E LONDON WALK No. 125 – THURSDAY 18th JULY 2019 TRINITY BUOY WHARF & WEST INDIA DOCKS LED BY: MARY AND IAN NICHOLSON 18 members met at Tonbridge station to catch the 9.31 train to London Bridge. We were joined by Brenda and John Boyman who had travelled from Tunbridge Wells. At London Bridge we met Carol Roberts and Pat McKay, making 22 of us for the day out. Leaving the station, we were greeted by a downpour of rain as we made a dash for our first stop which as usual was for coffee. By the time we met up again the rain had fortunately stopped. It was lovely to have Jean with us as she had been unwell and we were not sure if she would be able to come. We made our way to the underground to catch a train to Bank where we caught the DLR to take us to East India, where the walk started in earnest. The first point of interest was Meridian Point. Greenwich Prime Meridian was established by Sir George Airy in 1851. Ian asked “which side of the Meridian Line is Tonbridge?” and was given more than one answer, the correct one being west. Our group photograph was taken with everyone straddling the line and with the O2 building in the background. There was a good view across to the O2. To the left of the O2 is a steel wire sculpture created by Antony Gormley. It is called the Quantum Cloud and was completed in 1999. It is 30 metres high (taller than the Angel of the North). Continuing to walk alongside the river we came to Brunswick Quay. The Virginia Settlers Monument at Brunswick Quay marks the embarkation point of the first English settlers to North America. This is where Captains Christopher Newport and John Smith set sail in December 1606 – some 14 years before the Mayflower set sail two miles further upstream. The settlers arrived in April 1607. It is well known that the life of Captain John Smith was saved by the Native American Pocahontas. The new Virginia Quay Monument was completed in 1999, comprising a bronze plaque, from an earlier 1928 memorial and a stone and bronze memorial of 1951. Brunswick Wharf was also the Terminus of the London and Blackwall Railway Line. There were wharves and a pub called the Railway Tavern. East India Docks were completed in 1806. There were 3 docks – Export, Import and Basin. The docks were damaged in the Second World War and were subsequently filled in. The East India Company built here because the Pool of London was getting full up. East India Company traded in the east of India but then expanded into South East Asia. Nearby roads are named after spices – Oregano Drive, Nutmeg Lane, Coriander Avenue, Saffron Avenue etc. Pepper Gateway which was the main entrance to the Dock was demolished. East India Dock Basin is now a designated wildlife haven and a beacon to commemorate the millennium had been erected. There were a number of birds including herons, together with a mother duck and her ducklings. We left the basin through the Salome Gates which were designed by Antony Caro in 1996. The gates have seven steel flats that 'veil' the view into the East India Dock Basin apart from some occasional glimpses. Chains, shackles, bolts and a ladder were also utilised in the flat sculpture. Apparently, when these gates are closed they depict the dance of the 7 veils! Someone suggested the ladies stripped off! Of course, they declined! The other side of the gate led us to Orchard Place, one of the hidden areas of London. The area became a forgotten lost village. Formerly known as Orchard House, this area was cut off by the Trinity Buoy Wharf when the East India Docks were built in about 1806. It was called London's lost village in 1931 as it had no transport links with the rest of Poplar. Visitors were faced with a long walk down the forbidding looking thoroughfare. Leamouth Road was flanked on both sides by the high walls of the dock premises. The community was destroyed in the 1930's when most of the houses were pulled down under slum clearance. For 150 years Orchard House was one of the most isolated and least accessible parts of Poplar. It was a moated property comprising a house and large orchard, built in the late 16th century. It was demolished in the 1870's. There were many notice boards/posters in Orchard Place giving a history of the area, showing what the area was like in the past and what it is proposed to look like when finished. On their original reconnoitre of the area, Ian and Mary found an amazing garden in Orchard Place tucked away in an old warehouse. It had palms and exotic plants in profusion. Marion and Richard soon found themselves somewhere comfortable to rest. Tony thought Marion looked too settled so covered her with a blanket. They were not the only members of the group who found the need to rest – Michael and John also made themselves comfortable. Leaving the gardens, we continued to walk through the area known as the forgotten village towards the wharf. Use of this wharf started in the early 1800's. Buoys, lightships etc. were repaired and docked here. The wall round the wharf dates back to 1822. The Electricians building dates back to 1836. The Corporation employed about 150 employees. The Wharf closed in 1988. Its new life started in around 1997 under Urban Space Management. Trinity lighthouse is London's only lighthouse. Built in 1864-66, it was used to train lighthouse keepers and to test lighting equipment. Inside the Lighthouse is Longplayer. Longplayer is a one thousand year- long musical composition. It began playing at midnight on the 31st December 1999 and will continue to play without repetition until the last moment of 2999, at which point it will complete it's cycle and begin again. Conceived and composed by Jem Finer. ( He used to be with the Pogues). The composition of Longplayer results from the application of simple and precise rules to six short pieces of music. Six sections from these pieces – one from each – are playing simultaneously at all times. Longplayer chooses and combines thes sections in such a way that no combination is repeated until exactly one thousand years has passed. Longplayer had been playing for 19 years 198 days on the day of our visit. It is played on a single instrument consisting of 234 Tibetan singing bowls and gongs of different sizes. It is processed by computer using a simple algorithm. Bowls are on the first floor and the listening room is on the second floor. There is a very good view of the river from here. Unfortunately it was closed so we were unable to see/hear for ourselves. There is also a lightship at the wharf plus a high tide bell and a lunar clock. Some tugs were moored in the wharf. The Faraday shed contained some of his equipment. There is a lot of industrial history in the area, which also has a barge and a Parkour training building. The River Lea runs into the Thames next to the Wharf. The Lea Valley formed a border between Saxons and Danelaw. The source of the River Lea is at Luton. There were two cafes on site. One called Fat Boys Diner, a silver American bus converted to a cafe. The other is the Orchard Café, a converted shipping container with a taxi with a tree through it on the top. Container City is also at the Wharf. There are piles of shipping containers on top of each other, which have been converted into offices and design studios. There are some unusual pieces of artwork, some of which look as if they are mechanical although none of them were working on the day of our visit. All these models looked as though they had mainly been made from scrap metal. There was also a bicycle that had been converted to a sort of “caravan” with sleeping area, etc. It is made of two bicycles joined together and has actually been used. Called the Cockroach, it is the “ultimate survival machine”. A solar powered, pedal powered vehicle capable of carrying two people in comfort over large distances. Made from waste collected throughout London, including old bikes, for sale signs, mobility scooter batteries, plumbing pipes and left-overs from last year’s “Grand Designs Live” Kevin McCloud arrived in the Cockroach on the morning of this year’s event. After lunch we caught a D3 bus to Billingsgate where we walked a short way to Poplar Dock. On the way we passed the Traffic Light Tree on a roundabout. It is a public sculpture created by the French sculptor Pierre Vivant. Poplar Dock was originally a timber pond and reservoir. From 1852 it became a railway dock for coal and other goods and is now a marina. Blackwall Basin is a Grade 1 listed 'Barge Village' which was once the main entrance for ships entering West India Docks. Near the entrance is a fine Grade 11 listed Georgian house built for the dock supervisor by John Rennie in 1819. We then entered Coldharbour, the second forgotten part of London. Its Georgian houses are the oldest in the area. The area is said to be the sole remaining fragment of the old hamlet of Blackwall and one of the last examples of the narrow streets which once characterised the river’s perimeter.