Climb aboard as we explore stories of London's Watermen and Lightermen
Doors: 7pm.
Among the most important workers of the River Thames in past times were The Watermen who carried people (and their luggage) and The Lightermen who carried goods
The Thames was both London’s thoroughfare, and a barrier separating the city into North and South. Watermen provided people with a means of traveling quickly through the city at a time when roads were slow and uncomfortable, and of crossing from one bank to the other at a time when there were fewer bridges than now .
The Lightermen 'lightened ' (that is, unloaded) a ship and transferred cargo to another vessel, or the quaysides, a crucial role in the city's life as a major international port. Like the Watermen, they lived close to the river, but were much better paid.
Both were said to be 'boisterous and dextrous', but for them, their passengers and cargo, trafficking The Thames could be a risky, terrifying, and at times fatal, business - 'shooting the rapids' under London Bridge was famously dangerous and the night tides could be treacherous
Historian JON TEMPLE tells of the history of the Guild of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames and London guide GEOFF FAIRBAIRN narrates two forgotten tales of terror and disaster on the river.
JON TEMPLE is the author of Volume 5 (1883-1920) of the History of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames and has recently completed Volume 6 (1921-1980). He is also the author of Living Off The State: a critical guide to UK royal finance (2008/2012).
GEOFF FAIRBAIRN is a Lambeth Guide who specialises in Lambeth’s historical heritage and unearths the long-forgotten stories that are to be told in the otherwise apparently unremarkable corners within the borough.