London City Island Archives

October 15, 2024October 15, 2024

Forge Art Fair relocates to London Lighthouse Gallery And Studio

Isle Of Dogs showcase finds a new home at Sokai Higgwe’s London City Island space

Forge Art Fair founder Carolina Kollmann

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Anyone who visited the Forge Art Fair in 2023 will have felt the buzz.

Founder Carolina Kollmann and her team packed Craft Central’s Westferry Road base with art, artists and people to appreciate them and their work.

The charity may be no more – with its crafters, artists and tenants ejected from the Isle Of Dogs building following its unexpected collapse, earlier this year – but, nevertheless, Carolina’s vision lives on.

That’s in no small part thanks to artist and photographer Sokari Higgwe.

The founder of London Lighthouse Gallery And Studio at London City Island had visited the fair in 2023 on the advice of residents and neighbours.

So when Carolina and her co-curator Tammy Walters were looking for an alternative location to host this year’s event, he stepped in, allowing it to grow in scale and scope.

The Forge Art Fair 2024, is set to kick off at the gallery with a private view on November 1, before opening to the public on November 2 and 3.

The Forge Art Fair will take place at London Lighthouse Gallery And Studio

the Forge Art Fair: curated by artists

“The event is curated by artists to showcase talented creatives – it’s a unique, affordable opportunity for people to immerse themselves in and understand the world of contemporary art,” said Carolina.

“My idea when creating the fair was to bring art from across the UK to east London, but also that it should be connected to the local area.

“As a curator, for me, quality is the most important thing.

“As an artist, someone who is always creating, I want to showcase people who are serious in what they are doing.

“Yes, the work has to be affordable, but it has to be art that says something by an artist that can communicate properly.

“We were very lucky to have a lot of applications to show at the fair and so we had to make choices.

“Even though we are growing, I wanted to ensure the artists are all completely different so there is a real range for people to see.”

A piece by Venetta Nicole, who will be exhibition at the Forge Art Fair 2024

a multitude of artists

The Forge Art Fair is set to feature work by Kathy Miller, Venetta Nicole, Alexandra Moskalenko, Miguel Sopena, Dom Holmes, Abi Jameson, Jairo Nicola and Imogen Hogan as well as Carolina, Tammy and Sokari.

The fair has also teamed up with the Women In Art Prize to offer the winner of its Young Artist award space to exhibit.

As a result, Nancy Singh will be showing and selling her work at the event.

While works from all the artists will vary in price, pieces will be available from £50 with the structure of the fair contributing to its affordability, with no third parties placing charges on the artists.

Visitors can expect to see a wide variety of pieces, including Carolina’s 3D paintings and Sokari’s photography, meet the people that created the work and support creativity by purchasing art if they so choose.

“This will be an autumn art experience like no other – from traditional paintings to textiles, multi-disciplinary creations and abstract pieces – it’s perfect for art enthusiasts of all ages from the local area and further afield,” said Carolina.

Artwork by Forge Art Fair contributor Dom Holmes

key details: Forge Art Fair

The Forge Art Fair 2024 will run from November 2-3, 2024, at London Lighthouse Gallery And Studio in Lyell Street. Entry is free.

The gallery is located in the same building as English National Ballet at London City Island and is a short walk from Canning Town station.

There will be a private view on November 1 from 5.30pm. Those wishing to attend should subscribe for updates from the fair organisers.

Find out more about the showcase here

Artist, photographer and gallerist Sokari Higgwe

meet the artist: Sokari Higgwe

“When people who are not your friends start buying your work, it’s scary,” said Sokari Higgwe, artist, photographer and gallerist.

The London City Island resident spent two decades working as a database engineer for the Bank Of New York and UBS before turning a passion for his hobby into a career.

“I mostly do abstract architectural photography but also portraiture,” said Sokari. “

I’ve loved both taking pictures and buildings since I was a child, so it was easy to put the two things together.

