Part 2 - Royal Docks DLR to East India DLR - 3 Km - Across London Visual Marathon
- philip carey
- Feb 19, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: May 18, 2024
Start at Royal Victoria DLR Station
Finish at East India DLR Station
THE EXPERIENCE
A special route across the river Lea to the hidden delights of Trinity Wharf and East India Docks.
London is full of hidden places to delight all your senses, but sometimes you must find where they are hidden. This route starts in the new thriving areas of Royal Victoria Docks, which combine water sports, cable car trips across to the O2, and fantastic dockside views. Trinity Buoy Wharf, in contrast, is hidden away on the other side of the River Lee and is home to London’s only Lighthouse, a vibrant creative community, a sculpture park, an event venue, and places to eat and drink.
You will also discover the East India Basin's nature reserve and great riverside views across the O2 and Canary Wharf.
It is great for river and dockside views, parks, peace and quiet, historic and iconic sights, transport links, and water activities. It is partly off-road, and there are several places to eat and drink around Royal Victoria Dock.
MUST SEE PLACES
What to See List
1 City Hall
2 IFS Cloud Cable Car
3 Water Ski Centre
4 Trinity Buoy Wharf
5 East India Dock and Views
6 Virginia Settlers' Monument
7 O2 Centre
8 Leamouth Peninsula
Areas to Eat, Drink and Be Merry
The main areas for eating and drinking on this route are at the start (around the waterfront, around City Hall and the nearby hotels) and a few special ones at Trinity Buoy Wharf.
BEST TIME
Morning - This is usually a quiet route, but the best time to do this route is on weekends in the early morning when the lighting is at its best and there are not many people about
Day - Most of this route will be fairly quiet
Evenings - Quiet in most places
ROUTE OVERVIEW
This 3 km route starts outside Royal Victoria Dock DLR station and makes its way to the East India DLR Station. It passes the Royal Victoria Dock, the IFS Cloud Cable Car for the O2, and the new City Hall before travelling along the Lower Lee Crossing before veering off to historic Trinity Buoy Wharf and the newly developed Learmouth Peninsular. It then heads back into the tranquil space of East India Dock Basin (all left of the historical East India Dock), with its iconic riverside views of the O2 and Canary Wharf.
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DESCRIPTIVE PHOTO GALLERY
This gallery provides a descriptive and visual reference to many sights along this route. Use the Google Map above to find their location. Double-click to see its full size.
HISTORY & INTERESTING FACTS
City Hall
City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA), the regional government for Greater London. It replaced the previous City Hall, in More London Place, which is situated by Tower Bridge – opposite the Tower of London in Southwark. In June 2020, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan announced that he was consulting on relocating the headquarters of the Greater London Authority from the then City Hall in Southwark to The Crystal in order to save £55 million for the Greater London Authority over five years. The move was completed in January 2022, and the building was renamed "City Hall" in December 2021.
The building itself opened in 2012 and was previously an exhibition centre for sustainable architecture known as The Crystal. This was built and opened by Siemens, and it was the first building in the world to reach the highest sustainable award). It was bought by the GLA in 2019 for the Docklands Redevelopment project.
Trinity Buoy Wharf
Trinity Buoy Wharf is the site of London's only lighthouse, by the confluence of the River Thames and Bow Creek at Leamouth.
In 1803, the site came to be used by the Corporation of Trinity House, and the seawall here was reconstructed in 1822,. The site was used as a maintenance depot, and storage facility for the many buoys that aided navigation on the Thames; and the wharf for docking and repair of lightships.
Experimental Lighthouse and Diner
The Lighthouse at Trinity Buoy Wharf was built in 1864 to develop lighting equipment rather than to aid navigation on the Thames. Today, it also has an authentic 1940s-style Fat Boy’s American Diner in front of it—an all-American diner complete with malted shakes, plenty of chrome, and burgers.
The original Container City project in Trinity Buoy Wharf was called Container City 1 when it was completed in 2001. The building was initially three storeys high, providing 12 work studios across 446 square meters. A fourth floor was added in 2003 to accommodate three more live/work apartments
East India Basin
This Basin is all that remains of the East India Docks, which were built exclusively for the use of the British East India Company. The Company traded mainly in the Indian subcontinent and Qing China, dominating imports of tea, opium, silk, indigo dye, saltpetre, and luxury goods. The original docks consisted of an 18-acre Import Dock to the north of the site and an Export Dock of 15 acres to the south of the site.
This is the site of the original Entrance Dock, which now only opens onto the basin. Today, it offers great river views towards Canary Wharf and the O2.
The redevelopment of the docks in the 20th century meant that the docks were filled in. Today, the area of the old Import Dock now includes the Tower Hamlets Town Hall, which was erected at Mulberry Place. The entrance basin is now used as a wildlife refuge and an attractive local amenity.
Brunswick Power Station
This is the site of Brunswick Wharf (Blackwall) Power Station, a large brick structure with fluted concrete chimneys (like Battersea Power Station). It was built in stages between 1946 and 1956 on the site of the Export Dock. This was a coal-fired power station and has since been decommissioned, demolished, and demolished again.
Virginia Quay Settlers Monument
The Virginia Quay Settlers Monument marked the embarkation point of the first English settlers of North America in December 1606. This was 14 years before the Mayflower set sail two miles further upstream. Three ships were in the flotilla: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. The expedition went on to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, in April 1607.
VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE AREA
Click on the picture below to go on a 360 virtual tour of the shopping areas and have a look around.
Use the route to explore this location by looking around in 360, taking in the sights and sounds, listening to an audio recording about the area and going on a virtual tour.
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