, my parents worked at the Erith oil works pre-war; a huge place and way ahead of its time when built. The barges brought the sacks of peanuts down from the London docks and took away the remains in sacks as cattle feed for the Kent and Essex farms. The oil was used for margarine. Barge crews came ashore near the Erith Yacht Club for stores and ‘refreshments’ in West Street, namely the ‘Trafalgar’ and ‘The Ship’ pubs”
Thanks very much for that, David.