Winter Lecture: Invaders, Explorers and Shipbuilders

From an anchorage 400 yards up-river from the Cruising Association’s headquarters in Limehouse, the China Company despatched its first fleet in search of the North East Passage. A stone’s throw in the opposite direction, Nelson’s first flagship was built. A mile further down-river, Brunel launched (eventually) the Great Eastern. But why had he brought her predecessor, the Great Western, all the way from Bristol to Blackwall just to have her engine installed? Why did Henry VIII decide to build the Mary Rose’s bigger sister at Woolwich instead of Portsmouth, and how did Thames Ironworks win the contract for her 19th century equivalent? Why was the Archbishop of Canterbury murdered at Greenwich Yacht Club? How did the Dutch sneak up the Medway to raid Chatham? All these and more tales of the Thames and Medway – and the canal that joined them.