I suppose that those who were redeveloping the sites were only looking forward to the new buildings and had no interest in what was there before, no interest in what was being demolished. The Queen pub, the original St Edmund’s Church, Kingsbridge Arms, the original Tooke Arms, Christ Church Hall, the Police Station in Manchester Road, the Princess of Wales (Macs), Cubitt Town Primitive Church, the Victorian houses that survived the War, Hawkins & Tipson’s Ropeworks, Kingsbridge, Capstan House, Leslie’s Café, Cubitt House, Roffey House – I can name many more – they all seemed to have disappeared quickly and without any photographic record of their demise. Outside of the docks, though, there are very few images of the demolition of buildings and structures which for decades had played important roles in the lives of many Islanders. They dealt with criminal and accidental cases as well as giving assistance for state visits. …were responsible for the protection of London’s commercial docks and had powers to stop and search people in the Docks and on docked ships. The Port of London Act 1908 changed this, amalgamating the various dock companies, removing the competition, and creating the Port of London Authority which was given responsibility for the corporate governance and operations of all enclosed docks along the Thames (apart from Regent’s Canal Dock in Limehouse).Ī consequence of this amalgamation was the merging of the various dock company police forces into a single PLA Police Force of more than 500 men who… Until 1908, the Port of London docks were owned and run by separate companies who competed with each other for business – competition which was detrimental to their interests (they nearly all ran at a loss at the time), and damaging for Britain’s trade with the rest of the world.

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