ROUND TOWER A walk around the edge of Tower Hamlets
4) Island Gardens → Limehouse(2½ miles) [21 photos]
The western rim of the Isle of Dogs is part of the Thames Path, indeed from here to Teddington this National Trail can be followed on both sides of the river. The Thames is quite wide at this point, and not at its most exciting as it sweeps past Rotherhithe and Deptford. As such today's walk may have more to excite estate agents than sightseers, but bear with me, it has its moments. [map]
Island Gardens, at the foot of the Isle of Dogs, is also the point where the perimeter road changes its name from Manchester to Westferry. The riverside was once lined with berths and cranes: sequentially Midland Wharf, Livingstone Wharf, Felstead Wharf, Parry's Wharf, Locke's Wharf... and that's just the next 200 metres. It's all housing now, of course, plus one very 70s boathouse built on top of the terminus of the London and Blackwall Railway. The Ferry House claims to be the oldest pub on the island, although the building's changed a lot since 1722, and local residents are possibly more tempted by the Thai cocktail bar on the foreshore. From here the bend of the river is clearly seen, with Maritime Greenwich now fading into the distance and the occasional Thames Clipper or speedboat zipping through. Focus your eyes on the water here, because that's where all the interest is.
Exit from Tower Hamlets: Masthouse Terrace pier
Except Burrells Wharf is rather nice, as converted ironworks go. This residential cluster was once a shipyard, and it was here that the heaviest ship of the 19th century was built, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Eastern. Clad in iron, this six-masted transatlantic liner was so long that it had to be launched sideways, a groundbreaking approach which nearly bankrupted its manufacturers. A sizeable chunk of the 1858 slipway remains, laid out as a wedge of parallel low wooden beams, adding a little wow factor to proceedings on the promenade. The other sight of note is across the water, the enormous iron-roofed Olympia Warehouse, part of the historic Deptford Dockyard and about the only building due to be retained when the whirlwind of residential redevelopment finally hits. Oh, and the City looks impressive from here, don't you think?
Before long the riverside housing on the Tower Hamlets bank becomes too self-important and the Thames Path is diverted back inland. This provides a useful opportunity to be reminded that there's another community here, living in former dockers terraces rather than modern highrise stacks. The fabulous building that looks like a brick pumping station is in fact a church, or was until 1989 when it was taken over by a community theatre called The Space (patron Sir Ian McKellen). Ahead the far end of Millwall Outer Dock abuts the main road, on which canoes and yachts are often seen, although for landlubbers the watersports centre blocks the view. And alongside is the huge West Ferry printworks, where the Telegraph, Express and Star used to be printed until Richard Desmond sold up in 2009, hence a printworks of the same name now graces an industrial estate in Luton.
It's a relief to eventually slip back to the river, beneath the silver and bronze turrets of New Atlas Wharf. Seven windmills once stood on the waterside along this stretch, hence the name 'Millwall'. The mills disappeared in the early 19th century, replaced by factories and workshops, whose owners eventually got tired of residents walking along the embankment so the right of way was sealed off. Only in the 1960s was a park laid out between declining wharves, reconnecting residents to the river, and now the Thames Path runs all the way. Major housing developments are named after the industrial features they replaced (Ocean Wharf), or else given aspirational names (Millennium Harbour, the Cascades) to make them sound less like interconnected boxes. Some quite peculiar apartment blocks with portholes and funnels now grace the shore, as was early Docklands' habit. But look out for one nod to a more humble past, a plaque commemorating 40 people killed by a direct hit on a bomb shelter at Bullivants Wharf (of which, more here).
Exit from Tower Hamlets: Jubilee line
After a good four miles my walk has finally returned to the neck of the island, the narrow strip across the top of Docklands where the towers of Canary Wharf reign supreme. To enter the promised land requires crossing a narrow channel, once the Lower Limehouse entrance to the great South Dock, now sealed by a strategically critical pumping station. A huge tract of land to the south of Westferry Circus remains somehow undeveloped, despite being prime skyscraper territory, and of considerable commercial interest. Investment bank J.P. Morgan & Co. are the current owners of the Riverside South site, which they flattened several years ago in readiness for building a new twin towered HQ, but then moved to new offices in the City instead. At least they've reopened a footpath along the river, saving a major detour, but it's a desolate slog.
Exit from Tower Hamlets: Canary Wharf Pier
Canary Riverside is not my kind of London. Options for financial workers at leisure include three waterside terrace restaurants (attempting atmosphere by erecting box hedges), a large hotel and a Virgin Active Health Club. If it weren't for the Thames Path, and the chance to catch a clipper from Canary Wharf pier, I'd be more than happy to avoid this commercially bland cultural vacuum. But I've always loved the balconies at Dundee Wharf, arranged in a tapered iron tower, and accessed via walkways from the flats with the best river views. Alongside is the short inlet of Limekiln Wharf, where quicklime was produced in medieval times and porcelain in the 17th century. Very much a silted sleepy backwater, it's hard to imagine that the Limehouse Link (the most expensive mile of road tunnel in Britain) runs directly underneath.
There's only one more day to sign up if you want to help decide Labour's candidate for London's Mayor. Registration costs £3, and ballot papers start arriving at the weekend. Opening up selection to the public could be a risky gamble, partly because any old right-winger can sign up, but also because disgruntled supporters might lose faith if their preferred candidate doesn't win. Voting continues until 10th September, with the chosen candidate due to be announced on the 13th, leaving less than eight months to campaign for the Mayorship.
• Diane Abbott (@Diane4London): A well known larger-than-life campaigner, and the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. As the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons, she'd provide the sharpest contrast to Ken and Boris. Has the least complex website, but with drill-down detail. Wants a four year fares freeze. Could be chosen, could be elected. "Londoners need a strong campaigning Mayor in City Hall who will stand up against the Tories and will be part of Labour’s fight back against this Tory government"
• Tessa Jowell (@tessajowell): The most well-known candidate, with a proven London record thanks to London 2012, and a likely safe pair of hands. Stood down as MP for Dulwich and West Norwood at the last election in readiness. Has a whizzy scroll-down website with plenty of news. Wants a one year fares freeze. Favourite to be chosen, favourite to be your Mayor next year. "The question for this selection is simple- who can deliver the change that London needs?"
