Canary Wharf Group (CWG) is currently seeking views on its plans to partner with Sea Lanes to deliver a 50m natural water pool floating in Eden Dock.
Set to open in June 2026 (subject to planning approval), the proposal is for an open water swimming facility open year round and staffed by lifeguards with a constant depth of 1.3m.
Located around the corner from the main stretch of Eden Dock, the east London plans also include an extensive on-land element on vacant land to the north of Newfoundland tower.
This would include changing room and sauna facilities, a clubhouse and flexible events space, a food and beverage offering, a viewing area to watch swimmers in the pool and a base for the hire of paddle boards and kayaks.
Under the current proposal Sea Lanes would be open from 6am-11pm during peak summer dates with reduced hours at other times of the year.
Ross Gilbert, director at Sea Lanes said: “We are excited to be partnering with CWG on proposals for a new National Open Water Swimming Centre in the heart of Canary Wharf, building on the fantastic work already accomplished in the neighbourhood to open up Eden Dock for everyone to enjoy.
“Our vision is to bring people and nature closer together by offering a fully accessible floating freshwater pool, lifeguarded and open year-round, supported by a hub of health, wellbeing and food and beverage businesses.”
Sea Lanes is known for operating the UK’s first National Open Water Swimming Centre in Brighton.
CWG CEO, Shobi Khan, said: “Almost one year on from the opening of Eden Dock, we’re making another bold step forward in the enhancement of our green and blue spaces at Canary Wharf.
“Sea Lanes Canary Wharf will build on the success of Eden Dock as a unique wellness destination, where access to nature, leisure and world-class amenities are seamlessly integrated.”
CWG associate director arts and events, Pippa Dale, added: “We’re excited to enter the public consultation stage of Sea Lanes Canary Wharf.
“Natural water swimming offers proven benefits for both physical and mental wellbeing – from improved circulation and stress reduction to enhanced mood and resilience.
“By creating this dedicated swimming destination, we’re bringing these transformative health benefits directly to our community of residents, workers and visitors.”
The installation will include a floating lido as well as facilities on land – image by Canary Wharf Group
“A long, long time ago, I used to work as a senior coordinator for a nursery school, so this brought back memories,” said Cllr Maium Talukdar.
Tower Hamlets Council’s deputy mayor and cabinet member for education, youth and lifelong learning, recently attended morning Story Time at a temporary pop-up children’s library at Idea Store Canary Wharf.
His visit, aside from lending a pretty decent impression of a bear to proceedings, was aimed at drawing attention to works currently underway to improve the facility.
Canary Wharf Group is spending £1.2million on its refurbishment with a further £250,000 contributed towards the project from the council.
“We’re grateful to Canary Wharf Group – it’s not just us doing this, it’s a partnership – and I’m hoping this will be a very popular facility,” said Cllr Talukdar.
“Lots of families and children will use it and it will make a huge difference to the area.
“I think what’s here is changing – 10 or 15 years ago, Canary Wharf was very different, but I think different communities are coming in now and getting involved.
“They are using the shopping centres and this Idea Store. Lots of people are benefiting from that.
“When this refurbishment is complete, I think this facility will be one of the best in Tower Hamlets – it will have everything.
“This place is for everybody – all ages – and we hope as many people as possible will come and use it.”
A Story Time session at Idea Store Canary Wharf’s temporary pop-up – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
making the changes at Idea Store Canary Wharf
The refurbishment is being undertaken by contractor Built.
The firm’s commercial lead, Thomas Howe, said: “It’s a full mechanical and electrical upgrade.
“There will be new flooring, new wall configurations, a fresh set of ceilings and it will be a much more user-friendly space.
“We’re increasing the floorspace and installing new joinery that’s more space efficient.
“We’re still awaiting the final layout, but increasing the ceiling height is a big thing for us.
“We’ll have fresh sets of data cabling, with new technology and computers for people to use.
“It’s really important to maximise the space for the kids here so they are able to enjoy stories and bang drums in a nice new environment.”
The fit-out will include new heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, with completion expected before the end of the year.
A spokesperson for Canary Wharf Group said: “Our involvement in the refurbishment of Idea Store Canary Wharf represents our ongoing dedication to creating an inclusive neighbourhood where learning opportunities are made accessible for all.
“We’re proud to support a facility that combines traditional library services with lifelong learning opportunities in the heart of the Wharf.”
Story Time sessions are already popular on the Wharf, attracting some 10,158 visitors over the past year.
In August alone, 188 people attended Story Time Up On The Roof at Crossrail Place Roof Garden.
Idea Stores are for Tower Hamlets residents of all ages offering a wide range of services including adult learning courses, activities and events.
Cllr Maium Talukdar, Tower Hamlets Council’s deputy mayor and cabinet member for education, youth and lifelong learning – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
key details: Idea Store Canary Wharf
Idea Store Canary Wharf is currently closed for refurbishment with a limited pop-up library operating next door to the site.
Services currently being offered include Story Time for under 5s, which runs from 10.30am-11am, Monday-Saturday. Sessions are free to attend.
