Lampton Parkside

River Lea pre-industrial history to be celebrated at Cody Dock

Vikings and monks are just two of the groups who have shaped the east London we know today

Dividing line: The River Lea was once the border between Wessex and the Danelaw – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life

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Stories are important.

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.

Cody Dock, an ecological regeneration project on the edge of Canning Town, is a keeper of many stories. 

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 keel 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.

Find out more about Cody Dock here

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Cody Dock set to host Lighting Up The Lea event this September

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
Artist Zhiyan Cai will unveil her Cabinet Of Curiosity at Cody Dock’s Lighting Up The Lea event – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life

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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
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
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.

The link can be found via linktr.ee/codydock.

The children's work will form part of the finished cabinet at Cody Dock - image by Zhiyan Cai
The children’s work will form part of the finished cabinet at Cody Dock – image by Zhiyan Cai

key details: Lighting Up The Lea

Lighting Up The Lea is set to take place at Cody Dock on Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 11am-6pm.

Entry is free and all are welcome. 

Find out more details here

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Cody Dock gears up for Spring Forward event to launch The Barn

Visitors’ centre at ecological regeneration project beside the River Lea will be complete for April 12 event as the weather warms

Spring forward will see the official launch of The Barn  - image by Jon Massey
Spring forward will see the official launch of The Barn – image by Jon Massey

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April 12, 2025, is set to be a momentous day at Cody Dock.

From 1pm-7pm, the east London ecological regeneration project will host its Spring Forward event – but things are going to be a bit different this year.

While the rolling bridge will be ceremonially upended, plants will be sold, workshops hosted and performances staged, there’s a wider triumph to celebrate.

Specifically, the Cody Dock visitors’ centre will be unveiled in its finished form.

Now named The Barn, the team has been working hard to install windows, doors, walls and ceilings, as well as raising the land outside the structure, ready for the event.

For those attending, it will be the first opportunity to explore the finished space – an amenity which will serve as the focus for the site, a public lodestone for those passing through.


Cody Dock heritage programme manager Bella Quirin - image by Jon Massey
Cody Dock heritage programme manager Bella Quirin – image by Jon Massey

getting ready for the launch

“It’s a wonderful event, celebrating the arrival of spring and the world shaking itself back to life with a real focus on ecology,” said Bella Quirin, heritage programme manager at Cody Dock.

Spring Forward is all about helping people to reconnect with nature after the colder weather.

“Among the highlights will be Tails Of Migration, a really interesting workshop run by our education team.

“Lots of species return to the UK from warmer habitats at this time and it’s all about showcasing those journeys and getting people to interact with them.

“The idea is that participants will also think about their own journeys and the places they have lived before, whether those are across large distances or relatively small ones.

“From that, we’ll be able to capture people’s oral histories as part of our ongoing heritage work.”

The Cody Dock scheme is complex in its scope and events such as Spring Forward offer visitors an opportunity to get to grips with some of the many projects under its umbrella.

There’s its role as a place of work and study, with artists resident in its studios and collaborations with academics to study and respond to the local area a regular feature of its operations.

Then there’s its commitment to supporting and studying local wildlife as well as stewardship of the tidal Lea.

It’s a place for innovation and experimentation as much as conservation.

Local history is another major thread running through its fabric with Spring Forward visitors able to view progress on work to restore the Frederick Kitchen, probably the last boat to be built by the Thames Ironworks at the mouth of the Lea.

This craft will eventually be used as the roof of a heritage pavilion, which will host a succession of exhibitions about the history of the local area.

Flowers bloom at Cody Dock - image by Jon Massey
Flowers bloom at Cody Dock – image by Jon Massey

connecting to history at Cody Dock

“That’s set to open next spring and it will be a fantastic space,” said Bella.

“It will have glass walls, so visitors will be instantly connected to the water, even when they’re inside.”

The April event will also include a chance to view Cabinet Of Curiosity No. 1, the first of three artist commissions exploring local history. 

The work focuses on the Thames Ironworks and includes verse from William McGonagall recalling the calamitous launch of the battleship Albion that saw more than 30 people lose their lives when a stage collapsed into the water. 

