Located at Sweetwater Mooring on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, it boasts a fine dining floating restaurant, a riverside terrace, a garden, a sister ship that sells drinks and gelato and plenty of space to stretch out alongside the River Lee Navigation canal.
It even offers paddleboard, kayak and canoe hire and that’s before you even mention the connections to DJs, live music and entertainers.
Fine dining is available on board – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
flexible options for all kinds of function
“We’ve got space at Barge East for almost any type of function, from weddings to corporate away-days and festival-style summer parties,” said Stuart ‘Tommo’ Thomson, one of the three founders of the business.
“We’ve got restaurants, with outdoor menus and terrace menus, with Parisian bistro-style, and our street food menus with amazing burgers.
We’ve got food across different price points, and all of it is sustainably sourced, using responsible suppliers.
“There’s our 125-year-old Dutch barge and the Milk Float, a more modern wide beam vessel with a beautiful sun deck that overlooks the London Stadium.”
Executive chef Kayla Dimmick and her team hard at work in the venue’s kitchen – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
In addition to adding this new ship to the fleet, Barge East is also now operating the Moo Canoes hire business, allowing people to explore east London’s waterways via stand up paddleboard, canoe or kayak.
“We can offer all sorts of activities and events at Barge East for groups of any size.
“We can organise garden games, entertainers and live music outside and we’re happy to signpost Bola Beach Tennis next to us and work alongside them in collaboration.
“Companies are welcome to use Barge East for a whole day or use us as a base to explore the area.
“There’s so much going on around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Hackney Wick.
“We’ve even introduced a litter-picking day every month where groups go out on the boats, help clear the waterways and then swap the bag of rubbish they’ve collected for a beer.”
Barge East offers bistro style dining on the canalside – image by Barge East
space for summer parties
Barge East is located a short walk from Hackney Wick station and can also be easily accessed from Stratford.
The boat itself can handle standing receptions for up to 80, while its Terrace and Gardens can take up to 150 and 300 respectively.
The Milk Float is suitable for standing parties of up to 80 and all of the venue’s spaces can be booked in combination.
Barge East offers a wide range of party packages starting at £15 per head.
Executive chef Kayla Dimmick oversees all the food on-site including dishes created with ingredients from the venue’s edible garden.
Those seeking a deal can visit Barge East’s Terrace on weekdays from noon-4pm to indulge in its £10 lunch offer and enjoy a Chicken Burger or Mushroom Burger with a drink for a tenner.
The Milk Float has joined the Barge East fleet – image by Barge East
When Cody Dock’s Heritage Pavilion opens later this year, the exhibitions it displays will be sheltered by a tangible link to the area’s past.
The structure will use the fully restored Frederick Kitchen lifeboat as its roof, protecting visitors from the elements.
One of the last boats to be built at the Thames Ironworks, just downriver from its new home, the vessel’s story includes a period of three decades where it was used to rescue imperilled mariners off the coast of Wales.
We’ll be taking a deeper dive into the boat’s history later this year when the new facility opens on the banks of the Lea.
But before the paint goes on and it’s flipped over and hoisted onto the pavilion walls, we wanted to take advantage of this point in its history to celebrate the many different skills being used to restore and preserve the vessel ahead of that next chapter and feature the craftspeople engaged in the work.
Tom Myers is overseeing the project as restoration manager and has been working on the Frederick Kitchen for two years.
“I grew up on an old Dutch barge in east London, moving between various waterways,” he said.
“When I was about eight years old, we settled in Canning Town at Cody Dock on the River Lea.
“Living on the water, I fell in love with boats.
“I got into woodworking and decided to become a carpenter when I left school – naturally I went towards working with boats and that’s what I’ve stuck with.
“Carpentry gives you a really good base for that – it helps you understand materials, how they should be engineered and used.
“I love working with timber and different kinds of wood.
“Over the past 18 months I’ve been working on the Frederick Kitchen full-time and it’s become my life – it doesn’t feel like a job, it feels like a thing I have to do.
“After I studied boat building, I had a lot of knowledge from my course, but not a lot of confidence.
“With this project, everything seemed really daunting at first, but I’ve just had to go for it and I’ve learned a lot.”
The boat will eventually be used as the roof of Cody Dock’s Heritage Pavilion – image by James Perrin
from shipwreck to a roof
Made primarily from a type of mahogany, the Frederick Kitchen was crafted at the absolute zenith of wooden boat building on the Thames and also features elm, oak and now Douglas fir in her construction.
Tom said: “This project isn’t about restoring it to put it back in the water – it was about taking a shipwreck and turning it into a viable roof for the pavilion.
“It had essentially been left to rot and was too far gone to bring back to sailing.
“You’d be better off just building a new boat.
“When we started, there were plants growing in its timbers and you could see daylight though parts of the hull.
“But this is how it can be preserved for people in the local area in a way that shows off how it was built, providing a direct link to history.
“There’s also an echo of the Vikings who once lived on this side of the Lea – they used to use their old boats as roofs for buildings.
“What we’re doing is using traditional boat building techniques to make a waterproof shell to protect the building beneath.
“When we’re finished, the boat’s exterior will look very much as it did when she was in service as a lifeboat, with red, white and blue paint and an RNLI badge.
“Inside you’ll be able to see the layers of history where we’ve revealed parts of the structure that would originally have been boxed off.
“For example, the boat has been built with two layers of planking for strength and to reduce weight, which we’ve revealed so people can see how it was put together.”
Tom decided to become a carpenter with a special interest in boats – image by James Perrin
no right angles
Originally weighing around 10 tonnes, Tom and the team have removed the boat’s cast iron keel to drop the craft’s mass to a more manageable 4.5 tonnes, replacing the metal with a wooden replica.
Tom said: “We used Douglas fir to make a piece that only weighs about 120kg.
“It was probably my favourite part of the project so far.
“We ripped the tree right down the middle with a huge band saw, seasoned the two pieces then flipped them round and glued them together for extra strength.
“We also replaced the cutwater, which is at the front of the boat and helps it glide through the water.
“Traditionally you’d look for a piece of timber that had the right curve or use steam to bend a piece.
“I decided to build a mould in the right shape and then used oak structural veneers, laminated together, to create the shape.
“It was very difficult to do, but it’s also one of the most satisfying things I’ve done.
“Finding shipwrights like Laurie and Lucian to work on the project has also been great.
“The tools might be the same or similar, but their approach to working with wood is different.
“If you’re making a cabinet as a carpenter it’s all straight lines and perfect fits.
