THE TOWER AND DOCKLANDS - London - page 209

goods - ivory, spices, carpets and cigars - shipped in from all over the Empire. Nowadays,
the docks are used as an upmarket marina, and the old warehouses house shops, pubs and
restaurants. More interesting, however, are the old swing bridges over the basins (including
one from 1828), the boats themselves - you'll often see beautiful old sailing ships and
Dutch barges - and the attractive Ivory House warehouse, with its clock tower, at the centre
of the three basins. At its peak this warehouse received over 200 tons of ivory annually.
ST KATHARINE DOCKS
WAPPING HIGH STREET
Wapping Overground. MAP
Once famous for its boatyards and its three dozen riverside pubs, Wapping's Victorian atmo-
sphere has been preserved, and as it lies just a short walk east of the Tower, this is easily the
most satisfying part of Docklands to explore. Halfway along Wapping High Street is Wap-
ping Pier Head , the former entrance to the London Docks, flanked by grand, curvaceous
Regency terraces. Here, you'll find one of the few surviving stairs down to the river beside
the Town of Ramsgate pub; beneath the pub are the dungeons where convicts were chained
before being deported to Australia. It was also at the Town of Ramsgate that “Hanging”
Judge Jeffreys was captured trying to escape disguised as a collier following the victory of
William of Orange in 1688.