ABSTRACT
London's docklands cover sizeable parts of five Thames-side boroughs. The area has strong traditions which die hard. To those who grew up downstream of London Bridge and within easy reach of the river the docks were a fact of life. The sight of the line of working cranes seen over the endless terraced housing of Bermondsey, the smell of leather tanning, soap and biscuits, and the sounds of foghorns on murky nights were an unforgettable part of childhood. It is true that those born south of the river and owing allegiance to Millwall and the New Cross speedway team had little love for the aliens on the north shore who supported West Ham. But there was more to unite the two than to divide them - as became apparent in a thousand ways during the 1940-1 London blitz.
