Odd Corners of Old London - Part 3 Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe is another old docklands area on the south bank of the River Thames in the East End of London.  I can't pretend that it has a lot going for it - but if you take the train from Wapping (on the north bank) to Rotherhithe (a journey of all of 4 minutes), you pass through the Thames Tunnel.  This tunnel goes under the River Thames and was the first successful tunnel built underneath a navigable waterway, an amazing feat of engineering at the time, and still going strong.  It was built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel between 1828 and 1843.  The Brunel Museum is in the engine house of the tunnel, and it held the steam-powered pumps that extracted the water from the tunnel.  I'm going to visit it later in the year with a group from the V&A, so more then...  Meanwhile, here is a close-up of one of the benches in the garden, with a cute train chuffing along the back:

I was there at low tide and strolled on the "beach":

And of course there is a great view of the Shard up-river:

On the way back to Clerkenwell, I went past the Shard which looks very impressive from underneath:





Odd Corners of Old London - Part 2 Wapping

No this isn't Amsterdam, it's Wapping in London's East End.

It's called Spirit Quay and it connects Shadwell Basin with the Thames near St Katharine's Dock.  And to prove it isn't Amsterdam, you can see the Shard.  Is there anywhere in London where you can't see the Shard?

Fronting onto it is Tobacco Dock, built in 1811 as a store for imported tobacco.  As at July 2012, it is being used as temporary accommodation for soldiers deployed to guard the Olympic Games.  Here is the figurehead of one of the ships in the dry dock.

Fronting onto the River Thames, Wapping is full of old warehouses with wonderful names - Gun Wharves, King Henry's Wharves, Phoenix Wharf...

And from the riverside, there is a view of Canary Wharf.

Odd Corners of Old London - Part 1 Three Mills

The Three Mills are former working tidal mills on the River Lea in the east end of London.  The Domesday Book recording all the assets in England in 1086 says that there were 8 or 9 mills on this site.  The area has been known as Three Mills since it was acquired by a monastery in the 12th or 13th century.  Over the years, the mills have been used for grinding wheat for bread, barley for beer, and gunpowder, and to distill gin.

This is the first glimpse of Clock Mill as you approach Three Mills from the direction of the nearest tube station, Bromley-by-Bow.  The original Clock Mill was built in the time of Henry VIII, but it was rebuilt between 1815 and 1817 incorporating an older clock and bell.

This is the other side of Clock Mill once you have crossed the River Lea and the Limehouse Cut canal.

The House Mill, on the right hand side of this photo, was built in 1776 and is Grade 1 listed.  The Miller's House in the centre was bombed in the second world war and rebuilt within its old facade on the front and this new facade on the back.  Today it has a cafe and occasional exhibitions.  The building on the left is the Clock Mill again.

Further to the left, beyond the photo, is Three Mills Studio, which occupies a 20 acre site and makes major TV programmes and films.

The mill pond in the right foreground used to be tidal, and the tides provided the power for the mills. As a result of the 2012 Olympics site construction (the Olympics site is only 10 minutes walk away), there is now a lock above the pond and it is no longer tidal.

Today there are canal boats parked along the river just above the lock.  Canary Wharf can be glimpsed in the background over the roof of House Mill.