“But the Frederick Kitchen is all curves – there are no right angles anywhere.
“You can do as much maths as you like but in the end you have to learn the art of making things fit.
“We’ve been cutting out rotten planks and replacing them with new timber, scarf-jointed to the old wood. We’ve even made our own bolts from bronze.
“The techniques used to build the Frederick Kitchen originally were pretty much as good as it got in terms of using wood to make boats.
“But nobody thought people would want to see the construction – the interior would have just been grey all over.
“Restoring it can be tough. No matter what modern equipment you have, working on an old boat is challenging.
“They weren’t built to be restored. You’re going to hurt your knees, your back.
“It’s a physical task in some quite demanding ways.
“You’re squeezing into awkward positions and then having to do precise work – finding timber that looks OK and then discovering it’s rotten under the surface and there’s a lot more to do than you thought.
“Knowing when to stop is a big part of a project like this, but the whole process has been really enjoyable and, because it’s wood, it will always need maintenance, so I have a job for life.”
Scroll down to meet some of the other people helping with the restoration.
Visitors to Cody Dock’s forthcoming Spring Forward event on April 18, 2026, will also be able to catch up on the progress of its Heritage Pavilion project.
key details: Spring Forward at Cody Dock
Cody Dock’s Spring Forward event is set to take place on April 18, 2026, from noon-6pm.
The day will feature workshops, stalls, live music, performances, exhibitions, a plant sale, free bike repair and refreshments from the new on-site cafe and bar.
Shipwright Laurie Watkins is working on the project – image by James Perrin
LAURIE WATKINS
shipwright
“I grew up in Essex on a little river with little boats,” said Laurie, who’s been helping to restore the Frederick Kitchen for a little under a year.
“Now I live in London on a barge, just upriver from Cody Dock.
“I generally work on Thames sailing barges and was refitting one in Kent prior to coming here. I didn’t always want to be a shipwright.
“My dad had a keen interest in boats through his dad and he encouraged me when I was a child.
“But, like most young people I rebelled against my parents a bit. I think I absorbed some things, though and came back to it.
“I didn’t go to college or do official training programmes, I just saw boats and would hassle the owners and builders to let me come and do mundane tasks so then they’d let me help with more interesting bits.”
Laurie’s extensive experience has seen him maintain and sail some of the Thames’ most iconic vessels including working on the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
Craftspeople often have to squeeze themselves into tight places – image by James Perrin
“We are lucky to rebuild these boats in an age when we have a lot of mechanical advantages, such as power tools,” he said.
“They relieve a lot of the strain and stress, which can be challenging.
“When I started at Cody Dock I was mostly repairing and replacing planks on the boat.
“The majority of it is still original and we’ve tried to retain as much as possible, but if you just patch things up now, you’d have to replace it in a few years.
“Nobody wants a roof that leaks.
“Because it’s not going back in the water we’re able to restore it sympathetically in line with how it would have been on the day it was built.
“We don’t have to worry about bringing it up to the regulations you need to sail a boat.
“We’re getting to the point where there are now more bits going back into the boat than there are coming out, which is good.
“Initially the shape of it didn’t look right to me but after months of working on the project I realised that the way it had been built was really quite clever.
“The knowledge they had when they were building these boats more than 100 years ago was vast compared with what we know today.
“If you make too many changes you’ll lose the way the boat was made.
“It’s about preserving all the weird little things in the original and working out why they were done that way.
“What I really enjoy is solving those puzzles from the past.
“The amazing thing about boats is that building and maintaining them is such a vast thing – there’s woodworking, metalworking, rigging and then sailing them or operating them using motors.
“It’s been great to welcome kids of primary school age to see what we’re doing, but I wish this sector was presented to more youngsters as a career option.
“It’s perfect for certain people.”
Shipwright Lucian Hawkes now works for himself following an apprenticeship – image by James Perrin
LUCIAN HAWKES
shipwright
“I was apprenticed for four years in Maldon, Essex– the town I was brought up in – learning the rudiments of the trade in a little boatyard there,” said Lucian.
“During that time, I spent some of it with Laurie, working on the Cutty Sark.
“Then, after my apprenticeship, I started working for myself, mainly in Essex and some in Kent.
“I’m now back in London, having a fantastic time working on this heritage vessel.
“I became a shipwright because of time and place.
“I’ve always been incredibly appreciative of Maldon and its strong involvement with the craft of looking after boats.
“We have our own Thames barges there and I fell in love with the romantic idea of playing with wood all day.
“I’ve been on this project for three weeks as I was aware there was a bit of a time crunch and the work has been very varied and most enjoyable.
“I was asked to rectify the aft deck where we have to reattach the remaining deck beams – oak for the most part.
“They are half-dovetailed in and now we’re onto the planking, which is a lovely member of the mahogany family called utile.
Lucian says learning from the ways boat builders worked in the past is inspiring – image by James Perrin
“It’s quite interesting, because, due to the sweep or curve of the planks, they render straighter as you go through, so you don’t have any which are short, meaning there are no weak points.
“I like the idea of helping to repurpose something that was used 100 years ago.
“It’s like a palimpsest – you can put layer on layer over each other, whether for practical or community purposes.
“When you’re doing a project like this you try to make it look as though you were never there.
“It’s not for the faint-hearted, but the preservation of these skills and trades can only be done from person-to-person.
“You can read every book under the sun, but you’re not going to be a shipwright at the end of it.
“There’s a great deal of knowledge here – that’s why I like working with Laurie.
“He’s ever so good at what he does and he’s very involved with boats in the local area.
“That does it for me.
“I would argue that the learning starts when you’ve got your qualification.
“It’s very interesting on a project like the Frederick Kitchen to try and work out how the people who built it did what they did.
“It’s important not to leave your own stamp on things too much because they had generations of experience and a bloody good idea of what they were doing.
“You find there was always a very good reason for doing it the way they chose to.
“I’d recommend this trade to anyone looking for a fulfilling way of life.”
Ben Bradford has spent considerable time caulking the gaps between the Frederick Kitchen’s planks with rope – – image by James Perrin
BEN BRADFORD
carpenter + caulker
“I first came to Cody Dock about eight years ago,” said Ben.
“I studied architecture at Central Saint Martins, which is where I first met architect Nicolas Henniger, who’s responsible for most of the buildings here.
“We worked together for a long time doing a lot of furniture and bespoke carpentry.
“When I learnt that the boat was coming down, I asked to join the project because I love this place.
“It’s really unique – there aren’t many places in London that have a story that is not being eradicated.
