Meander around Millwall

By Graham Barker 

24 January 2011

Enjoy a bracing winter walk around Millwall. If you know where to look, there are many signs of the sea-faring and industrial past, from the days when the docks and wharves once buzzed with international trade. There are impressive views too, set against the towering backdrop of Canary Wharf.

Start your walk above Mudchute DLR station, as the train line tunnels underneath on its way to Island Gardens. Millwall Park (1) stretches out before you, flanked either side by the old rope-walk and the former London & Blackwall railway viaduct, with Greenwich Observatory beyond.

Now step down to your right and curve along Thermopylae Gate. This curiously-named road forms part of the Chapel House Street estate, built in 1920-1 in the fashion of a ‘garden city’ – with tree-lined crescents and a unified architectural style.

The houses sit in pairs and small terraces, with distinctive circular windows. And what of the street name? Thermopylae Gate and Macquarie Way were named after sea clippers, used to transport wool from Australia.  It’s our first hint of the many shipping connections hereabouts.

At Westferry Road, turn right and a skyline inscription and blue plaque herald the former shipbuilding works of John Scott Russell (2). Here in 1858, he and Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the SS Great Eastern, the world’s largest steam ship. Affectionately known by Brunel as the “Great Babe”, it was designed to carry 4,000 passengers and to sail around the world without refuelling.

Head through the gated archway of Burrell’s Wharf – open to the public from 6.30am to 7.30pm – and through the cobbled yard. The Italianate old Plate House (3) was used to fabricate the ship’s large iron plates, ready to be riveted in place using three million rivets. Step up through the courtyard, past a huge anchor and towering chimney, and towards the Thames.

Beside a green, sit the remains of the slipway (4), a regiment of wooden piles and cross-timbers. The iconic photo of Brunel was taken here, with stove-pipe hat and cigar, beside a colossal coiled chain.

Dogged by financial difficulties from the outset – Scott Russell eventually went bankrupt – the Great Eastern proved to be almost impossible to launch. Too long to head stern-first into the Thames, it was decided to launch it sideways. It took three months, using a succession of hydraulic rams, to eventually nudge her into the river. After its demise as a shipyard, Burrell’s Wharf was used for manufacturing dyes and pigments.

Facing the Thames Clipper pier, follow Napier Avenue to Harbinger Primary School (5). As you skirt the school wall, look out for a rotating wirework figure in the playground, peering out to sea through a telescope. On the rear school wall the ceramic panel hints that the road was re-named after the Harbinger clipper ship in 1929 to avoid confusion with British Street in Bow.

Follow Cahir Street to the right, past the 1930s Westferry Estate (6). All eight housing blocks – such as Exmouth and Rodney – commemorate merchant navy training ships. Continue between Victorian cottages – once home to dockers and mill-workers – and veer left through Ambassador Square up to Spindrift Avenue. Head right and follow the blue signpost pointing you left through to South Quay.

You emerge beside a small finger of water extending southward off the main dock. Now a peaceful enclave by Clippers Quay (7), this was once part of the busy Millwall ‘graving’ dry dock, said to be the best ship repair yard in London. Follow the right-hand side – past ducks, geese and seagulls on the pontoons and rafts – and the view of Millwall Dock (8) opens out, with Canary Wharf towering beyond.

This huge expanse of water once hummed with ships and mills. Built in the shape of a reversed ‘L’, the Millwall docks were opened in 1868 to handle mainly imports of grain and timber. Engineering, chemical works and food processing also flourished here, including McDougall’s flour mill and Maconochie’s pan-yan pickle factory.

At the semi-circular green, close by the isolated chimney, there are far-reaching views. The Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre (9) stands straight ahead, where once a wide channel linked with the Thames. The Westferry printing works dominates the skyline alongside. And old cranes stand like huge grey birds, poised beside the water.

Further on, large houseboats sit moored by the dock edge, and the pathway is popular with walkers and joggers. The dock narrows as it approaches Glengall Bridge (10). This is the fourth bridge to span the dock here, providing a vital link between the two sides of the ‘Island’. Earlier solutions included a rolling drawbridge, a concrete barge and a high-level glass-boxed walkway.

From the bridge, there are good views of the ornate floating Lotus restaurant, with sleek new Baltimore Wharf behind. Retrace a few steps along Pepper Street and continue by the dockside. Be sure to peer up to the sparkling ‘star-lit’ archway and spot the glass office cube projecting across the water. The central granary once stood on the far side, with its pneumatic ‘elephant trunk’ tubes sucking grain from the ships’ holds.

Your path heads underneath the first of two dark blue electric cranes made by Stothert & Pitt in the 1960s to handle 3-ton loads. Step up into the Exchange Tower gardens and you’ll discover a curious scene – four bronze figures afloat, with giant oars aloft, together forming the Wind of Change sculpture (11) by André Wallace.

And now, you might like to relax in one of the cafés overlooking the water, before ending at the dock head by South Quay DLR station.

Download a full size map to follow this walk (pdf, 222 kb)