Glassmaking around Falcon Stairs and in Hopton and Holland Streets was not universally popular. Long-standing laundry businesses, which served the needs of wealthy City folk over the river, did not take kindly to the soot and dust from the growing plethora of glasshouses on Bankside.  A petition to the king in 1688 stated that one John Straw and others are erecting glasshouses in the middle of the parish to the utter ruin of many inhabitants whose livelihood depends on washing. At the same time, the river enabled the transportation of raw materials for glassmaking, in particular to meet the demand for the manufacture of bottles and drinking glasses which were crucial for the livelihood of the many inns and breweries in Bankside.