A party of twenty members visited the Port of London Authority, Vessel Traffic
Services, Control Centre at Gravesend on Thursday the 2nd March.

The visit was preceded by an excellent lunch at The Three Daws, an historic waterside inn which is said to be over 500 years old and is complete with secret passages used by smugglers and men escaping the press gangs. Alongside the Inn is the oldest surviving cast-iron pier in the world which is in the process of being converted into a Thai restaurant!

The weather was just perfect for a short stroll along the Thames side path leading to the PLA Control Centre, passing the house that was the home of General Gordon when he was commanding the Royal Engineers based at Chatham and also the remains of a fortress which was used to ward off intruders trying to enter London by river.

Barry Goldman CBE, who is the Vessel Traffic Services Manager and John Pinder FRICS, the Chief Hydrographer, hosted our visit. The party was first shown a film on the work of the PLA followed by a PowerPoint presentation by Barry Goldman highlighting the more technical aspects of the PLA operations in the task of managing all the traffic on the tidal reaches of the Thames which stretches from Teddington to the estuary, some 76 miles in total.

The PLA, which is a non profit making body not an agency, derives most of its income from providing pilotage for large vessels entering the Thames as well as managing the commercial docks that handles, in terms of value, the highest revenue in the UK. It is predicted that this volume of commercial traffic will continue to grow especially when the new development of the Isle of Grain container port comes into full operation in 2007/8.

The PLA Hydrographic Office, under the control of John Pinder, is kept very busy with a continuous requirement to survey the shifting sands that lead up to the Thames Estuary in order that the shipping channels are kept open for the larger vessels using the Port of London. The shipping on the Thames is continually monitored by a chain of interlinked radar stations stretching along the river from London Bridge to the estuary, as far as Margate on the south side and Harwich to the north. This chain of radar forms the picture of shipping that is being continually monitored by the controllers based at Gravesend.

Everyone agreed that it was a most interesting and enjoyable visit; some saying it was the best DSA visit in recent times.

David A. Wallis