Brian

For most of his life, Brian was a docker. He's pictured here on what he calls his 'stoop' outside his house on the Isle of Dogs. He loves this spot as it gets the sunshine, and it gives him a chance to say hello to his neighbours as they pass.

He was born a few feet away from this spot, in a house that was destroyed in the Blitz. The docks were a primary target in the war, and much of the area was razed to the ground by the Luftwaffe.

Brian told me that the damage caused by the Germans was nothing compared to that caused by the Tory Government in the '80s run by the 'lady with the handbag.' (Brian’s words). 

Mrs. Thatcher swept away the docks and the livelihoods of thousands of people to make way for a new financial centre - Canary Wharf. Brian said it obliterated a tight-knit community overnight.

Brian managed to get a new job as a runner for one of the financial institutions built in place of the docks. He said he got paid double what he earned as a docker, and the work was more leisurely, but he didn't enjoy it nearly as much. His new job also came with private health cover, which he refused. 'It's queue jumping,' he told me. 'People with money should not have more rights than those without.' Brian's wife had a chronic health condition that required a lot of medical intervention. Despite this, the couple stuck to their principles and continued to be treated by the NHS rather than go private. They were also offered the chance to buy their council house for just £1500 but again refused, saying that housing should be for everyone. Brian's house is now worth around £450,000, but it doesn't bother him. 'I still live here, don't I? Owning the place wouldn't have changed my day-to-day life one bit.’ 

Brian's wife passed away recently after 50 years of marriage. Brian seems to be coping okay. His family lives nearby, and he knows all of his neighbours. He showed me around his house; it was immaculate and covered in photos of all his grandkids. 

He said nobody worked as hard as dockers. He remembers seeing blood running down the stevedores' backs as they carried countless bags of sugar (sugar is highly abrasive) from the ships. He remembers unloading wood from Japan that was pure white and as hard as a rock. He remembers sitting in the hold of vast empty container ships eating his sandwiches with his mates. Brian clearly loved his job. 

He said he remembers going to work once and seeing that somebody had written the word 'robbers' on the side of the warehouse. This bit of graffiti was being filmed by a news crew. Dockers had a reputation for stealing the goods they moved, and the press would try to highlight this to get the public onside for the imminent destruction of the docks. This made Brian furious as his crew never stole a thing. He said the real robbers were the corrupt politicians and the property developers who stole the land that his family has worked on for generations, right out from under their feet.

‘Swearing like a docker,’ is a well-known expression in the UK, but Brian told me that he's never uttered a single swear word in his entire life. Although, when talking to me about Margaret Thatcher, I could see that understandably, he must've wanted to.