Dickens Inn
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The ivory, silks, and the marble that once passed through St. Katharine on its way to embellish the homes of the rich is today nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, the leisure crafts moored in St. Katharine Yacht Haven is a good measure of how contemporary financial wealth from the neighbouring City of London is reflected in the docks. The crescent of white stucco houses situated beside Marble Quay is popularly known as millionnaire's row since buying a house there will set you back a cool few million pounds.
Today, the function of the docks is decidedly different from its past. When bombs slammed into the docks on 7 September 1940, during a sustained German bombing campaign, everything caught on fire. The docks were never rebuilt to their former glory and closed permanently in 1967. The proprietor Port of London Authority sold the docks in 1968 to the Greater London Council (GLC), who took on regenerating the area. The redevelopment project sought to encourage wealthy Londoners to live and work in the former docks area, which proved a success and marking St. Katharine as a flagship development. Other London dock developments from Canary Wharf to the Isle of Dogs are based on this blueprint.
As well as bringing in "new" business, the St. Katharine redevelopment has also encouraged tourism. The three-storey Dickens Inn pub situated in Marble Quay is a good example of this. The building is the oldest edifice in the marina, dating back to the 1740s when it functioned as the King's Brewery. When the regeneration project began in 1969 the Dickens Inn was air-lifted to its current position from further along the docks. Whilst illuminating how seriously tourism was considered a contributing factor in re-invigorating the area, the tourism that Dickens Inn represents pales into oblivion when compared to the throngs that frequent the Tower of London, on the other side of Tower Bridge. Despite being a public space, an aura of exclusivity prevails in St. Katharine yacht marina. As in the days of the luxury goods trade, one is reminded of a segregated private area. Historically, the docks had imposing walls to keep out the riff raff and today, security guards who roam the area will approach anyone venturing too near the boats or is deemed suspicious-looking.
Whilst the regeneration may have provided a haven for the rich, it has failed to dent the high unemployment among the local community. Nearly 75% of all employment in St. Katharine is professional, managerial or office based and most of these employees tend to travel into work from other parts of London although some locals are employed in menial jobs. Once again, like the easterly wind that prevented ships from coming in to the docks and putting 2000 men out of work, the recent credit crunch that has hit big banks and brokers around the Docklands means that the relatively unprotected menial workers are the first to lose their jobs.
Throughout Wapping, luxury residential developments prevail, from beautifully converted wharves to modern glass penthouses. Alongside the opulent flats and marina are council housing estates that represent a different existence. On one end of the street the dreams and possibilities are seemingly endless but on the other side of the street, or the old dock wall, unemployment, low wages and material disadvantage is real enough.