It’s just one of the many ways that Cody Dock is seeking to nurture connections between past and present as its regeneration of the 2.5 acre site continues.

“One of the things about Cody Dock – especially The Barn – is that we really want people to feel there’s collective ownership of our spaces as well as them being an attraction,” said Bella.

“The visitors’ centre will be such a dynamic space.

“It will work for our school visits, our ecology team if they’re hosting workshops, but also as a place for performances.

“There will be a full lighting system and we feel that there’s already a really strong vision emerging for it. It will act as a beacon for the whole project – somewhere people can come together.”

While the building itself has been used at previous events, hosting musical performances, dances and a sonic excursion along the Lea with visitors’ feet immersed in sand, the addition of sealed windows and doors will allow for greater flexibility.

There are plans for regular film screenings, with directors invited to participate in Q&A sessions, although full details have yet to be revealed.

seeking a food and drink partner

Another major change will be the completion of The Barn’s kitchen, which will provide cafe and dining facilities for the site.

Cody Dock is currently inviting applications for a partner to run this part of its operation. 

The aim is to both generate income for the project and Gasworks Dock Partnership – the charity overseeing it – and to draw more visitors to the site.

GDP is hoping to attract a partner that aligns with its charitable aims, prioritising recruitment of local staff, paying the London Living Wage and using ethically sourced ingredients.

“The cafe will very much be central to our operation in many ways,” said Simon Myers, CEO of GDP.

“They will be most likely to come into contact with people passing through, so it’s really important that their aspirations and aims chime with our objectives.

“We’re about place-making and greater community cohesion so we need to be somewhere that’s really welcoming to everyone. 

“We’re also an environmental organisation, so produce that’s served here needs to be sustainably sourced and, hopefully, the food and drink on offer will also reflect the diversity found in the local population.” 

key details: Spring Forward at Cody Dock

Spring Forward is set to take place at Cody Dock on April 12, 2025, from 1pm-7pm. The event is free to attend, spots can be reserved digitally.

Cody Dock is easily reached on foot from Star Lane DLR station via Cody Road and South Crescent.

You can find out more about the many projects and initiatives based there online.

Find out more about Spring Forward here

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Cody Dock set to create heritage centre for Newham on the Lea

Grant of £1.6million will see historic boat refurbished and used as the roof of a glass-walled structure

Computer generated image shows a glass walled structure with a blue and red boat as its roof - Cody Dock's planned heritage centre
An artist’s impression of the new heritage centre at Cody Dock

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The Cody Dock project has many facets to it.

Central to its plans are the twin aims of returning what was an abandoned industrial wasteland to community use alongside efforts to boost and study the local ecology.

But there’s also Gasworks Dock Partnership’s mission to preserve and celebrate Newham’s rich heritage – a project that recently received a massive shot in the arm.

In 18 months’ time, walkers along the River Lea cutting through Cody Dock will find a singular structure in front of them. 

Beside the rolling bridge and The Growing Space – now used to rear much of the project’s plant life – a new heritage centre will be created.

Lighting Up The Lea has won a £1.6million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which will see a glass walled pavilion built on the site covered by a rather unusual roof – a former Welsh lifeboat.

The vessel is not, however, just a convenient lozenge of timbers and iron to protect visitors from the elements.

It boasts a remarkable, historic link to Newham, making it perhaps the most appropriate of structures to help protect the history of the area.

Image shows two men with red hair in front of the mahogany panels of the Frederick Kitchen at Cody Dock
Simon Myers, left, with son Tom who is leading the restoration of the boat at Cody Dock

arrival at Cody Dock

“Just before the Olympics in 2012, we were approached by a bunch of West Ham football fans who knew that the club was going to move to the London Stadium in Stratford,” said Simon Myers, Gasworks Dock Partnership and mastermind of the Cody Dock project. 

“They knew the club originated at the Thames Ironworks, which once owned land at the mouth of the River Lea when its managing director, Arnold Hills, helped found a football club to help improve the health of its workers.

