Saturday, May 29, 2004
Silver Jubilee: Canning Town
Opened: Monday 14th June 1847
Jubilee platforms opened: Friday 14th May 1999
Distance from previous station: 1.7 km (beneath the River Thames yet again)
Platform: exit to the right of the train
You are now entering: the London Borough of Newham
Change here for: Docklands Light Railway and North London line
Fact file: This is a double decker station, with the DLR platforms directly above the Jubilee line platforms. The eastbound DLR runs directly above the westbound Jubilee, but in the same actual direction.
5 things I found outside this station: a big flyover on the A13, an MFI superstore, a teeming bus station, Purvi newsagents, a large stone memorial commemorating the nearby Thames Ironworks (HMS Warrior was built here in 1860)
Nearby: Bow Creek, Leamouth, Trinity Buoy Wharf (London's only lighthouse)
Local history: Ronan Point was once a typical new 1960s tower block, at least until Mrs Ivy Hodge woke early one morning in 1968 to make herself a cup of tea. She struck a match to light the gas on the cooker in her kitchen, and the resulting explosion caused all 23 floors in one corner of the block to collapse. Amazingly only five people died (not including Ivy) but Britain's high-rise tower block dream died with them.
Local blog: Random Acts of Reality
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