The refurbishments works are expected to be completed before the end of the year.
Part of the skill of development is the ability to turn a flat piece of earth into a place that will attract residents and provide the facilities and conditions capable of generating community.
Ballymore has effected exactly this sort of transformation in Leamouth.
Occupying a patch of land where London’s second largest river, the winding Lea meets the might of the Thames, the company has cleared and reimagined former industrial land as a residential quarter, first with the colourful towers of London City Island and more recently at Goodluck Hope to the south.
The sister schemes, connected to Canning Town station by a vibrant red bridge are a compelling proposition for buyers in an area that’s seen profound regeneration in recent years.
Apartments, lofts and penthouses are still available at Goodluck Hope.
Potential are buyers invited down to join existing residents and those living in surrounding areas for the remaining events of The Islander Festival 2025, an annual celebration of the area’s vibrancy.
These gatherings serve both as a way to introduce people to the area as well as a way to strengthen and enrich the existing community.
For this event The Lockdown Room will be setting up shop at the Goodluck Hope Dry Dock with live music, street food and a cocktail bar for three hours of sunset entertainment.
Its venues across Europe all have different names and aesthetics and, while there’s variance in the menus, there’s also overlap.
It’s smart. Rather than rely on a brand like The Ivy, Strada or Prezzo – good examples, perhaps, of where chains have created the perception of quality watered down as they’ve rolled out – the mission here is to bedazzle with baubles.
Big Mamma, presumably, sits in her parlour; a shadowy figure below stairs counting the pennies.
Walk into the Canary Wharf restaurant, festooned with plants and pots outside and you’ll be greeted by a visual onslaught.
There are glossy pottery dogs, a swirly carpet that may have been deliberately mis-fitted to confuse the eye, warmly glowing chandeliers and upstairs, where we’re shown to a table, a mirrored ceiling and vintage shots of models flashing their buttocks for Italian fashion brand Fiorucci.
There’s a lot of PVC on show, complete with outfits framed to accentuate the high-legged thong-backs of the garments.
Oddly, the mildly risqué is offset by an interior filled with soft furnishings that wouldn’t look out of place in a fine dining room.
There’s linen on some tables and thick heavy curtains to deaden the acoustic, softening every sound.
Further offsetting comes with the decision to have chefs in the open kitchen wear red baseball caps – a jarring dash of MAGA against the more refined performance from the front of house staff.
Crocchette Di Vitello Tonnato, little deep-fried balls of pulled veal with capers (£15) – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
the start of the show
We haven’t booked and the gatekeeper on the door puts in a decent dramatic performance of straining to fit us in – “but just so you know, we need the table back in 90 minutes”.
Nothing says relaxed Italian dining like a ticking clock.
We’re led upstairs to the luxe hall of mirrors, which is completely empty.
It’s no real surprise. It’s 5pm and the place does fill up as time ticks on.
Initially, things start well. The service is pleasant and relaxed, although the demi-armchairs we sit in are challenging to shuffle closer or further away from the table without awkwardly grabbing them from below and bracing with all one’s might.
Our starters arrive – Crocchette Di Vitello Tonnato, little deep-fried balls of pulled veal with capers (£15) and Smoky Stracciatella, the creamy heart of burrata served in a bowl with a leaf of basil and herby oil (£9).
Smoky Stracciatella (£9) – image by Wharf Life / Jon Massey
Both are surprisingly generous but decent on the tongue.
The five bites of veal feel substantial and the fact one has fallen over and lost its caper, does nothing to lessen the rich, meaty flavour.
The cheese is equally decadent, a lake of gooey loveliness with a dominant hit of smoke in the mouth. A good start.
Raviolone Bicolore (£21) at Barbarella – image by Wharf Life / Jon Massey
a pizza as dry as a desert
However, things go downhill with the mains. Initially, my Raviolone Bicolore – green and yellow pasta filled with ricotta and spinach in a provola sauce and topped with sage and hazelnuts (£21) – is solid enough.
There’s a creaminess to it with a hint of lemon and plenty of crunch from the fried herbs and nuts.
But as things roll on, the dish sags – the fillings, a tad watery, become less interesting.
This challenge is nothing, however, compared to the task my companion is faced with.
Her Carpaccio Diem “pizza” (£22) comes as a toasted, crispy base topped with a load of beef carpaccio, fresh black truffle, rocket and shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Despite a few dollops of truffle aioli, the slice she shared with me was arid – essentially an undressed salad on a dry flatbread – the only moisture on offer coming from the thinly sliced meat.
My companion, whose family hail from Naples, was frankly appalled.
Despite the obvious quality of the ingredients Thursday’s child on Barbarella’s Weekly Pizza menu was indeed full of woe, even if the box we were given to take it home in did have Pavarotti on it with a claim to be specialists in twerking.
Not the kind to waste decent carpaccio, we scraped off the topping and turned it into a salad the following day, complete with dressing.
The Carpaccio Diem “pizza” (£22) – image by Wharf Life / Jon Massey
Barbarella, all-in-all
Which brings me to the final verdict.
