Bombing during the Blitz of World War II severely damaged the docks, and by the 1960s, newer container technology and relocation to Tilbury had made the lightermen's trade, lighterage, obsolete. In terminal decline most up-river docks had been abandoned by the 1980s. Some waterman encouraged by Festival of Britain 1951 set up river cruise companies in the late 1940s but by careful consolidation of ownership and concentrating on passenger comfort, some offering night cruises, have successfully dominated the sector on into the new millennium. In the lighterage sector Cory Environmental, originally an amalgamation of eight companies, bucked the trend of this traditionally fragmented industry by capitalizing on an opportunity and used its empty coal barges, on return trips, to transport rubbish from London's streets generating enough extra revenue to buy up surplus barges from smaller lighterage companies as they sold up. Between 1967 and 1976 over 40 lighterage firms closed down.