{"product_id":"canary-wharf-and-east-india-docks-walking-tour-saturday-25-july-2026-10-30am","title":"Canary Wharf and East India Docks Walking Tour - Saturday 25 July 2026 10.30am","description":"\u003cp class=\"sqsrte-large\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJoin Open City for an architectural walking tour exploring the history and ideas behind the changing architecture of Isle of Dogs, Canary Wharf and East India Docks — home to the ‘next generation education campus’ Republic.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"block-8b944f36de53671af253\" data-border-radii='{\"topLeft\":{\"unit\":\"px\",\"value\":0.0},\"topRight\":{\"unit\":\"px\",\"value\":0.0},\"bottomLeft\":{\"unit\":\"px\",\"value\":0.0},\"bottomRight\":{\"unit\":\"px\",\"value\":0.0}}' data-block-type=\"2\" class=\"sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"sqs-block-content\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"sqs-html-content\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eThis walking tour around the northern end of the Isle of Dogs – delivered in partnership with Republic – takes in the area’s history as the industrial centre of a global trading empire with strong colonial ties to the empire, through its industrial decline, regeneration and recent construction boom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eThe event starts at West India Quay and finishes at East India Docks which is home to Republic. Once a relatively isolated part of industrial London, the area is now a financial district with towering office skyscrapers, new homes, landmark retail centres and multiple transport links to the rest of the capital. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eThis tour will tell the story of the original West India Dock complex built by Robert Milligan – whose statue outside the Museum of London Docklands has recently been removed following Black Lives Matter protests around the world. Here, the dock complex and the Grade I-listed sugar warehouses offer a rare glimpse of the area’s colonial past as a vast landscape created to receive the products of empire and slavery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eMoving on to a dramatic viewpoint revealing one of the River Thames’ most enigmatic post-industrial landscapes, the tour will then discuss some of the early docklands developments in Surrey Quays, Rotherhithe and Wapping, and the later work of the London Docklands Development Corporation. The unique planning and ideas behind the early approaches to rethinking London’s formerly derelict docks will be compared to the later thinking behind the private sector-led Canary Wharf development and some of the more recent towers going up on the island. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003ePassing through the former West India Docks complex, still apparent as vast expanses of water alongside the new banking towers, the tour will consider Reuters Plaza and the transformation of the area from one of toil, industry and colonial extraction to one of big banks, finance, shopping, recreation and luxury living.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eIt will then pass through Crossrail Place’s roof garden before travelling on to East India Dock – originally created to receive tea, spices, indigo, silk of the East India Company which had been key to the creation of the British Empire – where a 1990s office complex has recently been reinvented as Republic, an education campus with landscaped public realm and spaces for local charities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"block-3c9c594a1d7fc2d73f2d\" data-block-type=\"8\" data-block-json='{\"methodOption\":\"transient\",\"auto-crop\":true,\"autoplay\":true,\"autoplay-duration\":5,\"blockAnimation\":\"none\",\"collectionId\":\"656dda7f535e147e8e72870e\",\"controls\":true,\"design\":\"slideshow\",\"meta-position\":\"bottom\",\"show-meta\":true,\"show-meta-basic\":true,\"show-meta-only-title\":false,\"show-meta-only-description\":false,\"show-meta-on-hover\":false,\"square-thumbs\":true,\"thumbnails\":false,\"transientGalleryId\":\"656dda7f535e147e8e72870e\"}' class=\"sqs-block gallery-block sqs-block-gallery\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"yui_3_17_2_1_1711639659860_334\" class=\"sqs-block-content\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"yui_3_17_2_1_1711639659860_170\" class=\"sqs-gallery-container\n  sqs-gallery-block-slideshow\n  \n  \n  sqs-gallery-has-controls\n  \n\n  \n    sqs-gallery-block-show-meta sqs-gallery-block-meta-position-bottom\n    \n  \n  sqs-gallery-block-show-meta\n  \n  \n\n  \n  \n\n  \n  block-animation-none\n  clear\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"yui_3_17_2_1_1711639659860_190\" class=\"sqs-gallery sqs-gallery-design-stacked\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"yui_3_17_2_1_1711639659860_260\" data-click-through-url=\"\" data-type=\"image\" class=\"slide content-fill sqs-gallery-design-stacked-slide loaded\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eLed by Rosamund Lily West an expert guide on London’s architectural and social history, participants will examine the success of the area in the context of the new Elizabeth Line, Covid and the shift to working from home as well as the impact of Brexit. Referring back to the area’s strong links to empire, colonialism and slavery – the tour will also ask what the area’s future might hold as well as what the former docklands’ relationship to its many surrounding communities might be.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"color-overlay\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"sqsrte-large\" data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eKey information\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMeet:\u003c\/strong\u003e Outside West India DLR station\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"sqsrte-large\" data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eEnd:\u003c\/strong\u003e Republic building 2 Clove Cres E14 2BE (near to East India DLR station) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDuration:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2 hours approx\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003ePhoto:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Canary_Wharf_station,_Docklands_Light_Railway_-_geograph.org.uk_-_712116.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eCanary Wharf Station, Docklands Light Railway (1991)\u003c\/em\u003e by Dr Neil Clifton, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Via Geograph. Originally taken 10 April 1991.\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"OpenCityShop","offers":[{"title":"Pay it forward ticket","offer_id":56937281094010,"sku":"TOURS","price":29.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Standard ticket","offer_id":56937281126778,"sku":"TOURS","price":19.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Over 65s ticket","offer_id":56937281159546,"sku":"TOURS","price":13.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Under 25s ticket","offer_id":56937281192314,"sku":"TOURS","price":9.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Income support\/jobseekers ticket","offer_id":56937281225082,"sku":"TOURS","price":9.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/1786\/files\/geograph-712116-by-Dr-Neil-Clifton_1a29f5ad-e214-4400-a636-cf0e17e03421.webp?v=1765360748","url":"https:\/\/shop.open-city.org.uk\/products\/canary-wharf-and-east-india-docks-walking-tour-saturday-25-july-2026-10-30am","provider":"Open City Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}