Barbarella is unquestionably fun and for £62.88 per head including wine and tip, it sits its guests in the kind of luxury they might expect when paying twice that.
It feels special and was definitely drawing the date night crowd when we visited.
It has good views over the verdant Eden Dock and there’s enough silliness to charm, even if it does feel a little forced.
But buyer beware. While there’s decent cooking on offer here pick your dishes carefully.
The one thing an Italian chain can’t get away with is poor food and there’s room for improvement if that pizza is any indication of overall quality.
★★★✩✩
key details: Barbarella
Barbarella is located on Mackenzie Walk overlooking Eden Dock in Canary Wharf on the lower ground floor of the YY London building (easily identifiable by the Revolut sign at the top of it).
Opening at the junction of West Lane and Brannan Street, the corner bar aims to become a new space for the community.
“It will have London craft beers on tap, a really good cocktail menu, organic wines and our signature smash burgers – a menu we launched at the original site about nine months ago,” said founder Daniel Bull.
“But we’ll also be doing salads because it’s important to offer healthy options.
“We don’t want to be seen as just a craft beer joint that serves dirty burgers.
“We’ll also be offering fantastic sharing platters – it will be a casual place where you can go for a drink and a bite to eat with a group of friends.
“There will also be regular live music and we’ve always been big on events – bringing the community into what we’re doing is very important and we’d love to bring things like our craft beer festival to the neighbourhood.
“We’ve really taken what we have done at London City Island up to the next level for the new site.
“It will have a premium feel to it – very warm, with high-end finishes and bespoke seating.
“But it should still feel welcoming to the community.”
Founder of The Lockdown Room, Daniel Bull – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
a place for the community
Daniel said he hoped the brand would strike a chord with residents, workers on the neighbourhood and visitors to the area alike.
“We’re hoping to offer something different to the hustle and bustle,” he said.
“I think people will travel to you if you have a good product and then, once they’ve been down, hopefully they’ll be impressed and come back as regulars.
“What we want to create is the kind of bar where the bartender knows your drink and it’s possible to find a quiet corner or chat with familiar faces.
“We’ll also be opposite the student housing, which has now been approved so that should add a different dynamic to things too.
“The idea is that The Lockdown Room should be somewhere you just want to go at the weekend or in the evenings – that’s the goal.”
While the weather is likely to be cooler when the venue opens, Daniel also plans to have outdoor tables over the warmer months, further adding to the Wood Wharf street scene.
key details: The Lockdown Room in Canary Wharf
The Lockdown Room is expected to open in November at the corner of Brannan Street and West Lane in Wood Wharf.
“It was while I was doing my MBA I had the idea,” said Daniel Bull, founder of Supershakes.
“I’d come in every morning with a Nutribullet, sit in lectures and eat it with a spoon because sometimes the mixture I’d made was so thick.
“People would laugh, but I’d sit there, gradually making my way through it and the energy and focus I’d have all day was amazing.
“On the days I didn’t do it, I’d feel the difference.
“That shake had a similar effect for me as going to the gym – you could have it for breakfast or lunch.
“It was like a meal – if you laid all the ingredients out on a plate you might not get through them, especially if you were busy.
“But having them blended was so convenient.
“That’s when I realised the goal of my business should be to make something quick and easy that people could have on the move and that would be very healthy.”
The result of that spark is Daniel’s latest business – Supershakes, set to open its doors at 8 Harbord Square in Wood Wharf this autumn.
While the business’ clear focus will be on nutritious shakes and grab-and-go options, there will also be space for guests to sit and enjoy coffee and snacks from a carefully curated menu.
Supershakes founder Daniel Bull – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
passionate about Supershakes
Daniel said: “Everything has been thought through.
“This brand is something I’m really passionate about and I think there’s a gap in the market.
“At the core of what we do will be the shakes with all the healthy fats, proteins and whole foods you need.
“These will be made to order and customers can customise them with add-ons such as collagen, creatine – everything’s available.
“At the moment, I feel the UK is behind what’s happening in other countries.
“I try to go to California every year and visit all the juice bars there and see what’s happening.
“Over there, getting a juice or a shake is now like picking up a coffee.
“Supershakes is something I’ve been working on for five years now – it’s not something I’ve come up with overnight.
“People in London are cash-rich but time-poor.
“They don’t necessarily have the time to prepare shakes for themselves.
“What we’re offering is something quick and healthy as an option when you’re rushing into work or trying to get the kids off to school.
“When you look at what you’re getting in a shake it’s affordable too.
“It’s less than a cocktail in a bar – we’ve kept our prices very competitive.”
The brand will offer a wide range of healthy options at its Wood Wharf branch – image by Supershakes
one of four to launch
Daniel has four Supershakes locations set to open in the coming months, including the Canary Wharf branch with others located in Royal Docks, in the English National Ballet’s headquarters at London City Island and one on the Isle Of Dogs.
The latter will be next to The Eleventh Hour, a café he launched in 2023 on the ground floor of residential development Wardian.
“My go-to shake is called Power, which is great for the morning because it has everything you need,” said Daniel.
