Canning Town Walk (June 2007)
10 Riverside
Take the DLR from Pontoon Dock to East India Station.
From the platform level you get good views, both through the windows and at each end of the long platform, of the Park, Barrier Point, Royal Victoria Dock and elsewhere.
The train journey provides some of the best views of the riverside properties in this area, which otherwise are often impossible to access. It also gives a rapid overview of an area that is time-consuming to access on foot.
Barrier Point from the DLR train
You should have no problem in identifying one of the Tate & Lyle buildings on the route, as well as Akzo Nobel, although you may recognize some of their brand-names - such as Crown, Bergger and International Paints, Sandtex and Sadolin - more easily.
From the train you can also see the mouth of the River Lea and Trinity Buoy Wharf with its lighthouse and stack of containers in use as artists studios, as well of course as the Millennium Dome.
After Canning Town, the line curvers around the River Lea and climbs through the ecological reserve at Bow Creek and over the bridge across Bow Creek. This section of the DLR was built in 1994 for the Becton extension.
From East India you have the choice continuing on the DLR towards the centre of London (change at Poplar for the DLR to Canary Wharf and the Jubilee Line), taking a journey back to Canning Town.
If you have time and enegy for a further walk, go to the east out of the station and follow the path over the Lower Lea Crossing. Again this elevated bridge gives good views across the Thames and Bow Creek to the south.
When the bridge descends to a roundabout under the Silvertown Viaduct, you can either continue under it to Royal Victoria Station, or cross the road just before the roundabout and take the steps up to the top of the viaduct and walk to Canning Town station.
I hope you enjoy the walk. If you would like to see more pictures from the area, take a look at MyLondonDiary You can find pictures from a particular area either from the large index page (try under 'Newham' in the right hand column.