• Sadiq Khan (@sadiqkhan): The son of a bus driver, a former lawyer, and the current MP for Tooting. Not a widely-known name, but former Mayor Ken's preferred candidate. Website has a lot of photos of himself standing in front of things. Wants a bus fare cut and a four year fare freeze. Unlikely to be chosen, could be elected. "I entered politics to serve my community and help others get the same opportunities I had. That's why I'm standing for Mayor."
• David Lammy (@davidlammy): The MP for Tottenham, who's said (and done) a lot on the subject of the local riots. Has been out on his soapbox talking to passers-by all across the capital. Website has an opening video, but only headline detail on policies. Wants a four year freeze on season tickets. Unlikely to be chosen, could be be elected. "Let’s unite this city. We need new leadership for a new London. With your support, that’s what I’ll bring."
• Gareth Thomas (@gareththomasmp): The most business-friendly candidate, and the Labour and Co-op MP for Harrow West. Wants London to be its own city state, to feed back investment into the capital. An impersonal campaign website, but with plenty of linked features. Wants a fares cut, then a three year freeze. Won't be chosen. "I want to be Mayor of London – so that Londoners get their fair share of London’s success."
• Christian Wolmar (@wolmarforlondon): Journalist and author (never an MP), with a grassroots campaign, hence the rank outsider. Knows his transport inside-out, which is important when transport is the Mayor's largest area of influence. Has a modern website with substantial policy depth. Wants a one year fares freeze and a fares restructure. Won't win, but London'd likely be a better city if he did. "Like many of you I want something fresh, new and authentic, far from the empty clichés of Westminster politics."
There are still a few weeks to sign up if you want to help decide the Conservative candidate for London's Mayor. Registration costs £1, and online voting kicks off following hustings next month. Any old left-winger can sign up, but nobody seems to think it's a risky political gamble to open up the selection to the public because the end result is a foregone conclusion. The chosen candidate will be announced at the end of September, after due process has been seen to be done, leaving barely seven months for the victor to campaign for the Mayorship.
So who's in the running, and what might their chances be?
• Andrew Boff (@andrewboff): Although he never made it as an MP, Andrew has considerable experience as a London Assembly member, and long ago was leader of Hillingdon council. Has contested the Conservative nomination for the London mayoral elections three times previously, without success. His website features a sign-up page and nothing else. I've Googled, but I have no idea what he proposes to do about fares. Won't be chosen, wouldn't be elected. "London's democracy needs to change."
• Zac Goldsmith (@zacgoldsmith): Aristo-environmentalist Etonian, and the MP for Richmond Park. Friend of Boris, and darling of the Evening Standard. Outspoken critic of Heathrow expansion, which either will or won't harm his Mayoral chances. Won't let you read his website unless you agree to accept cookies. Wants to cut rail fares, I think. A shoo-in to be chosen, and a tough opponent for the Labour challenger. "London needs a Mayor who can work with Government to get the resources that London needs to deal with massive pressures on housing, transport and policing but is also strong enough to stand up to the Government when it gets things wrong,"
• Stephen Greenhalgh (@team_greenhalgh): Bluff suited gent, and the only candidate with current experience of GLA power as Boris's Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime. Previously leader of Hammersmith and Fulham council, with a national reputation for service slimdown and cost-cutting. Wants a four year bus fare freeze, and annual rail/tube fare cut. Campaign website is mostly character validation. Won't be chosen, wouldn't be elected. "London provides a huge engine of opportunity but our capital city also faces huge challenges that will not be solved by glib solutions."
• Syed Kamall (@syedkamall): A Londoner of Guyanese descent, with a background in business. Currently an MEP, and Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament. Has a website, but with no mayoral focus. I've Googled, but I have no idea what he proposes to do about fares. Won't be chosen, wouldn't be elected. "Just as I have achieved some success, I want to make sure all Londoners have the opportunity to achieve their ambitions."
There's only one more day to sign up if you want to help decide who gets to be Labour's new leader. Registration costs £3, and ballot papers start arriving at the weekend. Opening up selection to the public could be a risky gamble, partly because any old right-winger can sign up, but also because disgruntled supporters might lose faith if their preferred candidate doesn't win. Voting continues until 10th September, with the chosen candidate due to be announced at a special event on the 12th.
So who's in the running, and what might their chances be?
• Andy Burnham (@andy4leader): Former Secretary of State for Health and MP for Leigh, Andy also stood for leader in 2010. His "radical vision" is neither too left nor too right, so could end up unifying the party or satisfying nobody. His website's a bit thin unless you find (and read) the pdf manifesto. Has the best chance of beating Jeremy to the nomination, and maybe the best chance of almost stopping the Tories in 2020. "My vision for Labour is simple: we must be the Party that helps everyone get on in life."
• Yvette Cooper (@YvetteForLabour): Former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, and (whisper it) married to Ed Balls. Also the first minister ever to take maternity leave. Her website is brimming with regularly updated news nuggets, but I can't find a page with any detailed policies. Could get elected, and might have broad appeal outside the party if she were. "I believe I am the candidate with the strength, experience and progressive ideas to lead our party and win in the country."
• Jeremy Corbyn (@Corbyn4Leader): Nobody saw him coming. Nudged onto the nomination list out of kindness, the Islington MP's campaign has taken off because he sounds like the only candidate who dares to pledge anything. Tough on social justice and with a nod to the past, he favours nationalisation, equality, higher taxes and growth in public services. His election would energise many of the faithful, perhaps even lead to a populist left-wing anti-austerity crusade, but also likely split the party leading to a centrist breakaway. Every chance of winning, and not a hope of winning. "Our timeless task in the Labour Party is to stand up against injustice wherever we find it. That notion has driven me throughout my political life."