“But there’s lots of flexibility – you can even have coffee in them.
“We have one on the menu that includes espresso so people can double up if they’re in a rush.
“We’ve even got one that we’ve designed especially for the English National Ballet, working with their dietician to help fuel the dancers and that’s really cool.
“The shakes will be made fresh, while the juices will be ready to grab in the fridge.
“One of our selling points is that customers can be in and out in five minutes.
“We want there to be no long queues so people can make us part of their way-to-work routine.
“One of the other things we’ll be stocking is our signature acai bowls.
“They feature home-made granola, created by the pastry chef who also makes our cookies, and we’ve made sure these are packed with the best ingredients.
“That’s more important to us than making big profit margins.
“That’s what I believe in and I’m going to be eating in there every day myself.
“We’ll be open until 8pm every night, so customers can come for breakfast, lunch and perhaps after an evening gym session.
“I’ve lived in Canary Wharf for four and a half years, so I’ve seen Wood Wharf grow and develop.
“I’ve had my eye on it for a while because, knowing what’s going to be here, I believe this will be a new hub for the area.
“There’s a lot for people to discover.”
Daniel hopes grabbing a shake will become like grabbing a coffee – image by Supershakes
an emerging area
Supershakes will join a growing collection of independent businesses opening as part of a collaboration between Canary Wharf Group and Tower Hamlets Council to offer affordable commercial space to locally rooted ventures.
Recent openings have included Pawsome Pet Grooming And Spa, florist The Flower Club, Wayne Hairdresser Salon, nail specialist Awe London, Reformer Pilates studio The Island and Italian bakery Signorelli.
Opening soon will be Japanese bakery Café Seek, Malaysian restaurant Ong Lai Kopitaim and Istanbul-inspired eatery Nora.
key details: Supershakes
Supershakes is set to open its doors at 8 Harbord Square in October.
Joseph (Shangjie) Lyu is quite possibly the first person of Chinese origin to kayak across the English Channel.
However, by his own admission, he’s not especially into kayaking.
“There are three main elements to my life,” said the Stratford resident.
“Work, raising my three-year-old English Cocker Spaniel, Truffle, and rowing. This was really a side quest.”
Joseph came to the UK in 2018 to study computer science at the University Of Manchester after completing a foundation year in his native China, after plans to study in his home country didn’t work out.
“I struggled a bit with the course in Manchester and didn’t really enjoy the software side of it,” he said.
“Then, in the middle, the pandemic arrived and I did a project on Covid in the UK, making predictions on when the turning point would be. It wound up being quite accurate.
“That’s when I realised I enjoyed data analysis and now I’ve taken that into my career in AI as a data scientist.”
Joseph, who currently works for Santander, also had his first taste of rowing at university, but was too engaged with his studies to pursue it again after the pandemic faded away.
It wasn’t until he moved to east London that he took up the sport seriously.
Joseph at Poplar, Blackwall And District Rowing Club on the Isle Of Dogs – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
“I did the Learn To Row course in 2022 and I’ve been involved with the club ever since.
“When you’re on a boat – whether crewed or single – if the weather’s nice, it’s one of the best feelings you can have.
“I really enjoy the sport. It’s literally one movement that you’re repeating, but it requires years of effort to refine and apply that consistently.
“I find it very enjoyable.
“It’s normal for us to be out rowing at sunrise and you have London all around you.
“You see seals too.
“In rowing, 10k is considered a relatively short distance, while 20k is quite long. Around 15k is standard.
“Rowing from Tower Bridge to the Thames Barrier is the kind of thing we do at the club.
“Then, a couple of years ago, I realised that the English Channel is not really that wide – it’s about three times the distance between those two landmarks, not an unimaginable journey.
“I’d had the idea I might want to try something and thinking about it like that gave me a frame of reference – a distance on the water I was already comfortable with.
“This gave me confidence.”
Setting out from Rye – image supplied by Joseph Lyu
an idea into reality
After mentioning to friends from the club on the way back from a trip to Henley Royal Regatta, plans began to ferment.
“Making up my mind was the hardest part and I did that around the start of this year,” said Joseph.
“I’d worked out what was doable, what was difficult and so I didn’t commit to it when I had the idea.
“Taking the leap was difficult but coming to this year, physically I was in good shape from years of rowing.
“I felt I was in a good place and I’m in my mid-20s so it needed to happen before any physical decline.
“I thought that if I couldn’t commit to doing it now, with all the time and having everything I needed, then I might never convince myself to try.
“I kept thinking about swimmers – about 2,000 have crossed – and if they could do it, I could too.”
Having little kayking experience, Joseph next went about equipping himself with the skills necessary to make the journey.
He spent time training on the sea off the south coast as well as hitting the water at nearby Docklands Sailing And Watersports Centre.
“I gained confidence after the instructor in Hastings said I was pretty good,” said Joseph.
“Many of the skills I’d developed rowing on the river were transferable and there was a lot of fitness training in the gym.
“I became more active. One of the things that’s changed for me is that I used to just go rowing in the morning, but now I might do that, then go swimming later and maybe go on a hike with Truffle.”
