As the name suggests, The Docklands were once the landing / embarkation point for all things coming and going by ship from the British Empire.

An easy and obvious target for the German Luftwaffe during World War II, the Docklands (and much of East London) were bombed to pieces in the blitz and, for the decades between the forties and the eighties, remained a no-man's land of derelict warehouses, unexploded bombs and chemical waste. The place did make an excellent backdrop for seventies gangster movies but the only beings who could live there were the cockroaches and the Millwall supporters (Millwall is a football club whose supporters (slogan: 'nobody likes us; we don't care') are famously anti-social. The parallels between them and the cockroaches are probably no accident). For a good and succinct history of the Docklands see: http://www.canarywharf.com/history/historymainPag2.htm

Enter Margaret Thatcher, the Canadian run Olympia and York company, billions of dollars of taxpayer's money and you have the financial world's field of dreams: build it and they will come. The Docklands Light Railway was installed as well as an airport; billions of pounds worth of buildings were built... The docklands fortunes waxed and, well, mostly waned. The buildings remained largely empty until the 'big bang' of the late 80's when the financial markets were de-regulated. London rapidly found itself a world centre for financial activity with the action moving very quickly to Canary Wharf (that part of the Docklands where the big banks have their headquarters).

It was obvious that the large number of bankers / traders / hedge fund quantum arbritragers moving to London were going to need somewhere to live and, once again, billions of pounds were ploughed into the area in the form of lots of shiny new apartment buildings.

Living in the DockLands

Three years ago I was moving more people out of the docklands than I was moving in. The trouble when you erect so many buildings so quickly is that most of them are empty and there's something a bit creepy about living in large, empty buildings. Also, there weren't really any pubs or restaurants in the area so if you wanted to go out you had to go to Central London.

The tipping point has definitely been reached. The Docklands has become quite a desirable place to live with lots of people moving to the area, lots of new shops and so on. There is a water-sports activity centre where you can go canoeing and sailing and so on. You're minutes away from Canary Wharf via the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).

The buildings are very nice. They're spanking new and many have gyms, concierges, etc. Many overlook the Thames. I've moved people into these places on a sunny day and you'd think you were looking out over Sydney Harbour or something.

As in any place where everything is new, there's not much soul to the place but it's a fairly small price to pay for such nice living conditions.

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comment form