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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 13, Issue 1 (April 1, 1938.)

The Port of London — Where Britain Welcomes New Zealand's Exports

page 17

The Port of London
Where Britain Welcomes New Zealand's Exports

Ocean liners alongside North Quay, Royal Albert Dock, London.

Ocean liners alongside North Quay, Royal Albert Dock, London.

Deliciously-tender Canterbury lamb was featured on my dinner menu to-day. A dainty pat of golden New Zealand butter was served with the biscuits and cheese. Crisp, rosy-cheeked Cox's Orange Pippins from the Little England overseas invitingly filled the fruit-bowl at my elbow. Here were New Zealand products of the finest quality, brought thousands of miles by rail and sea, and attractively marketed at most reasonable prices. The experience was not new. Every day, New Zealand products appear on my table, as they probably do in seventy-five per cent. or more of English homes. How was it done? What was the story that lay behind this constant flow of prime New Zealand products into the Homeland? To the docks I went, there to glean the truth.

This Empire capital of ours has always taken a special interest in the development of New Zealand trade, and the phenomenal increase in the volume and variety of those products prepared for export has been materially facilitated by the machinery and power of the London Market. The Port and Market of London are inextricably interwoven, and the Port of London Authority—since its inception twenty-eight years ago—has played a vital role in ensuring that the New Zealand producers’ wares should look just as immaculate and as attractive in the shop windows of Britain as on the day they were despatched from the native farm, orchard or creamery.

The Port of London includes about 70 miles of the course of “Old Father Thames” and the docks off its banks. The commercial heart of the Port, where the bulk of the annual traffic of 62,000,000 tons of shipping and the 43,000,000 tons of merchandise is handled, may be said to extend over the 26 miles between Gravesend and London Bridge, all the docks and most of the riverside wharves being in this section.

For the year ending March 31, 1936, the estimated tonnage of imports into the Port of London from New Zealand was 456,000 tons, and for the year ending March 31, 1937, 472,000 tons, or roughly 70 per cent. of the total New Zealand imports through all Home ports.

While New Zealand goods shipped find their way to many warehouses and depots all over the Port, the principal shipping lines trading between London and New Zealand berth in the Royal Docks system. Although only one of the five great dock systems of the metropolis, these docks are equal, in area, accommodation and traffic, to many creditably large ports.

General view of the Royal Albert Dock, Port of London.

General view of the Royal Albert Dock, Port of London.

The Royal Docks (Royal Victoria, Albert, and King George V. Docks) cover a total water area of 247 acres. They form, in reality, one huge dock in three sections, and constitute the largest sheet of enclosed dock water in the world. An elaborate network of dock railways links the water-front with the main-line railways which, in turn, carry New Zealand products to every corner of the kingdom at express speed. As many as fifty vessels, with a total displacement of 500,000 tons, are at times berthed simultaneously in London's Royal Docks, meat, butter, cheese, wool and fruit forming the principal imports from New Zealand.

Annually something like 200,000 tons of New Zealand meat reach the Home market through the Port of London, and in the story of these imports refrigeration looms large.

In 1880, the sailing ship Strathleven landed 40 tons of Australian meat which had travelled in a frozen condition. In 1881, an Edinburgh firm chartered the sailing ship Dunedin, and page 18 page 19 fitted her with a Bell-Coleman freezer to bring the first consignment of frozen meat from New Zealand. The carcases were frozen on board, as there were then no refrigerators ashore. The Dunedin arrived in London in May, 1882, after a passage of 98 days, bringing nearly 5,000 carcases of sheep and lambs in good condition. To-day fleets of vessels with refrigerated chambers containing thousands of tons of mutton, lamb and beef, discharge in the Port of London. Among the leading Shipping Companies engaged in this trade are the New Zealand Shipping Company, the Port Line, the Shaw Savill and Albion, and the Blue Star Line.

The King George V. Dock, with 150-ton Floating Crane, “London Mammoth.”

The King George V. Dock, with 150-ton Floating Crane, “London Mammoth.”

Meat imports are dealt with in the Royal Victoria, Albert and King George V. Docks. Special berths are set aside for the accommodation of meat-carrying vessels from New Zealand. Parallel to the quay is a double-storey shed, the lower portion of which is used for transit berths; while the upper portion, which is refrigerated, has accommodation for 250,000 carcases. No. 6 Cold Store, connected to the quay shed by insulated conveyors, has accommodation for a further 250,000 carcases of lamb or mutton.

The meat is discharged from the steamer holds by hygienic slings, on to electric quay trucks. After being sorted to marks, the carcases are transferred to insulated lighters, road vehicles, and special meat trains. Much of the meat goes to the main London Market at Smithfield, and by rail and road to the provincial cities. That not immediately required in the market is warehoused in one of the adjacent Cold Stores, to be drawn from as required.

For the storage of all butter and cheese imported into Britain special arrangements are made by the New Zealand Government. In London, the whole of these imports are delivered from ships discharged at the Royal Docks to barges for storage nearer the markets.

Cheese is stored at Surrey Commercial Docks in specially-designed refrigerated warehouses. There are two Cold Stores with a capacity for over 12,000 tons, each divided into chambers of various sizes maintained at temperatures of from 14 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Elaborate arrangements are made for expeditious delivery of samples to merchants’ wholesale premises.

Wool has loomed large in London's trade for centuries. In the Middle Ages it was the country's greatest export. To-day, it is one of our principal imports, and large quantities are received from New Zealand. There is wool storage accommodation in London for 1,000,000 bales, and Show Floors for 40,000 bales. The main Wool Warehouses and Show Floors are at the London and St. Katharine Docks. The roofs have northern lights, to facilitate inspection, and the Port Authority maintains a staff of experts whose accuracy and impartiality in weighing and sampling wool are implicitly relied upon by the Trade.

New Zealand liner “Remuera” inward bound, proceeding to discharging berth in the Royal Albert Dock, London.

New Zealand liner “Remuera” inward bound, proceeding to discharging berth in the Royal Albert Dock, London.

Six times a year, the London Wool Sales are held at the Wool Exchange, in Coleman Street. Each Sale lasts-about three weeks, and is attended by buyers from Yorkshire, France, Belgium, Germany, and other consuming countries. Before a Sale, the buyers make a tour of the Port Wool Warehouses, to inspect the lots to be offered and to fix their basic prices for bidding. It speaks well for the efficiency and organisation at the Wool Warehouses at the London and St. Katharine Docks that deliveries are made from the warehouses for the English manufacturing centres like Leeds and Bradford, or the Continent, within twenty-four hours of a Public Wool Sale.

The development of New Zealand fruit imports has been greatly assisted by the provision at the Port of London of suitable discharging berths and premises, equipment and delivery facilities. The discharge of fruit is effected by modern cranes and conveyors, and sorting is carried out in spacious transit sheds. Deliveries are effected rapidly to rail and road vehicles at conveniently situated loading bays adjacent to the sheds. Covent Garden Market takes a large proportion of the imports, the balance being dispatched by rail and road to all corners of the country.

It is indeed a wonderful experience to visit the London Docks and see just how the many New Zealand imports are handled.