• Liz Kendall (@LizforLeader): Born in Watford, and MP for Leicester West, low-profile Liz may have surprised herself at getting this far through the process. Seen as the modernising or Blairite candidate, her pro-austerity message sometimes sounds like it echoes government policy. Her LizforLeader campaign website currently launches with an ill-received video. No chance of winning, as the defeated party refuses to lean to the right. "I wasn’t born into the Labour Party. I chose it. Just like we’re going to have to persuade millions of Britons to do at the next general election."
ROUND TOWER A walk around the edge of Tower Hamlets
3) Blackwall → Island Gardens(2 miles) [18 photos]
A walk around the Isle of Dogs anyone? The perimeter trail doesn't appear on many tourist itineraries, which is odd because this Thames meander forms possibly the most iconic physical representation of the city of London. Even the Thames Path gives up halfway round and crosses to the southern bank, abandoning Tower Hamlets in favour of Maritime Greenwich. On this section of my walk I'm going to follow the ignored eastern half of the peninsula, through Cubitt Town, which is less blocked off (and I'd say more interesting) than the more popular west. [map]
I'm starting this section of the walk at the entrance to Blackwall Basin, located roughly where the Thames finally turns to bend east. This broad channel, opened in 1802, was once the entrance to the West India Docks and thus an exceptionally important conduit for trade. The West India Dock Company dealt in sugar and spice, and many a transatlantic sailing would have ended with a ship's passage into the basin, then on to be unloaded where the Canary Wharf development now stands. The entrance's hasty construction led to numerous problems over the years, eventually being trumped by an entrance further south and falling into disrepair. Thirty years ago all waterborne access was sealed off by the island's main ring road, and today the channel is lined by lacklustre lowrise housing. But you can still walk across the gates by the river (from which the view inland is excellent), and then head out onto a restored pier overlooking the O2 (from which the view might just be better).
A brief treat follows, through one of the few remaining pockets of 18th century maritime buildings on the island. Coldharbour is a narrow kinked and cobbled street off the main drag, with period houses that back immediately onto the Thames (and are thus visible from that pier I mentioned). Two Dock Official's houses survive, each with full-height bay windows to make it easier to watch the ships, while Admiral Nelson is reputed to have stayed at Nelson House during a fleet refit (although that may just be a story). Charles Dickens definitely enjoyed a drink at The Fishing Smack, alas now demolished, but today's ale-lovers should still be able to get a pint (or a posh gastromeal) at The Gun, the almost-extremely-old pub on the corner. Compared to what's coming next, Coldharbour is Tower Hamlets at its most enchanting.
Exit from Tower Hamlets: Jubilee line
A massive lifting bridge spans the entrance to the South Dock, this still the main access to the chain of waterways on the island. Three tall cranes have been preserved as reminders of the past, but the immediate future is even taller flats, especially at Wood Wharf, the next intensive phase of Docklands' commercial-friendly expansion. A first outlier is the Dollar Bay tower, where even a tiny one bedroom studio will set you back over half a million pounds, currently rising above the back of the small Ladbrokes on Manchester Road. Indeed this crossing into Cubitt Town marks the point where the Isle of Dogs changes from bankers' playground to communal backwater, because the social housing got in first, well before riverside living became the prerogative of the wealthy.
The path heads back to the riverside here, though initially not in friendly terms: CCTV in operation, no fishing, and strictly no loitering. The façade of the Isle of Dogs Pumping Station comes as a jokey surprise - part classical, part children's playground - with vivid fins atop thick brick columns, and an extractor fan winking out like a Cyclops' eye. Ahead is the Samuda Estate, one of the GLC's very first estates, consisting of four and six-storey blocks, plus a 25-floor stack of maisonettes called Kelson House. The neighbourly spirit here is evident, and will hopefully survive the complete redevelopment of the riverside quarter into five bland stacks, currently at early partial-knockdown stage. In the meantime a lengthy inland diversion is required, through the heart of a community enduring forced evolution.
Next, a beach! A long strip of sand runs along the foreshore by Amsterdam Road, easily (and properly) accessed down a parallel set of steps. Its presence made sense when this eastern shorelinewas all wharves and industry (as today's entire walk used to be), while now it's simply a top recreational amenity for those who live close by and others in the know. A couple of families were taking advantage as I walked by, but buckets and spades seemed essentially unnecessary. The view's not bad either, namely the whole of the western side of the North Greenwich peninsula from the Dome down to almost Greenwich. One day that'll all be luxury highrise and yacht terminal, a fate this Isle of Dogs borderline summarily avoided, but for now it's the far shore which appears desolate and underdeveloped.
As Blackwall Reach bends round, the housing facing the Thames has a more 1980s feel, providing many fortunate residents with the chance to live on the river. One run of Dutch-style townhouses is blessed with pergolas out front, draping the waterside path with trailing greenery, in a brief splash of architectural personality. An information panel explains that this is Saunders Ness, a marshy foreland originally stabilised by a bank of earth and stones before industry moved in during the 1840s. There is a brief return to the interior at Newcastle Draw Dock, the pub at the far end once the Newcastle Arms, then the Watermans Arms - it appears in the film The Long Good Friday. Once a mainstay of the Island's working class community, it's now the Great Eastern and does Sunday Roasts and Craft Beers, because doesn't everywhere?
The management of the Luralda Wharf development go to great pains to remind walkers that they're only here under sufferance, and technically barred between 11pm and 10am, such is the nature of private public space. And this leads through to Island Gardens, the attractive strip of parkland at the foot of the peninsula, and which gives the adjacent DLR station its name. Still a popular place to sit or sprawl, there are also two refreshment opportunities, one the official council cafe, the other a smaller kiosk by the entrance to the Foot Tunnel. And this is your escape to Maritime Greenwich beneath the Thames, should you choose to enter its Stygian depths and dodge the tourists, the pushbikers, and the naughty cyclists who pretend not to read the signs. What these tourists make of Island Gardens I'm not sure, but its finest feature is probably the viewback towards whence they came.
