23 March: The Woolwich Ferry

Another Thames crossing today, but not a bridge this time. The Woolwich Ferry started operation on this date in 1889.

1. The Woolwich Ferry is a free ferry service across the river Thames, between New Ferry Approach, Woolwich SE18 6DX and Pier Road, London E16 2JJ. It links two ends of the inner London orbital roads: the North Circular and the South Circular.
2. The service is operated by Briggs Marine on behalf of Transport for London.
3. About two million passengers make the 1500ft crossing each year. The trip takes 5-10 minutes. It cannot operate in fog, however, so foot passengers would have to use the Woolwich Foot Tunnel to get to work and vehicles would have to divert to the Blackwall Tunnel, two miles away.
4. There has been a ferry crossing of some kind at this point in the river since Norman times. One of the earliest written references to it was in 1308 when the waterman conducting the ferry, William de Wicton, sold his business and a house, to William Atte, a mason, for £10.
5. The Woolwich Ferry as we know it today opened on 23 March 1889. The first boat across was a paddle steamer called Gordon (named after General Gordon of Khartoum). It was opened amid a lot of pomp and ceremony. The streets of Woolwich were decorated with flags and bunting for the occasion. Volunteers of the 2nd Kent Artillery, the 3rd Kent artillery and the 3rd Kent Rifles turned out to lines the streets as Lord Roseberry, who was to perform the opening ceremony, rode by in an open carriage with a party which included the local MP and members of the London County Council. They went across in the ferry and were met by the steam fire engine from Beckton gas works. Then they went back again and Lord Roseberry declared the ferry open. After that there was a banquet at the Freemason's hall.
6. As well as the Gordon, there were two other paddle steamers called Duncan (after Colonel Francis Duncan MP) and Hutton (after Professor Charles Hutton). Since then, there have been another three which replaced the originals from 1923. They were The Squire (named after William Squires, a former mayor of Woolwich), the Will Crooks (after the Labour MP for Woolwich, 1903–21) and the John Benn (after a member of London County Council, Liberal MP for Wapping, and grandfather of Tony Benn). These three operated until the 1960s when they were sold for scrap and replaced with the current roll on roll off vessels: John Burns, Ernest Bevin and James Newman (These were named after local politicians. Newman, for example, was mayor of Woolwich, 1923–25).
7. Many believe that the Woolwich Ferry vessels went to Dunkirk. Romantic as that may seem, it's not true - but they did do their bit for the war effort. In September 1940 the ferry ran all night evacuating people from Silvertown after an air raid which set the docks ablaze, and dodging burning oil on the river. The ferry ran a 24 hour service during the war, which was an extra challenge because the blackout meant no navigation lights could be used.
8. At one time the waiting rooms on both banks were pubs: the Marquise of Wellington on the south bank, and the prince regent on the north. Sadly, they were replaced by dockyards.
9. The ferry is free and is likely to remain so for the forseeable future. To discontinue the ferry, or start charging a fare, would require changes to the 1885 Act of Parliament which set it up.
10. Unlike the Mersey Ferry, nobody has ever written a song about it, possibly because the areas it serves aren't touristy. However, a model of the John Benn was destroyed by a sea monster in the film Behemoth, the Sea Monster. It gets a mention in Only Fools and Horses when Uncle Albert asks Rodney, if he'd ever been on board a ship to which he replied "Yes": but then added "only the Woolwich Ferry".

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