Isle of Dogs

Taking the water bus down the Thames I passed the Isle of Dogs and the new waterside developments between Burrell's Wharf and Millwall Dock

Burrell's Wharf

This place has a long history of change and is located in the meander of the river surrounded on three sides by the Thames and the old East Indies Dock on the other.

It was such a beautiful day that once we were on dry land decided to take a stroll and idle along the riverside and with no destination in mind we enjoyed the skyline views while passing

through little parks (this one complete with what looks like a scouting group), residential properties and somehow ended up on the Isle of Dogs

where I imagine you could take your small boat down this slipway.

We wondered if we would come across the docks coming away from the river and down the road passing by the parish church of Christ and St John with St Luke.  (They were certainly covering all the bases rounding up a spiritual trio). We did walk further along but got lost in a maze of streets and with no map to guide us retraced our steps

past the post office and its post box

and the Great Eastern pub in Tower Hamlets.  I was not aware at the time but since learnt that the vast iron sailing ship imagined and built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1858 (at the time the largest ship ever built), was constructed nearby at the shipyard of John Scott Russell in Millwall. I believe there are remnants of the launch ramp at Canary Wharf.   A missed opportunity there!  The Great Eastern is always referred to as 'the ill-fated', for despite Brunel's vision of it journeying to the far east carrying 4000 passengers, the boiler exploded on her maiden voyage, J Scott Russell went bankrupt and Brunel had a stroke. It did eventually sail across the Atlantic but it was not a success and was later modified into a cable laying vessel. Eventually she was beached at Rock Ferry, Liverpool and broken up just thirty years after her launch.

Great Eastern harboured at Milford Haven by Unknown - Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org

A little bit of her still stands proud in Liverpool as the flag pole at the kop end of Liverpool's Anfield ground once was one of Great Eastern's topmasts (Source: From Millwall to the Kop).

Meanwhile we left the Great Eastern pub behind to continue our walk back and stopped for refreshment at the

Island Gardens Café in its peaceful surroundings with a tea pot and cup embellished in the buildings brickwork before going back to the other side of the river via the foot tunnel.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at I here