The Story of London’s Docks, Jeremy Batch

Details

"London’s Locks, Docks and Marinas – the story of the Port of London from Roman times to the present day" was Jeremy’s first lecture, given to the CA in Feb 2007. It tells the story of all of London’s docks (West India, East India, London & St Katharine, Surreys, Royals) and also covers some of the other history of "London River": Alfred and the Danes, the first locks, the Jamestown expedition, the canals, the Blitz, etc.

This year the talk will be updated for the big screen (ours was narrower 19 years ago). We’ll go further west to London Bridge — which couldn’t originally be included because it wasn’t in the Eastenders aerial photo! — and east to cover Tilbury and the ‘new’ London Gateway, which opened in 2013.

'The bath was filled, and the First Sea Lord climbed onto the toilet seat. His aides stood ready with a back-brush and a tray of paper boats. Also present were Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Winston Churchill and one Mae West. Where were they, what were they up to, and what was the connection with London’s docks?' Come and find out!

Please note: lectures can be watched live online but we do not generally make recordings available after the event, for a number of reasons relating to time and copyright issues.