As you sail past the O2 “Dome” or fly over it on the cable-car, look to the opposite bank and you will see the site of the largest private dock in Europe, the birthplaces of the hydraulic crane and the modern lighthouse, the yards where “bad buoys were made good” and HMS Warrior was launched, and the wharf where Brunel’s first steamship had her engine installed.
You will be passing the departure point of fleets (great and small) which set-up the first permanent English-speaking colony in the New World, established the most powerful multinational corporation that has ever existed, and towed the floating harbours that made the D-Day landings possible. Here the Cutty Sark unloaded tea and wool, and here many of her sisters were built.
Blackwall has featured in each of Jeremy's talks over the past seven years, so the time has come for a closer look. For example, what is the connection between the local Majestic Wine Warehouse and the bark Endeavour, Captain James Cook's first ship?
Individual lecture tickets: Members £4.00 , Non-members £7.00
To book contact the CA Office. Tel: 0207 537 2828 or email office@cruising.org.uk