“In my pieces I want to show aspects of architecture you wouldn’t think about when you just look at a building.

“For years my day job was working in the City for UBS.

“Before that I was in east London, employed by the Bank Of New York, looking after 30% of electronic trading and making sure it was running smoothly – a big responsibility.

“The artist in me was always, there through my hobby. After 20 years I was getting bored and I wanted to express myself creatively.

“But, as a self-taught photographer, I always felt I was an imposter. I wasn’t confident. I’d joined the camera club at UBS and that was where my interest got stronger.

“Then I got a break when a gallery offered to show my work at an exhibition in Mile End.”

Successful solo shows followed and Sokari found himself much more absorbed by his creative work than by the databases he managed.

So he decided to take voluntary redundancy when it was offered and embarked on a new chapter in his life.

“I thought this was my chance to do photography full time,” he said.

“I started looking for a gallery and a studio where I could do portraiture and create art using models and props.

“I opened the London Lighthouse Gallery three years ago, after searching for quite some time.

“London City Island was one of the best places to do that because of the creative community locally and especially as I moved here eight years ago.

“I really love the history of this part of town, knowing it used to be the engine of the country when the docks were operating.

“One of the reasons for opening a gallery was to help promote artists like myself who haven’t gone the conventional route.

“I know it was a struggle for me to get myself out there because I wasn’t a professional. The idea is to have this as a space where creatives can feel free.”

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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

October 5, 2024October 5, 2024

The Eleventh Hour finds its niche serving coffee on the Isle Of Dogs

Entrepreneur Daniel Bull on opening The Lockdown Room and The Eleventh Hour in east London

Image shows Daniel Bull, the man behind The Eleventh Hour and The Lockdown Room, drinking a cup of coffee — Daniel Bull, the man behind The Eleventh Hour and The Lockdown Room

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BY LAURA ENFIELD

He is the kind of guy who runs a spontaneous marathon on New Year’s Day and goes on to clock 3hrs15 for the London event.

The kind of guy who sold sweets in the playground aged 13 to make money and, by 17, was the top salesman in a car dealership.

The guy who can lead a failing coffee shop business through the pandemic and emerge with venues The Eleventh Hour on the Isle Of Dogs and The Lockdown Room at London City Island.

“I remember my sister went on a ski trip with school and I said ‘Can I take the cash option?’ and bought DJ gear with it,”said Daniel Bull on his first move as a teen entrepreneur.

“I was into my music and saw the business opportunity, because what else can you do at that age?

“So I put an advert in the Yellow Pages and off I went.”

This seemingly innate entrepreneurial drive has always been matched by an attitude of never giving up – which emerged when he wrote off his first car after two weeks.

“I thought I would never get insured again so I emailed a few car dealerships and said I would work for commission only,” said the Isle Of Dogs resident.

“I was back in a car within a week.

“At 17 I was a top salesman and within two years I was managing the dealership.”

It was also this mindset that saw him land a spot on an MBA course aged 26 with almost no formal qualifications.

“So many business schools turned me down because I didn’t have an undergraduate degree, but I managed to get a fairly decent GMAT score and ended up going to Cass, which is now Bayes Business School,” he said.

“I was the only person without an undergraduate degree, but they liked that because they were trying to diversify the class and not just have a cohort full of investment bankers.”

It was while studying that he crossed paths with floundering company The Espresso Room.

It opened one of London’s first speciality coffee shops in 2009 on Great Ormond Street but by 2019 the owners were considering cutting and running.

Daniel picked up the baton as part of his final project and ended up taking it over.

The cafe is located on the ground floor of Wardian off Marsh Wall

turning things round

“There were two investors at the time and they said it was losing money and wanted to know if they should sell it or if it could be turned around? The product was amazing, but behind the scenes, it was a mess,” said Daniel.

“So I did a whole turnaround plan and decided to invest in it.

“I ended up opening two more shops with them and then the pandemic hit.

