|
Orchard Wharf, Leamouth Road, Poplar in 1915 |
| A view looking across the site towards the entrance in Leamouth Road, in
the background are the masts of a sailing ship in East India Dock. Orchard Wharf was bought out by the Great Eastern Railway Company in 1886. When railway ownership ceased in 1947 it was sold to J J Prior (Transport) Ltd, who had already been tenants of the wharf since around 1888. John James Prior, a carman, had set up a business supplying sand, ballast and cement for road construction, which was continued here by his heirs and successors, J J Prior (Transport) Ltd, until the wharf was closed in the late 1980s. Barges delivered the sand and gravel up to the wharf, where it was screened and graded on site before being sent to customers by road or river. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Priors had shared the southern part of the Wharf, where there was a drawlock, with a succession of boatbuilders. J J Prior's principal site was at Stonebridge Wharf, Salmons Lane in Limehouse, but they also had other sites in East and South London. The firm had advertised themselves in 1918 as carmen and suppliers of motor haulage, steam rollers from 6 to 15 tons, tractor engine hauliers as well as sand and gravel merchants. A result of road widening and improvement schemes in the Leamouth area the Wharf was cleared and what remained was let by the LDDC in 1993 for a Petrol Station, which is still there today. |
