East London Removals: Removals Docklands
Removals, Storage, Man and Van, Office Moves and House Clearance in Docklands and E14 and E16, East London.
Allen & Young are a Moving and Storage Company based in London and we regularly move clients to and from the Docklands area. We offer Removals, Storage, Packing Services, Man and Van Hire, House Clearance and Removal packaging such as boxes, tape and bubble wrap can also be purchased though our site. We also provide a full range of Business Services such as office moves, light haulage, furniture delivery and assembly. Although offer the full range of removal services and frequently undertake large moves, we specialise in light and medium sized removals, perfect for apartments, flats, studios, bedsits, houses and moving offices. In addition we offer some specialist removal services such as comprehensive relocations for senior citizens planning to move into residential care homes, nursing homes or sheltered accommodation in Docklands.
If you need a remover, a man and van, some storage, packing or house clearance in the Docklands area, simply call or email Allen and Young today.
About Docklands
Docklands is the semi-official name for an area in the east of London, England, comprising parts of several boroughs (Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Greenwich) in Greater London and including the postal districts E14 and E16. The docks were formerly part of the Port of London, at one time the world’s largest port. They have now been redeveloped principally for commercial and residential use. Allen and Young Ltd carry out all moving services including removals, man and van, storage, packing and house clearance in the Docklands area.
The name London Docklands was used for the first time in a government report on redevelopment plans in 1971 but has since become virtually universally adopted. It created conflict between the new and old communities of the London Docklands.
In Roman and medieval times, ships tended either to dock at small quays in the present-day city of London or Southwark, an area known as the Pool of London. However, this gave no protection against the elements, was vulnerable to thieves and suffered from a lack of space at the quayside. The Howland Great Dock in Rotherhithe (built 1696 and later forming the core of the Surrey Commercial Docks) was designed to address these problems, providing a large, secure and sheltered anchorage with room for 120 large vessels. It was a major commercial success and provided a template for two phases of expansion during the Georgian and Victorian eras.
The first of the Georgian docks was the West India (opened 1802), followed by the London (1805), the East India (also 1805), the Surrey (1807), St Katharine (1828) and the West India South (1829). The Victorian docks were mostly further east, comprising the Royal Victoria (1855), Millwall (1868) and Royal Albert (1880). The King George V was a late addition in 1921. However this was only up till the 1950s
Efforts to redevelop the docks began almost as soon as they were closed, although it took a decade for most plans to move beyond the drawing board and another decade for redevelopment to take full effect. The situation was greatly complicated by the large number of landowners involved: the PLA, the Greater London Council (GLC), the British Gas Corporation, five borough councils, British Rail and the Central Electricity Generating Board.
To address this problem, in 1981 the Secretary of State for the Environment, Michael Heseltine, formed the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) to redevelop the area. This was a statutory body appointed and funded by central government (a quango), with wide powers to acquire and dispose of land in the Docklands. It also served as the development planning authority for the area.
Another important government intervention was the designation in 1982 of an enterprise zone, an area in which businesses were exempt from property taxes and had other incentives, including simplified planning and capital allowances. This made investing in the Docklands a significantly more attractive proposition and was instrumental in starting a property boom in the area.
LDDC was controversial – it was accused of favouring elitist luxury developments rather than affordable housing, and it was unpopular with the local communities, who felt that their needs were not being addressed. Nonetheless, the LDDC was central to a remarkable transformation in the area, although how far it was in control of events is debatable. It was wound up in 1998 when control of the Docklands area was handed back to the respective local authorities.
The massive development programme managed by the LDDC during the 1980s and 1990s saw a huge area of the Docklands converted into a mixture of residential, commercial and light industrial space. The clearest symbol of the whole effort was the ambitious Canary Wharf project that constructed Britain’s tallest building and established a second major financial centre in London. However, there is no evidence that LDDC foresaw this scale of development and nearby Heron Quays had already been developed as low density offices when Canary Wharf was proposed, with similar development already underway on Canary Wharf itself, Limehouse Studios being the most famous occupant. Read more…