“I’m an artist, but realised it’s hard to make money, so teachers gradually pushed me into design and then architecture.
“While it was funnelling me into a precise field, I knew it was also a channel that would allow me to open up again.
“Perhaps architecture makes me better at carving wood somehow and understanding three dimensional forms.
“The people at Cody Dock had seen me working on the buildings here – I’m pretty adaptable.
“I think they like that I will do almost any job including soda blasting, which is the environmentally safe way we used to strip down the boat’s timbers.
“It’s similar to sand blasting.
“It gives you great feet – my boots would fill with baking soda every day, I’d go home and it would peel off the top layer of skin and I’d have the softest soles ever.
Ben works to create a watertight seal between the timbers – image by Ben Bradford
“I’ve also done the caulking on the boat, which is a traditional form of waterproofing where you force material into the gaps between the planks and seal it with resin. It’s a lost skill.
“If water does get in then it just seals itself.
“At first I was doing half a seam a day, but worked out that you don’t need to use the hammer that much and just a twist of a chisel gets the caulk into the groove.
“Then the speed was ridiculous and the quality was close to what it would have been originally.
“In the end I was doing six full seams a day, getting into the flow.
“I learnt that if you do all the seams and then compact them, you get a much more even displacement of the wood and a better seal.
“The wood constantly moves. If you’re sitting by the boat when the sun comes up, you can hear the cracks as it changes shape as the temperature rises.
“When you’re taking the boat apart and looking at it, you can see the decisions that were made, and you naturally want to do as good a job as possible.
“You definitely feel connected to the original builders even though we’re 100 years apart.
“I’ve absolutely loved it – it’s very rare to get a job that lets your mind really contribute to the work.
“I’m weirdly attached to it. I’ve lost sleep thinking about how it will finally be craned into place. It’s scary having put in all this work.”
“I’m a coach-builder and fabricator, who initially trained as a designer in the automotive industry,” said Laurent.
“In 2013, I started my own business, having moved to the UK from France in 2007.
“We are a small team – three people – two directors (myself and my wife), and Stuart, who joined us over a year ago in the workshop.
“Metal is our medium and we use all types of material – copper, aluminium, brass.
“The biggest part of the business is working on classic vehicles.
“Tom approached us because there was some metalwork to do on the boat – quite intricate, specialised work, that not all fabricators can do.
“We’re installing copper cladding on what used to be the boat’s engine bay.
“Originally it would have protected the wood from oil spillages.
“The original parts had completely perished having corroded over the years.
“They asked us if we could do something about it, so we looked at it and thought we could produce something very close to the original design.
“It’s not too dissimilar from what we do with vintage cars, because it’s from the same era – right in the middle of the Edwardian period, the 1910s and 1920s.
“We’re using thin sheet metal to clad the timber bay, following the contours of the frame. The process is very much what a tailor or seamstress would do.
“We start with cardboard or paper templates, and then we use them to shape the metal to suit the boat structure.
“The pieces overlap and are pinned together to make everything as seamless as possible.
“Fitting it is a gamble and one of the reasons we make it in sections so it can be adapted on-site.
Laurent and Stuart install the copper on the boat – image by James Perrin
“We’re working remotely after measuring up so we only know how it will fit in reality on the day.
“Altogether we have nine pieces of metal to fit.
“Nothing on the boat is straight so we know we’ll have to adapt it to some extent.
“It’s not an exact replica of what would have been there but it’s a strong evocation of how it would have looked so people can see that.
“The fitting will be done by hand – we’ll be using hammers, mallets, caulking and chasing tools to make it fit nicely.
“Copper is very malleable, so we can work it fairly well, although it does harden over time. We’re really honoured, privileged and happy to be working on this project.
“There’s a nice energy at Cody Dock and the people are wonderful.
“It’s great to have the opportunity to meet people from other trades on a project like this.
“There are so many people out there recycling, recreating, transforming things, we need people with hand skills more than ever.”
Danny O’Sullivan has lent his contacts and expertise to the project – image by James Perrin
DANNY O’SULLIVAN
consultant + timber expert
Defining Danny’s role in the Frederick Kitchen project is tough, given the wide range of ways he’s contributed to Cody Dock over the years.
“I specialise in wood recycling in London and, before that, I was volunteer number one for the Brighton And Hove wood recycling project,” he said.
“Recycling wood is easy because it’s just there – slicing up old trees is my speciality.
“I have a special portable saw called a Wood-Mizer, which you can run a 4.5 tonne log through.
“When they’re doing the boat, if they can’t get the wood they need then I’m here to help.
“That’s my consultancy role.
“I grew up seeing my dad work wood for wheels – elm for the hub because of its stability. It’s my favourite timber, the pin-stripe of wood.
“It’s incredible when you look at it – my desk at Citywood I made from a large piece of oiled-up elm and it’s just amazing.
“It’s really strong and sturdy, which makes it great for building boats.
“In my life I’ve always wanted to help people who want to help themselves and Tom’s like that.
“Nowadays, people expect a mini-digger machine to come and dig the hole for them. In my day, you just asked for a pick and a shovel.
“When Tom asked, I told him I could get him a piece of Douglas fir long enough to make the keel of the boat.
“I’d found some for people restoring a windmill near Blackpool, so I took Tom to the same place– a sawmill in East Sussex – and asked them to treat him well.
“They showed him the tree they were going to cut it from and two weeks later it was ready. He asked me to cut it down the middle with the Wood-Mizer.”
Over the years, Danny has worked with artists, architects and builders.
He’s lived in squats, fought a campaign against the M11 and come to Cody Dock’s rescue on numerous occasions.
As a fixer he even helped out with moving the Frederick Kitchen to its current location, closer to the spot where the heritage pavilion is going to be built.
He said: “A date had been set to move the boat and a guy had said he’d bring a trailer to put it on and move it down the roadway next to the dock.
“The day before, Tom contacted me and said we couldn’t move it because the trailer wasn’t long enough.
“I told him I’d seen one down in Dartford and I managed to track it down and negotiate the hire of it.
“The tractor driver was 21 and he was so confident, really brilliant.
“I was revelling in the fact that it was these young people who had taken over and were making this happen.
“One day they were saying it couldn’t be done and the next day it was.”
Cody Dock is set to host its latest Frost Fair at the end of the month with a packed programme of activities and attractions.
The event, which is free to attend, will feature a local makers’ market, live music and games.
There will also be workshops for visitors to participate in including wreath making and sustainable wrapping paper printing.
