An Apartment Near Thames
We stayed for the past few months at an apartment very close to the over 250 years old steel cantilever Hammersmith bridge on river Thames. For several centuries , and not so long ago, England was the greatest seafaring country on earth. One can easily imagine how crowded the river must have been then with naval and merchant navy ships going up and down all the time. No wonder, on both sides of the river were innumerable docking stations, wharves and warehouses, shipping men and merchandise from all parts of the globe.Goods shipped included textiles, spices, tea, sugar, tobacco, minerals and gold. Human traffic included pioneering settlers and slaves. In fact, there used to be a rich slave trader staying very close to the Hammersmith bridge. The riverside then must have been functional , busy but rather unattractive then. With changing times and heavier seafaring dreadnoughts, shipping traffic vanished from the Thames. Major layout changes were initiated. Walkways and joggin...