Tilbury Location
Tilbury is located on the Northen Bank of the River Thames. The Town lies to the North of the London - South railway line. There is about 12,091 population according to census 2001.
First Impressions
The first impressions of Tilbury were a bit unexpected. The sky was grey, buildings looked old and monotonous. Most of the shops were closed. There were not many people on the streets and the few that were out looked cold and defensive. The town seemed empty and isolated. A portion of the town had recycling plants for old electronics goods and ironicly this town almost resembled the discarded material that was being sold in its scrap yards.
Exploring the Town
The town centre, as expected was a lot busier. Children were laughing and playing around in the local nursery. This small town had very few shops, most of which were old and run by the old. We noticed that there seemed to be very few young people around and the town comprised largely of children and people over their thirties. People were unfriendly and cautious. Most of them told us that there was nothing to be seen in Tilbury and people usually went to nearby areas to shop and for fun. The roads were filled with parked cars, we were told that most people drove up to Tilbury parked and used the train to go to London to work. The town also seemed racially divided.
The town centre, as expected was a lot busier. Children were laughing and playing around in the local nursery. This small town had very few shops, most of which were old and run by the old. We noticed that there seemed to be very few young people around and the town comprised largely of children and people over their thirties. People were unfriendly and cautious. Most of them told us that there was nothing to be seen in Tilbury and people usually went to nearby areas to shop and for fun. The roads were filled with parked cars, we were told that most people drove up to Tilbury parked and used the train to go to London to work. The town also seemed racially divided.
The Dock
Tight security at the Tilbury Dock kept it hidden and mysterious to us. On our second visit curiosity drove us to enter and explore this area. Heavy machinery, equipment and tight security is what we were faced with. There were not many people working and all we could only heard was the sound of machines loading goods. A section of the docks was meant to store new cars and all you could see was cars till the horizon. Though a part of the town and its history, now the docks were completely isolated and separated from the town with this high wall. Once inside we did not even have the sense of a town across the wall. For the town the docks existed but it was as if for the docks the town did not exist.
Conclusion
If we were to sum the town up in one word it would have to be ‘Numb’. There existed a stark contrast between the town and the docks. There seemed to exist a Yin and a Yang (two opposing stories). There was a certain depth to the place (a history that was like a secret). For the town the dock was almost like a mirage (floating boats against the skyline, now you see it and now you don’t), a part of its glorious but forgotten history.The people of Tilbury town seemed disconnected and that was a feeling they transferred on to us as well. The town itself seemed out of proportion with its vast empty spaces and scarce population.
Tilbury History
The Docks opened in 1868. It mainly traded in Madeira brought in by the West Africa Line: casks of sausage skins packed in brine and India chutney. In the 30s’, luxury liners used in Tilbury Docks. Passengers made useof the good rail links and stayed at the local hotels. During the war, Tilbury was used to convert the liners into armed merchant cruisers. In the 60s’, Tilbury Docks underwent a thirty-million programme of improvements. This enabled the docks to continue in business significantly longer than other dock systems in London.
Tilbury Now
The conversion to Containerisation at the dock on the 1970’s reduced employment opportunities for inhabitants of Tilbury. This caused people to take up employment in other towns. The development of Tilbury slowed down as employment prospects dropped.
Observation of the Local People
In the afternoon of 19th October 2009, our research started by observing the local people on Dock Road. In our five-hour observation, we took pictures for 59 people. We focused on recording the gender, ethnicity, age and clothing. The charts below summarise our findings.
No comments:
Post a Comment