Food will be provided by German Deli and Milagros with drinks – including mulled wine – from the Cody Dock bar.
Also on show during the day will be a series of artworks from River Of Hope, a project that saw school pupils work with artists at Cody Dock to creatively respond to the Lea and the environment around it.
As part of the Thames Festival Trust’s Totally Thames festival, the resulting pieces by five Newham secondary schools and nine primary schools were first displayed in September at Cody Dock, beside the Millennium Bridge and at Compressor House in Royal Docks.
Some of those by secondary schools shown at the latter will also feature at Frost Fair, while others have made the journey to COP30 in Brazil.
Two of the artworks created as part of River Of Hope – images supplied by Thames Festival Trust
two years in the making
Kate Forde, Thames Festival Trust head of education and engagement, said: “River Of Hope has been a two-year programme that’s worked in five regions around the UK as well as in France and Ethiopia.
“The aim, through partnerships, is to connect people with their local environment, specifically with their rivers and waterfronts, as well as elevate the work of young people.
“Their pieces are showcased in different ways at international festivals all around the country.
“In Norfolk, for example, we installed artwork on the sails of boats and had a procession of vessels come down the river.
“In London, our environmental partner is Cody Dock and they’ve been perfect for the project.
“With the primary schools, they all visit the site and a lot of professional development for the teachers is involved with the aim of inspiring a more creative approach to teaching and learning.
“Through the geography curriculum they deliver a term’s worth of work around River Of Hope with the final output being the artwork – in this case a series of flags that are already on display at Cody Dock.
“At both secondary and primary level we can see the long-term impact of the project is making them relevant.
“Since Covid, schools are much more reluctant to do outdoor visits, but learning in this way is so beneficial.
“Feedback from the teachers has been that these experiences at all ages were such a leveller – seeing kids who may have been disruptive in the classroom really coming into their own.
“It really does highlight the importance of a variety of approaches to learning.
“The project is very much also about leaving a legacy there, whether it’s the artwork being displayed or the schools knowing about and being able to access resources such as the ones at Cody Dock on their doorsteps.
“In addition to the flags by the primary schools – made using marbling techniques with artist Fiona Grady – the works that will be shown at Frost Fair have been created by Newham secondary schools in collaboration with artist Shona Watt and poet Dauda Ladejobi.
“These have been reproduced on silk as three metre-high hangings and they’re really extraordinary.
“It’s the students’ take on what they learnt and their feelings about climate change globally, what’s happening in the world and their hopes for the future.”
Area’s population has had a hand in philanthropy, the foundation of unions, workers and women’s rights and female suffrage
Today the Bryant And May Match Factory has been converted into residential apartments, but it was once the scene of a history-making strike – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
The relentless digital news machines deliver a steady diet of shock and awe at callous acts of brutality by humans the world over.
One antidote to this pipeline of 24-hour misery is to take a step back from the present to look back and realise how far we’ve come in some areas.
Roughly six and a half generations ago (191 years, to be exact), it was legal in Britain for one person to own another. It took a further 31 years for the USA to abolish slavery.
The freedoms and rights we enjoy today all have their roots in the toil and struggle of people who led lives unimaginably impoverished compared with our own and – in the grand scheme of things – not all that long ago.
This is precisely why we need to study history and develop places that showcase and highlight the collective achievements and missteps of our species.
An artist’s impression of how Cody Dock’s Heritage Pavilion will look when installed – image by Cody Dock
a Heritage Pavilion on the River Lea
That is one of the missions that Cody Dock, an ecological regeneration project on the edge of Canning Town, is undertaking through its Heritage Pavilion project.
The structure will be built as part of a £1.6million National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, using the restored hull of Welsh lifeboat the Frederick Kitchen – likely the last vessel built at the Thames Ironworks – as its roof.
The glazed space will host quarterly exhibitions on the history of the area, with a special focus on the River Lea.
As anticipation builds for the pavilion’s launch, this is the second in a series of articles in a partnership between Wharf Life and Cody Dock to draw attention to some of the topics that will be featured.
The banks and marshlands around rivers are well known for their fertility.
The nutrient-heavy silts washed up by the constant flow of water, make for rich soils and abundant growth.
Factor in their historic use as corridors of trade, transport and migration and it’s little wonder that city waterways conveyed similar prosperity on the operations along their banks.
The Lea once bristled with industries that demanded sprawling communities of workers.
This human tide, forced to contend with extraordinary deprivation and shocking conditions, was in itself a potent force and one of the reasons east London has played an outsize role in the nation’s social history.
Here, people stood up, fought for better lives and succeeded. The four stories below aim to offer a flavour of just some of their remarkable achievements.
Harper Twelvetrees based his Imperial Chemical Works alongside the Lea – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
echoes of the past along the River Lea
Close to West Ham station, Berkeley Group is currently building a housing development called TwelveTrees Park.
That branding isn’t a reference to some long forgotten copse with a dozen pines, but a name from history.
The scheme is located on land near Twelvetrees Crescent, a road named for entrepreneur, factory owner, chemist, writer, campaigner and inspiring philanthropist, Harper Twelvetrees.
In his time, much of east London was a patchwork of industrial operations and slums, the latter housing the workers for the former.
The author Charles Dickens visited nearby Canning Town and wrote in 1857: “The houses are built in rows; but there being no roads, the ways are so unformed that the parish will not take charge of them.
“We come to a row of houses built with their backs to a stagnant ditch.
“We turn aside to see the ditch and find that it is a cesspool, so charged with corruption, that not a trace of vegetable matter grows upon its surface, bubbling and seething with the constant rise of the foul products of decomposition, that the pool pours into the air.
“The filth of each house passes through a short pipe straight into this ditch and stays there.”
Later on the same visit, he finds “three ghostly little children lying on the ground, hung with their faces over another pestilential ditch, breathing the poison of the bubbles as it rose and fishing about with their hands in the filth for something, perhaps for something nice to eat”.
Dickens’ bitterly ironic depiction of the dirty, blighted lives of the workers and their families around Bidder Street near the Lea is a stark picture of the kinds of conditions people endured a little over a century and a half ago in the name of industrial progress.
While plenty of business owners were content to exploit their employees, others had more progressive, compassionate ideas.
Born in Bedfordshire and originally apprenticed as a printer and a bookseller, Harper Twelvetrees developed an interest in chemistry.
Moving to London in 1848 he initially sold laundry products from other manufacturers in Holborn while working on a plan to make his own.
Having set up a small factory in Islington, in 1858 he moved production to a larger site on the banks of the River Lea at Bromley-By-Bow, just over the water from Three Mills.