“Three of the four coffee shops had to be closed and most of the staff furloughed.

“We were basically bankrupt, but I decided to take it on fully and to fight to keep it going.”

The Bloomsbury branch had survived and Daniel and his team landed a gig handing out subsidised coffees to NHS workers battling Covid.

“I didn’t really know what I was doing and it was a whirlwind, but we kept busy. I think that’s why we survived,” he said.

“A lot of people threw the towel in during that time. I didn’t.

“I took a £50,000 bounce back loan and worked around the clock to make something happen.

“I kind of wish we’d gone online now like Grind did but I’m not complaining, because we managed to keep half our team.”

Instead of turning to the internet, he focussed on the community in Leamouth where he was living at the time.

His venue at English National Ballet had shut down and so he began offering a grocery delivery service to residents.

Through the various restrictions, it evolved into what is now known as The Lockdown Room.

The Eleventh Hour serves up a wide array of pastries and food

launching Lockdown

“When everyone realized how bad things were and supermarkets and shops were staying closed, we asked the developer Ballymore if it had an empty space,” he said.

“They threw me the keys for one of their biggest retail units on the island.

“It was an empty shell with no water, no lights – nothing – and was full of old desks and chairs all covered in dust.

“We put a table out at the front and became a grocery pop-up.

“A few weeks later we put in a coffee machine and after a month a pint machine and ended up with loads of east London craft beer.

“Then, around June 2020, we bought a PA system and started doing live music outside and theme nights.

“We were building this community as we went along.

“We got a lot of residents involved and some friends set up a kitchen, and started doing Vietnamese street food and some other friends started doing a bottle cocktail business.

“It was an interesting time. I would never have thought to open a bar there, but it was definitely a fun project.

“Now we’ve had to diversify and scale it back a little bit, but we’ve also brought in our own Mexican street food concept called Taco Hut and get events with 400 people being booked in.

“We’re not just a standard venue. We’ve sort of found our niche and we get a lot of repeat bookings and repeat customers.

“So yeah, we’ve learned.

“It’s the hub of the community there and people are now recognising what we do as a business with all our venues.

“We’re not just the place you go to grab a product and leave. It’s about much more than that.”

A staff member makes a coffee at The Eleventh Hour

opening The Eleventh Hour

Today Daniel has 35 staff and manages his brands and venues under The Bull Group.

They include The Barre at the English National Ballet and the Lockdown Room, both on London City Island and The Eleventh Hour on the ground floor of Wardian.

Despite the fact he speaks roughly 12,000 words in our 70 minute interview (that’s almost three words a second) Daniel is not fuelled by free caffeine from his shops.

Instead, he starts every day with a glass of water and a ginger shot, followed swiftly by a healthy juice or shake.

These are consumed in his Wardian flat before he descends a few hundred feet to his coffee shop below to check it is all running smoothly.

The Eleventh Hour opened last November and, like all Daniel’s venues, has found a niche.

“Before we opened a lot of people didn’t really know each other – no one really spoke to each other in the lobby,” he said.

“Now everyone feels they can talk and get to know each other and it’s amazing the difference it made even within a month.

“That’s what makes it fun and not feel like work.”

different designs

The space was created with interior designer Anna Moller, who also worked on The Lockdown Room and the penthouse at London City Island.

“She’d never done commercial,” said Daniel.

“Her background was high-end residential stuff, so it has created an interesting mix.

“We wanted it to be a neighbourhood coffee shop – a place that is warm and a home-from-home, where people just want to hang out.

“We’re not a big chain where we’re just trying to do them cheap and roll them out.

“Every venue we open has personality.”

The coffee it serves is a house blend made by a roastery in Winchester, but Daniel has also started introducing coffees discovered on his travels around Europe.

About 70% of the food menu is made at a central production kitchen, with items such as brownies, cookies, sausage rolls and energy balls made by a long-standing pastry chef and pastries supplied by a local bakery.