“The fans had bought a boat that had been built by the company, thinking that the London Legacy Development Corporation would agree to use it as part of a museum next to the new stadium dedicated to the history of West Ham and the Ironworks.

“However, they weren’t successful in securing funding or a site – even though it was a good idea – and they approached us initially just to store the boat.

“Years passed and nothing really happened except a second boat turned up that in an even worse state than the first.

“Eventually they offered them to us for scrap.”

Image shows the Frederick Kitchen, a stripped down wooden boat sat on supports, as work continues
The Frederick Kitchen, part of the way through her restoration

scrap, or something else?

However, Simon and the team were not about to simply discard the craft. Instead, a plan was slowly hatched to show off at least one of the craft in all its glory and preserve it for future generations.

“My thought was that, if we’re going to do something with these boats, it’s because we want to tell their story,” said Simon. 

“It’s not about getting them in the water – we’ve got plenty of boats here for that. So why not restore one, turn it upside down and use it as a roof of a structure with glass walls?

“That way people will get to see the exterior of the boat from outside and the interior when inside.

“You’ll have this beautiful cathedral ceiling and see all of the internal structure.”

The Frederick Kitchen, named in honour of a former lifeboat master, is not just an elegant architectural solution.

Having won funding to carry out a feasibility study – a precursor to the £1.6million award – the Gasworks Dock Partnership engaged in an extensive programme of research into her history.

It turns out, she may have been the very last vessel to leave the Ironworks, which closed in 1912.

A computer generated image of people in a glass-walled building with the boat as its roof
An artist’s impression of the interior of the heritage centre

an important history

“There’s a glass plate image owned by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich that shows her sitting in a dry dock all by herself in 1913,” said Simon. 

“We think she may have been the last to leave – we do know she was one of a string of five boats that weren’t finished when the works closed, although she was completed and became a Watson class lifeboat stationed at Beaumaris from 1914 to 1945.

“The closure marked the end of major shipbuilding on the Thames.

“Her hull is made from Honduran mahogany with a steam-bent interior frame of oak with a keel of solid iron that runs along her entire length and weighs as much as the rest of her put together.

“She’s really the pinnacle of timber shipbuilding – designed at the crossover between pulling and sailing vessels and motorised craft, so she has some adaptations including an encased propeller to avoid it being fouled by nets and rigging, which wouldn’t want if you were engaged in a rescue.

“A few years after she was launched, new technologies came in with the use of plywood and then fibreglass and plastic.

“She was the last of her kind.”

A crane holds the former lifeboat as she is moved to a special shed for refurbishment works
The boat is brought into a special shed, ready for refurbishment

a grant for Cody Dock

The full grant will be used over three years, with 18 months to prepare the ground for the new structure and restore Frederick Kitchen to her former glory – the latter project being headed up by Simon’s son, Tom.

The money will also cover a rolling programme of events centred around Newham heritage  with the space eventually used to host quarterly exhibitions.

“For a long time now, in addition to the ecology, which is really special, we’ve felt that one of the selling points of this area is the heritage of the Lea,” said Simon.

“One of the things that’s always struck us is that, apart from the House Mill, Newham doesn’t have any museums – certainly not ones that reflect the wider heritage of the area.

“There’s such a rich seam of history here, whether it’s the Lea as a boundary between the Danes and the Saxons or how the land on the east bank was part of Essex rather than London and all the implications of that.

“Then there’s the arrival of industry, which saw the local population increase from 4,000 to around 250,000 in about 50 years.”

Two people work on the woodwork of the Frederick Kitchen
Tom supervises as renovation work continues

a rich seam of exhibitions

“Frankly we would need an Amazon-size warehouse to cover all the heritage we have and we reckon we could go for 30 years without repeating a topic with quarterly exhibitions in our multi-functional, multi-purpose structure,” added Simon.

“The likes of West Ham and Tate & Lyle have fantastic archives that are not on show to the public so it would be amazing to feature pieces from those collections.

“We have so many plans. It will take 18 months to restore the boat and we’ll be re-landscaping the site of the building at the same time.

