Working for fifty years on and around the Thames, Eric Carpenter has a map of the river, its tributaries and canals indelibly etched into his brain. I’m lucky to meet him in St. Katharine Docks a couple of weeks before *lockdown* as not only has he told me something of his life on, and love […]
Category archives: Ebb & Flow
From Gravesend to the Nore
This first picture on our continuing journey downstream is of Gravesend seen from Rosherville Pier. Thames Waterman and Lighterman, Eric Carpenter, who has kindly been sharing his extensive knowledge of the river as we travel along Thames Past, explains that this is a view towards the Royal Terrace Pier, though this is not shown in […]
From Limehouse Reach to Woolwich
With no end in sight to the tragedy of the Covid-19 virus and its terrible toll, it has been a pleasurable distraction to continue our journey towards the sea in the slipstream of artist T. R. Way and in the company of Waterman and Lighterman, Eric Carpenter. After studying the sketch above, Eric believes the […]
Continuing our journey along the Thames from Chelsea to the Nore …
Just before the Covid-19 virus became a real concern to the wider public, I had the chance to meet Waterman and Lighterman, Eric Carpenter in St. Katharine Docks. His knowledge and understanding of the river and its tributaries after fifty years is phenomenal and I will eventually publish an account of our meeting when this […]
The Thames from Chelsea to the Nore
We are living through a time of anxiety and trouble the like of which our country hasn’t seen since the Second World War. And as has happened to many of you, my plans have been disrupted and proposed interviews shelved so I would like to take you back to 1907 when artist Thomas R Way […]