... So the Saturday night screening would have been exciting anyway but it was made even more so by a strangely apt journey there.
I know this is probably strictly off-topic but we cycled to Greenwich from Hackney and it was such a strange journey I can't resist posting about it. We left Hackney along the canal to Limehouse which is both quite beautiful and scary at night, and really feels as if you are passing through a part of London that has changed very little in years.
At Limehouse we came up off the path and down into the Isle of Dogs where we headed for the 'Thames-side path'. Suddenly it felt as if we were in a different world and in a strange kind of way cycling through one of the 'themes' of the film. The river's edge at the Isle of Dogs must be one of the most intensely regenerated fringes of London and of course is directly linked to East Tilbury via the Thames Gateway.
As I cycled past rows of matching designer apartments I wondered again what this wave of regeneration will look like by the time it reaches East Tilbury. As Tim commented, at this end of the river it's now the land of the large-plasma-screen-identical-interior-design and no curtains!
We finished off this surreal journey with the Greenwich foot tunnel ...
"The Greenwich Foot Tunnel runs under the River Thames between Cutty Sark Gardens and Island Gardens, on the Isle of Dogs. It is 1,217 feet in length and approx 50 feet deep. Its original purpose was to allow south London residents to work in the docks on the Isle of Dogs. It was designed by Sir Alexander Binnie and was opened on 4 August 1902 at a cost of £127,000. The tunnel is lined with 200,000 glazed white tiles. The circular entrance buildings are similar both sides of the river and contain a lift and a long spiral flight of stairs. It is open 24 hours a day, although the lifts do not always run the full time."
The (actually) broken lifts felt rather un-regenerated as I lugged my bike up & down the 98 steps, but once inside you could easily imagine yourself time travelling once again back to London of the early 1900's.
Posted 2006/01/16 11:05 by Nina : 0 comments : leave a comment