Just east of Madrone’s winter home of St Katharine Docks, the neighborhood of Wapping stretches along the north bank of the Thames. As could be expected from a riverside area, Wapping has a maritime heritage stretching back hundreds of years. In the early 1800’s many of the original buildings were replaced with the development of London Docks, an inland shipping terminal developed to reduce crowding of docks in the Thames.
Today, the increased size of ships and the increased efficiency of land transhipment means that there’s no longer a big advantage to having docks close to the center of a city. But several of the original basins, locks, and canals of the London Docks development still remain, now mostly residential areas lined with pleasant walking paths and populated by ducks and other waterfowl. And the historic steps to access the Thames still allow access to the river.
For a neighborhood so close to the City of London, it’s an amazingly quiet and tranquil place.
