When you are young you take the permanence of buildings for granted, but the older you get, the more disposable they become. Living in and around the Isle of Dogs for the past 40 years, there are quite a few buildings I've seen constructed and demolished. The first one would actually be in Algate, where there is currently the Algate Tower, but is used to be this weird, very 80s private leisure centre with offices on top of it, demolished in the late 1990s.
I've seen printworks come and go, Westferry Printworks, built in the early 1990s on the Isle of Dogs was recently demolished to build identikit flats next to Millwall Dock. Murdoch's Fortress Wapping was not far from my primary school and opposite St George's swimming baths. I saw it being built and the accompanying protests and the other day when I drove past, I notice it is thankfully no more, much like the one in Surrey Quays, which is now a nightclub.
There were also a number of buildings around South Quay DLR station which I saw constructed, but they were demolished by the IRA rather than by property investment speculators.
I've seen printworks come and go, Westferry Printworks, built in the early 1990s on the Isle of Dogs was recently demolished to build identikit flats next to Millwall Dock. Murdoch's Fortress Wapping was not far from my primary school and opposite St George's swimming baths. I saw it being built and the accompanying protests and the other day when I drove past, I notice it is thankfully no more, much like the one in Surrey Quays, which is now a nightclub.
There were also a number of buildings around South Quay DLR station which I saw constructed, but they were demolished by the IRA rather than by property investment speculators.
Comment