Tales of the Docks

The Silvertown explosion came while Britain was fighting the First World War, and many jumped to blame their enemy. London had already been attacked by air, with German zeppelins dropping bombs between 1915 and 1917.

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The truth was harder to take – this was a tragic and preventable accident.

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Just before 7pm on 19 January 1917, a fire started at Brunner Mond & Co, a factory refining TNT for use in the First World War (1914–1918). The fire caused 50 tonnes of high explosives to detonate.

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A large part of the factory was instantly destroyed, together with nearby grain stores and 900 local homes. A total of 60,000–70,000 buildings were damaged, as flaming debris caused fires for miles around.

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73 people died and over 400 were injured – including many children. Tug boats at the docks ferried injured people to hospital.

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Fires could be seen as far away as Guildford. Shockwaves were reported in Norfolk and Southampton. And despite the efforts of over 100 firefighters, fires continued to burn for more than a week afterwards.

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London’s docks received all manner of goods from across the British Empire, from tea and spices to silks.

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However, there have been some more unusual imports, for example, in October 1947 20 baby elephants arrived at George V Dock. They travelled from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) on the SS Arbratus and were destined for Tom Arnold’s Christmas Circus in Harringay.

At the top of Pier Road in North Woolwich, where the Royal Pavilion Hotel and pub once stood.

Locals tell how the pub was haunted by a ghost in the 1970s and 80s. Ron Slight and his wife Eileen ran the ‘Pavi’ from 1976 to 1986. The couple and regulars were all convinced it was haunted by a ghost called Fred. Eileen told how the ghost once stopped a record that one of the barmaids had been repeatedly playing on the jukebox at Christmas. Her niece, Davina Dupey, told the story, “When my aunt was talking about Fred and people did not believe her, he took a glass, held it in mid-air, and shattered it!”