As West Ham prepare to move to a new ground it's worth remembering we have another old ground apart from the Boleyn. Earlier this year I visited the Memorial Recreation Grounds near West Ham tube, which is where West Ham played before moving to the Boleyn in 1904. In the centre of the park there’s a sculpture by Theresa Smith commemorating
both Thames Ironworks FC and the HMS Albion disaster. Thirty seven spectators drowned when the Albion was launched from Thames Ironworks in 1898 and several viewing platforms collapsed. Smith’s sculpture
takes the form of 11 metal posts laid out in the shape of the hull of HMS
Albion, but also representing West Ham’s 11 players. Attached to each metal rib
is a ship worker’s hammer and it all works rather well.
