Greenwich & Woolwich at work - Mary Mills

Greenwich and Woolwich were major centres for industry. Their position on the River Thames and the presence of the Tudor royal palace at Greenwich ensured that large industrial workplaces were an early feature of the area - in particular the two royal dockyards and other trades based on arms manufacture. By the 19th and 20th centuries the emphasis was on armaments, cables, shipbuilding and heavy engineering. There were many specialities - marine steam engines, fire engines, etc. There were also other significant, smaller, industries - which include both the largest gas works and the largest glass works in Europe. Several of these workplaces were on a massive scale, in particular, the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich - a vast armaments works hidden behind high walls which at its peak employed 80,000 people and was arguably the largest such establishment in the world. Many of these industries were centres of excellence and innovation, which required a highly skilled workforce. This book illustrates these industries and the people who worked in them in a collection of over 200 photographs.