“We’ll be doing outdoor exhibitions for Lighting Up The Lea during that period as well as working with the community and participants on our education programmes to gather more stories and local history.

“When our heritage programme launches, our plan is that one quarter will be dedicated to ecology, one to social heritage, one to industrial heritage and the last to miscellaneous aspects of history.”

Image shows a general view of Cody Dock on the River Lea under a rainbow with a toothed rolling bridge made of iron and a large wooden sculpture of a figure
Cody Dock boasts myriad facilities including a rolling bridge

key details – Cody Dock

The Cody Dock project has a wealth of opportunities for volunteers to get involved, with activities including the restoration of the Frederick Kitchen, cleaning up the River Lea and studying the area’s ecology. 

Find out more about the project here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Canning Town: How Confluence at Cody Dock is literally immersive as an artwork

Lighting Up The Lea commission plunges visitors into the sounds of the river and the surrounding area

Gino Brignoli, biodiversity officer at Cody Dock

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“Immersive” is one of the most over-used words when it comes to the arts.

But Confluence at Cody Dock has a singular and legitimate claim to it, if desired.

Artist Tom Fisher has created a body of work based on a five-month residency at the community-led regeneration that literally plunges the ears of listeners into the River Lea and its environment.

Working under the name Action Pyramid, the sonic artist and musician was awarded Cody Dock’s Lighting Up The Lea commission – a challenge to respond creatively to its Tidal Lea River Ecology Report.

While some might have expected lights and bulbs to play a part in that response – given the title – with typical freedom of thought, the decision was made to fund a project that would illuminate the river for visitors in a different sense.

Supported by Cockayne Grants For The Arts, The London Community Foundation and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Confluence itself comes in multiple parts.

Artist Tom Fisher, aka Action Pyramid, records sound under water

The first is already in place and free for visitors to Cody Dock to experience. 

Listen To The Lea allows up to two people to put on headphones at a dedicated spot and listen live to the sounds of the river below via two hydrophones that are permanently submerged in its waters.

The free listening post will be in place until June 12, 2024, with visitors able to listen in person or to tune in online.

“I find it very relaxing,” said Gino Brignoli, biodiversity officer at Cody Dock.

“I can’t stop myself from trying to figure out what it is I’m hearing – perhaps I’m not zen enough – but I really enjoy sitting there and listening.

“I love being next to the water – having the opportunity to see the river, especially at slack tide when the Lea is relatively still.

“I find it fascinating that so much sound is contained within its waters.

“While we don’t necessarily know what we’re listening to through the hydrophones, water is an amazing conductor of sound and there are so many things to hear.

Tom with his Listen To The Lea installation

“Everything that lives beneath the surface tends to communicate that way because it’s a murky world and vision is unreliable. 

“We can’t be certain, but we think we may have heard fish moving pebbles around and clams letting out air on the bottom.

“Personally, I like that the sounds give you an imaginary world to enter.”

While the Lea is considered to be “bad” environmentally speaking – with Gino and other groups targeting improvements that will at least see it receive a rating of “poor” – the river nevertheless teems with life. 

Lighting Up The Lea’s focus is on turning the spotlight on an ecosystem that supports bats, eels, kingfishers and grey seals as well as invaders such as crayfish and mitten crabs. 

“It’s about saying: ‘Hey, this is London’s second largest river and very few people know about it – either that it exists at all or that it’s significant’,” said Gino.

“There’s a lot of work to be done to make sure people know about it, so they can visit.

“We’ve had visitors from Eastlea School in West Ham, for example – which is named after the river – and found that even the teachers hadn’t necessarily made that connection, or been aware that the Lea is here in east London.

Gino enjoys the sounds of the Lea looking towards Tower Hamlets

“The exciting thing about working in ecology is that as long as there’s a will, we can actually achieve quite a lot. The younger generation seem to be more engaged – it’s exciting because this is where the change will come from.”

Awareness is ultimately the point of Confluence  – an appropriate name for a work created on the tidal Lea where fresh water meets brackish, changing direction twice a day as it rises and falls by four or five metres.