Having got the coffee crew rolling in, Daniel is now about to launch a cocktail menu with a party on October 31 to entice in an evening crowd.

“We thought we’d go big for Halloween,” he said.

“I think there is demand for this here. Even in Canary Wharf, there’s not many quirky neighbourhood bars.

“We wanted to crack the daytimes first, because the quality can slip if you’re trying to do everything at once.

“Now that we’ve nailed that, this is like a second phase.”

The cocktail menu will be served Tuesday to Saturday from 3pm to midnight and includes five different espresso martinis and a menu of gourmet bar snacks.

Not content just tackling the evening scene Daniel is also about to enter the health food market with Supershakes, due to launch on the Isle Of Dogs and as a pop-up at Royal Wharf later this year.

It will be a step away from coffee towards a more health conscious offering – driven by Daniel’s own fitness makeover.

He ran his first marathon on a whim four years ago and now regularly competes in Ironman events, mostly without any training. He also gave up alcohol two years ago.

Takeaway cups stand ready at The Eleventh Hour

more of a challenge

“I do like the fact of proving the impossible in a way,” he said.

“People who train for six months or a year, I’ve got a lot respect for them, because that’s what you’re supposed to do.

“But part of me likes to give myself even more of a challenge.

“I’m an all or nothing person – I used to get a buzz from partying and drinking and now I get it from this.

“I have learned not to be like that in business though, to not sacrifice everything for it.

“I know a lot of people who have done that and they’re not happy.

“For me it is about keeping a balance.

“I almost burnt out two years ago, because I didn’t have that and was using going out and drinking as stress relief – it was a recipe for disaster.

“But I found that if I keep nutrition, sleep and exercise in check, everything else seems to fall into place and be a bit more manageable.”

Keeping the balance in work is also a constant challenge but one Daniel is more than up for.

“The coffee scene is definitely saturated,” he said. “People’s attitudes have changed, with more supporting local and wanting to know about sustainability and that employers are paying the right wage.

“The pandemic was survival of the fittest and the coffee industry is definitely a lot tougher now. I wouldn’t go into it again because – with increased rents, wages, the cost of coffee, packaging – it’s not an easy win.

“We’re surviving because we’ve diversified.

“It’s like an Ironman – you just keep fighting.

“Nothing really fazes me anymore and I’m never short of ideas. If we were sat here twiddling our thumbs, then I’d be worried.”

key details: The Eleventh Hour

The Eleventh Hour is open Mon-Fri from 7.30am-5pm and Sat-Sun 8am-5pm.

Find out more about the cafe 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

July 25, 2024July 26, 2024

Goodluck Hope offers tranquil homes with excellent connections

Ballymore’s Goodluck Hope development at Leamouth offers apartments and houses for sale almost completely surrounded by water

Goodluck Hope is seen with the rivers Thames and Lea surrounding it and The O2 just across the water — Goodluck Hope sits on land where the rivers Lea and Thames meet

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“Goodluck Hope is unique in London,” said James Boyce, associate regional sales director at Ballymore.

“It’s in Zone 2, but it doesn’t feel like that – it’s very tranquil, on a bend in the Thames, overlooking The O2.

“There’s this big expanse of water in front of you but, because it’s built on a peninsula, nobody passes through.

“That means people there can live really close to the action – Canary Wharf is just a short journey away – but it’s a sanctuary, almost completely surrounded by water.”

Increasingly a destination in its own right, the development is coming of age with a thriving community of residents enjoying an emerging crop of local businesses.

Layers Bakery serves coffee and brunch, while Taylor’s Of Goodluck Hope trades in farm fresh produce and recently opened a wine bar and deli in a second unit at Orchard Dry Dock.

There’s expectation that Hum Yoga + Meditation is set to expand its east London operation with a second studio at the development overlooking the Thames, as well as the cultural appeal of Trinity Art Gallery, so it’s clear the area’s attractions are only growing.

