Shadwell, developed to equip ships for imperial interests and explorations in the Age of Sail, was home to wealthy merchants and many small businesses. To make those possible, large numbers of ordinary folk provided services, making the area a multicultural hub where escaping slaves hid out, fed-up sailors started new lives, river pirates spied opportunities and women provided the comforts of home in lodging-houses, taverns and brothels. Of course, women were also seamen, pirates, slaves and merchants, some of them known as the Merry Wives of Wapping. Outsiders came to experience the many opium-dens that were standard places of unwinding for seafarers. Shadwell Basin is the only one left of three early docks located in the area. On this walk we pass remnants of all these phenomena as well as river stairs, imposing warehouses, green spaces, the Thames Path and numerous appealing pubs.
Guide: Laura Agustín
Meet at Shadwell Overground Station, London E1 2QD
Our walk from Leyton Midland station (on the Suffragette Line) to Leyton tube station takes us along the course of a hidden river, past a 16th Century house hiding in plain sight, through residential streets and green spaces. We meet the UK's first Asian policewoman and the first black footballer to play for England in a competitive international match and the man who invented the tube map.
Guide: Sue McCarthy
Meet at Leyton Midland Road Overground Station, Midland Road, London E10 6JT
One of a series of walks telling the story of the Port of London led by Rob Smith, at moderate pace with frequent stops, looking at some of the port’s legacy – such as street names, mooring posts, cranes and plaques – and using old maps and photographs along the way, with a chance for questions and discussion. This second walk from East India DLR Station to Canary Wharf, looks at the East India Company and the ruthless sugar traders that built warehouses in the area around Canary Wharf using profits made from the labour of enslaved Africans. You'll see what is left of the East and West India docks, built for sailing ships in the early 1800's.
Guide: Rob Smith
Meet at East India DLR Station, Aspen Way, London E14 9GF
