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East London Line: Shoreditch to New Cross and New Cross Gate

Shadwell Basin
Shadwell Basin

My original plan for this tubewalk didn't include the East London line, as it was closed in , and when it re-opens, it won't be part of the Tube network any more (it's going to be extended and included as part of London Overground instead). So I happily ignored it when planning my route, and thought nothing of it until someone posted to a London Underground blog saying that until it re-opens, the East London line is technically still part of the Underground, as London Underground is running a replacement bus service, thus effectively keeping the line open. So, here I am, walking the East London line, much to my surprise.

Shoreditch to Whitechapel

The Dew Drop Inn
The Dew Drop Inn

Shoreditch station closed in so that work could start on extending the East London line north to join the rest of the London Overground, but the bus replacement service still serves the station, so I thought I'd better start here. Predictably for a station that's been closed for two years, it's smothered in graffiti and looks a little forlorn, an image that isn't helped by the barking winos who live in the park next door. The City of London might be just a stone's throw away, on the other side of Brick Lane, but the City this ain't; this is Tower Hamlets, and a forgotten corner of Tower Hamlets it is too. As if on cue, it started to drizzle as I snapped away, and I was thankful that at least my photography wasn't irritating the local police, wherever they were.

Durward Street
Durward Street

Whitechapel to Shadwell

A tower block near Shadwell
A tower block near Shadwell

The stretch from Whitechapel to Shadwell has one theme: housing. The variety is impressive, from slightly grim-looking tower blocks to Victorian mansion blocks, with some good examples of good, modern social housing, as well as examples of why the 1960s weren't a particularly great decade for architects. There are building sites where glass-clad office blocks are rising into the sky, but for a lot of this section the architecture is old and slightly faded; there's enough renovated terracing to give the area a positive boost, though, and you come out the other end with a feeling that although it isn't terribly pretty, it probably will be one day, because the buildings have great character. All they need is a bit of repointing, a bit of a clean, and they'll be worth a fortune...

Shadwell to Wapping

Shadwell Basin
Shadwell Basin

The shops continue from the station down to The Highway, where things suddenly start to look a lot more polished. Turn south down Garnet Street and look for a sign pointing left into Shadwell Basin, and after negotiating a small set of steps, there, laid out in front of you, is a huge expanse of water, lined with attractive apartment blocks. Most of the London docks to the west of here were land-filled to save the cost of maintaining them, but Shadwell Basin, which is still connected to the Thames, was left alone, and the view east to Canary Wharf is lovely. Peeping over the trees to the east of the apartment blocks is the spire of St Paul's Church, which is traditionally known as the Church of Sea Captains; originally built in 1656 (though the current church dates from 1820) this was Captain James Cook's regular church, and John Wesley used to preach here.

A conversion in Wapping
A conversion in Wapping

Wapping to Rotherhithe

A commemorative sculpture in Cinnabar Wharf
A commemorative sculpture in Cinnabar Wharf

Although Wapping and Rotherhithe stations are within spitting distance of one another, only separated by the Thames, they're a long way apart by foot. The nearest pedestrian crossing (now that Brunel's tunnel is used for trains) is Tower Bridge, some way to the west, but this detour does contains some wonderfully atmospheric stretches of river bank, and it's a pleasure rather than a chore.

St Katherine Dock
St Katherine Dock
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church

Rotherhithe to Canada Water

Canada Water station
Canada Water station

It's a short walk from Rotherhithe station to Canada Water, but the transition is impressive. The housing around Rotherhithe station is relatively modest, but at the southern end of Swan Road there's an open green space, and on the other side the developers have really got stuck in. New apartment blocks are rising round here like mushrooms after rain, and the reason is just round the corner.

Canada Water to Surrey Quays

Canada Water nature reserve
Canada Water nature reserve

South of Canada Water station is Canada Water itself, a lake and wildlife refuge that was created out of the Canada Dock. This whole area was part of Surrey Commercial Docks, which stretched north and east all the way to the river, but as with the docks to the north of the river, they closed down in the 1970s, leading to a decade of decay, before the London Docklands Development Corporation took over in the 1980s and started injecting money. One of the biggest projects was to fill in the southern half of Canada Water, on which they build a huge shopping centre, leaving the northern half intact for conversion into a wildlife refuge. It's a little crowded in by the Tube station and a huge sports and leisure mega-store on the other side, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable as an oasis among the shoppers.

Surrey Quays to New Cross

Folkestone Gardens
Folkestone Gardens

There are two separate lines from Surrey Quays to New Cross, which makes absolutely no sense when you consider how close New Cross and New Cross Gate stations are. Predictably, this is down to the competitive nature of the Victorians and the railway boom of the 1830s. The first line was opened in 1839 by the London and Croydon Railway, who built a station near Hatcham and called it New Cross; then, in 1849, the South Eastern Railway built a station about 600m to the east, which they also called New Cross. This strange situation continued until 1823, when both companies were taken over by the Southern Railway, when the western station was renamed New Cross Gate.

New Cross station
New Cross station

Surrey Quays to New Cross Gate

New Den Stadium
New Den Stadium

So the eastern route to New Cross starts off with a main road and some enjoyable parks before getting a bit earthier as it approaches New Cross, but the western approach does things in reverse, starting with the earthier side of life before leading to a lovely conservation area.

The erstwhile Duke of Albany pub
The erstwhile Duke of Albany pub
Hatcham Conservation Area
Hatcham Conservation Area