Limehouse Basin
The Limehouse Basin in Limehouse in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets forms the navigable link between the Regent's Canal and the River Thames. A lock gives the transition from Limehouse Basin to the river. A Kanalbasin in the north of Mile End near Victoria Park provides the connection to the Hertford Union Canal leading to the Lea. The dock originally covered an area of 60 703 m². It lies between the distance of the Docklands Light Railway ( DLR) and the historical, ' Narrow Street ''. Directly to the east then there is a small park, Ropemaker 's Fields.
History
The Basin, which was built by the Regent's Canal Company, formerly known as Regent's Canal Dock and served seagoing vessels and barges for transhipment of goods in canal boats, which they then transported along the Regent's Canal. Immediately after the opening in 1820 the harbor basin and the channel was not a great success, but the mid-19th century brought the coal supply of the many gas stations and later also of the power plants for electricity, and for many residential and commercial purposes, an enormous economic upswing for the waterway. At that time the Limehouse Basin was the main entrance to the British canal system. With the introduction of the railroad 's importance declined, although the revival of canal traffic during the First and Second World War represented a brief swan song.
The Docklands Light Railway runs on a viaduct, which originally goes along for the London and Blackwall Railway above the original piers on the north side of the basin. Underneath lies the Commercial Road Lock, a lock that leads to Regent's Canal.
East of the canal entrance behind the viaduct arch is the octagonal tower of a hydraulic accumulator (1869 ), which replaced an older first building from the 1850s, which was built by William G. Armstrong, engineer and inventor. This regulated the hydraulic pressure of the wide network of hydraulic pipes that supplied the machinery for unloading the coal around the Basin. The associated steam generator and hydraulic pumps have been removed. The building was designed by Dransfield Owens de Silva for the purposes of the London Docklands Development Corporation ( LDDC ) reconstruction, so it served as a viewing platform. These buildings and the Basin today belong to the British Waterways and belong to the listed Grade II listed buildings and after each year of the Open House Weekend, usually the third weekend in September, opened.
The history of the connection of the basin to the River Thames and Limehouse Cut is very complex, but in 1968 a short section of new channel was constructed of the Limehouse Cut rejoined the Basin and replaced the old connection of the Limehouse Cut to the Thames. It was closed in 1969 for the commercial traffic, with a quay of the basin for recreational boats remained.
Urban Development
The urban development around the Basin began in 1983 as part of the master plan of the LDDC for the area of Docklands. However, it took many years until it was realized. The real estate boom and its collapse in the 1980s threw the plans far back as the construction of the Limehouse Link tunnel, which emerged in the early 1990s under the northern half of the basin. By early 2004, most of the former industrial wasteland to the Limehouse Basin converted into luxury apartments.
Many homes around the Basin were built by Belway Homes. The development was done in several sections. One of the first sections was Limehouse West, a complex with 262 apartments: Medland House ( 2 buildings - block A1/A2 and A3), Berglen Court ( 3 buildings - block B1, B2/B3 and B4/B5 ) and Pinnacle ( 1 Building - Block B6). The final section consisted of three apartment blocks ( Pinnacle II); Block E, 9 three-story townhouses on two terraces with 6 and 3 houses; Block F, a five-story apartment house.
Life around the Limehouse Basin
In addition to the apartment blocks around the Limehouse Basin there are a number of other facilities.
The Cruising Association has its headquarters on the Limehouse Basin and the John Ding Academy, a Tai Chi Centre, opened in March 2005 in a shop of Berglen Court. Further, the Narrow Street down there are many pubs, including the The Narrow (led by Gordon Ramsay ) and The Grapes, a historic pub in an old style.
South then located on the Basin Mosaic shopping center. There are many stores, such as La Figa ( an Italian restaurant ), Verde ( an Italian specialty food shop and café ) and a Dry Cleaning.
Further development
Bellway Homes recently unveiled the Zenith on the west side of the basin ready. Four charging centers are still free, above all, lack of delivery driveways. Currently, work is underway to expand the station Limehouse DLR to accommodate trains with 3 cars. The station will be extended beyond the Branch Road and it will create a connection under the bridge near the new building at the west end.
First Base is intended to prevent the end of 2008 a presentation of their plans for the site over the Basin on the Branch Road.