Cargo handling
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Every type of cargo, which there were many hundreds, demanded specialised handling equipment.
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From quayside cranes to dock hooks , this very extensive collection of artefacts reflects every aspect of the loading and unloading, and the handling, sampling and processing of commodities in the port.
The collection includes winches hand cranes, hydraulic wall cranes, a steam crane, diesel and electric cranes, many of them in working order.
There is a very representative collection of hand trucks and carts, some of them going back to the early nineteenth century, as well as dock hooks and other gear necessary to handle the whole range of ‘piece cargoes’ which came into the Port of London.
Every type of cargo, which there were many hundreds, demanded specialised handling equipment. Not only are there many different kinds of trucks and docker’s hooks, but a wide range of other equipment for moving and lifting goods. The collections include a comprehensive PLA gear store around 1950.
Weighing equipment runs down in size from the great beam scales used to weigh hogs heads of tobacco etc. to desk top scales for weighing individual cigars.
In addition, there is also a large collection of equipment used for sampling wet and dry cargoes.
Lastly, there are the samples of imported commodities themselves. The collection includes well over 1000 items that came into the Port of London when it was Warehouse of the World. These are complemented by the two large ebonised sample display cases bearing the stamps of the East & West India Dock Company.