Docklands revisited

I am experiencing the East End of London at the moment in a way I have not done for over 35 years. Work has taken me down to Canary Wharf, and I am billeted in Shadwell between Wapping and Limehouse.

Now Shadwell is a huge tenement style development which recently has been populated by the Bangladeshi community. It contributes to Tower Hamlets challenge as a deprived inner city borough.This maintains the heritage of the area as it has been the home and settlement for South Asian sailors brought over to work for the East India Company as well as Chinese and Greek seaman many of whom intermarried and co-habited with locals. It is interesting how areas of high poverty can co-exist so close to wealthy financial districts like Canary Wharf.

The stretch of land between the Limehouse Link , a four lane highway parallel to Commercial Road, and the river Thames is now a sought after settlement for people employed in Canary Wharf. New blocks of flats have been built and many of the old warehouses have been converted into sought after residences. Many have kept the name of the wharves on which they reside.

It was down to Wapping that I ventured initially to re-visit the Prospect of Whitby one of the oldest riverside pubs in the Capital. A regular haunt for 'hanging' Judge Jefferys in the 17th century, there has been a tavern on the site for over 400 years. Execution Dock next door got its name from the practise of tying pirates to stakes in the river and waiting for the tide to come in and drown them.

Last night there was no evidence of that, just a good traditional pub menu and a few good beers. The pub is now on the tourist track and two coach parties came while I was there, but the pub layout allowed one such to go upstairs to the function room and another into the restaurant, leaving the drinkers to the bar area.

Now when I was last here in about 1975, there was a roaring log fire. This has been replaced by an enclosed wood burning stove but other than that it stays a good old fashioned pub which befits the area.

The other 'trendy' riverside pub in the area is The Grapes in Narrow Street, and no premise could have been better placed. The pub was recently acquired by Ian McKellen, Gandalf in Lord of the Rings amongst other things, and an ex-gay lover, and must be one of the narrowest pubs in the C0untry. There is seating for 8 as you walk in, four stools beside the bar and seating for about 12 in the back bar. A small terrace overlooks the river at the back.

There is a restaurant upstairs, but I took the opportunity to try the bar menu, and found this delightful combination. The only thing to spoil the visit was the fact the two barmaids were amongst the most miserable and dull you could have. Pity really as the place needed a bit of vitality behind the bar to finish it off.

On the subject of gays, I was lucky to spot the local pub, The White Swan, was listed as a gay pub before I went in to it. otherwise I could have been in trouble, Limehouse must be a spot!