WATERMAN’S LIFE.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 380, 11 March 1937, Page 3

WATERMAN’S LIFE.

Fifty Years On River. (By Air Mail). London, February 13. One of the best-known figures on the Lower Thames is Mr Herbert Fothergill, who will soon be celebrating 50 years as Gravesend's river postman. Mr Fothergill, who is over 70, has worked on the Thames for nearly 60 years. His family have been connected with it for over a century, and he has two sons who are Gravesend watermen. His father was a river pilot for nearly 50 years, and his uncle was also a pilot. Although he has spent a lifetime on the river he cannot swim. He has had many narrow escapes from drowning. When Mr Fothergill started his career on the river, watermen wore silk beaver hats. Sailing ships and the picturesque red-sailed barges filled the river. S'team vessels were comparatively rare. As it was necessary to work with the tide Mr Fothergill and his fellow employees were sometimes on duty all night. They had a little room where they rested and played games until a ship was sighted coining up the river. “Then,” said Mr Fothergill, “we had to go out in a fouroared rowing boat to deliver dock letters. In very bad weather we were often nearly dead-beat by the time we reached the ship with the letters, and, having delivered them, we had the task of rowing back.”