This is yet another quick update to say that the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust paper on their plans for the archive STILL hasn't been presented to a Council meeting. We are promised information...... keep hoping.
Meanwhile - you might be interested in:
New GIHS talk: Dartford and Crayford creeks – past and future
The first Greenwich Industrial History Society talk of the 2024-25 season is from David Leal, who will be talking via Zoom about the Dartford and Crayford creeks.
His free talk will be on Tuesday 10 September at 19:15 for 19:30 UK time. See further down for how to register for this talk. We’ll send you a Zoom link a couple of hours before the talk starts.
According to David, the Dartford and Crayford creeks were crucial to the industrial growth of Dartford and Crayford. Mills at the heads of the creeks obtained power from the rivers Darent and Cray, and the creeks themselves provided transport to London wharfs, to ships in the port of London and to harbours as far away as Cornwall.
Industrial activities beside the creeks lasted until 1980, when they ended abruptly. The Commissioners of the Dartford and Crayford Navigation handed over the creek to the Port of London, who declared the navigation abandoned, and put Priory Lock at Dartford permanently out of commission. Since 2016, the Dartford and Crayford Creek Restoration Trust (https://www.facebook.com/DartfordCrayfordCreek/ has been working to restore the navigation, preserve historic artefacts beside the creeks, to protect the wildlife in and beside the creeks, and to make the embankments a place for recreation.
David is a member of the Dartford and Crayford Creek Restoration Trust and owns the 1899 Thames sailing barge Decima, moored in Crayford. During its working life, the barge took many freights to Dartford and Crayford.
How to reserve your FREE place
PLEASE read this important information about how to register to see this talk.
· This free talk will be by Zoom only in the evening of Tuesday 10 September, starting at 19:15 for 19:30 UK time. · You must book your free slot by sending an email to greenwichindustrial@gmail.com with the subject line “GIHS talk on 10 September” before 19:00 UK time on Tuesday 10 Sept. · Do not send emails to individual GIHS committee members: they will just ask you to contact the above email address.
We will send you Zoom log-in details before the talk starts. (Don’t chase us, please.)
The talk starts at 19:30 on Tuesday 10 September.
You can ask questions via Zoom’s text chat function.
We will record the meeting and plan to put the recording on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@GreenwichIndustrialHistorySoc in time – though this might take a few weeks. You can already see some of our other talks, dating back to 2020, listed on our Facebook page.
Subsequent GIHS talks
Please put these in your diary and keep an eye on this site for details
8 October – Sarah Palmer on east London sugar bakers
12 November – Steve Hunnisett on Second World War bombing of Greenwich industry