Moving to the heart of the complex himself, he set about improving the lives of his workers – 400 at the peek of his Imperial Chemical Works’ success.
He built rows of cottages to house them, invested in a library, opened a lecture theatre, put on evening classes, organised sewing circles, created a clothing club and hosted non-denominational services.
There was even support for sick workers through a benevolent fund.
In 1861, the Stratford Times wrote: “Instead of dirty, narrow lanes bounded by high walls, now there are to be seen neat, commodious and well-built cottages, flanking tidy roads.
“The old population is losing its distinctive traits before a new, fresh and vigorous class that is rapidly settling amongst them and giving an air of busy life and incessant occupation to a place, which once wore an empty gloom hardly redeemed by the wild rush of waters roaring in the adjacent mill-stream.”
Philanthropy can be fragile, however.
Twelvetrees’ deal to sell his business in 1865 went bad, resulting in bankruptcy, although he did start up again on the other side of Bow at Cordova Works off Grove Road, eventually going on to produce washing machines and mangles.
A blue plaque marking the location in Bromley-By-Bow of the Match Girls’ Strike – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
lighting a fire
Collective effort is where lasting gains are often made.
While some workers in east London were relatively well treated by those making money off their sweat, others were not.
In July 1888, the women and teenage girls working at the Bryant & May match factory in Bow went out on strike.
There had been previous periods of industrial action over pay and punitive fines – sanctioning the often barefoot workers for dirty feet, untidy workbenches, lateness and dropped matches – but they had all failed.
1888, however, was different.
Atrocious working conditions including 14-hour days and the horrific ravages of phossy jaw – an industrial disease caused by exposure to the white phosphorus used in match production which killed a fifth of sufferers – were taking a terrible toll.
Social activists Annie Besant and Herbert Burrows became involved in the cause, publishing an article that angered managers at the factory, who attempted to get their workers to sign a statement repudiating its claims.
When they refused, a worker was fired – it was the spark that ignited the strike, with 1,400 women and girls walking out – probably on July 2.
Four days later, the whole factory had ceased to function.
The women had gone to visit Besant to enlist her help and with her support and the backing of some MPs, the strike generated significant publicity.
Besant – a prominent campaigner of a wide range of social and political issues – assisted in the negotiations and the workers were successful in getting unfair fines and deductions for materials abolished as well as a new grievance procedure with direct access to management.
A separate room for meals was also provided to prevent contamination of their food with poisonous phosphorus.
In the aftermath of the strike, the workers founded the Union Of Women Matchmakers – the largest such organisation of women and girls in the country at the time.
Their efforts inspired a wave of organising among industrial workers, the mothers of change.
fighting for workers’ rights
Canning Town Library played a significant role in that process.
In 1889 it was the venue for the formation of the National Union of Gas Workers and General Labourers.
Will Thorne, Ben Tillett and William Byford founded the organisation in response to lay-offs at Beckton Gasworks, with the former elected as its general secretary.
The organisation rapidly launched a successful campaign for an eight-hour working day, with its membership then rising to more than 20,000.
It was the start of a labour movement that eventually became the GMB union, which today has more than half a million members.
Also in 1889, the London Dock Strike saw a walkout by some 100,000 workers.
They won their pay claim for the introduction of the Dockers’ Tanner – a guaranteed rate of sixpence an hour – precipitating extensive unionisation across the sector.
It was against this backdrop that Labour Party founder Keir Hardie was invited to successfully stand for election as MP for West Ham South.
He represented the seat from 1892-1895.
A mural on the side of the Lord Morpeth pub celebrating the work of Sylvia Pankhurst and the East London Federation Of Suffragettes – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
women and equality
East London continued to play a crucial role in the development of workers and women’s rights.
From 1914 until 1924, 400 Old Ford Road in Bow was the headquarters of the East London Federation Of Suffragettes (ELFS), an organisation committed to getting women the vote and one based not far from where the match girls stuck their blow.
It was also the home of Sylvia Pankhurst and her fellow campaigner Norah Smyth as well as the location of their Women’s Hall – a radical social centre run largely by and for local working class women.
This included a larger space with a capacity of up to 350 and a smaller hall for about 50 – all furnished with tables and benches made with wood from supporter George Lansbury’s timber yard.
When the First World War led to unemployment and rising food prices, the hall opened a restaurant serving hot meals at cost-price with free milk for children.
Having broken with her mother – Emmeline Pankhurst’s Women’s Social And Political Union – Sylvia and the ELFS used east London as a base.
The group held marches through the neighbourhood, organised large public meetings, benefit concerts and parties as well as producing a weekly newspaper called The Women’s Dreadnought.
Other activities included opening a cooperative toy factory that paid a living wage to its female workers and even offered a crèche.
While the ELFS’s name changed over the years it remained active until 1924.
Today, the Suffragettes’ activities are remembered in a mural on the side of the neighbouring Lord Morpeth pub.
It’s stories like these that Cody Dock’s Heritage Pavilion will help showcase in greater depth when it opens next year.
Additional research by Cody Dock’s Julia Briscoe
key details: Frost Fair at Cody Dock
Cody Dock offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities and runs regular events and activities aimed at engaging with the local community.
They help us make sense of who we are and where we are.
Whether passed mouth-to-mouth or written down, they have been the main conduit for human communication down the centuries.
Even in the age of social media, where video is the dominant force, we can’t do without explanation – an editorial take on what’s being presented.
Images alone are not enough, we have to tell each other what they mean through captions or voiceovers.
The world over, the recording and telling of tales about the world defines our species – bees in the hive doing a complicated waggledance to tell others where the honey is and whether it’s any good.
The Greeks and Romans had their philosophical dialogues, their myths and their plays. The Vikings had their sagas and the people of Wessex and England had the Anglo Saxon Chronicle.
Replica Viking longship the Saga Farmann sails up the Thames on its way to the Classic Boat Festival at St Katharine Docks on September 6 and 7, 2025 – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
first, a bit of context
As part of a £1.6million National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, its Lighting Up The Lea initiative will see a home for history created on the banks of the river.
The roof of its glass Heritage Pavilion will be the Frederick Kitchen – a Welsh lifeboat that was probably the last vessel built at the Thames Ironworks.
It is currently being restored on-site and has stories of its own to tell.
When work is finished, its hull will shelter quarterly exhibitions about the history of the River Lea and the lands along its length – stories for the people who are here now, drawing them closer to the past.