The second part of the work will come in the form of an installation that is set to launch with a live event on April 12, 2024.

Tom’s sonic work – wrought from recordings of the subaquatic world, the movement of the Lea estuary’s mud, passing bats and seasonal birdsong – will then be available to hear daily in a dedicated listening space at The Barn, Cody Dock’s new venue and arts space.

“It has been a real pleasure to begin working on this commission, with the Lea often being a source of inspiration for my work,” said Tom. 

“The chance to spend extended time exploring, listening to, and learning about the local tidal ecosystem and surrounding habitat has been really wonderful.

“Something which is often a feature of my practice is using sound as a means to help us reconsider a place.

“The site’s ecology report has been a fascinating starting point.”

Cody Dock CEO, Simon Myers, added: “The lower Lea is rapidly changing and without wider appreciation and awareness of its incredible urban biodiversity we are on track to lose this rich diversity, just as people are rediscovering this under-appreciated corner of London. 

“My hope is that this commission will quite literally help shine a light on the Lea while also producing a new piece of immersive art that inspires people’s imagination.”

Tom’s installation will be available to listen to at Cody Dock’s art space The Barn
  • dive in

The Listen To The Lea part of Confluence is available to experience daily for free on the east bank of the river. It will be in place until June 12, 2024.

Action Pyramid’s installation will be available to listen to for free after April 12.

While Cody Dock is continually open for walkers, its official hours of operation are 9am-5.30pm daily. 

The regeneration effort offers people a wealth of opportunities to volunteer, including on projects to restore and re-flood the dock itself, to clean up the Lea and to observe and record the wildlife that can be found locally.

The scheme is home to a wide variety of initiatives aimed at transforming a formerly derelict toxic waste dump on an industrial estate into an area and facility, which can be enjoyed and visited by local residents and those further afield.

In 2022 it featured in Sir David Attenborough’s Saving Our Wild Isles.  

Find out more about Cody Dock here

Read more: New events space Broadwick Studio launches on Wood Wharf’s Water Street

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Canning Town: How Cody Dock continues to evolve and grow as its projects unfold

Gasworks Dock Partnership CEO Simon Myers talks present and future as the scheme marches onward

The visitor centre at Cody Dock takes shape

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As is invariably the case, a trip to Cody Dock yields an excess of optimism, promise and excitement.

What was once a rubbish tip piled high with industrial toxic waste has already become home to businesses, a plethora of wildlife, art and vegetation. 

In the 14 years since Simon Myers co-founded the Gasworks Dock Partnership, an eyesore has been transformed into a community asset on the River Lea that’s tantalisingly on the threshold of the next stage in its evolution.

As CEO he’s presided over a passionate team and the efforts of countless volunteers in that time, who have all contributed to turning the wooden model of the project’s masterplan into full scale reality.

“To go alongside our rolling bridge across the dock mouth – which we installed earlier this year – we’ve finally finished our toilet and wash block,” said Simon.

“That means that after more than a decade of visitors using our very glamorous Portaloos we’ve now got proper facilities with showers, changing rooms and running water.

“What that really does for Cody Dock is to make it accessible for people to come down, especially for school visits.

“We’re probably about half way through the construction of the first phase of our visitor centre, which will include an exhibition and event space.

“The hard work is done – the foundations are in, the frame is up, the walls are being built and we’ll be doing the roof over the next couple of weeks.

“Then we can start fitting it with 100 400-watt solar panels and batteries that will give us our own electricity supply with an output that is more than the total present power consumption for the site.

“Obviously that’s only when the sun shines, but we have every intention of looking at ways of storing energy on site and – given that we have a tidal dock with a lot of water going up and down, we want to investigate how we can use that to generate electricity too.”

Like every aspect of Cody Dock, a great deal of thought has been put in to the execution of its projects and how what is created can do multiple jobs.

The Gasworks Dock Partnership is working towards re-flooding the dock

In addition to generating power, the visitor centre will become the focal point of the site.