Exit from Tower Hamlets: Greenwich Foot Tunnel, DLR
I would tell you more about it but a) I've written about mostof it before. b) I've drawn a map so you can go yourself. c) I hoped a few photos might sum things up. d) I had a wedding 'do' to go to last night * †
TfL's signwriters haven't been making a good job of re-signing the Overground.
This was Theobalds Grove in May.
I happened to be passing at the time, which was unfortunate, and the resulting photograph reverberated around social media for a day or two. The Hertfordshire Mercury was of course very interested, and TfL were embarrassed enough to provide an apology, which the Evening Standard duly printed.
Seemingly not, because this was Walthamstow Central yesterday.
Dan happened to be passing at the time, as presumably were thousands of other people, and he took this photo which was widely mocked on Twitter. The Walthamstow Guardian was of course very interested, and TfL were again embarrassed enough to provide an apology, which the Evening Standard duly printed.
It takes a special approach to project management to make the same type of glaring public mistake twice on the same Overground rollout programme, a couple of months apart. The incorrect vowel at Theobalds Grove and dropped aitch at Walthamstow Central strongly hint at a slapdash approach to signwriting, or an absence of quality management processes, or more likely both. I mean, how can any team erect a station sign somewhere as well known as Walthamstow and not realise its spelling is incorrect?
Oh, and do take another look at TfL's two apologies reprinted above. Management now have a standard public response when this kind of thing happens, first admitting to being "aware of a small number" of problematic signs, and then confirming that "they will be replaced". But in the first apology they've described the incorrect signs as "misspelt", and in the second as "mis-spelled". If they can't even spell that word consistently, what hope is there?
The Office of National Statistics has just launched a Housing Statistics Portal, featuring 15 Housing Summary Measures calculated using official statistics. Covering every local authority in England and Wales, they provide a fascinating insight (across a number of years) into the availability and affordability of privately owned housing, social housing and private rented housing.
The raw data is here, a 24 page statistical summary is here, and there's a whizzy interactive space to explore here. If you like numbers, you'll enjoy the latter.
I've dug into the statistics to see how special* London is.
* for special, read "vastly overpriced and out of control"
Median house price (2014) Over £½m: Kensington and Chelsea (£1195000), Westminster (£875000), City of London (£720000), Camden (£675000), Hammersmith and Fulham (£665000), Richmond upon Thames (£535000), Wandsworth (£535000), Islington (£532500) Under £100000: Kingston upon Hull (£97000), Rhondda Cynon Taf (£95000), Stoke-on-Trent (£95000), Pendle (£92750), Merthyr Tydfil (£87500), Hyndburn (£86000), Burnley (£85000), Blaenau Gwent (£75000)
In London in 2014, Barking and Dagenham had the lowest median house price, at £215,000. Despite having the lowest median house price in London, this was still higher than 60% of all local authorities in England and Wales. In general, median house prices for West London boroughs were higher than for East London boroughs.
In Westminster the median house costs 24 times the median salary of £36500. By this measure the most affordable boroughs are Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Bexley, each with median houses costing 'only' 9 times the median salary. Newham is, by some distance, the London borough with the lowest median salary (£20500).
Median house price (1995) Over £100000: Kensington and Chelsea (£181750), Westminster (£135000), South Bucks, Camden (£122000), Isles of Scilly, Chiltern, Hammersmith and Fulham, Richmond upon Thames, Elmbridge, City of London, Islington, Mole Valley Greatest increase 1995-2014: City of London (×6.7), Kensington and Chelsea, (×6.6), Westminster (×6.5)
Of the 20 local authorities to see the greatest rise in median house price between 1995 and 2014, 17 were in London (the other three were Brighton and Hove, Cambridge and St Albans). The London boroughs with the 'lowest' increases were Havering, Bexley and Croydon (approx ×3.5).
Median monthly private rent (London, 2014) Over £1500: Westminster (£2382), Kensington and Chelsea (£2275), City of London (£1928), Camden (£1842), Islington (£1731), Hammersmith and Fulham (£1582), Wandsworth (£1582), Richmond upon Thames (£1556), Hackney (£1517) Under £1000: Sutton (£997), Barking and Dagenham (£950), Havering (£925), Bexley (£900)
Almost all of the 42 local authorities with median monthly private rent greater than £1000 are in, or immediately adjacent to, Greater London. The cheapest places to rent in the UK are Hull (£365pm) and Burnley (£395pm).
In Westminster, Camden, Newham and Brent, median rent is over 65% of the median salary. In only nine London boroughs is median rent less than half of the median salary (with Bexley the most affordable, at 40%). In Hull, the median rent is only 25% of the median salary.
Average weekly social housing rent (London, 2014) High 5: Newham (£129), Camden (£128), Harrow (£126), Redbridge (£125), Kingston upon Thames (£124) Low 5: Lewisham (£104), Bexley (£106), Merton (£110), Havering (£110), Greenwich (£111)
In Newham and Barking and Dagenham, the poorest 10% of residents earn less than the median social housing rent.
Social housing stock (as a percentage of total housing stock, 2014) Over a third: Southwark (44%), Hackney (43%), Islington (42%), Tower Hamlets (39%), Lambeth (36%), Camden (35%), Greenwich (33%) Over a quarter: Barking and Dagenham (31%), Lewisham (31%), Hammersmith and Fulham (30%), Newham (29%), Haringey (26%)
London is easily the social housing capital of England. Outside London the only local authorities with more than 30% social housing stock are Norwich, South Tyneside, Harlow and Manchester. Meanwhile Redbridge (9%), Harrow (10%) and Kingston upon Thames (11%) rank highly among the English local authorities with the smallest proportion of social housing.
At 94%, Waltham Forest has the highest social housing shortfall in London, (not as bad as Medway's 239% shortfall but still in the national top 10). Meanwhile at just 0.3% Hammersmith and Fulham has the smallest social housing shortfall in London (only three other local authorities do better).
