This is a story written by my Late Great Uncle Horace (Ted) Barber of the beginning of his life as a tugboat man on the River Thames. Eventually he came to own a fleet of tugs.

" I was born on 4th January 1892.

When I was thirteen and in the Ex 7th Class I went to school in Stratford one Saturday to pass what was known as the Labour Examination. If you passed you were entitled to go to work at the age of thirteen instead of fourteen. Having passed, I made up my mind I would go on the water the day I was fourteen. On that day I strolled down to the Victoria Dock.

There were two barges moored in between two Dolphins, which supported the gangway. Also it was by tugs crew to relieve. In fact it was used by everyone to get in and out of their craft awaiting to go go up the river or in the docks. This was private property and belonged to William Cory and sons Ltd.

When Newham was created in 1965, both East Ham & West Ham Councils had their own Electricians, so they joined forces at Arragon Road Depot, which was the depot for the East Ham Sparks. This photo taken in the Depot Canteen in about 1970 shows the Electricians from both Housing and Highways, plus the Spotters (these men would go round Newham at Night to check that all street lighting was working), Drivers & Apprentices.

It was said that a Tug Captain could follow the River Thames not only by the Reaches and the Buoys, but also the sights and the smells from the Riverside.

So lets go back over 50 years and imaging a ride aboard a Tug from the entrance of the Royal Victoria Dock to the entrance of the King George V Dock on a summer’s day.

Entering the Royal Victoria Dock by gate No.3, we walk along to the Tidal Basin to pick up our Tug.

William Ritchie & Sons was a firm of Jute spinners, originally
based in Carpenters Road, Stratford. By 1876, there were around 1000,
mainly women workers, employed here. The site on Carpenters Road was
closed in 1904 and the firm then opened new premises in Caxton Street
North, Canning Town