“We have a little pop-up gallery space on site where we’ve tried lots of things and that has provided proof of concept,” said Simon.

“We also already have weekly visits from schools who come and do cross-curricular field studies in areas such as local history and river ecology

“We’ve also had an interesting arts and cultural programme at Cody Dock over the years.

“But pretty much everything has been outside – the visitor centre gives us a venue where we can put on significant exhibitions, put on shows, accommodate school visits, host music nights and film screenings.

“The first part of the venue has a foyer and a separate main area but they can be combined into one big space if required.

“It’s very much multi-functional and we’ll be equipped to host theatre performances with a fold-away stage, a green room and a proper lighting rig.

“What happens within that space will be very much a collaboration with the community and arts organisations.

“The first thing we did when we cleared the dock was host an opera on a floating stage in the middle of the water.

“These kinds of performances are very much in our DNA – we use arts as an engagement tool and this venue will enable us to do that on a scale matching the number of people who are now coming to Cody Dock on a regular basis – we’re really excited.”

Completion of the visitor centre’s first phase is expected by late spring next year to coincide with Newham Heritage Month in June.

Also in the pipeline is a new theraputic gardening, training and horticultural space that will provide a place for learning and propagation to provide all the plants for the site.

“That’s a collaboration with fifth-year architecture students from Westminster and should be complete by March,” said Simon. 

“It will be a space that feels like you’re outdoors, but is actually indoors filled with plants – think Scandinavian conservatory.

“That will be opposite our rolling bridge and our plan is to finish the final landscaping of the area between the crossing and our visitor centre. 

“Then we’ve got a year of planning, preparation and finalising the designs for what we have been calling until now our Heritage Pavilion.

“We actually want to run a bit of a competition and, with public consultation, to come up with a better name for it.

“It will be a new space – somewhere that celebrates the history of the waterways in this area. 

“Its roof will be the keel of a fully restored Thames Ironworks lifeboat, which we already have on site at the end of the dock.

“It’s made from Honduran mahogany, is just over 100 years old and belongs to the first generation of self-righting lifeboats. 

“It has an enormous iron keel and we’ll be restoring it for about a year before flipping it upside down to form the roof.

Gasworks Dock Partnership CEO Simon Myers

“That’s a nod to the fact that the River Lea was once the Danelaw boundary and we’re on the Viking side. 

“So there are lots of things to get involved with if people would like to come down and volunteer.”

Cody Dock has also recently appointed new members of its team to look after ecology and education at the site, who will be running projects over the coming year as work continues towards the ultimate goal of re-flooding the dock.

After that happens, the site will become home to residential moorings, a berth for a heritage ship and dry dock facilities to service boats sailing up and down the Lea.

“I think we’re about 18 months away from doing that,” said Simon.

“We’ve done most of the necessary work at the end of the dock and we’re definitely over the hill with the restoration work on the dock walls. 

“We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then it will be about connecting us up with Canning Town via that last elusive bit of footpath along the river.”

Read more: How British Land is set to build a new town centre at Canada Water

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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River Lea: How Cody Dock’s new rolling bridge unlocks the project’s potential

Hand-cranked structure designed by Thomas Randall-Page allows the dock to be reflooded

The rolling bridge will transform Cody Dock
The rolling bridge will transform Cody Dock

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There can be few pieces of infrastructure in the world that so succinctly represent the story and future of a project in the way Cody Dock’s rolling bridge does.

Recently tested for the first time, it’s the culmination of years of work – an elegant, ground-breaking solution that’s at once simple, highly engineered and not insubstantially bonkers.

The Gasworks Dock Partnership (GDP) has, with the help of more than 11,000 volunteers, spent the last 13-and-a-half years working to clear and regenerate an unloved patch of industrial land on the River Lea – used for many years as a toxic tip. 

A major milestone in that project will be the re-flooding of the dock itself.

With the junk cleared and the polluted sludge beneath painstakingly removed, the GDP always knew it needed to sort out a solution to the crude dam that currently provides a bridge over the dock entrance, but also blocks access from the tidal waters of the river.

