About Silvertown
Silvertown is an area within the London Borough of Newham with a postcode of E16. Since the 1970's the area has changed dramatically with the construction of the Thames Barrier, new housing areas and parks as well as the arrival of the London City Airport. You may be travelling to the area on business via the airport, what better welcome to the East End of London than having a stunningly beautiful Silvertown escort standing by to greet you when you arrive. All our escorts are well versed in the arts of massage and pleasure and after your journey you could enjoy a nice shower and sensual massage, just to revive you before you continue your exciting evening with your tantalising escort. It is so easy to arrange all this for you by telephone and we aim to have the escort of your choice with you within 45 minutes.Built on the Docks there is only one road into Silvertown and one road out, namely the Royal Albert Way. At the beginning of the road is a large major relief road, Silvertown Way, which was completed in 1934 followed by the Silvertown bypass which opened in 1935. At the time this was hailed as creating a broad new 'Road to the Empire', at the end of which lies North Woolwich. Silvertown consists of a lost, ageing, small but strong community with powerful ties and long standing traditions in Newham. Silvertown has been known in the past for the Docks, Tate and Lyle and many factories as well as a large ship building industry.
Parts of Silvertown were destroyed by a massive TNT explosion at the Brunner-Mond munitions factory on the 19th January 1917, this in the future was referred to as the Silvertown explosion. 73 people were killed and hundreds were injured. This had a devastating effect on the area. A fire broke out in the melt-pot room and desperate efforts to put it out were under way when approximately 50 long tons of TNT ignited and the TNT plant was completely destroyed, as were many buildings in the vicinity, which included the Silvertown Fire Station. Many of the red hot chunks of rubble that had landed around the area instantly caught fire setting more fires in the surrounding areas. A goasometer in Greenwich was hit by one of these red hot chunks of debris and was immediately destroyed, creating a fireball from 200,000 cubic metres of gas. Nearby warehouses were badly affected and lost thousands of pounds worth of goods. It was reported that the explosion actually blew out the windows in the Savoy Hotel and the fires could be seen as far away as Maidstone and Guildford. The Silvertown explosion highlighted the lethal conditions that people had to work and live in, the munitions factory was in the midst of a closely built up industrial and residential neighbourhood which was most unsuitable. This explosion in Silvertown was dramatised in the London Weekend Television series, 'Upstairs, Downstairs'.
The Royal Dock is on Silvertown's doorstep and it has one of the largest bodies of enclosed water in the world, comprising of some 245 acres developed in a piecemeal fashion. The Victoria Dock, later to become the Royal Victoria, was completed in 1855. Years later the Royal Albert Dock was opened in 1880 and the King George Dock in 1921 after being delayed because of the war.
The Royals were the first Docks to be directly connected to the railway system. This meant large warehouses were no longer necessary and they were replaced by transit sheds. The Docks themselves acted as the warehouse of the 'Empire', importing raw materials from all over the world and in turn exporting a vast range of finished and manufactured goods. The vastness of the Docks resulted in West Ham, Canning Town and Silvertown eventually becoming the largest manufacturing centre in the South of England and they were renowned for chemicals, engineering and food. Sugar refining had always been important to the area and became even more so when Henry Tate set up shop in Silvertown in 1877. Tate's principle product was white cube sugar; their rivals Abraham Lyle produced mainly Golden Syrup. The companies were amalgamated in 1921 to create Tate and Lyle one of the largest sugar refiners in the world. From wherever you are in Silvertown you can see Tate and Lyle. It was a major employer in the area and offered many opportunities for local people to hold a job for life. Many residents' parents and grandparents worked all their lives for Tate and Lyle; however the only legacy today is the smell. Tate and Lyle no longer hold the same level of security for local people. Today its workforce is less than half of what it was twenty years ago, and most employees commute from other parts of London as they say the job now requires transferable skills.
Between the wars the residents of Silvertown felt a strong sense of common identity often helping one another, especially when times were hard. Families lived together or near each other. People worked and spent their leisure time's together, in pubs, dance halls, boxing or playing football. Even during the Second World War when Silvertown was a prime target for bombing due to the docks and industries, many of its residents stayed on and worked for the war effort in the docks, factories and the civil defence services.
The docks, which had provided the base for much of the area's economic and community activity, closed down in 1981and many of its residents moved out of the area in search of a better future for themselves and their families.
Today the area is rising once again and with access much improved by an extension of the Docklands Light Railway, development of new homes all around and commercial investment in the area, Silvertown is on the up and up.