Little surprise perhaps, as buyers discover what’s on offer.

Image shows Ballymore associate regional sales director James Boyce, a man in a suit jacked and white shirt with grey and black hair — Ballymore associate regional sales director James Boyce

Goodluck Hope: available properties

“We’ve got something for everyone,” said James.

“There are studios – with sliding doors to divide up the space – one, two and three-bedroom apartments and two and three-bed duplexes with living spaces on the top floor that have amazing views.

“Then there’s a row of 19 townhouses along the main street, all painted in different colours, which gives the area a Scandinavian feel.

“These have really brought the ground level to life and they’ve been really popular – we’ve only got two left.

“They are three-storeys high and have either three or four bedrooms.

“Buyers get water views and access to the podium gardens at the rear. East London has surprisingly few houses and I think that’s why they’ve been so sought after.

“A lot of people have been brought up in houses, either in London or further out, so to live in one is quite a significant thing.

“Then there’s the fact you can walk out of your front door, cross the road to the bakery for a freshly-baked croissant and coffee, then go and sit by the river or chat to your neighbours.

“All of these things make Goodluck Hope a fantastic place to live.”

The property is on the market for £1,199,000 at Goodluck Hope — This three-bedroom home at Goodluck Hope is on the market for £1,199,000 and is accessed by its own private bridge

history + tranquillity

This has not come about by chance. Following the success of Ballymore and EcoWorld’s London City Island project, a few minutes’ walk away, Goodluck Hope was conceived to complement its amenities.

“We knew we had to elevate Goodluck Hope because it needed to be something special,” said James.

“Delving into the history of the area, the East India Company’s use of the nearby dock complex and its role as a major stopping off point for ships carrying goods in and out of London gave us a starting point.

“We wanted to celebrate the maritime heritage so, whereas most new-build developments were featuring full height glazing and standard facades, we built warehouse-style with Crittall windows and pitched roofs as well as really intricate brickwork that recalled the buildings that once stood on the peninsula.

“The development also benefits from being next to Trinity Buoy Wharf, which has long supported arts and culture in the area – providing space for artists, businesses, a school and one of the smallest museums in London on the site where Michael Faraday conducted his experiments with electricity.”

The home features three bedrooms including this one — The property boasts some 1,136sq ft of internal space plus a 236sq ft terrace

neighbouring amenities

Then there’s the ongoing interplay between City Island and Goodluck Hope, with buyers able to enjoy fitness amenities at both developments meaning access to both indoor and outdoor pools.

“Goodluck Hope has a residents’ clubhouse alongside its concierge facility,” said James.

“Within that you’ve got a co-working space, a Scandinavian sauna, a plunge pool, a swimming pool and a cinema, which has an Everyman feel to it.

“There’s a studio where the Ballymore fitness team run 20 classes a week including boxing and spinning as well as offering personal training sessions.

“Then there’s the Lantern Room, which is on the 29th floor – design-wise it references the Thames lighthouse at Trinity Buoy Wharf nearby, especially when it’s lit up at night.

“Exclusively for Goodluck Hope residents, we opened it in 2022 and it’s been really popular. It’s used as a work lounge during the day, which complements the facilities on the ground floor.

“In the evening the space is open for residents to host dinner parties, or for people to just take a couple of drinks up there and enjoy the sunset.

“It’s probably the tallest building within a kilometre of where it is and boasts views in all directions across London.”

The living area of a loft apartment at Goodluck Hope features open-plan design and a private terrace — The apartment is on the sixth floor and has an open-plan living area with a fully fitted kitchen

Goodluck Hope: a strong connection

“Another key attraction for buyers considering a move to Goodluck Hope is that the strength of the community has blown us away,” added James.

“It’s hard to describe, but there’s something about living on what’s effectively an island.

“It’s a place where you know your neighbours, whether that’s to say good morning to or just to make friendly eye contact.