Joseph had a goal to work towards.
He’d managed to secure a booking with a pilot boat – an essential escort across the busiest shipping lane in the world, especially because the French insist those paddling across must be carried in a powered craft over the part of the route they administer.
Weather dependent, the pilot advised Friday, July 18, 2025, would be best, so Joseph and a friend travelled down to Rye the night before, ate some fish and chips and laid in plenty of bananas and energy bars for his solo trip in a hired kayak.
Paddling through the fog – image supplied by Joseph Lyu
setting off for France
“The next day we got to the harbour at 6.30am and met the pilot boat captain,” said Joseph.
“It wasn’t cold, but it was very foggy. We could hardly see anything.
“But we decided to set off anyway. The captain was in constant contact with the Coastguard.
“Because of the lack of visibility we didn’t know whether we’d get clearance to cross the shipping lanes but the captain suggested we paddle out for about an hour and then decide.
“When we started, I felt like it was going to be a good day.
“All the months of preparation had led to this point and I felt like we would make it. I kept going and my energy was at a good level.
“The fog was still heavy but from time to time I could see the sun.
“Every now and then I’d see a big ship and they really are huge.
“Then everything happened so suddenly.
“In one minute it just changed – the fog lifted and the sun came out, and then I was rewarded with the most surreal water conditions.
“The sea was totally flat, the sky was blue and the visibility was really good. I really enjoyed that transition.
“I was busy paddling, but the crew spotted dolphins and jellyfish.
“When I paddled over to the boat for some water and I heard the Coastguard telling the big ships about my crossing, which was exciting.
“We got clearance and I paddled over this calm, serene water, with these massive vessels in the background – it was an interesting contrast.
“Then we reached the French side and I had to get in the boat for that before getting back in the kayak to finish the final six miles.
“That’s when it became challenging physically.
“We weren’t going straight, because the current was pushing our course into a curve.
“The whole journey was about 70 kilometres and the last bit was the most difficult.
“I could see France very clearly, but it felt like it wasn’t getting any closer.
“I’d actually preferred it in the middle with the fog, because I just kept going, even though I couldn’t see anything.
“In that last five miles I lost the sense of progress – my mind was playing tricks, so I really had to concentrate on the strokes.”
Arriving in France – image supplied by Joseph Lyu
a sense of achievement
Joseph did make it to France, pulling into the harbour, tired but happy.
After a shower and a change of clothes, plus a couple of well-deserved pints, there was time to reflect on his achievement.
“The weather was really good, and that’s when I started to feel more excited,” he said.
“I realised that I’d done it and it was incredible.
“I believe I’m the first Chinese person to have done this.
“I’ve googled it and can’t find anyone else.
“Also, you have to have a pilot boat to make a crossing like this and there are only a handful operating.
“It’s also to the best of my pilot’s knowledge that I am the first one, although I didn’t think about any of this until I saw a news report on the first Chinese person to swim across.
“For me, it was just something I wanted to do.
“I put the effort in and I made it happen.
“I never really doubted whether I could do it.
“Having done it does give me a foundation for other things, more side quests.
“Rowing is my main thing and I don’t have any plans to do any more kayaking, but I am also getting into free diving and I’m going to Malta to do a spear fishing course.
“I’m also planning to return to France in October, cycling from London to Paris with a friend from rowing.”
key details: Poplar, Blackwall And District Rowing Club
Poplar, Blackwall And District Rowing Club is located close to Island Gardens on the Isle Of Dogs and offers a range of membership options as well as very popular introductory courses.
They help us make sense of who we are and where we are.
Whether passed mouth-to-mouth or written down, they have been the main conduit for human communication down the centuries.
Even in the age of social media, where video is the dominant force, we can’t do without explanation – an editorial take on what’s being presented.
Images alone are not enough, we have to tell each other what they mean through captions or voiceovers.
The world over, the recording and telling of tales about the world defines our species – bees in the hive doing a complicated waggledance to tell others where the honey is and whether it’s any good.
The Greeks and Romans had their philosophical dialogues, their myths and their plays. The Vikings had their sagas and the people of Wessex and England had the Anglo Saxon Chronicle.
Replica Viking longship the Saga Farmann sails up the Thames on its way to the Classic Boat Festival at St Katharine Docks on September 6 and 7, 2025 – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
first, a bit of context
As part of a £1.6million National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, its Lighting Up The Lea initiative will see a home for history created on the banks of the river.
The roof of its glass Heritage Pavilion will be the Frederick Kitchen – a Welsh lifeboat that was probably the last vessel built at the Thames Ironworks.
It is currently being restored on-site and has stories of its own to tell.
When work is finished, its hull will shelter quarterly exhibitions about the history of the River Lea and the lands along its length – stories for the people who are here now, drawing them closer to the past.
As that project sails steadily onwards, Wharf Life will be working in partnership with Cody Dock to dip readers’ toes in some of the extraordinary tales that London’s second largest natural waterway has been a party to over the centuries.