Number of new homes built (as a percentage of privately owned housing stock, London, 2014) Over 1%: Tower Hamlets (1.8%), Newham (1.3%), Greenwich (1.2%), Croydon (1.1%) 0.1% and under: Harrow (0.1%), Haringey (0.1%), Kensington and Chelsea (0.03%), City of London (0%)
Over the last five years, more new homes have been built in Tower Hamlets than in any other local authority in the country (relative to the size of the existing supply). Nationally Tower Hamlets really is way out in front, only Corby comes close. Meanwhile only the Isles of Scilly and Blackpool are down at the very bottom of the house-building chart with Kensington and the City.
Number of residential house sales (as a percentage of privately owned housing, 2014) Over 8%: City of London (10.3%), Wandsworth (8.5%), Bracknell Forest (8.5%%), Harlow (8.2%), Brighton and Hove (8.2%), Tower Hamlets (8.1%) Under 5% (London): Havering (4.8%), Newham (4.7%), Barking and Dagenham (4.5%) Under 4% (UK): much of Wales, and the Isles of Scilly
Just to restate that first statistic, more than 1 in 10 of private residential properties in the City of London changed hands last year. Tower Hamlets is the only East London borough with a particularly vibrant property market (1 in 12 properties were sold last year), while Brent (1 in 20) and Hounslow (1 in 19) are the least bubbly West London boroughs.
bloody tube strike yet another day of chaos and all for what? bloody drivers don't they know how well paid they are I wish I got what they get they do better than nurses! and here they are striking for more it's not fair on all the hard-working people having to take a day off work and not being paid when the drivers get paid loads already so why should they be offered even more money I don't get it it's not bloody fair bloody unions bloody tube workers
bloody tube strike they should just lock them in a room until they come to an agreement I mean how hard can it be? surely with all that cash on the table the workers should just agree to anything I mean who's the boss round here the mayor or the unions they should just accept the longer working hours or whatever and be done with it I don't see why their work life balance is so important I just want my Night Tube so I can get home from the West End easier
bloody tube strike I had to get up much earlier this morning and I'll be getting home much later this evening the bastards because it's a much longer trip than usual and I might even have to walk some of it the indignity or there are buses but they'll be rammed and going nowhere fast in traffic jams which'll be hell it'd be quicker to walk except I live miles out it might even take an hour on foot I couldn't cope I'd rather spend two hours on a bus
bloody tube strike replace them all with robots I say those automated trains can't come soon enough I mean who needs people they're essentially driverless already so these people get paid thousands to press the occasional button it's a disgrace and OK sometimes there's a problem and the service would grind to a halt without a human hand but most of the time it's money for nothing an idiot could do it and quite frankly I'm jealous of how much they get
bloody tube strike just because they can bring the capital to a halt they think they own the place that's why the unions have too much power it'd be like this every week if that Jeremy Corbyn got in imagine! they should speed up bringing in those laws to make strike action much harder I'd vote for that it's not right they can hold the rest of us to ransom just because they do a crucial difficult repetitive anti-social mind-numbing safety-critical job
bloody tube strike I'm having to work from home today it's hell first of all I get to sleep longer than usual then I get to wander round in my jimjams and maybe open up my work email eventually and perhaps bat one or two messages around to make it look like I'm busy whereas I've got Facebook open on my tablet and I'm watching YouTube and I think This Morning followed by Bargain Hunt I'm sure I'll catch up in the office tomorrow after all it's only August
bloody tube strike and it's not even over anything important it's only a few silly terms and conditions in a contract I mean my private sector employer screwed those out of our workforce years ago so I don't see why anyone else should have the benefit and we've not had a payrise for years so I'd be bloody grateful for two percent and those tube workers probably have decent pensions too we should scrap those and bring the fares down
bloody tube strike they do this every year I'm sick of it I mean once is fine but when you start striking all the time it's just holding the capital to ransom I mean do you know how much money London's lost now? it's billions never a thought for the economy won't you think of all the businesses losing a day's income what happens to all the unsold pop-up street food and more importantly where are all the Jehovah's Witnesses going to stand today?
bloody tube strike bloody selfish monsters they have no idea what world the rest of us are living in there are millions of Londoners working fifteen hours a day and they only do 36 hours a week what a nerve and they have 43 days holiday! I'm self employed and I get nothing so shut up about reducing the quality of your life sheesh I'd love a £500 bonus it would more than make up for running night shifts in perpetuity join the real world people!
bloody tube strike bloody unions fighting for minimum rights and maintaining sufficient staff presence at stations and not scrimping on safety and standing firm against the imposition of unfair shift patterns and championing the interests of their members and these four tube unions never normally agree on anything so there must be something in it and what idiot promised Night Tube before getting the agreement of staff anyway bloody tube strike
ROUND TOWER A walk around the edge of Tower Hamlets
2) Bow Creek → Blackwall(1½ miles) [25 photos]
Having kicked off my circumnavigation of Tower Hamlets by following the Lea south, today I'm manoeuvring around the contorted peninsulas at the mouth of Bow Creek. [map]
The final meander on the RiverLea is a natural wonder, twisting and turning back on itself (twice) before exiting into the Thames immediately opposite the Millennium Dome. The bends create two thin tongues of land, interlocking like thumbs and forefingers, with land access from completely opposite ends. The westernmost peninsula is in Newham, and is home to the Bow Creek Ecology Park. There's just room for the DLR to pass through the middle of the reserve on a lofty viaduct, with reedy watery pools to either side, and a series of benches that once had views before the surrounding vegetation grew too high. And the eastern peninsula, somewhat counter-intuitively, is in Tower Hamlets.
It's always been a dead end, this strip of creekbound land, and human activity took some time to move in. The northern tip was once called Goodluck Hope, a marshy and rural spot, while a little further south (presumably by some fruit trees) lay the single dwelling of Orchard House. The estate was sold to the East India Dock Company precisely 200 years ago, after which time timber merchants, cooperages, shipbuilders, shipbreakers and a whale blubber factory were establishedon the peninsula. The largest plate glass factory in southern England was established at the far end, and a small inward-looking community built up, propped up by a pub called The Crown. Their slums are long gone, but even ten years ago Pura Foods were still piping vegetable oil from a refinery on the shore.