As that project sails steadily onwards, Wharf Life will be working in partnership with Cody Dock to dip readers’ toes in some of the extraordinary tales that London’s second largest natural waterway has been a party to over the centuries.
In more recent times the area has been fertile ground for social change and industrial endeavour, but for this article we’re going back a bit further…
An artist’s impression of Cody Dock’s new Heritage Pavilion, which is set to be built on the banks of the River Lea – image by Cody Dock
Viking aggression on the River Lea
There are ships sailing up the Lea.
It’s 894 AD – 1,131 years ago – and Danish Vikings from Mersea Island in Essex are progressing up the river.
Their aim is to build a fortress roughly 20 miles north of London.
It’s a febrile time, but for a while there has been peace.
After King Alfred of Wessex defeated Danish warlord Guthrum and the Great Heathen Army in 878, the Lea took on a new significance – it became a border, a line of division through a marshy landscape of wetlands.
The Treaty Of Alfred And Guthrum – which survives to this day in the collection of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge – officially created that frontier.
Different gods, different ways of life, but a pledge of loyalty by the Danes to Alfred in return for peace – an accord that included a schedule for “weregild” or man price.
This was a fine that would be paid by one side to the other should there be future killings, with the amounts subject to the status of the victims.
Alfred also insisted Guthrum convert to Christianity and be baptised as his godson, taking the name Æthelstan.
For a while the Danelaw, as it became known, worked.
The Vikings had their substantial chunk of England and the Anglo Saxons had theirs.
But change is a constant. It couldn’t last. Guthrum died in 890.
a test for Wessex
Now the Danes are restless and flexing.
Their voyage up the Lea is a test of Wessex and Alfred’s resolve, directly on the border.
Their arrival prompts swift action.
First a local force of Saxons rises up and routs the provocateurs as they are constructing their fortifications.
Then Alfred arrives and messes with the river itself.
Exactly where and how is unclear – he may have dammed it, obstructed it or fortified it – but both banks are likely involved.
This may have been in what we now know as east London or further upstream, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle isn’t completely clear.
Suddenly, though, the Danes find themselves unable to escape in their ships and they flee with the Saxon army in hot pursuit.
Eventually they wind up in Shropshire.
The tale, however. doesn’t end there. Londoners sail some of the abandoned Viking ships back down the Lea in triumph, breaking up any that are unserviceable.
While we can’t be certain, there’s every possibility that these captured vessels provided vital intelligence and inspiration, with King Alfred ordering a series of long ships built just one year later – vessels with 60 oars or more that would prove decisive in naval battles against the Danes on the south coast.
So next time you take a walk along the River Lea, remember it was once a dividing line between two countries, that its waters are rich with history and that the aftermath of a battle fought somewhere along its length a little over a thousand years ago may have led to what many regard as the birth of the English Navy.
from Vikings to monks
This story of Viking unrest, religious diplomacy and clever military tactics is far from the only tale of the Lea in pre-industrial times.
In a valley carved out by the meltwater of the ice age, the river has a long and complex narrative, much of which is sadly lost to the passage of time.
We know Old Ford is where the Romans crossed on their way to Colchester.
We know the river’s course has changed radically through human action – the felling of forests, the draining of marshes, the digging of culverts and the creation of fish traps and channels for water mills.
Today it’s part of the boundary between Tower Hamlets and Newham, but it’s also divided Essex and Middlesex and was once fortified as a potential line of defence during the Second World War.
But there’s much to be gained by looking further back.
Few, for example, may know that Abbey Road station on the DLR and the street it serves are echoes of Stratford Langthorne Abbey.
Little is left, but this institution exerted a profound influence on the area for 400 years some 240 after the Vikings were sailing up and down.
From its creation in 1135, the abbey acquired much land, farming the surrounding marshes and cutting channels to lessen the risk of flooding.
It also owned and operated tidal mills on the River Lea that ground flour to make bread for the bakers of Stratford-Atte-Bow who supplied the City Of London.
There are even reports that a small river port was created to serve the needs of both the institution’s monks, lay brothers and other inhabitants.
It served as the court of King Henry III in 1267, where he met emissaries of the pope and made peace with the barons after the Battle Of Evesham.
It was also sacked during the peasants revolt – singled out as a Cistercian abbey for its “acquisitiveness in matters of land and tithes”.
An unpopular landlord, perhaps.
But by the time of the Dissolution Of The Monasteries under Henry VIII, the abbey was the fifth largest in England, easily on a level of importance with its sister institutions at Jervaulx, Rievaulx and Fountains in North Yorkshire.
a home for the stories
It’s stories like these that will be celebrated and explored under the mahogany curve of the Frederick Kitchen when Cody Dock’s Heritage Pavilion comes to fruition.
Here will be a place where Vikings and monks can come alive, overlooking the curves of the river that shaped their times.
One of the founding principles of the Gasworks Dock Partnership which is undertaking the ecological regeneration of Cody Dock is to provide engagement for local people.
By continuing to research and showcase the remarkable history of the area, it adds a further dimension to that work – offering a vessel for the living history of local residents and a way to present meaningful tales from the far flung past.
Today we smile and take photos of a replica Viking long ship sailing up the Thames to take part in a boat festival at St Katharine Docks.
But just imagine the terror and uncertainty spotting a host of Danes from Essex slipping quietly up the Lea must have generated.
What did they want? Why were they here? Who could we turn to? What a sight it must have been.
Additional research by Cody Dock’s Julia Briscoe
key details: River Lea heritage at Cody Dock
Cody Dock is located on the edge of Canning Town right beside the River Lea. The closest public transport is Star Lane DLR station.
The regeneration project offers a wide range of volunteering opportunities and runs regular events and activities aimed at engaging the local community with its work to regenerate the area and protect and record the wildlife of the River Lea.
You can find out more at its Lighting Up The Lea event on Saturday, September 20, 2025, which is free to attend from 11am-6pm.
Event on Saturday, September 20, 2025, will see visitors welcomed to the ecological regeneration project for art, workshops, exhibitions, performances and live music
Artist Zhiyan Cai will unveil her Cabinet Of Curiosity at Cody Dock’s Lighting Up The Lea event – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
Cody Dock is getting ready to host Lighting Up The Lea later this month.
The event, which will take place on Saturday, September 20, 2025, features workshops, exhibitions, performances, a plant sale, food stalls, live music and more as the ecological regeneration project throws wide its gates to the community.
The event is officially part of three festivals – Open House, Totally Thames and Newham Heritage Month – and will also see the unveiling of Cody Dock’s second Cabinet Of Curiosity.