GDP co-founder and CEO Simon Myers had duly found an off-the-shelf rising bascule bridge from Holland that would do the job – bridging the gap and opening when necessary to let ships in.

Planning permission was applied for and granted. But then something happened.

Bridge designer Thomas Randall-Page
Bridge designer Thomas Randall-Page

“It always starts with a conversation in a pub, doesn’t it?” said Thomas Randall-Page, designer of Cody Dock’s rolling bridge.

“Somebody told me Simon was building a new bridge, that it was a product from Holland and that it wasn’t the most interesting thing.

“I didn’t have any work at the time – I’d just quit my job to set up my own practice and I approached Simon and asked if I could counter-propose something that people would come and visit rather than just walk across.

“He said that would be fine, because they already had planning permission for the other bridge and I was doing it for free.

“Then I went off to help my friend move her canal boat and spent two weeks going through locks and looking at all this amazing Victorian infrastructure – most of it counter-balanced and low energy.

“So I started to think about an opening bridge but one that worked in a way that had never been done before.”

The rolling bridge has now been finished and awaits its official launch
The rolling bridge has now been finished and awaits its official launch

The result was a model for a rolling bridge, produced in partnership with structural engineers Price & Myers.

Operated by a hand crank, the whole structure inverts on tracks, raising the footway high above any ships that want to gain access to the dock.

“In a way it’s the opposite of the bascule bridge, because that’s all hydraulic – like trying to lift something at arm’s length – so a lot of energy goes into it,” said Thomas.

“This one is a very balanced system with counterweights, so it’s going to be manual – you just turn a handle and wind it over.

“It will be quite slow, but people will be able to do it themselves and hopefully others will come to watch it open.”

While Simon and the GDP team were immediately attracted by Thomas’ proposal, they put it through a rigorous process of assessment to ensure it was something that would both work at scale and could be built within budget.

“We knew we were taking quite a big risk with something that’s untried – to our knowledge, this is the only bridge of its kind in the world,” said Simon.

“Thomas gave us what we needed to convince our board and we decided to re-apply for planning permission, although he had to wait five years for us to give him a call and say we’d found the money and were actually going to build it.

The bridge rolls on steam-bent oak, guided by metal teeth
The bridge rolls on steam-bent oak, guided by metal teeth

“That was about a year ago and he engaged Price & Myers to work on it, all knowing that there was a fixed budget that we simply couldn’t go over.

“From the outset, everyone was committed – there has been blood, sweat and tears poured into it, nobody has made any money but they all wanted to make it work. 

“That’s really humbling – it shows there’s a different economy at work, one where people do things because they are passionate and excited about them – when do you get the chance to roll a 12-tonne cube of steel by hand except on a project like this? 

“The bridge is the most significant structure here. The dock itself is important, but it’s no good if boats can’t get in and out – it’s a statement of intent that we are bold and ambitious here. 

“It’s our first really big commission, it puts a marker down and it raises our game – with 400 names of those involved in its construction engraved on it, it really is a bridge of the people.”

The structure rolls on a pair of tracks like a giant cog
The structure rolls on a pair of tracks like a giant cog

Thomas added: “I started designing the bridge seven years ago, so to finally see it in place is both surreal and great – really amazing,” said Thomas.

“It’s better than I’d hoped. Cake Industries, who fabricated it, have been really helpful. There’s been so much goodwill in the whole team – a really collaborative and open process.

“Everyone felt like this was a project we really have to get right. It’s something special.”

So there you have it – a £260,000 bridge that will officially open later this year and last for the next 125.

It’s both a testament to the whole project’s collaborative nature and a gateway to a future that’s looking especially bright at present, with a the construction of a new visitors’ centre and a wash block already underway. 

With repair of the dock wall progressing and pilings in place at its far end too, GDP can now plan to re-flood the dock, creating residential moorings and a dry dock facility on-site.

Cody Dock is always looking for volunteers and companies to help it achieve its aims – you can find our more here.

