Editing Deal porter

{{Short description|Specialist dock workers in London}}{{More citations needed|date=December 2021}}
[[File:Deal Porters by Philip Bews.jpg|thumb|''Deal Porters'' sculpture by Philip Bews]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
The '''deal porters''' were a specialist group of workers in [[Port of London|London]]'s docks. They handled baulks of [[softwood]] or "deal", stacking them up to 60 feet (18 m) high in quayside warehouses. This was a demanding and dangerous job. It required physical strength, dexterity and a [[head for heights]], to such an extent that they were nicknamed "Blondins" after the famous acrobat, [[Charles Blondin]]. Deal porters wore special leather headgear (backing hats) with long "aprons" over their shoulders in order to protect their heads and necks from wooden splinters.

Their trade was a notably hazardous one. The ''New Survey of London Life and Labour'', published in 1928, noted:

:''"Deal portering is heavy and dangerous work which cannot safely be undertaken by any save experienced men. The shoulder of an experienced deal porter is said to develop a callosity which enables it to bear the weight and friction of a load of planks. But even with a hardened shoulder the deal porter has an unenviable task. To carry over a shaking slippery plankway a bundle of shaking slippery planks, when a fall would almost certainly mean serious injury, is work for specialists."''

Most of the deal porters worked at the [[Surrey Commercial Docks]] in [[Rotherhithe]], which specialised in timber. The workers were represented by the [[Port of London Deal Porters' Union]]. They were eventually rendered obsolete by the 1940s as mechanisation provided a better and cheaper way of moving timber cargo, and less arduous jobs became available elsewhere.

There are a number of commemorations of the deal porters in Rotherhithe. At [[Canada Water]] there is a sculpture in their honour, designed by Philip Bews.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Deal Porters, London|url=http://www.bewsgorvin.co.uk/sculpture-deal-porters-sculpture.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Deal Porters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510024215/http://bewsgorvin.co.uk/sculpture-deal-porters-sculpture.html |archive-date=10 May 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Deal Porters|url=http://www.bewsgorvin.co.uk/work/dealport.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206150855/http://www.bewsgorvin.co.uk/work/dealport.htm|archive-date=6 February 2007|access-date=18 December 2021|website=www.bewsgorvin.co.uk}}</ref> There is a street named "Deal Porters Way", a street named "Blondin Way", a path named "Deal Porters Walk", and a public square alongside Canada Water Library named "Deal Porters Square". The Compass pub in Rotherhithe Street was formerly named "The Deal Porter".

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110609183814/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.80/chapterId/1912/Many-hands-Trades-ofthe/Port-of-London-1850.html Many hands: Trades of the Port of London, 1850-1980]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090108152047/http://www.bardaglea.org.uk/docklands/7-dockers-work.html History for GCSE. The Dockers]

[[Category:Marine occupations]]
[[Category:Obsolete occupations]]
[[Category:Port of London]]


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