Commissioned as part of the project’s National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, artist Zhiyan Cai has been asked to explore the pre-industrial history of the River Lea for the installation.
“I started off studying architecture and then worked in that industry for a year, but while it was an interesting thing to study, the work was boring,” she said.
“However, I did learn about structures, rendering animations.
“I started off making digital art for myself, but people liked what I created and so I thought it could be a pathway for me.
“I’m from China originally and I first came to the UK to study in Glasgow. I decided to move to London because of the opportunities to practise art here.”
Zhiyan, who has just completed a four-month residency at Arebyte Gallery in London City Island, responded to Cody Dock’s open call to create the next in its series of cabinets and won the commission.
Zhiyan’s prototype lightbox for her Cabinet Of Curiosity project – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
a portal to the past at Cody Dock
“I really wanted to make something 3D but, of course, everything we have from that time is either documents or 2D paintings,” she said.
“What I’m doing is using structures within the cabinet that will look three dimensional when viewed from the front.
“It will be like a portal people can feel like they’d pass through – like a magical door from Dr Who. It’s a great idea to bring a history from the abstract into real life.
“I also work with projector mapping so there will be animation involved.
“The piece I’ve created will be in the middle of the cabinet and I’ve worked with children in workshops at Cody Dock to help them build lightboxes inspired by the area’s history.
“The idea is to combine all these different angles on the past – from me, from local kids – and, that way, to build connection.”
Angles is the right word. Zhiyan’s light boxes use optical illusion to create a sense of depth and movement as the viewer literally changes the perspective in her creations by moving their heads.
She hopes her work will encourage visitors to take a fresh look at their surroundings with the content she has created – all inspired by the research she has done alongside Cody Dock’s Julia Briscoe into the area’s past.
“We visited archives and found out about the design of Stratford Langthorne Abbey, which was located near here and founded in 1135,” said Zhiyan.
“I’ve used that information to create a kind of gallery as a framing device – it’s like a memory hall, so people can see this area at different periods in time.
“It’s about the wetlands with the plants waving in the wind, the Vikings and the abbey itself. I live in Canning Town myself and it’s really interesting to find out about the history of the land along the river.
“I was surprised to learn about the life of the abbey and the farming that happened around it as well as the fact local people simply took the bricks after it was demolished after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.
“They used the stone to make new buildings.
“Things were always changing here – some of those materials may still exist in buildings in this areas and I hope my work helps to illustrate these things.”
A lightbox by one of Zhiyan’s young workshop participants – image by Zhiyan Cai
Lighting Up The Lea
In addition to seeing the new Cabinet Of Curiosity, visitors to Lighting Up The Lea will also be able to enjoy Dock Tours, try beeswax candle rolling, purchase Cody Dock honey, and see the site’s singular rolling bridge turn over.
Also on the agenda will be the chance to meet artist-in-residence Remiiya Badru who is working at Cody Dock over the course of a year to explore the area’s relationship with the textile calico and pigment Prussian Blue.
She will be inviting visitors to share their stories, inspired by items in the collection at V&A East Storehouse with the aim of producing an artwork related to her research.
Those interested in participating should sign up in advance for one of three Common Threads workshops to be held on the day.
“What will be here in the future is going to be fantastic,” said Luke Tredwell, sales and marketing director at Berkeley Capital.
“We are in an area where everything is coming together to create huge transformation, with thousands of homes and thousands of jobs.”
The part of east London he’s talking about is the corridor leading up the River Lea to Stratford where big plans are afoot.
While the city historically turned its back on the waterway as industrial transportation became the dominant activity along its length, developers are now seeing the capital’s second largest river as a prime asset.
When completed, the various schemes will see many new residents living on its banks, joining up the likes of East India, Canning Town, Bromley-By-Bow and West Ham.
What’s coming is important. Canny buyers will know that considering the future of a place when deciding where to invest is vital.
Understanding a development’s wider context is just as important as assessing the amenities it provides and those in the immediate area.
The development is in a strong position – the first two buildings in its initial phase have been well received and it recently launched The Millhouse, offering 92 one and two-bedroom apartments for private sale.
A show apartment at the development – image by Berkeley Group
creating community at Heron Wharf
“This is the last opportunity to buy a home in the first phase of Heron Wharf,” said Luke.
“The first two buildings are just completing and this is an exciting time as people start living here and forming a community.
“The Millhouse will be a really great addition because it includes a 20m swimming pool, spa, gym and a special salt room on its lower levels that are due to open next year.”
The sales launch of this latest block coincides with the unveiling of some 1.5 acres of Heron Wharf’s park.
This first phase includes expansive green space with views over the Lea and plans to retain part of an historic gasholder as a link to the site’s industrial past.
When complete, the finished 2,900-home scheme will see the park extend to 2.5 acres.
With swathes of planting and landscaping, the scheme has already had a big impact on local wildlife with a plan to increase biodiversity by 545%.
“That’s reflected in the name of Heron Wharf,” said Luke.
“It’s aspirational and, because this scheme is of a substantial size, it’s easier to have a greater impact on the environment.”
An artist’s impression of the residents’ pool at the development, which is on the first floor of The Millhouse building – image by Berkeley Group
services and amenities
The development will also provide a concierge service, a co-working space, a cinema room and a games room in addition to the exercise and wellbeing facilities at the Riverside Club.
In the 79,000sq ft of retail space on-site, residents can also look forward to using local shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, a supermarket and a crèche
But what can buyers at The Millhouse look forward to in the properties themselves?
“They have fantastic layouts, often with amazing views over the park, the river and towards Canary Wharf,” said Luke.
“Depending on what a buyer wants to get from the building, there will be a home in it for them.”
The apartments feature open-plan design and come with private balconies.
Buyers can expect integrated Bosch appliances in the kitchens, white sanitaryware and black fittings in the bathrooms and carpeted sleeping areas with built-in wardrobes for the main bedrooms.
Luke Tredwell, sales and marketing director at Berkeley Capital – image by Jon Massey / Wharf Life
Heron Wharf – well connected
Luke said: “The Millhouse marks the end of the beginning of a new way of living in east London.
“With serene green views, premium wellness facilities and the River Lea on the doorstep, the neighbourhood offers residents a unique blend of tranquillity and city connectivity.
“Heron Wharf continues to evolve into one of London’s most exciting new addresses and The Millhouse is right at its heart.”
Heron Wharf is located within about 10 minutes’ walk of East India DLR station, with Canning Town station a little further away.