In more recent times the area has been fertile ground for social change and industrial endeavour, but for this article we’re going back a bit further…
An artist’s impression of Cody Dock’s new Heritage Pavilion, which is set to be built on the banks of the River Lea – image by Cody Dock
Viking aggression on the River Lea
There are ships sailing up the Lea.
It’s 894 AD – 1,131 years ago – and Danish Vikings from Mersea Island in Essex are progressing up the river.
Their aim is to build a fortress roughly 20 miles north of London.
It’s a febrile time, but for a while there has been peace.
After King Alfred of Wessex defeated Danish warlord Guthrum and the Great Heathen Army in 878, the Lea took on a new significance – it became a border, a line of division through a marshy landscape of wetlands.
The Treaty Of Alfred And Guthrum – which survives to this day in the collection of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge – officially created that frontier.
Different gods, different ways of life, but a pledge of loyalty by the Danes to Alfred in return for peace – an accord that included a schedule for “weregild” or man price.
This was a fine that would be paid by one side to the other should there be future killings, with the amounts subject to the status of the victims.
Alfred also insisted Guthrum convert to Christianity and be baptised as his godson, taking the name Æthelstan.
For a while the Danelaw, as it became known, worked.
The Vikings had their substantial chunk of England and the Anglo Saxons had theirs.
But change is a constant. It couldn’t last. Guthrum died in 890.
a test for Wessex
Now the Danes are restless and flexing.
Their voyage up the Lea is a test of Wessex and Alfred’s resolve, directly on the border.
Their arrival prompts swift action.
First a local force of Saxons rises up and routs the provocateurs as they are constructing their fortifications.
Then Alfred arrives and messes with the river itself.
Exactly where and how is unclear – he may have dammed it, obstructed it or fortified it – but both banks are likely involved.
This may have been in what we now know as east London or further upstream, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle isn’t completely clear.
Suddenly, though, the Danes find themselves unable to escape in their ships and they flee with the Saxon army in hot pursuit.
Eventually they wind up in Shropshire.
The tale, however. doesn’t end there. Londoners sail some of the abandoned Viking ships back down the Lea in triumph, breaking up any that are unserviceable.
While we can’t be certain, there’s every possibility that these captured vessels provided vital intelligence and inspiration, with King Alfred ordering a series of long ships built just one year later – vessels with 60 oars or more that would prove decisive in naval battles against the Danes on the south coast.
So next time you take a walk along the River Lea, remember it was once a dividing line between two countries, that its waters are rich with history and that the aftermath of a battle fought somewhere along its length a little over a thousand years ago may have led to what many regard as the birth of the English Navy.
from Vikings to monks
This story of Viking unrest, religious diplomacy and clever military tactics is far from the only tale of the Lea in pre-industrial times.
In a valley carved out by the meltwater of the ice age, the river has a long and complex narrative, much of which is sadly lost to the passage of time.
We know Old Ford is where the Romans crossed on their way to Colchester.
We know the river’s course has changed radically through human action – the felling of forests, the draining of marshes, the digging of culverts and the creation of fish traps and channels for water mills.
Today it’s part of the boundary between Tower Hamlets and Newham, but it’s also divided Essex and Middlesex and was once fortified as a potential line of defence during the Second World War.
But there’s much to be gained by looking further back.
Few, for example, may know that Abbey Road station on the DLR and the street it serves are echoes of Stratford Langthorne Abbey.
Little is left, but this institution exerted a profound influence on the area for 400 years some 240 after the Vikings were sailing up and down.
From its creation in 1135, the abbey acquired much land, farming the surrounding marshes and cutting channels to lessen the risk of flooding.
It also owned and operated tidal mills on the River Lea that ground flour to make bread for the bakers of Stratford-Atte-Bow who supplied the City Of London.
There are even reports that a small river port was created to serve the needs of both the institution’s monks, lay brothers and other inhabitants.
It served as the court of King Henry III in 1267, where he met emissaries of the pope and made peace with the barons after the Battle Of Evesham.
It was also sacked during the peasants revolt – singled out as a Cistercian abbey for its “acquisitiveness in matters of land and tithes”.
An unpopular landlord, perhaps.
But by the time of the Dissolution Of The Monasteries under Henry VIII, the abbey was the fifth largest in England, easily on a level of importance with its sister institutions at Jervaulx, Rievaulx and Fountains in North Yorkshire.
a home for the stories
It’s stories like these that will be celebrated and explored under the mahogany curve of the Frederick Kitchen when Cody Dock’s Heritage Pavilion comes to fruition.
Here will be a place where Vikings and monks can come alive, overlooking the curves of the river that shaped their times.
One of the founding principles of the Gasworks Dock Partnership which is undertaking the ecological regeneration of Cody Dock is to provide engagement for local people.
By continuing to research and showcase the remarkable history of the area, it adds a further dimension to that work – offering a vessel for the living history of local residents and a way to present meaningful tales from the far flung past.
Today we smile and take photos of a replica Viking long ship sailing up the Thames to take part in a boat festival at St Katharine Docks.
But just imagine the terror and uncertainty spotting a host of Danes from Essex slipping quietly up the Lea must have generated.
