Thursday 7th November 1935
East-West with White. Vicious rain and at firs, a slight fog. Millwall Docks. I watched a ship from Leningrad being unloaded. It flew the Soviet Hammer and Sickle flag. With interest I observed the use of the main mast derrick.
Had lunch in a café near the docks. Kept by a mud-coloured man; perhaps a South American. The place was clean, yet had an unpleasant smell. Other men passing to and fro were also muddy coloured yet with thick Negroid lips. Sickly!
A load of cases for India had to be consigned from Commercial Road Goods Stn. Dozens of vans waiting to be dealt with. Very poor system. Raining hard… After two hours in the cold and wet I went to the railwaymen’s canteen for some hot tea and a few puffs at a cigarette. Then White did the same; after two hours twenty minutes, the checkers suddenly decided to look at our six cases. They were on the platform with sheets signed, in three minutes. When White returned, I was trying to get his two ton van out of the chaos of traffic. Railwaymen and lorry drivers yelling encouragement, “Put er on the left lock nah!”
At a shop in the WC1 area I received a tip – 2d! I gave half of it to White.
Back to the works, 6p.m. A rough day but a jolly one. Hard ride back to Chertsey. Vicious rain. I sang loudly.
Had lunch in a café near the docks. Kept by a mud-coloured man; perhaps a South American. The place was clean, yet had an unpleasant smell. Other men passing to and fro were also muddy coloured yet with thick Negroid lips. Sickly!
A load of cases for India had to be consigned from Commercial Road Goods Stn. Dozens of vans waiting to be dealt with. Very poor system. Raining hard… After two hours in the cold and wet I went to the railwaymen’s canteen for some hot tea and a few puffs at a cigarette. Then White did the same; after two hours twenty minutes, the checkers suddenly decided to look at our six cases. They were on the platform with sheets signed, in three minutes. When White returned, I was trying to get his two ton van out of the chaos of traffic. Railwaymen and lorry drivers yelling encouragement, “Put er on the left lock nah!”
At a shop in the WC1 area I received a tip – 2d! I gave half of it to White.
Back to the works, 6p.m. A rough day but a jolly one. Hard ride back to Chertsey. Vicious rain. I sang loudly.
posted by Paul Wilson at 7:44 pm
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