In January 2020, just before the corona virus permanently changed all our lives, I visited the city of Ghent in the north of Belgium for a few days. Although its charming and car-free city centre suggests otherwise, Ghent has long been a major centre of industry. In the Middle Ages it was already an important hub for the production of woollen cloth, trading extensively with England and Scotland in particular. Sited at the confluence of two rivers - the Scheldt (Schelde) and the smaller Lys (Leie) - meant that goods could easily be transported by boat and unloaded at the harbour which at that time was located on the banks of the Scheldt. The city prospered for many years until English cloth manufacturers became increasingly competitive during the 16th century and as a result of the blockade by the Dutch of the Scheldt estuary from 1648 which severely hindered trade. After so many successful years a long period of less spectacular development ensued during which linen manufacture gradually replaced the disrupted wool trade. As was often the case in the 17th and 18th centuries, Ghent was equipped with an impressive complex of fortifications and moats around the city for defence purposes that, as times became more peaceful, were steadily dismantled from about 1780 onwards.

After a long period of stagnation the city rejuvenated its textile industry when one Lieven Bauwens established a small workshop in 1800 using a spinning jenny that he had smuggled out of England. This led, throughout the 19th century, to the rapid growth of textile production, in particular cotton, together with the concomitant growth of the city outwards. Several other major developments occurred at this time too: the construction of the Ghent-Terneuzen canal from 1824-27 that effectively joined the city to the North Sea; the connection of the new canal to the freshly excavated Commercial Dock constructed in 1829 on the site of the old city moat; the arrival of a railway service in 1837; the construction in 1865 of the Union Canal joining the Ghent-Bruges Canal with its Ghent-Terneuzen companion. This in turn led to expansion of industrial zones, mostly textile mills, to the north of the city together with residential areas for workers. To cope with the increase in trade the Outer Harbour, along with some impressive cotton warehouses, was constructed between 1882-90 which in turn led to further expansion of the port area to the north. The new Main, North, Middle and South Docks were built here from about 1900-30 and a start was made on the new, larger Siffer Dock in 1931 that was eventually completed well after WW2 in 1968.