May 28th 2010 - Traders Tower Wapping Dock

This tower is situated at Wapping Dock. I had never thought much about the history until it was told to me by local businessman (and my wife's grandfather), Stanley Caulfield, a few years ago... forgive me if I don't get the exact facts right... The large castle chess piece was built for merchants to see their ships arriving up the Mersey. The ships would use flags to communicate with the merchants on land, saying how much cotton etc. they had on board. The merchants would then tell buyers how much stock was due to be unloaded in a few hours time. Obviously, the merchants who got to the buyers first got the best prices, and that is why some cunning fellow built a smaller tower on top of the original, supposedly getting an advantage of seeing his ships coming before the other merchants could see theirs. I love this story that Stan shared with me, and every time I pass the tower I am reminded of 'Stan, The Merchant Of Liverpool'. Stan sadly passed away last year but his spirit will always live on for me in this building.