BECKTON SOUTH JAN.22

Map: RED new developments, CORAL land in waiting

My recent walk took me on the North side of the Royal Albert Dock. Left the DLR at Prince Regent and made my way Eastbound towards Gallions Reach. The walk is very pleasant, very linear or flat I would say. You have great views South across the Dock as you witness the previous Silvertown captures growing. But here on the Northern part of the Dock the new constructions remain quite low in comparison. That is certainly due to its proximity with the airport. As you pass the Connaught Bridge you notice few new blocks which are all budget hotels or AirBnB accommodations, just another corner of soulless concrete.

You pass the Albert Dock DLR station and then appears a new landscape behind the London Ambulance Dockside Education building. A vast perimeter informs us of the "next London Business district!" Most of it is empty and awaiting. Only a fraction has been built in a grey sober fashion next to Beckton Park station. Two vast mansions have been kept by the station with all their windows covered with protective fake window panelling. The effect is striking and spooky but I love it. Then a vast empty space distances this newly built area with the University of East London.

I walk under the Sir Steve Redgrave Bridge and access the most Eastern part of that Thames bend. It is impossible to go further East following the river as the Docklands Light Railway Depot is followed by Gas Works, then Business and Shopping Park, then followed by Sewage Treatment Works and finally by the mouth of the river Roding. So we are now reaching some kind of Land's End. But nevertheless this is the perfect opportunity for developers to create a whole new district. When I last walked this area only few constructions appeared of the roads flanks and in its far corner. Today a whole new small town is being built. Again the new blocks are not as tall as the ones in Riverscape developments but taller than the ones by the Dock. 

What strikes me thought having photographed the East end for the last 12 years is how the developers decide architectural design ahead. As we approached the Olympics we were still in the midst of the financial crisis, so most of the developers went for cheap colourful panelings. In the last few years the new trend is the low rise rabbit cage like covered in "traditional" brick outer skin. This new Royal Albert Wharf takes it to another level! If you wish to create a catalogue a coloured bricks this is the place to go. Every single block has a different colour or coating or mix of shades. There is a real attempt to bring joy but I am not really sure if its magic works.

At Gallions Reach station I have a snack watching the cranes dancing. I then walk my way up to Beckton Bus station when my journey ends for today. Good walk!

 

NEW SILVERTOWN JAN.22

Back in Silvertown after a few years on a very mild and enjoyable 1st day of 2022. I photographed the Northern part of Silvertown near Canning Town in April 21. Lots of changes already back then but I wasn't prepared for what was coming next. Shot above taken by DLR platform towards North Greenwich.

Maps:

Purple: new building sites

Green: potential new building sites

Yellow: building site in waiting

Red: New developments

Red dots: my walk

I left West Silvertown DLR station and first walked North towards Canning Town. As you approach the underpass that takes you through the Royal Docks by the end/start of the Express trading centre, once Dock Road presents itself as a building site gate. The whole experience of the landscape is quite overwhelming to look at. Flat, barren all the way to the mouth of the Lea River. Part of cylinders laying in waiting for more sections of Crossrail to be installed I presume.

I walk back and pass the DLR station, make a loop following Knights Road and Bradfield Road. The industrial estate is still standing but not for long I reckon as a new building testifies by at its Northern point by North Woolwich Road.

By the end of Bradfield Road you can still access Lyle Park by the playground/tennis courts entrance. The park hasn't changed and will probably remain. New building site next door is planning a bite of it in a near future as the picture below shows.

I then enter a brand new neighbourhood called Riversape developed and run by Ballymore Oxley (your local developer!)

https://www.riverscape.co.uk/

I must admit, for once, they have done a good job. There is nothing new when it comes to the architecture. It is the same bland mid/high rise, pricey. But it feels like they attempted to create a community rather than just soulless lego boxes for once. They have orchestrated a subtle mix of water walks, green areas, vistas, quirky corners and bendy roads. There is also a school and a nursery, and gyms, shops and restaurants. There is life, activity and lots of potential. Lots of the commercial premises are still vacant but let's see after Covid how it goes. I personally recommend you highly the brand new Royal Wharf Pier. Beautiful design stunning views that takes your walk right in the middle of the Thames.

I leave Riverscape for the Thames Barrier Park. A more familiar landscape welcomes me. I detour across main road to investigate if Southern section of Royal Docks has experienced any changes. I tiptoe by the fences on Charles Street but no change is catching my eyes. I reckon the proximity with airport runway makes investors quite reluctant to invest here.

I come back towards the Thames and walk on Thames road until I can go no further. New developments rising within the industrial environment. I come back to North Woolwich road towards the Tate & Lyle Sugars in order to witness the completion of the Crossrail junction by walking above it. It is now time to go home and I catch the DLR at the airport.

I cannot see any "rejuvenation" happening in North Woolwich any time soon but a transformation has already taken place next door in Silvertown. The new neighbourhood stand proudly over its neglected past and non-desirable lands. Silvertown has morphed into this continuous modern urban shoreline which can be found anywhere else globally. The Thames will attract a lot more though in the decades to come. We already have seen it in Central London between Westminster and Battersea Park. It is happening in Deptford and Greenwich, and it will spread further East. But who says "high-standards" in a big city also means cheap labor, accommodations, recycling and industries to be standing by sadly. Where is this "nearby" going to be if everything looks the same?

Let me post Mark Knopfer's Silvertown lyrics before I forget, as it once was

Silvertown Blues

Mark Knopfler

On Silvertown Way the cranes stand high
Quiet and gray against the still of the sky
They won't quit and lay down though the action has died
They watch the new game in town on the Blackwall side

From the poisonous drains a vision appears
A new circle of cranes, a new reason to be here
A big silver dome rising up into the dawn
Above the church and the homes
Where all the silver is gone, gone, gone

If I'd a bucket of gold, what would I do?
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown Blues
Going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown
Going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown

A silver dawn steals over the docks
A truck with no wheels up on cinderblocks
Men with no dreams around a fire in a drum
Scrap metal schemes rusted over and done

If I had a bucket of gold, silver would do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown Blues

And I'm going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown
Going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown

When you're standing on thin and dangerous ice
You can knock and walk in for citizens' advice
They'll tell you where you can turn, where you can go
There's nothing they can tell me I don't already know

If I had a bucket of gold, silver would I do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown Blues

And I'm going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown
I'm going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown

From the Caning Town train I saw a billboard high
There's a big silver plane rising up into the sky
And I can make out the words 'seven flights every day'
Says six of those birds are bound for J. F. K.

If had a bucket of gold, silver would I do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown Blues (Silvertown blues)
Yes I'm going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown

I'm going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown
Going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown

Going down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown

Down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown
Down in Silvertown

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Knopfler Mark

Silvertown Blues lyrics © Straitjacket Songs Ltd.