Tug Portwey & SS Robin in front of the Marriott Hotel West India Dock - London - 14.10.2006

These two old vessels are berthed here among the tall modern buildings of London's former docklands. A little to the west is the Museum of London with a further group of small retired commercial barges, tugs and other craft. The two dockside cranes are reminders of the many hundreds that worked in the huge London Docks until the 1950s & '60s. The constraints of the River Thames in the days of increasing ship sizes led to trade being transferred to Tilbury and other ports with easier access to the seaways.