How places change. Next year the London City Islanddevelopment opens up, described as a "Mini-Manhattan" by its developers, and "a bunch of primary coloured investment towers" by me. 1700 flats will be crammed in for the benefit of foreign investors, and the English National Ballet are taking up residence to give the place artistic credibility. For those of us who'll never be able to live there, the estate offers one great bonus which is a new way into Tower Hamlets. A red (raisable) bridge has been installed across the last bend in the creek, and a bespoke mothballed exit from Canning Town station awaits the official opening. (Report: 2013)
My walk around Tower Hamlets is half a mile shorter while Leamouth's inland isthmus remains sealed off for building works. Instead I get to walk past the council's main transport depot (all gritters and minibuses), follow a slip road underneath a giant red advertising hoarding and head beneath the concrete pillars of the Lower Lea Crossing. Orchard House used to be around here, where the hastily imported planters bloom, and a taxi repurposed as art sits on a cobbled traffic island with a sparkly tree emerging from its roof. And what I should do here is pass through the gates into the East India Dock Basin, but instead I'm going to break the rules of my walk for the first time and head down the cul-de-sac of Orchard Place.
This backwater street has been here for some time, lined by the decaying leftovers of wharves and shipbuilding yards. Thankfully historians and artists have been out to liven it up, with a large painted buoy at one end, a flimsy-looking bream hanging part-way down, and numerous heritage panels all the way down. The latter are truly excellent, and you can read much of the information contained within on this mini-website. This post-industrial remnant is the East End's most remote corner, and as far from trendy Shoreditch as Tower Hamlets gets. And at the far end is Trinity Buoy Wharf, which you must visit.
Established at the start of the 19th century as a storage space for navigational buoys, Trinity House built London's one and only lighthouse here, used for lighting trials rather than for the avoidance of rocks. It's still here, and at weekends you can step inside and climb an especially narrow staircase to the lantern to stare out across the Thames. The tower is also the auditorium for a 1000-year-long musical composition called Longplayer, designed never to repeat, and playing out from a turn-of-the-century iMac in a case at the back. Alongside is a large display of singing bowls used to play the piece, which runs until New Year's Eve 2999, and can also be heard in perpetuity here.
Longplayer's not the only cultural gizmo on site. Down by the river is a double-ended bell that rings at high tide, and in the corner by the mouth of Bow Creek is the world's first tidal powered moon clock (which looks like a flashy digital speak your weight machine, but is much geekier than that). All of this science is highly appropriate because Michael Faraday used to work on site, testing out electrical apparatus in the lighthouse, and there's a hut with a pebbled floor laid out in his memory down below.
Oh, and lots of people work here. The management company pioneered the concept of a Container City, with workspaces inside brightly-coloured stacked metal boxes. If you ever get the chance to look inside, say for Open House, then do. The latest arrivals are the temporary broadcasting containers from London 2012, now combined to create the Riverside Building (you can rent a studio here for £1150 a month). And all these people need somewhere to eat, so there are two, one the Bow Creek Café, the other Fatboy's Diner, and both open seven days a week. I dropped into Fatboy's for a superthick American milkshake, just as I did at the end of my walk down the Lea in August 2009, and slurped it in the shadow of a lightship. Did I mention that you really ought to visit?
Enough diversion, let's nip back to the East India Docks and continue around the borough. This is a treat in itself, the former entrance basin now filled with shallow water and a seasonal home to migrating birds. As for the remainder ofthe system they were the first of London's docks to be filled in, and various homes, offices and council headquarters now reside where spice ships once moored. One such site is slightly upriver at Victoria Quay, where a monument commemorates the departure point of the first American settlers in 1606 - one of their captains would later bring back Princess Pocohontas (report: 2006). And here too is one of my favourite Greenwich meridian markers - an avenue of trees between apartment blocks, leading from a mosaic circle by the river.
Exit from Tower Hamlets: Blackwall Tunnel
The next stretch of waterside is private and blocked, forcing a diversion inland along Blackwall Way. This area is becoming increasingly dominated by residential skyscrapers, once only the thin slanty Ontario Tower, but more recently the bulbous Providence Tower, unashamedly targeted at rich bankers seeking a luxury lifestyle. I felt completely out of place walking through artificial streets beneath premium balconies, dodging suited property consultants and smug clusters of outdoor yoga. I take comfort from the fact that Tower Hamlets' main Waste Transfer Station is located nextdoor. And with the return to more ordinary housing, at the entrance to Blackwall Basin, the long trek around the Isle of Dogs finally begins.
I've never been great at collecting friends. I've done better than most in that I have a best one, long term, so I'm not exactly socially disjoint. But I don't have a broad circle of acquaintances I meet on a regular basis, let alone a bunch of bezzies I spend every weekend drinking and partying with.
The 1990s were the worst, when I spent several years with possibly two friends, otherwise engrossed in work and doing stuff alone. At the end of the decade I had my one dalliance with a 'special' friend, which was an entirely alien lifestyle but I adapted fine, apart from the whole thing being a complete disaster. At least one other friend emerged from that meltdown, which was damned useful, and then in 2001 I hit London and the overall picture improved.
But interestingly not by much. I thought blogging might prove the catalyst to a better social life, and I've certainly met some great people as a result, but not many I could mark down as regular real life acquaintances. If anything Twitter's worked better on that front, not that my tweeting's especially conversational, but it's easier to see if you have anything in common with someone when they broadcast their thoughts and interests several times a day.
So I thought I'd attempt to map out the trajectory of my 21st century friendships, just to check that the overall picture's not so embarrassingly feeble as it sometimes seems. I've flicked back through diaries, which are ideal for this kind of thing, to try to determine whose presence in my life could legitimately be described as a proper friend. If we've swapped birthday presents that likely counts, or if you invited me round to yours or vice versa, ... and no, there's none of 'that', thank you.