“You know you’re an islander and there’s something really good about that.

“In contrast to more high-rise areas, where you probably won’t see many of your fellow residents, Goodluck Hope doesn’t have that density, so there really is a strong community.”

Again, this is not coincidental.

Ballymore has worked hard to foster an environment where those living locally get to know each other.

It’s part-way through its current events programme, which offers activities running though to September.

“That’s important for us because if people come and enjoy themselves, they will bring their friends and that’s really how you make a place,” said James.

“We did a survey of the residents at the beginning of the year, asking them what they wanted from the area.

“That’s why we have Workshop Wednesdays where residents can learn new skills such as croissant decorating, cheese and wine tasting, pottery or even singing.

“Then we have Thirsty Thursdays for people who want to socialise over a few drinks and enjoy some live music.

“Together with Film Fridays and Social Saturdays, there’s something new each week.

“The residents are very active, they attend a lot of the events.

“Together with our retailers, all of these things have made this place what it is – something special.”

key details: Goodluck Hope

Properties available at Goodluck Hope include suites, one, two and three-bedroom apartments, lofts and townhouses – all available for buyers to move into immediately. Prices start at £425,000.

Find out more about the development here or call 020 3797 1669 to arrange a viewing

Image shows Hum Yoga + Meditation founder Oriana Shepherd, a woman in a beige jumper with long brunetter hair — Hum Yoga + Meditation founder Oriana Shepherd

building a community

Having opened Hum Yoga + Meditation at London City Island nearly three years ago, Oriana Shepherd is now looking to expand her business to Goodluck Hope to keep up with demand.

“I initially came across the development while looking for accommodation for my son for university – it was just after Covid so a lot was happening and it just seemed like a really exciting area,” she said.

“I noticed, however, that there wasn’t a Yoga studio and so that’s where the idea came from.”

Oriana had spent much of the preceding 15 years teaching Yoga in Wales, a career she’d embarked on after more than a decade working for Virgin Atlantic.

After having children, she decided to pursue fitness alongside meditation breath work and aromatherapy closer to home, teaching and working in various roles including as a clinical therapist in palliative care.

“Having taught for so long and led Yoga retreats, opening Hum felt like a natural progression,” said Oriana.

“When I visited the island and saw the community here, there wasn’t access to these kinds of practices for residents on their doorstep and I thought it was maybe something I could offer.”

People adopt Yoga poses in Hum's London City Island studio — A class at Hum’s London City Island studio

escaping the hustle and bustle

“Hum is a space where people can come and escape the hustle and bustle of the city,” added Oriana.

“It’s an opportunity to explore something different in a really safe, relaxed, non-judgemental place.

“Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned practitioner there’s something for everybody.

“We also do lots of retreats and socials too so it’s a place to meet like-minded individuals.”

Now full to capacity, the plan is to open a second site at Goodluck Hope overlooking the Thames.

“We’re hoping to have a bigger space there, which will give us the opportunity to host corporate wellness events,” said Oriana.

“We also offer Yoga teacher training and we’ll be able to offer more of that too.

“The intention has always been to enjoy the process and to support as may people as possible and opening the business has done just that.

“I love it and I feel very privileged to do this kind of work and to share it with so many people in London and from all over the world because people who live in these developments come from many different countries.

“We have such a wide, varied community and seeing people come together is really precious.”

key details: Hum Yoga + Meditation

Hum Yoga + Meditation offers a range of Yoga, Pilates and meditation classes.

New members can get 50% off their first month with unlimited classes for £54.

Standard membership costs £108 per month with several other options available.

Find out more about Hum here

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to our free Wharf Whispers newsletter here

- 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

October 13, 2021October 13, 2021

Rotherhithe: Author Tom Chivers shares an extract from his latest book London Clay

The Rotherhithe-based writer offers thoughts on his first non-fiction work and a slice of the text

Author Tom Chivers grew up in south London

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Recently released, London Clay is Tom Chivers’ first foray into non-fiction.

