Last of the Watermen - Documentary (2013)
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- čas přidán 6. 04. 2021
- "The Last of the Watermen is a fascinating exploration of the River Thames seen through the eyes of one of its longest serving watermen and lightermen - Peter Duggan of General Marine tugs and barges at Silvertown. Peter was born and bred on the banks of the Thames in Wapping, has been a tug skipper and lighterman since anyone can remember and is one of the last great characters still working on London's river (retired as of 2020). This beautiful film stands as witness to the harsh life of watermen and lightermen on the River Thames and their all but forgotten world. This short film focuses on the New Years eve firework preperations that Peter and the company have done since 1999"
Peter sadly retired in September 2020 at the age of 79 and the tug company General Marine ceased trading that he had operated since 1983 and together the River lost the last of the 'old school' lightermen and a traditional lighterage company.
This short film was shot in 2006 and first shown in 2013 by David Kew of QFilms - a great piece well worth watching and enjoying!
Check out more of Davids work at qfilms.co.uk/
Utterly engrossing, superb film - great work
Much unsaid but what a complete gem of a film about Mr Duggan and his life by David Kew....deeply evocative...melancholy....that life-style now long-gone on the Thames. (Particularly moving as we have just purchased a Dutch Barge....)
I worked in London as a young man in the 1960's and I have to say there is another wonderful breed of men who have disappeared along with the Lightermen. Where I lived in the East End I was surrounded by dockers, they must have been employed in vast numbers in those days. They were colourful characters but had a dangerous job and seemingly intermittent employment. These men were part of the scenery and sadly they are now all gone. The east end is certainly not the place it used to be either from what I can see now. Love the old black and white newsreels of life back then, show us the way things used to be .
Thanks for sharing.
Excellent great vlog.... indeed those days are well gone but it was great to see that a little of the past is still needed for modern life.
Enjoy your retirement Peter, all though you would have liked to continue to work.
Fantastic documentary. Many thanks for sharing .
Hi This brings back memouries I used to work on the River for Clements Knowling at Brentford on the Tugs It was a good life but Cold and sometimes dangerous in the winter with Ice on the Deck , Thanks for the Vlog.
50 years on the Thames, I enjoyed every minute of it 👍
Hope you are keeping well steve
Great thanks, keep up the good work, hope to see you all at TC soon 👍
Superb documentary of a wonderful, colourful character and his dying trade and way of life. It's a thumbs-up and a sub fro me.
Brilliant documentary what a character loved him proper geezer !!
We would never have let the french get that close to the Palace of Westminster with that much explosives in the past. Can’t help thinking we missed an opportunity there!😉.
When it absolutely has to be done by tomorrow then you need middle age men and old diesel powered equipment! Lovely.
never to be repeated, those days sadly have gone.
Brilliant thanks 😁👍👏👏👏
Wonderful doco, great men and women of yesteryear
I live in Perth WAust and we don’t see this thank you for sharing
It is so sad that the rivermen are a dying breed I remember when working in the merchant navy 60s-70s coming up the Thames to the docks which was full of shipping and now sadly all gone
Great to watch men just getting on with a job they know like the back of their hands...I’m not sure how the MCA would think about their working practices nowadays. More and more H&S shit coming in which makes the jobs harder and definitely puts companies like this under more and more pressure
I used to fuel Peters craft sometimes he's a legend I hope he's well not seen him for years, God bless you pete hope you enjoy your retirement.
I remember reading a history book, it may have been "The London crowd",
which mention how Watermen refused to step aside for anyone.
There were no policemen, and if an aristocrat refused to step onto the muddy road
his footmen and the aristocrat would have to exchange blows with the recalcitrant waterman.
The Watermen/Lightermen were also politically powerful.
In 1799 the forced the Free water clause on the government.
Which reduced dock owners profits by allowing ships to unload at buoys in the river.
Old lion running on 3bless her❤❤❤❤
There'll always be need of floating Plant on the river of some sort. But yeah it's changed.... but the Thames sailing barges went their way didn't they? St Cats Limehouse south dock all cleaner and more well to do. The river will always be the same. Ever changing.
I wonder if I ever annoyed him with my inflatable canoe. East London is a great place for canoeing.
I'm gunna go out on a limb, an hesitate a guess, the git that said, "I assume" is paper boy, an just because a university said you can do a job, hasn't got enough experience to ask whats what. been there, run into half a dozen of those types, then when something goes wrong, its somebody else fault. nice goin m8, keep up the good work. even in this new age,
I knew a great man by the name of Johnny read who worked for peter off and on over the years
Thats right Alfie. I worked with John a few times when he worked with peter on new years fireworks tows. Sadly he passed away this year.
@liquidhighway yeah sad news nice we go way back to when he was in Southend, Is Peter still about, Never met the guy but what a character he is.
@alfieturnbull yes peter is still doing well . Now retired in his 80s and more frail than in the video but what a character😃
@liquidhighway pleased to hear that Peter is still marching on, Proper old school, bermondsey boy. I remember John doing the fireworks around 2000 had some good times over the years with him, The good old days long gone but lovely memories 😊
@liquidhighway did you ever come across Brain banks he was at battersea for awhile
BM18:16:00
As much as I like a cello ,,,, why was it used to convey a creepy or scary tone to this ???
It gives the feel of a cheap sci fi/horror movie ,,,, why ???
I don't understand TGE choice of music and it made it distracting !!!
I agree. Im not much of a fan of the music choice
Gives it quite a sad, desolate feel I think.