General Cargo
Import and export
Throughout the 20th century, the port of Liverpool
handled what was known as general cargo. This covered a vast range
of goods. Imports included some foodstuffs, but also a great range
of raw materials to serve the industrial regions of Lancashire,
Yorkshire and the Midlands. These included cotton from the southern
USA, Egypt or India for Lancashire`s mills. There was Australian
wool to be sent over the Pennine Hills to Yorkshire. Vegetable oils
such as palm oil would come from West Africa to be used in soap
making on Merseyside (north west England). Raw sugar came from the
Caribbean to be refined. Latex from Malaysia was destined for the
rubber industry. Exports reflected the goods made in the nearby industrial
regions. There would be chemicals, paints, salt, lubricating oil.
Consumer goods would include Scotch whisky, cotton clothing,
electrical equipment and cars. From the iron and steel industry
would come rails, pipes and sheets of corrugated or galvanised
iron. There would be large manufactured items such as railway
locomotives. 
 A dockside crane |
To handle all these varied items safely and efficiently, the
port needed dock workers with the skills to move any type of cargo.
It also needed equipment to lift it on and off ships, and safe and
dry places to store it. Cranes were originally worked by manpower, but later used
hydraulic power. To provide this, the port had a system of
cylinders to pressurise water and strong pipes to distribute it to
the cranes. Later, these were replaced by large cranes powered by
electricity. For large items such as locomotives, ports would have
a floating crane with a lifting capacity of several hundred tons.
Its advantage was that it could be towed round the docks to work on
any ship wherever it was berthed.
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