Day 147 - West India Quay

Converted Warehouses at West India Quay

Last night we arrived in London for a two-day combination business/pleasure trip. As our business involved being close to the London ExCeL Centre, we chose a nearby hotel: the Marriott Moxy London ExCeL.

The ExCeL Center is a convention and exhibition space that hosts many of London's major trade events. It's located in the London Docklands area on the east side of the City and when it came time to enjoy the pleasure side of this journey into London, we of course chose to see where the closest cinema was! I mean there is only a few days left before the Oscars and Angela still hasn't seen The Post or I, Tonya (the former was nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress, the latter had two nominations for acting; Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress). I had the good fortune of seeing both in Toronto at Christmas with our daughter, Rebecca, but was more than willing to see them again. Both films were showing at the West India Quay Cinema, so we decided to do a double feature and then a meal afterward in one of the many restaurants within the re-developed wharf buildings.

Old Map of West India Docks

These buildings were originally warehouses for sugar and other products brought to London by the West Indies merchants. One of those merchants, Robert Milligan, is said to have been instrumental in the construction of the docks in 1802. The British government enacted legislation to help fund the development and to provide quasi-monopoly powers requiring all shipping to dock here. In the early 1900s, the London Port Authority took over the operation of the docks, which ironically became less important for the import of goods, and were more useful for exports of manufactured goods from the industrial east end of London. However, by the late 1950s and early 1960s, the introduction of shipping containers and the construction of large container ships made these relatively smaller docks less useful. East London's manufacturing sector was also beginning to decline as globalization moved manufacturing offshore. In 1980, the docks were closed and the government took over ownership.

Retro-One Canada Square

It was the Canary Wharf development in the late 1980s and culminating with One Canada Square that began the rejuvenation of the area. The reason it was called One Canada was because it was the Canadian firm, Olympia and York, that did the development. When it was completed in 1991, it was the tallest building in the U.K., but today it is the second tallest, after the recently completed Shard. One Canada rises above most of the buildings in the development and from the front of the restaurant, Burger & Lobster, Angela looked up and took this interesting photo to the right using a greyscale filter.

Oh yeah, about the movies. On the SmithWalsh scale The Post rated a 4/5 and I, Tonya a 4.5/5.  Both good films but I, Tonya wins out for its acting, quirky editing and great soundtrack from the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Actually an appropriate film given that it takes place at the same time the Canary Wharf project was initially completed.

Dinner at the Burger & Lobster consisted of a burger and lobster, of course.

Ale of the Day:  Bibble Ale, Wild Brewery Co., Evercreech, Somerset