Billed as a “lyrical interrogation of a capital city, a landscape and our connection to place”, its 464 pages host a heady blend of historical research, reportage and personal memoir that promises to change the way its readers view urban areas.

A published poet as well as an author, publisher and arts producer, south London-born Tom has lived in Rotherhithe with his wife and children since 2014.

He said: “I grew up on the River Effra, literally over it because it’s subterranean, and that made me realise there’s a whole world beneath the streets.

“When I was 17 I wrote a very long and bad poem called Effra, which was an attempt to reflect the lost rivers in writing and, ever since then, I’ve been interested in trying to capture the history and atmosphere of London – its speed, aggression and that underlying sense of violence one feels in the city.

“I wanted to show that strange dissonance between the London of high finance and the London of poverty and grime as well as the new London that’s rising above us now.

“My way in was the lost rivers – some of them are still flowing, but many are untraceable so you’re looking for fragments or remnants. I’m interested in the natural landscapes of London so I started looking at the geological foundations of the city.

“The premise of London Clay is a series of walks, but it’s trying to understand how the deep city of geological strata has determined the history of the city, and also how we feel about it and approach it today.

“It’s not a traditional guidebook – firstly, each journey tries to get under the skin of the place and immerse readers in that weird landscape, trying to unpeel the surface of the city.

“Secondly, I would genuinely love it if people felt inspired, both to go to the places that I write about, but actually more so to go to places that they know, that they live in or maybe work in, and use that same method of starting with the geology.

“The extract here features my journey to the River Lea and, because I’d never been there, discovering this extraordinary landscape – the developer’s dream of London City Island, Bow Creek Ecology Park and the absolutely amazing Trinity Buoy Wharf populated by artworks all about immersing us in deep time – the perfect place to end my journey across the city.”

London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City by Tom Chivers is published by Doubleday and costs £20 in hardback.

Detail from the cover of London Clay by Tom Chivers

FROM LONDON CLAY

>> I arrive in Limmo to the music of screeching tyres: a silver hatchback flooring it out of the western roundabout of the Lower Lea Crossing.

Burnt rubber.

Mudflats.

Tidal swill.

>> I had crossed the river to get here, to walk the final stretch of the Lea, on an empty train from Rotherhithe, before trekking through the former maritime ‘hamlets’ of Wapping, Shadwell, Ratcliffe, Limehouse and Poplar – now one continuous development from the Tower Of London to the Lea.

The river is where it ends.

‘To start again. With a wiped slate’.

>> Leamouth: Limmo: Limbo. The purgatorial energies of the place are overwhelming. Ruined dock walls stand in the shadows of half-built towers, open to the wind; sales and marketing suites for future homes; concrete flyovers sunk into alluvial swamp; the brine-stink of Bow Creek, as the Lea is called down here, where the channel loops back on itself in a series of hairpin bends.

The Lea once formed the border between Wessex and the Danelaw and it still feels like frontier land – London’s Wild East. On the near side, the Saxon kingdom of Alfred (urbane, Christian); on the far bank, the great heathen army of the Vikings under Guthrum. The earliest canalization of the Lea may date to this time, when in AD895, Alfred ordered the draining of its lower reaches to prevent the Viking fleet reaching the Thames from their base in Hertford. In the middle of the roundabout a giant figure surveys the traffic heading across the Lea – the three legs and disembodied face of Allen Jones’s Aerobic (1993) – a rusting, sheet-metal Matisse whose feet are barbed like arrowheads, like something dredged from the water.

>> I find a bench by Bow Creek and carefully disinfect my hands with antibacterial gel before wolfing down a shop-bought sandwich. A couple in matching Lycra stop for a photo, their beaming selfie framed by an island of green wilderness on the opposite bank, where dense vegetation spills over the steel revetments at the water’s edge. Storm clouds are gathering to the north as I cross to the island by a modern footbridge.

