FACTOID #151: The five countries with the highest coffee consumption are also the five countries whose citizens trust one another the most. Coincidence? Probably.
Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grace a Dieu (Great Harry), the largest ship of its day.
Like its counterpart at Deptford, it was probably chosen for its position - on the south bank of the tidal River Thames conveniently close to Henry's palace at Greenwich.
Its facilities ultimately included two large dry docks, a substantial basin (now used by local anglers), numerous storehouses, a gatehouse and clockhouse, gun bastions, and, in later years, a large metal-working factory used to produce anchors and other iron items used in ship-building.
Engineer Samuel Bentham was an apprentice shipwright at the dockyard during the 1770s.
As ships grew bigger and the Thames began to silt up, the dockyard eventually closed in 1869, but some of its features still remain, while Woolwich Dockyard railway station reminds commuters weekly of the history of the area.
It was home to the WoolwichDockyard (founded in 1512), the Royal Arsenal (dating back to 1671), the Royal Military Academy (1741) and the Royal Horse Artillery (1793); it still retains an army base at the Royal Artillery Barracks, and the Royal Artillery Museum.
King George V station is close to the north side of the Woolwich foot tunnel.
The free Woolwich Ferry service operates across the River Thames to North Woolwich in the London Borough of Newham carrying trucks, cars, cyclists and pedestrians during the hours of daylight.
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