The cranes above in the old London Docklands next to Canary Wharf are some of the few cranes in London that you can see sitting idle. The London Docklands was once the home of the largest port in the world, the port of London. During Roman and medieval times ships would dock in the city of London, but this provided poor shelter from the elements and there was rampant thievery. Space was also very limited quayside, so in 1696 the Howland Great Dock was built in Rotherhithe. This later became part of the Surrey Commercial Docks which provided great sheltered docking for 120 large ships with ample secured space.
Today as you can see above, the Canary Wharf area is under rampant construction with busy cranes moving building materials and supplies up and down everywhere. In this area it is no longer for building docks, it is for building offices and living quarters.
Not far from Canary Wharf is the Queen Elisabeth Olympic Park in Stratford which is still, 5 years after the 2012 Olympics in the middle of a rampant building boom. Cranes can be seen in every direction when looking out from atop the ArchelorMittal Orb.
Not even the Albert memorial erected to the memory of her husband by Queen Victoria in 1872 (designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in Gothic revival style), can escape the Cranes. The Big Question is; When will London be overbuilt? Some think it may come sooner than expected, given Brexit and the level of units currently under construction.
