Like many industrial towns across Britain, the General Strike of 4 to 12 May 1926 brought Erith to a standstill.

The strike was called in sympathy with miners who were fighting a pay reduction along with an increase in their working hours.

At that time Erith’s heavy machinery works, coal depots and boatyards employed thousands of people. The flour mill of Cannon & Gaze (now the site of the Riverside Gardens) dominated the High Street. Signs of Erith’s industrial heritage can still be seen today in railway lines, docks and wharves used by Vickers and Fraser & Chalmers.

Striking workers were torn between loyalty to their employers, to the unions and to their fellow workers. Public transport stopped and local residents were not able to get to work. Newspapers ceased production and coal, food and milk supplies were restricted. Those who came out on strike lost wages and were not guaranteed to have a job after the strike was over.

In the end, the nine-day strike was called off without achieving its objectives and in the following year the Trades Disputes Act banned sympathy strikes. However, it was one step on a long road of improving rights for workers. It wasn’t until 1978 that the first Monday in May became a Bank Holiday, something not enjoyed by those workers in 1926.