What did they want? Why were they here? Who could we turn to? What a sight it must have been.
Additional research by Cody Dock’s Julia Briscoe
key details: River Lea heritage at Cody Dock
Cody Dock is located on the edge of Canning Town right beside the River Lea. The closest public transport is Star Lane DLR station.
The regeneration project offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities and runs regular events and activities aimed at engaging the local community with its work to regenerate the area and protect and record the wildlife of the River Lea.
You can find out more at its Lighting Up The Lea event on Saturday, September 20, 2025, which is free to attend from 11am-6pm.
Event on Saturday, September 20, 2025, will see visitors welcomed to the ecological regeneration project for art, workshops, exhibitions, performances and live music
Artist Zhiyan Cai will unveil her Cabinet Of Curiosity at Cody Dock’s Lighting Up The Lea event – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
Cody Dock is getting ready to host Lighting Up The Lea later this month.
The event, which will take place on Saturday, September 20, 2025, features workshops, exhibitions, performances, a plant sale, food stalls, live music and more as the ecological regeneration project throws wide its gates to the community.
The event is officially part of three festivals – Open House, Totally Thames and Newham Heritage Month – and will also see the unveiling of Cody Dock’s second Cabinet Of Curiosity.
Commissioned as part of the project’s National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, artist Zhiyan Cai has been asked to explore the pre-industrial history of the River Lea for the installation.
“I started off studying architecture and then worked in that industry for a year, but while it was an interesting thing to study, the work was boring,” she said.
“However, I did learn about structures, rendering animations.
“I started off making digital art for myself, but people liked what I created and so I thought it could be a pathway for me.
“I’m from China originally and I first came to the UK to study in Glasgow. I decided to move to London because of the opportunities to practise art here.”
Zhiyan, who has just completed a four-month residency at Arebyte Gallery in London City Island, responded to Cody Dock’s open call to create the next in its series of cabinets and won the commission.
Zhiyan’s prototype lightbox for her Cabinet Of Curiosity project – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
a portal to the past at Cody Dock
“I really wanted to make something 3D but, of course, everything we have from that time is either documents or 2D paintings,” she said.
“What I’m doing is using structures within the cabinet that will look three dimensional when viewed from the front.
“It will be like a portal people can feel like they’d pass through – like a magical door from Dr Who. It’s a great idea to bring a history from the abstract into real life.
“I also work with projector mapping so there will be animation involved.
“The piece I’ve created will be in the middle of the cabinet and I’ve worked with children in workshops at Cody Dock to help them build lightboxes inspired by the area’s history.
“The idea is to combine all these different angles on the past – from me, from local kids – and, that way, to build connection.”
Angles is the right word. Zhiyan’s light boxes use optical illusion to create a sense of depth and movement as the viewer literally changes the perspective in her creations by moving their heads.
She hopes her work will encourage visitors to take a fresh look at their surroundings with the content she has created – all inspired by the research she has done alongside Cody Dock’s Julia Briscoe into the area’s past.
“We visited archives and found out about the design of Stratford Langthorne Abbey, which was located near here and founded in 1135,” said Zhiyan.
“I’ve used that information to create a kind of gallery as a framing device – it’s like a memory hall, so people can see this area at different periods in time.
“It’s about the wetlands with the plants waving in the wind, the Vikings and the abbey itself. I live in Canning Town myself and it’s really interesting to find out about the history of the land along the river.
“I was surprised to learn about the life of the abbey and the farming that happened around it as well as the fact local people simply took the bricks after it was demolished after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.
“They used the stone to make new buildings.
“Things were always changing here – some of those materials may still exist in buildings in this areas and I hope my work helps to illustrate these things.”
A lightbox by one of Zhiyan’s young workshop participants – image by Zhiyan Cai
Lighting Up The Lea
In addition to seeing the new Cabinet Of Curiosity, visitors to Lighting Up The Lea will also be able to enjoy Dock Tours, try beeswax candle rolling, purchase Cody Dock honey, and see the site’s singular rolling bridge turn over.
Also on the agenda will be the chance to meet artist-in-residence Remiiya Badru who is working at Cody Dock over the course of a year to explore the area’s relationship with the textile calico and pigment Prussian Blue.
She will be inviting visitors to share their stories, inspired by items in the collection at V&A East Storehouse with the aim of producing an artwork related to her research.
Those interested in participating should sign up in advance for one of three Common Threads workshops to be held on the day.
Actor will reprise roles in Red Sky At Sunrise: Laurie Lee In Words And Music and A Beautiful Thread: Thomas Hardy In Words And Music at the gloriously ramshackle Wapping venue this September
Actor Anton Lesser is set to star in two shows celebrating the lives and works of Laurie Lee and Thomas Hardy at Wilton’s Music Hall – image supplied by Hambletts Productions
I confess I’m a little nervous ahead of my video call with Anton Lesser.
Despite a varied career on screen and stage, the actor is perhaps best known for playing creepy vivisectionist Qyburn in Game Of Thrones and haughty, sinister Major Lio Partagaz in Star Wars telly spin-off Andor (including a brief appearance in Canary Wharf, standing in for the Evil Empire).
