Ballast Quay
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FRED MASON
Click on the arrow below to hear Fred's audio track
Recorded by Julian May 
00.00 Evacuation   02.39 Ballast trade   02.45 Dragging the anchor   07.35 Gun disposal   08.14 Finding a bomb   08.56 Chalk talk   10.02 Sailing barge skills
11.32 The Cutty Sark steps   13.21 The Kelly Family   14.40 Casual labour at Robinson's Iron Yard   16.18 Robinson's chauffeur and horses   18.35 Work in the Depression 
19.50 Lightermen and Sailormen   21.36 Doodlebug alert   23.45 Bomb site playground   24.58 Postwar schooling   30.00 Employment and National Service
                   32.14 Fred the carpenter   34.05 Port Health Authority   37.02 Local employment   39.38 Dredging for coal    45.15 Reasons for leaving Union Wharf                       

Fred Mason Oral History by M&P on Mixcloud

Click on the images to enlarge
Picture
The young Fred during World War 2
Courtesy of Fred Mason
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The beach at Greenwich where Fred played
Courtesy of Greenwich Heritage Centre
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The river wall at Lovell's Wharf
Local resident Fred Mason reminisces about his life and times and growing up on and around Ballast Quay.
His school days, the Second World War and post war experiences, the local industrial activity and the skilled working life of his father and uncles, plying their trade  on barges and sailing boats out of Union Wharf, are all vividly recalled in this personal memoir.
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Barges at Union Wharf with The Harbour-master's Office and the houses of Ballast Quay in the background
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The Kelly family on board their sailing barge Snowdrop - Fred's father Joe Mason is seated on the barrel with Fred's mother, Dolly Kelly, standing behind him.
Courtesy of Fred Mason
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Barges moored at Union Wharf
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