London – Greenwich and The Wharf
Looking over towards Greenwich from our vantage point on the Isle of Dogs, we decided to head there for the evening after spending a day on the Wharf with Lofty, one of Emma’s good friends from Lancaster University.
It was perfect weather for catching up on news and spending time in each other’s company. It’s been a few months since our last meet-up, with this date etched in the diary for a while.
So, in between jaw-aching discussion and laughs, we wandered around the old docks and were treated to an insider’s view of the area.
I’m not sure if I will ever be able to remember all of the shortcuts, doorways and stairwells that we walked through in the labyrinth of corridors that sit underneath the buildings above, but I’ll try, as we discovered a few great, inexpensive food courts and shops that I will have to find again.
The £38m Russian superyacht ‘Phi’ was still there, detained by the UK Government in 2022. It remains the subject of a long-term legal dispute…
Lofty has a flat here in Docklands, which he bought long before the place really started to grow outwards and upwards, well beyond the dreams of the original developers, Olympia and York.
In another life, back in the late 1980s, I helped to build this development, spending more than three years of my life on phase one of the enormous, landscape-changing project. The docks are hardly recognisable from those days, when it was simply a big hole in the ground. Only the steel frame of the main tower gave a clue as to its future size and scale.
BŌKAN – ROOFTOP BAR
We found a delightful rooftop bar on the western edge of the development, just south of the Millwall Inner Dock at Marsh Wall. It’s a restaurant called Bōkan, on the 38th floor of the Novotel.
The views across London in all directions are stunning. To the west, The Shard, and to the south, Greenwich.
GOBOAT
Nestled between the South Dock and Blackwall Basin is a little company called GoBoat. They hire out small electric craft which can be taken out to give a different view of the area.
The upside is that they are fun, easy to sail and good value. The downside is the limited area you can travel in these small boats. But I would definitely do this again with a small group on a good-weather day. It’s worth checking before you book to find out if there are any restrictions limiting the sailing area on the day.
OFF TO GREENWICH
As the sun started to set, we decided to head off to Greenwich on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
Only a couple of stops and we were there.
We got chatting to a chap who overheard us speaking about Mudchute. He joined our conversation and was waxing lyrical about the wildlife that exists in this little corner of Docklands—an oasis of tranquillity and a haven for birds. So we will just have to come back.
He lives in Greenwich, so we asked him for recommendations for a decent pub… he suggested one that even Lofty hadn’t heard about, so off we trotted to The Richard I, which was hidden away in a residential area not far from where Emma and our dear friend Meera used to work.
It turned out to be a great little recommendation, so thanks to the nice man with a smile on his face and a real enthusiasm for birds and wildlife.
THE GUN
The Gun, an old pub on the Thames, is a great location to hang out, but is a little pricey, being so close to the financial centre. But on a nice day like today, well worth a visit.
