Category Archives: Uncategorized

Asphalt is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum which has been extensively used since the 19th century, mostly as a waterproofing material at first, but later as a component in the construction of road surfaces. … Continue reading →

In this 2018 article I wrote about the history of South Cubitt Town, and now it’s the turn of North Cubitt Town, which for the purposes of this article covers the following area: As most people know, Cubitt Town was … Continue reading →

The earliest known written reference to the name Isle of Dogs is contained in the ‘Letters & Papers of Henry VIII’. Volume 3: 1519-1523. 2 October 1520. No. 1009 – ‘Shipping’. Originally written in Latin, and translated into English and … Continue reading →

To my knowledge (and I am open to correction), there was never a ‘proper restaurant’ on the Isle of Dogs before the appearance in the late 1980s of the Gaylord Indian Restaurant at 141 Manchester Road in the former premises … Continue reading →

Fred & Thomas Thorne ran a building firm on the Island that operated from 1898 until 1952. Their main premises were at 266 Manchester Road (next door but one to the Cubitt Arms) which had a large yard and a … Continue reading →

The Greenwood Housing Act of 1930 encouraged the large-scale clearance of slums and poor quality housing. Its full title: An Act to make further and better provision with respect to the clearance or improvement of unhealthy areas, the repair or … Continue reading →

The following is a detail from Joel Gascoyne’s 1793 map of the “Parish of St Dunstan, Stepney, alias Stebunheath” showing the marshy peninsula that made up the south of the parish. In keeping with other early maps, Gascoyne’s map names … Continue reading →

I’ve been making some merges of old and new photos of the Isle of Dogs. Already posted on Twitter (https://twitter.com/IoDThenAndNow) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/theiodthenandnow), I thought I’d collect them and also post them here for readers who might not have seen … Continue reading →

Towards the end of World War II, in September 1944, the German Wehrmacht commenced launching V2 rockets (mostly) against London and Antwerp. Known in German as Vergeteltungswaffe 2 (‘Retribution’ or ‘Vengeance’ Weapon 2), the supersonic missile was intended as a … Continue reading →

Until 1908, the Port of London docks were owned and run by separate companies who competed with each other for business – competition which was detrimental to their interests (they nearly all ran at a loss at the time), and … Continue reading →