Just before talking about St Katharine Docks, I’d like to share a quote. It comes from Paloma Faith, a singer who has a new album out at the moment (very good it is too). She was previously a magician’s assistant. She was asked in an interview what were the highs and lows of the job. The highs were to do with doves and not worth repeating but the low was “Sitting in the darkness, in a small box for half an hour with nothing but a rabbit for company.” It did make me chuckle. Anyway…

Prior to my mercy dash yesterday, I spent lunch time with Mirinda, wandering around St Katharine Docks. What an amazing place. Lots of big, expensive boats sitting, posing in the marina. Converted warehouses, houseboats, Starbucks in a rotunda, council estates…it has everything.

Here is a watercolour of what it used to look like…well, the painting dates from 1985 but is how it was supposed to have looked before the Germans ruined it:

Old tinted drawing of St Katharine Docks

It’s changed a bit but the water is in the same place. The buildings are still there, just tarted up a bit, and lots of accommodation has been added, along with speciality shops and eateries. If you want to see a bigger version of the picture, you can see it here.

The building about halfway up and to the right, is Ivory House, which is definitely still there. In fact, it’s in the photo below, the building to the extreme left. Also, Mirinda is sitting where that big old masted boat is in the painting:

Mirinda asking her iPhone where we were

The history is interesting. In the 12th century, St Katharine’s hospital was built on the site and it remained until around 1828 when the docks were built in its place. It was one of those grand Victorian schemes to boost production while over working the workers. And getting rich. It was rather short lived though. because of the depth of the marina and the lock that kept the water level down, big ships could never dock there so it was bypassed in favour of bigger and better docks.

And then, as usual in lots of parts of London, the Germans made a big mess of it during the war. It sat looking squalid, just used as a marina, for many years. Then the Greater London Council took over and created, what has been called “…a model example of successful urban redevelopment.” This was started in 1970.

The amazing thing is that it doesn’t LOOK 1970s at all! This is a good thing. People claim that the 70s was the decade that fashion forgot and in a lot of ways they are so right. But not when it comes to St Katharine Docks. A wonderful place.

Anyway, the reason we were there was because we are seriously considering buying Mirinda’s flat here – the studio she’s in at the moment is not for sale at quite the right price – but we wanted to check it out first. So we met for our usual Wednesday lunch.

After mincing down Mincing Lane we followed the Great Tower Road, passed the Hung, Drawn and Quartered pub and into the tourist melee that is the Tower of London. St Katharine Docks is just the other side of the Tower. A very short but gorgeous walk to work for Mirinda.

We spent a good hour wandering around, pleased with the location, the environment, everything, really. And then headed back where I bade her farewell and took the train back home. This is really an excellent way to see London.

I just thought I’d include this photo as well as it sort of sums up London, really. Though I always think of Jerry on The Good Life, struggling to work across it every morning, from Surbiton.

Tower Bridge from St Katharine Docks