Crouch Valley

Fire Power Museum Woolwich Arsenal

On the 19th April 18 members of our Local History group went to the Fire Power Museum at Woolwich Arsenal. The visit was organised by Rosemary & Dave to whom we extend our thanks.
Changing at Stratford and catching the Docklands Light Railway, gave us a view of the vast changes that have be made in this area in recent years.
As we walked down from the station the view we witnessed has been there for 150 years, it is about to change in the coming months. The site is being sold off and all the museum artefacts are being moved to Larkhill in Wiltshire.

After refreshment the guided tour started. First we were shown two huge cannons, from which Victoria Crosses are made. The metal comes from the breach of a Chinese-made artillery piece, used by the Russians, and captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean War. Our tour continued viewing various exhibits with our guide giving us a commentary on how the first guns were cast. He pointed out and told us about many of the guns used in prominent battles of the past centuries.
Also interesting was the section containing the collection of medals of individuals from historic conflicts. These included replica Victoria Crosses, the originals are safely locked away!
There were also recent artillery pieces to examine and some highly decorated cannons. As with most museums there was a lot to take in, the guide leaving us to stroll around.

Also kept at the museum are the records of personal of the Royal Artillery. Eileen had an ancestor who served with the RA, she was able to get some documents concerning this relative, an opportunistic piece of family history research!

A delightful lunch was taken on site. With the sun shining we walked down to the River Thames and took the Woolwich Ferry across the river to link up with the DLR and our way home.