NORTH WOOLWICH PIER
[Source: Nick Catford]
The main reason for building the North Woolwich branch was to provide access to the town of Woolwich with it's military arsenal on the south side of the Thames; at that time Woolwich had no rail connection.
When the station was built it was on an isolated location on the marshes.
Apart from the station there was a public house known as the Barge House
and one small house occupied by a local shepherd. 
North
Woolwich Pier is just a short walk from the station
Two steam ferries named 'Kent' and 'Essex' owned by the Eastern Counties Railway provided the connection to Woolwich or South Woolwich as it was referred to by the company. These operated from a pier close to the North Woolwich terminus. In order to compensate passengers for the inconvenience of having to make a river crossing the company provided carriages of a 'superior design' on its trains. Within two years the South Eastern Railway had opened their own direct line to Woolwich A third larger boat, the 'Middlesex' was added to the
fleet in 1879. the 'Essex' and 'Kent' were sold for scrap in 1891
and were replaced by the larger 'Woolwich' in an attempt to compete
with a municipally owned free ferry (now know as the Woolwich Ferry)
that had been in operation a short distance upstream since 1889. old7.jpg)
Photo:North
Woolwich Pier in 1947
On 1st October 1908 the Great Eastern Railway withdrew the service as it was unable to compete with the free ferry (now know as the Woolwich Ferry). The railway pier on the south bank became disused and was eventually demolished but that on the north bank was retained and until WW2 was used by the LNER as a calling point for river steamers providing a service to Southend and Margate.  Photo:North Woolwich Pier in December 2006 Photo by Nick Catford The pier is on the south side of Pier Road opposite the 1854 North Woolwich Station building. The structure is sound but the wooden decking at the north end of the pier is in poor condition with some timber missing. It is unsafe to walk along the pier. At the north end there is a steel shelter with an asbestos roof; this has an open end onto the pier and locked gates at the other end. Within the shelter these is a small booking office that has suffered some fire damage. Externally and internally the building has suffered from vandalism and graffiti.  Photo:North Woolwich Pier in December 2006 Photo by Nick Catford
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