In both roles he has the eyes of a man who sees killing as something necessary, if a little distasteful.
Fortunately, it’s all an act.
There’s no indication suspects are awaiting interrogation in holding cells in the basement of his home.
Instead, Anton is twinkly and animated with a joyful enthusiasm as we talk about his forthcoming appearances at Wilton’s Music Hall in Wapping.
Red Sky At Sunrise: Laurie Lee In Words And Music and A Beautiful Thread: Thomas Hardy In Words And Music are coming to the gloriously tumbledown Wapping venue this month (September 2025) with four performances of each.
Presented by Hambletts Productions, the shows follow a similar format – Anton and another actor performing words to tell the stories of each author with a live soundtrack from the Orchestra Of The Swan under the baton of musical director David Le Page.
Red Sky At Sunrise features actors and musicians – image supplied by Hambletts Productions
Anton Lesser, on taking the stage…
“Quite simply, it’s the most enjoyable thing I’ve ever done,” said Anton.
“When we’re performing it, I feel that I’m part of a single experience.
“It’s not like doing a play, where you’re in a costume, in make-up and you’ve built a character that’s one element of a production.
“Sometimes I’m sitting on stage, surrounded by musicians – who are totally immersed in their instruments and their skill – and I’m so open and vulnerable because of that.
“It feels inspiring in a way that I’ve never felt with other forms of performance and it’s a great privilege to be part of it.
“The words and the lives that we’re trying to illustrate are so moving, so tender, so wonderful and human that it demands the best of you – the greatest honesty.
“The music the orchestra plays, which underscores beautiful words and poetry just calls you into a different space.
“Hopefully that is transmitted to the audience and I think it is because people who have experienced it have said to me they’ve never seen anything like it before.
“It’s neither pure reading, nor acting, but with an immediacy that comes from the huge emotional impact the music has upon the words, and vice versa, and the interplay we as actors enjoy with the musicians on-stage.”
Red Sky comes to Wilton’s following a successful run at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford-Upon-Avon and a sold-out show at the Wapping venue last year.
Anton takes on the role of Laurie Lee later in life, with Charlie Hamblett playing the author as a younger man as we follow him through Cider With Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment Of War – a tale that sees him fighting Franco’s fascists with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.
Lucia Bonbright will join Anton on stage for A Beautiful Thread – image by Hambletts Productions
enchanted by the authors
Anton, who initially studied architecture before an epiphany in Nigeria while watching a documentary on the RSC, said: “When I was approached, I think there’s a kind of assumption that everyone has read Cider With Rosie at school or somewhere, but actually I never had.
“I opened that book and I was blown away.
“Then you start to read his other stuff, the short stories and poetry. I thought it was incredible, brilliant, a revelation.
“With Hardy, it was similar. I’d seen one or two films – Tess Of The D’Ubervilles or Far From The Madding Crowd – and read a couple of books.
“The revelation there was his verse. He is the most magnificent poet.
“His poems are little dramas.
“When I first read the volume of collected works he produced, I thought I’d turn down the corners of my favourites.
“I ended up turning down all the corners.
“If you’re familiar with Lee or Hardy and you come and see these shows, you’ll have a wonderful time because there will be things you recognise and adore.
“But if you don’t know their work it will be an absolute revelation.”
Charlie Hamblett, Anton Lesser and David Le Page – image supplied by Hambletts Productions
Thomas Hardy in words and music
A Beautiful Thread, which has been performed at Stonehenge to much acclaim is an evolution of the form.
Anton, together with recent theatre school graduate Lucia Bonbright bring Hardy to life alongside his mother, Jemima and his wives Emily and Florence as well as George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf and characters from his novels.
Both shows are directed by Hambletts’ Judy Reaves, working alongside writer and adapter Deirdre Shields.
Works by composers such as Vaughan Williams, Walton, Holst, Elgar, Britten, Grainger, Albeniz, Turina and De Falla feature in Red Sky, while audiences will hear from Holst, Warlock and contemporary folk in A Beautiful Thread.
“For me it’s really the joy in the way Judy and Deirdre have constructed these pieces,” said Anton.
“They’re unique in the way we flow in and out of the music and in and out of the characters.
“It’s very unpredictable. The loveliest thing about it is when we seem to inspire the orchestra and the musicians inspire us.
“The relationship is really alive. It’s not a reading followed by some music.
“It’s one thing and it morphs and changes – something that’s very rich and very beautiful.
“David Le Page is the most amazing and wonderful musician – I can’t find the right word to honour him enough.
“I’ll look across while he’s playing some music and he’s completely gone, or he’ll look at me while I’m reading a poem, and afterwards he’ll come up to me and say the same – we’re just absolutely amazed.
“It’s as though we’ve found this great little family.
“My first job was with the RSC and I’ve been very lucky in my career.
“I love it all – the screen, the stage, the audio books.
“But these productions are some of the loveliest things I’ve ever done and I don’t even have to learn lines.”
