Carron and Continental Wharves, River Thames 1971
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This 1971 view along the Thames shows the ageing industrial waterfront east of Tower Bridge, with Carron & Continental Wharves Ltd dominating the scene. These brick-built warehouses were part of the dense network of wharves that once lined the Pool of London—handling everything from iron goods and machinery to grain, timber, tea, and general cargo.
The Carron name reflects the historic Carron Company, the famous Scottish ironworks founded in 1759 near Falkirk. Carron produced cast-iron stoves, pipes, machinery, architectural fittings— and was once one of the largest iron foundries in Europe. Their London wharf served as a key distribution point for manufactured iron goods arriving from Scotland.
By the early 1970s, however, this entire stretch of the Thames was in steep decline. Traditional cargo-handling methods—cranes loading individual crates and sacks directly from holds—were rapidly being replaced by container shipping at newer deep-water ports like Tilbury. As a result, the riverside wharves became increasingly underused, many standing half-empty or derelict as seen here.
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