Each row represents one anonymised person, in chronological order. You might well be able to work out if that particular person is you, and BestMate's row in the table should be pretty obvious. Family are not included. I've used red for seriously good friends with regular interaction, orange for less frequent contact, and yellow for a connection ticking over nicely on a lower heat.
Yes, I realise I'm setting myself up here to offend people, either through omission or underestimation. If you're not in the table you might be wondering why, but I have set the bar quite high, and not included mates I simply bump into somewhere once a year. And if you are in the table you might not agree with the colours I've used, but it's all relative, so I may be judging you against different criteria to what you think. It's all terribly subjective really, please remember that.
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Friend 1
Friend 2
Friend 3
Friend 4
Friend 5
Friend 6
Friend 7
Friend 8
Friend 9
So, er, just the nine friends in fifteen years, that's a bit rubbish isn't it? There are people at work with nine friends they've been out with already this month, and it's only August 4th. Equally nine friends isn't bad, and about half of them have at some point been seriously good friends, and one has been a long-term rock in my life, so mustn't grumble.
I did best for really good friends back at the start of the decade, but then I went out more then, and there were a lot of other people bubbling under who I bumped into all the time. But I'm doing best for friends right now, because look there are seven coloured boxes in the 2015 column, so I must be doing something right. Thanks if that's you, really genuinely thanks.
So anyway, I'm hoping not to let too many of these colours fade away as the years pass by, and I am obviously still on the lookout for someone to fill row ten. Hello?
And I wonder how your friendship table might stack up.
ROUND TOWER A walk around the edge of Tower Hamlets
1) Bow Roundabout → Bow Creek(2½ miles) [20 photos]
For my August extravaganza this year I'm walking clockwise around the edge of Tower Hamlets. And for reasons of local convenience, not least so that I can collapse into an armchair when the twenty mile circumnavigation is over, I'm kicking off at the Bow Roundabout. [map]
The entire eastern edge of Tower Hamlets runs down the centre of the River Lea, so for the first few miles all I need to do is stick as close to the water's edge as possible. Thankfully at the Bow Roundabout that's easy, thanks to the floating towpath slung beneath the flyover. This was installed in 2011 to continue the Lea Valley Walk without the dangers of rising to cross the traffic, and has been an overwhelming success especially with cyclists. I usually have to dodge out of the way of a couple of them when passing through, and at the start of this journey there are pedestrians and a canoe paddling too.
Exit from Tower Hamlets: Stratford High Street
A phenomenal amount of building work is underway around the roundabout, especially on the Newham side, with the 34-storey core of investo-luxe Capital Towers rising from the northern quadrant, and Strand East beginning to emerge to the east. But the Tower Hamlets shores aren't immune, the Calor Gas yard doomed to become a car dealership, apparently, and the Bow River Village scheme preparing to replace the remaining commercial premises with yet more not-especially affordable brick boxes. Apologies, I'm likely to bemoan the tedious nature of modern apartment architecture several more times before this circuit is complete.
For now the riverside footpath is a peaceful backwater, with industrial premises and building site screened behind an old brick wall. A few moorhens swim through this summer's algae, and even the occasional narrowboat chugs through. Give it a year or three and there'll be chair-sized balconies opening out above the river facing chair-sized balconies on the opposite bank, plus a narrow bridge solely for a bus service to cross the Lea.
Exit from Tower Hamlets: Three Mills Lane
At Three Mills the first downside of my Round Tower walk becomes apparent. Here the towpath switches to the other side of the Lea where it passes the oast-like Clock Mill and the 18th century House Mill(report: 2010), reputedly the largest tidal mill in the UK. But that's across the boundary in Newham so I'm not allowed to go that way, the rules of my challenge forbid it, so instead I face a lengthy diversion away from the waterside via the closest available road. Regrettably it's a diversion that'll last the entire remainder of today's post, but bear with me.
While the Tower Hamlets boundary countinues through Tesco's (dead end) car-park, I'm forced to walk round the front and up to the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road. This GLC-planned dual carriageway was driven parallel to the Lea to minimise community division, which was fine in the 1970s but now rather more people live to the east of it and there are thousands more to come. I'm plying the pavement on the southbound side, past the crumbling office block opposite Bromley-by-Bow station and the freshly-relocated (and kaleidoscopic) Bow School on the corner with Twelvetrees Crescent. Breathing in the A12 air too deeply is not necessarily advised.
Exit from Tower Hamlets: District line, Twelvetrees Crescent
What I'd like to do next is cross down to scenic Bow Locks, because that's on the border, but the narrow towpath arrives through Newham, and anyway there's no way down. Meridian-based sculpture trail The Line has a similar problem, and has just tweaked its route to take in Bow Locks rather than the A12 pavement. Alas they've made another mess with their signage, just as they did when they launched in May, with several signs missing, one pointing in the opposite direction and those at the top of the Limehouse Cut affixed unreadably to a open gate. A great way to lose all your potential punters en route, I fear.
South of the canal a pre-1970 road called Gillender Street survives. And that's just as well because there are some gems along its eastern flank, including (somewhat unexpectedly) the oldest brick building in London. This is Bromley Hall, at the end of the 15th century the local manor house, and once home to Elizabeth Blount - one of Henry VIII's mistresses. Also now used as office space are the old Fire Station (circa 1910) and a rather grand public library (circa 1906), beside which are tucked the rather less gorgeous headquarters of Fridgehire.co.uk.
At Lochnagar Street my route at last departs the A12, but not before I've had a chance to admire the handiwork of City Wood Services. Here Danny and Suraya carve timber into whatever shape you fancy, generally furniture, but also a splendid collection of 'Chainsaw Art' (including bears, bees and fungi) arrayed on the pavement. The environment gets a bit glum on the roads beyond, all breakers yards and recycling dumps, where once were terraced streets and vibrant (if poor) communities. Leven Street beyond was once lined by a clothing works and trolleybus depot, the former now modern housing, the latter now Iron Mountain secure storage.
