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Published: August 25th 2010
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Upon arrival at Moorgate, we caught the Northern Line, and got off at Monument, which is the transfer point to Bank. We took the Docklands Light Railway on the direction of Greenwich and Lewisham. There were a lot of people on the train. We got off at the West India Quay. The leaflet of the Museum of Docklands had a picture of the museum building, which was converted from the warehouses and it was on the doorstep of West India Quay station.
Like the Museum of London, it was free to enter. We were directed to go up to the third floor, and were invited to stroll through the exhibition rooms where artefacts, treasures and documents belonging to the time of AD50-1600 were displayed. As expected, the Museum of Docklands showed us a wide range of artefacts, documents, and treasures related to the marine trade industry, water transport, and fishing industry, which were based in London and on the Thames river.
We saw quite a few ancient objects, including: Roman amphora, which was used for the transportation of olive oil, wine, and seafood, the ancient trade stamp, which inscribes, Imp Vespasian Ang, i.e. The property of Emperor Vespasian, who
ruled 69-79AD, countless Saxon pottery fragments, and bones of eels, roaches, and mussels.
In the medieval period, London acted as a main trade centre of thriving wool industry. There were pictures of the recent discoveries of the foundations of the 12th century bridge and sections of the medieval waterfront. It was interesting to learn that Geoffrey Chaucer worked as a Controller of Customs at that time.
Ostensibly, English rulers got interest in exotic fruits and spices grown in warm climate, and London became the trade centre in the late 16th century. There were models of the trading ships, which conveyed spanish onions, oranges, lemons, coals, and coffee etc, displayed in the gallery. There were some valuable items, e.g . East India Company's coat of arms, medals, chestboxes and different types of keys exhibited alongside the models of the ships. We noted an interest in the articles of the coffee houses in the 18th century, which became the popular place for business meetings conducted by bookkeepers, clergymen, military men, and politician.
London's seabourne industry developed whilst acting as a trade centre. Evidently, there was the demand of establishing and running shipbuilding facilities. There were displays of materials and
tools used by block makers, mast makers, anchor smiths, and ship carvers.
We were amazed with a vast cargo, The Falmouth, which conveyed a huge volume of tea chests, cases of chinaware, and bales of clothes with hundreds of crew members. The displayed cargo showed where the food, e.g. salted meats, beer, wine, bread and biscuits were stored and explained that bread and biscuits were kept on the upper decks to prevent them spoiling from the damp.
There are a lot of African and Caribbean people living in London and they have been actively protesting about the issues and mistreatments regarding the slave trade. There were a series of articles of slave trade and sugar industry based in the Carribean countries. It evidently took a long time for the British government to understand the issues e.g. how badly and unfairly the Africans were treated in their homelands, in the ships, and foreign lands whilst the triangular trade was carried out. Eventually, there were political leaders who tried to oversee the issues. One of the brave politicians was Thomas Fowell Buxton who proposed the project of the Abolition of Slavery. There was a round table used by him and
his party displayed in the gallery.
East London continued developing as a port from the Victorian time to the 1940s. There were a number of construction and building works carried out; e.g. Thames Tunnel, built by Marc Ismbard Brunei, between 1823 -1824, The Great Eastern liner, Wharf model between between 1851 - 1853, and free engine appliances designed in the 1880s. I was interested in looking at the models of Tea Weighing station, Battling Vault, Tabacco Weighing station, and Dock Cooperage.
There were a lot of chemical and industry factories in the East London, and it was no wonder that Hitler attacked the East London. There was a metal cyllinder shaped object, which was used for sheltering the person from bomb attack. Londoners endured the air-raids between 1940 -1942. By the time the tide of the war changed and it was favourable for the Allied countries, Winston Churchill selected the East London for the base of the secret technology, i.e. plan to develop the petrol pipes to France. There were articles of Final Revenge of V1 and V2 missiles and the Docks of D-Day.
After the war, East London's commerce as a trade centre was declined, and
the workers and their families started leaving the Docklands in the 1960s. A number of the factory buildings and warehouses were abandoned.
However, in the beginning of the 1980s, the plan of re-development of the Docklands proposed, and there have been a number of futuristic skyscrapers built up, the driveless train, i.e. Docklands Light Railway has been operated and developed since the 1980s. In addition, the former warehouses and factory buildings have been converted to stylish shopping centres, restaurants, and residential houses and this re-development works is in progress. There were articles and models of the Docklands Light Railway, London's city airport, Jubilee Line's extension with the model of North Greenwich station, and skyscrapers, which have turned the financial centre of London. We confirmed that the former Docklands has been revitalised and has become a centre of thriving community.
Finally, I asked the staff when the Museum of Docklands was opened. They answered me that the Queen visited in June 2003 and it was officially opened in July 2003. There was a plaque describing the opening day. We didn't know the Museum of Docklands has been running for seven years.
We really enjoyed looking round the Museum of London and Docklands on 15 August 2010.
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