When fully inverted, the bridge allows taller ships underneath
When fully inverted, the bridge allows taller ships underneath

Read more: Artist creates pieces for Pride Month across Canary Wharf

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Bow: Why Cody Dock is determined to raise funds for next phase of its visitors centre

Gasworks Dock Partnership sets target of £250k plus VAT to complete transformational project

GDP CEO Simon Myers at Cody Dock
GDP CEO Simon Myers at Cody Dock – image Matt Grayson

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Cody Dock has been in a constant state of evolution since the Gasworks Dock Partnership (GDP) began its regeneration project there a decade ago.

Its rolling bridge scheme, an important piece of the puzzle that will ultimately enable the re-flooding and reopening of the dock itself, is due to start construction next year. Huge improvements seem tantalisingly close. 

Structured as a social enterprise, GDP has accomplished the remarkable clearance of the dock and site, both piled high with rubbish, rubble and industrial waste through the tireless labour and commitment of thousands of volunteers. 

Each of these participants has given their time and energy in pursuit of improving the site on the banks of the Lea to provide a lasting, sustainable legacy for both Newham residents and visitors to the area.

As work to repair the dock’s brickwork and to remove the polluted silt that’s built up over the years continues apace, permanent washblock and toilet facilities are set to arrive in the coming months to better service volunteers’ needs and allow the area to become a base for watersports alongside its burgeoning community of studio-based craftspeople.

But it’s the planned visitors centre that will really become the heart of the site.

This structure is set to be built in two phases and will, when completely finished, contain a multi-purpose hall, an information point, a shop, a dining space, a cafe and a kitchen.

With funding already secured from Veolia Environmental Trust for the first section, which will house the hall, fundraising for £250,000 has now begun in earnest to see the centre completed.

An artist’s impression of the Rolling Bridge

“The second phase will really be the engine for Cody Dock,” said Simon Myers, GDP CEO since its creation.

“It’s central to our plans as it will support activities in the main venue space and includes a large canteen and a home for a community cafe.

“The hall itself will have a capacity of about 150 seated but it’s multi-purpose, so it can be used as an intimate venue for theatre, for live performance or as a gallery or function space.

“It’s a single storey building but is triple height at the back, with a roof that’s perfectly angled for solar panels and we’ve just received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to install them to make the centre operationally carbon neutral.

“The reason phase two is important is that we have armies of volunteers here every day, so the canteen will give them protection from the elements when they’re having their lunch.

“It will be a place where people meet, whether they are tenants from our maker studios on-site, volunteers or just people who are visiting.

“Having that communal, social space is where conversations happen between people who don’t know each other. It will unlock the potential of the community that lives, works and visits here quite significantly.

“There will also be a reception area that will act as a staffed information point. We’re located halfway down The Line sculpture trail, so we have a lot of walkers coming through. We’re hoping this space will act as a visitor space for the Lea, especially the tidal section of the river, and it will be where a lot of our ecology activities take place.”

An artist’s impression of the new visitors centre

The second phase is also crucial in making Cody Dock financially sustainable in the longer term as it seeks to develop income streams that will fund its upkeep and ongoing operations.

“From the financial point of view, it’s what makes the venue – hopefully – self-sustaining, and that’s our goal,” said Simon.

“We have a five-year plan, which we’re nearly two years into, to make the whole Cody Dock project self-sustaining so that we’re not reliant on having to fundraise.

“We have always set ourselves up to be a social enterprise with that goal and the venue will be funded by the income from the cafe itself.

“The other thing about the building is, while there will be a wall between the two phases, we’ll be able to fold that back to open the space right up, all the way through to the cafe.

“It’s also creating jobs as there will be a reception position and space for a shop, which will be another income stream for us.”

For more information or to contact GDP about donating to the second phase of the visitors centre, go to codydock.org.uk

  • With a host of things to do and see there’s always a good reason to visit Cody Dock.

The latest is the arrival of the Story Of Water exhibition on November 25 featuring sculptural pieces made by pupils from seven local schools in response to humanity’s impact on the environment.

The project saw the schools partner with counterparts in Ghana with the aim of improving the curriculum in both countries and enriching children’s education.

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