Next stop, the Rotherhithe peninsula. It wasn't so long ago that most of this area was wholly uninhabitable, just a broad expanse of marshland tucked inside a big bend in the Thames. No good for living, perhaps, but perfect for parking an awful lot of ships. The Howland Great Wet Dock came first in 1696, renamed Greenland Dock a few decades later when the Arctic whaling industry moved in. The docks expanded to accommodate trade from Canada, Scandinavia and the Baltic, specialising more in timber and imported foodstuffs than piles of oily blubber. Eventually an astonishing 85% of the peninsula was covered by a network of watery basins, and the docks provided employment for many thousands of Londoners. Meanwhile an enterprising canal company attempted to build a waterway from here to to the south coast through Surrey. The canal was a financial disaster, stretching only 3½ miles to Peckham rather than all the way to Portsmouth, but the area is still named after the Grand Surrey Canal to this day.
Trade thrived until German bomb damage helped spark the inevitable post-war decline. The SurreyDocks gradually closed, the warehouses fell derelict and most of the basins were filled in. A prime target in the 1980s, therefore, for the regeneration policies of the London Docklands Development Corporation. And blimey, what a transformation they've wrought here since then [full details]. South Dock has become a marina edged by modern housing. GreenlandDock (which is huge) has become a watersports area edged by modern housing. Norway Dock has become an exclusive pond surrounded by posh houses on stilts. RussiaDock has been almost completely filled in and turned into a linear woodland park. There's even a man-madehill in the middle of it all with surprisingly impressive views across this newly residential landscape. If only the transport links were a little better you might even want to live here yourself.
And then there's the shoppingcentre, because you can't have regeneration without a big Tesco, a BHS and a selection of minor chain stores. The extensive car park out front reflects the mix of clientele inside, with tacky England-flagged Fords parked up beside gleaming pristine 4x4s (although, to be honest, there are rather more of the former). If you fancy a meal try Pizza Hut round the back, or maybe the neighbouring Arbuckles burger restauarant (which used to be called Fatty Arbuckles, but they've recently dropped the reference to cholesterol-induced heart failure). For entertainment there's a big cinema and an equally huge bowling alley, because that's the height of good taste that is. It was all a bit reminiscent of southern Essex, I thought, only with much nicer communal water features.
Surrey Quays Opened as: Deptford Road (1884) Renamed: Surrey Docks (1911) Renamed: Surrey Quays (1989) to match the neighbouring shopping centre and to make the area sound posher Northbound platform: original brick, with ornate black and red painted ironwork Southbound platform: a more modern painted finish, with Victorian yellow- and red-topped pillars It's a long wait for: a southbound train to either New Cross or New Cross Gate (could be up to 10 minutes) It's an even longer wait for: trains on the new extension to Clapham Junction(could be up to 10 years) Exit:long thin glassy ticket hall, ticket barriers Outside the station: newsagent kiosk hole, the middle of a major road junction, Surrey Quays Shopping Centre Annual passenger throughflow: 1.6 million
The East London Line: Surrey Quays
Surrey Quays
