Adventures in East London

The TDP and FROG have been focusing on all things maritime over the summer with fieldwork at Burrell’s Wharf and Charlton filmed as part of a forthcoming Time Team Special (to be broadcast in summer 2012), and through the most recent Riverpedia workshop on Sail to Steam. This work has studied the evidence for one of the most revolutionary periods of naval development – in less than 40 years the sailing ships of Nelson had been replaced by steel ships, powered by steam engines and with the battleships mounting huge guns. On the Thames foreshore we have the opportunity to study both the breakers yards where the wooden ships met their end, and the site where the new technology was developed by engineering genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel. You can find out more about shipbuilding in the Riverpedia section of the TDP website, and check out the photos below, taken by FROG members Rose Baillie, John Layt and Mark Jennings of the fieldwork at Charlton.