Neighbourhood sights in London
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The Strand
From the time it was built, at the end of the 12th century, The Strand (from the Old English and German word for beach) ran by the Thames. Its grandiose stone houses, built by the nobility, counted as some of the most prestigious places to live, sitting as they did on a street that connected the City and Westminster, the two centres of power; indeed, its appeal lasted for seven centuries, with the 19th-century prime minister Benjamin Disraeli pronouncing it ‘the finest street in Europe’. Buildings included the now-no-more Cecil Hotel, the Savoy hotel, Simpson’s, King’s College and Somerset House. But modern times haven’t treated The Strand with the same sort of respect an…
reviewed
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B
Isle of Dogs
Pundits can’t even really agree on whether this is an island, let alone where its name actually came from originally. Strictly speaking it’s a peninsula of land on the northern shore of the Thames, though without modern road and transport links it would almost be separated from the mainland at West India Docks. And etymologists are still out to lunch over the origin of the island’s name. Some believe it’s because the royal kennels were located here during the reign of Henry VIII’s. Others maintain it’s a corruption of the Flemish word dijk (dyke), recalling the Flemish engineers who shored up the area’s muddy banks. It can be agreed, however, that the centrepi…
reviewed
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C
Canary Wharf
Cesar Pelli’s 244m-high Canary Wharf Tower, which was built in 1991 at 1 Canada Sq and has been described as a ‘square prism with a pyramidal top’, presides over a veritable array of venues including a toytown and financial theme park. It’s surrounded by more recent towers housing HSBC and Citigroup, and offices for Bank of America, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and more. It took a long time for the place to come this far. Canary Wharf Tower, still the tallest building in the UK and one of the largest property developments in Europe, had to be saved from bankruptcy twice before it reached today’s levels of occupancy.
reviewed
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D
Docklands
It's worth sparing a few minutes to glance around the strange sci-fi neighbourhood of Docklands. Sir Norman Foster's sleek Canary Wharf Underground station is monumental, while Cesar Pelli's 244m Canary Wharf Tower dominates the landscape.
reviewed
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E
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is the centrepiece of a thriving Bengali community in an area nicknamed Banglatown, and today it's one long procession of curry and balti houses intermingled with sari and fabric shops, Indian cookery stores and, to the north, streetwear boutiques. The street's reputation as a place to eat has declined over the years, and the numerous restaurant touts (or curry pimps) don't help.
The 24-hour Brick Lane Beigel Bake (No 159) remains an institution, serving insomniacs, taxi drivers and clubbers. But if you're serious about your curry, you're better off going to New Tayyab in Whitechapel, or making the trek to Tooting.
reviewed