I've arrived on the Aberfeldy Estate, a lowrise 1950s community with a challenging reputation, now with plans for sequential redevelopment as a "mixed-income" neighbourhood. Parts don't look too bad, brightened by a Millennium Green, and the occasional leftover Victorian terraced street, ironically now seen as utterly desirable rather slum clearance. Other parts are drearier, hence the local housing association's desire to replace the whole lot with this decade's trademark brick apartment blocks, whose characterlessness will no doubt look just as dreary soon.
Leven Street lies in the shadow of the mighty No. 1 gasholder at Poplar Gasworks (the UK’s only surviving gasholder with curved and tapering box-lattice girders). Its large riverside expanse was once covered with gantries, conveyor belts and Retort Houses (the latter where the coal was burnt to produce gas), and is now chock-a-block with containers and old cars, and not yet flats. For a well connected site, close to the point where the A13 swoops across the Lea, there's considerable potential for this edge of the borough to be so much more.
August on diamond geezer is traditionally Local History Month. I sometimes interpret the title somewhat broadly, but generally the idea is to come up with an all-consuming safari, researched in slightly excessive detail, and then impose this on you as the month progresses. Here's what LHM has involved thus far...
My apologies, but some of these features don't fit on one page any more, that's ever since the bastards at Blogger truncated my archives in 2010 in order to 'speed up loading times'. But you can always click back using the "Older posts" link at the bottom of the page, indeed you can always do this, not just for these special features.
My favourite Local History Months have tended to be been the waterside walks, that's the Fleet, the Lea and the New River. Tracing the Fleet was particularly fascinating, because it's no longer visible, and my in-depth tracking has probably generated more long-term interest than anything else I've ever written. The other two rivers involved considerably longer walks, but still the same discipline in coming home and writing about each stretch in semi-forensic detail. London2012 dominates the rest of the list somewhat, because you don't get much more locally historic than an Olympics at the bottom of the road (with High Street 2012 an attempt to record my local neighbourhood before the legacy vortex struck). As for retracing John Betjeman's Metro-land, nobody did local history stuff better than he, so it was inspirational to follow in his documentary footsteps four decades on. And last year's attempt to conquer every London Borough Top turned out to be a brilliant way to discover a scattergun of unexplored highpoints across the capital.
So what to do this year? I thought it was about time I went back to proper local, so I've dug deep into my "list of things I've been meaning to do for ages" and finally grasped a big idea. I'm going to walk around Tower Hamlets.
That's all the way around the edge of Tower Hamlets, starting in Bow where I live, and heading clockwise around the perimeter of the borough. You will not believe quite how far it is.
I'm fortunate in that Tower Hamlets has a better defined border than most boroughs, with the eastern edge delimited by the River Lea and the southern edge by the River Thames. To the west it butts up against the City, before following Hackney Road, the Regent's Canal and the northern rim of Victoria Park. And there are some cracking places of interest along the way. The cobbles of Limehouse and Wapping, for example, and the Tower of London, and the heart of Spitalfields, and even a central slice of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. On a less well known note there's London's only lighthouse, the launchslip of the greatest ever Victorian steamship, the former liberty of Norton Folgate, an alcove rescued from a previous London Bridge and an actual Blue Peter garden. If you'd like to view this fascinating boundary in full cartographic detail, click here.
A few rules. I'm not walking dead ends, so if the closest path to the boundary requires me to retrace my steps, I'm not going there. I'm sticking to public rights of way, so there'll be no trespassing along someone's back passage to take a shortcut. And I've decided to stay within Tower Hamlets at all times, never straying to the other side of the boundary, even if that requires a lengthy diversion because the obvious path lies just outside the borough. For example the Regent's Canal towpath runs along the Hackney bank not the Tower Hamlets bank, alas, while the better path down the River Lea is usually across in Newham. And finally I reserve the right to break these rules if there's something really interesting nearby I'd otherwise miss.
I will confess, I have already walked the whole thing once. I thought I'd nip round one Saturday last month just to get the feel of it, and to take lots of photos while the weather was good. I hoped it wouldn't take too long, the borough's one of the very smallest in England, with an area of less than eight square miles. But I was seriously unprepared for quite how long a trek it was going to be. "I'm going to walk it all in one go without stopping," I said, but that plan went by the board when ten miles came round and I was still only by the Thames. "I'm going to walk all the rest in one go without stopping," I promised after slumping on a bench, but even then I couldn't manage without a further rest in Victoria Park. In the end I limped home almost eight hours after setting out, having walked an astonishing twenty miles just to circumnavigate my borough. I don't necessarily recommend that you follow in my footsteps.
But at least a twenty mile walk should make for a decent month-long feature. Don't worry, I won't be blogging about my walk every day, I'll split it up into bite-size chucks and ensure other non-Tower-Hamlets stories get a look in inbetween. I hope I'll convince you that my borough is something special, and that's without venturing near any of the other interesting stuff in the middle. I have just one apology before we begin, which is that I'll be starting and finishing at the closest point to home, which is the Bow Roundabout, which you're possibly heartily sick of hearing about by now. But once we've got that out of the way, it's much less familiar territory. Let's go Round Tower...
TfL's long-awaited follow-up to the Year of the Bus isn't alas the Year of the Dangleway, it's Transported By Design. This 18 month programme of events, exhibitions and competitions, which has just launched, is intended to showcase TfL's pioneering design prowess - an area in which the organisation has almost peerless expertise. Amongst the highlights are exhibitions at the London Transport Museum and Depot, a celebration of the centenary of the Johnston typeface in January and (get this) a 'design festival' on Regent Street one weekend next summer.
ROUND TOWER
ROUND TOWER
ROUND TOWER
ROUND TOWER
TfL's long-awaited follow-up to the Year of the Bus isn't alas the Year of the Dangleway, it's Transported By Design. This 18 month programme of events, exhibitions and competitions, which has just launched, is intended to showcase TfL's pioneering design prowess - an area in which the organisation has almost peerless expertise. Amongst the highlights are exhibitions at the London Transport Museum and Depot, a celebration of the centenary of the Johnston typeface in January and (get this) a 'design festival' on Regent Street one weekend next summer.