Both offer rapid access to Canary Wharf, the city and other destinations across east London.
Those who prefer to get about on their own could opt to walk to the Wharf in less than 30 minutes of go by bike in around a quarter of an hour.
A series of bridges planned to cross the River Lea should improve pedestrian and cycle links in the area still further, allowing access to local amenities such as ecological regeneration project Cody Dock, which is just over the water.
In the immediate area, Aberfeldy Village, London City Island, Goodluck Hope and Trinity Buoy Wharf all offer amenities and places to eat and drink.
Further afield, residents can also easily access the likes of Stratford, the Wharf, the Isle Of Dogs and Greenwich as well as plentiful open spaces such as Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park and Royal Docks without having to travel very far.
It’s a place well worth checking out.
Apartments at The Millhouse come with private balconies – image by Berkeley Group
key details: The Millhouse at Heron Wharf
Homes at Heron Wharf are currently on sale with prices ranging from £455,000 to £930,000. Some are ready to move into now.
One and two-bedroom apartments at The Millhouse are expected to complete in May 2026 with prices starting at £460,000.
The plans include a £72million investment in the restoration of the site’s seven Grade II listed gas holders and boast extensive open space including a 4.2-acre park on the river bank.
An artist’s impression of the Bromley-By-Bow Gasworks development – image by Berkeley Group
prime brownfield: Bromley-By-Bow Gasworks
“This is one of the most challenging brownfield sites in the country and transforming it into thousands of sustainable, well-connected homes and a publicly accessible 4.2-acre river front park was always going to require a unique, collaborative solution,” said St William managing director Dean Summers.
“It is a testament to our brilliant partnerships with Historic England and the London Borough Of Newham and the invaluable input we have received from residents that we have reached this milestone and that we move one step closer to realising this site’s enormous potential.
“Private-public sector collaborations like these have never been more important as we continue to navigate challenging market conditions and work together to boost housing delivery and growth.”
The east London scheme features buildings constructed within the gas holders – image by Berkeley Group
from historic into the future
Regional director for Historic England in London and the South East, Tom Foxall, added: “These regeneration plans form Bromley-By-Bow Gasworks are an exemplar of how historic brownfield sites can be transformed into new developments that both help address the housing shortage and boost local economic growth, while embracing an area’s cherished heritage.”
The plans include 13 residential buildings, some of which will sit within the existing gas holder frames as well as 30,000sq ft of commercial space.
This latest scheme sits adjacent to Berkeley’s 22-year TwelveTrees Park development, which will deliver more than 3,800 homes on a site next to West Ham station and includes a new entrance to the transport hub.
A series of open spaces and parks will be created as part of the project – image by Berkeley Group
and beyond Bromley-By-Bow Gastworks, in Stratford and Beckton…
In addition to these schemes, St William was also granted planning permission in January for the long derelict Stratford Gasworks site.
Here the developer is set to build a 245-home development, designed in partnership with Cowen + Partners and LDA Design.
Its scheme responds to the nearby Grade II* listed Abbey Mills Pumping Station and a group of listed mid-19th century houses designed by sewer network creator Joseph Bazalgette.
St William has also submitted a planning application for Beckton Gasworks, a site close to the Thames, up the river from Royal Albert Dock.
Here the company plans to build around 2,900 new homes and more than 50,000 sq ft of commercial space on 12 hectares of land.
With permission granted for thousands of homes, buyers seeking properties on former industrial land won’t be short of choice in the coming years.
key details: Berkeley Group homes
While homes at Bromley-By-Bow Gasworks and the other industrial sites are not yet available to buy, those looking to secure a Berkeley-built property can find apartments for sale from £495,000 at TwelveTrees Park.
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
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
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.
Housing association Poplar HARCA is currently marketing a selection of 96 shared ownership properties on the west bank of the River Lea in east London.
The apartments form part of the wider Poplar Riverside development, which is currently under construction by Berkeley Homes and will eventually see 2,800 residences built on the site of a former gasworks.
Plans for the 20-acre site include a new one-hectare park with green spaces, play areas and extensive landscaping, commercial space for businesses and amenities, a freshly cleared riverside walk and a secondary school.
Poplar HARCA’s collection of one and two-bedroom apartments are spread across three buildings at the development.
Prospective buyers can expect open-plan living areas, fully fitted kitchens with Bosch appliances, rainfall showers in the bathrooms, underfloor heating, fitted window coverings and private outdoor spaces.
The apartments feature open-plan design – image by Simon Taylor / simontaylorphoto.com
facilities at Poplar Riverside
But Poplar Riverside offers buyers more besides what’s in their own property.
Residents will enjoy access to The Riverside Club, with planned facilities including a 20m swimming pool, jacuzzi and spa, a lounge area, co-working spaces, a games room and a private cinema.
“There are many reasons why buyers should consider looking to secure an apartment at east London’s Poplar Riverside,” said Helen Mason, head of sales and marketing at Poplar HARCA.
“The developer, Berkeley Homes Group, is an award-winning company with 40 years of experience and a proven history of delivering exceptional places for people to live, work and enjoy, with sustainability in mind.
“Poplar HARCA is an award-winning Housing Association in east London, helping to create a place where people, communities and business grow and thrive.
“Our sales team takes pride in making shared ownership simple and straight forward with our staff on hand throughout your journey to make it stress-free.
“Being a shared owner is one of the most flexible ways on the market to make your home your own.”
Location is of key importance to buyers and Poplar Riverside’s situation places it at the heart of widespread local regeneration.
It’s well located for East India DLR station as well as the Jubilee Line, DLR and bus services at Canning Town.
Canary Wharf is less than 30 minutes’ walk or a 10-minute bike ride.
Just across the Lea, ecological regeneration project Cody Dock is working to understand and boost local wildlife.
There are plans for three bridges in the area to increase connection across the water and shorten travel times to public transport stops.
Prices for shared ownership properties start at £105,000 for a 25% share of a one-bed based on a full market value of £420,000.
Two-beds start at £117,500 based on a full value of £470,000.
Assuming buyers purchase with a 95% mortgage that could mean 5% deposits on those properties of £5,250 and £5,875 respectively.
Poplar HARCA is offering one and two-bedroom properties at Poplar Riverside – image by Simon Taylor / simontaylorphoto.com
key details: Poplar Riverside
Poplar HARCA has two show flats for prospective buyers to view in two blocks at Poplar Riverside. For more information or to register your interest, email
sales.enquiries@poplarharca.co.uk or call 020 7538 6460.