The bridge spans the creek just below the nine-lane flyover of the A13 and also runs parallel with an abandoned single-track railway built in 1848 to carry goods between Canning Town and the East India Dock. The railway bridge is now covered with graffiti and rendered inaccessible by forests of weeds and nettles at either end. Nevertheless, I notice that a nylon hiking tent has been pitched on the empty trackway directly above the freezing tidal water.

A fourth crossing – an ornamental pipe bridge carrying gas into London from the Beckton works – is remembered by a solitary brick pier on the east bank. The tent shakes violently in the wind gusting downstream.

Tom's work is billed as a 'lyrical interrogation of a capital city' — Tom’s work is billed as a ‘lyrical interrogation of a capital city’

>> The island across the water, I discover, is not wilderness at all but a carefully managed ecology park squeezed, ingeniously, on to a teardrop peninsula inside a loop of the creek. A branch of the Docklands Light Railway splits the narrow bar in two such that the park appears, in places, to be merely an extension of the railway verge. The geography is hair-raising.

As I move along the island, deserted trains rush past on an elevated viaduct to the southern shore, where they appear to launch, unmanned, back across the creek, soaring like rollercoaster cars above the Lower Lea Crossing. The DLR track extends a dead-end railway siding marked on old maps and aerial photographs – the only visible feature of an otherwise muddy, contaminated wasteland. During the construction of the park in 1996, traces of mercury were detected in the ground, leading to the addition of an extra 40cm of topsoil.

Where the Olympic Park struggles to contend with the vast scale of the Lea Valley, the Bow Creek Ecology Park has the benefit of intimacy; it takes around 10 minutes to complete a circuit on footpaths brimming with red clover and ox-eye daisy. Locals appear alone or in pairs: a jogger by a reed-filled mere; two women sharing a spliff in a shady bower beneath the railway embankment. Small white butterflies explode from bushes as giant bumblebees stumble, nectar-drunk, amid the wildflowers. I disappear into the undergrowth for a piss and for a moment, in the darkness between trees, I could be almost anywhere but here.

>> An information board tells me how the park’s wetlands are fed by groundwater from a borehole sunk into the mud to a depth of twelve metres. A pump is used to regulate the levels in two ponds connected by a weir. Every September, an area of meadow is deliberately inundated ‘to mimic the natural flooding of a river floodplain’. Here, as Sid observed, the natural is artificial – a simulacrum of the real thing. But the human is also part of nature; we are hustling at the edge of the frame, observers of a world to which we, too, are subject.

>> I follow the path out of the park and along Bow Creek. In this corkscrew geography, the east bank is now west, and across the mudflats another peninsula emerges. In shape it is an inverse facsimile of the first, a little larger perhaps; but in place of the dense foliage of the ecology park it is crammed with towering modern apartment blocks. The sheet metal revetments have been capped with brand-new concrete blocks and stainless-steel railings on which two men in matching polo shirts are leaning.

>> In truth, there is nothing ‘flat’ about the mudflats of Bow Creek. They swell and heave with the submerged ruins of innumerable wharves and slipways, timber piles and river stairs – here folding and unfolding like a satellite image of mountains, here fractured by deep gashes filled with rubble, nails, car tyres, rusting exhausts, chicken wire, road signs, aluminium cans, traffic cones, shopping trolleys, waste pipes and, a little upstream, a large steel litter bin.

Everything that could have fallen into the creek has done; and everything that has done is covered in the same claggy, grey liquor. It is hard to resolve this hazardous, post-industrial topography with the upmarket development on the opposite bank. Unlike the upper reaches of the Lea, Bow Creek remains defiantly tidal. It is a dynamic environment that cannot easily be tidied away.

>> I cross a footbridge spanning the creek and City Island appears, as it is designed to, like a miniature version of Lower Manhattan. The name is a marketer’s invention – a place that is dense with history now reduced to its simplest forms. Island. City. City. Island.

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