West Silvertown, April 2014
"I have high hopes for the prospects for regeneration in the Docklands areas of Newham. The development of the Olympic Park in Stratford - plus 'Tech City' moving eastwards from Shoreditch - are proving to be powerful catalysts for development across East London. New jobs are being created, and unemployment is falling faster in East London than elsewhere as a result.Crossrail, with a station at Custom House, is going to have a major future impact. And some of the biggest future development projects will be in Newham Docklands: at Silvertown Quays, and the Asian Business Port alongside the Royal Albert Dock, which on its own is expected to create 20,000 jobs. The key, from the point of the local community, is to ensure that local people are able to gain their full share of the new jobs which will be created." Stephen TIMMS MP
"The Royal Docks is an area with huge opportunity and potential, and is crucial to the economic growth of the London and the UK as a whole. That is why in April 2012 the government designated the area London’s first new Enterprise Zone. Since that time we have seen major new development proposals come forward for the development of both Silvertown Quays and Royal Albert Dock, proposals that will deliver new jobs and homes for local residents. The area will be further boosted by the arrival of Crossrail services at Custom House in 2018" Sir Robin Wales,MAYOR OF NEWHAM
Silvertown is a working class area, with a handful of local shops.There used to be a fish and chip shop but it closed down. There used to be a pub, but it got bought. There is now a set of shiny flats that sits on the corner of the main road, surrounded by council housing in the form of pastel coloured maisonettes.Akin to a spaceship, it looks out of place, but Silvertown has always been out of the way, a place not instantly familiar.
It could be a place on top ofEnid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, but Silvertown is real, situated just above the River Thames, in the London borough of Newham. Named after S W Silver and Son, in recognition of the industry they brought to the area,Silvertown, in recent years has been transformed by transport links. Silver may not line the streets but improved transport links are placing the area increasingly on the map as a useful way to get across London, whether that’s a flight to the America, or a business meeting at Bank.
The London City Airport, offers short flights to European destinations. It extended its runway in 1992 and celebrated its millionth flight in 2012. Interlinked with the DLR train station, it has recently begun to offer flights to New York.
“From the Canning Town train I saw a bill board high There's a big silver plane raising up into the sky I can make out the words seven flights every day Say's six of those birds are bound for JFK”
Mark Knopfler, from his song Silvertown Blues"
There used to be a small train station that served the area, with one ticket officer on the main road that led to North Woolwich. Trains every half hour ran as far as Richmond but then the Docklands Light Railwaycame. An electric train without a driver, carrying passengers mid-air to Canning Town, Stratford International and Bank. Now, on any given day the platform is lined with businessmen in suits, with their portable luggage, briefcases and mobile phones. They anxiously check for the next train. They scurry on with locals, with an unease felt by two groups clashing for a few minutes in time.
In an area surrounded by industrial wasteland, born from a legacy of trade, small businesses huddle together, but there is one that stands alone,refinery, sandy coloured and Cornish blue the Tate and Lyle sugar factorydominates the sky.‘The sugar mile’ as it became known began with Henry Tate in 1877 with his sugar cubes, later followed by Abram Lyle and his golden syrup refinery, in 1882. They formerly joined in 1921. Today, the Tate and Lyle refinery employs up to 800 people.
Crossrail looks set to change everything again, the new railway stretching from Reading to Shenfield, stopping at Heathrow Airport, Paddington, Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street. It will also stop at Custom House and Woolwich Station. Silvertown fits neatly in between these two stations and construction work is making progress. Due to open at the end of 2018, Crossrail will bring an additional 1.5 million people into central London.
For Silvertown, the Silverlink railway track is gone. Road diversions mark the route from Silvertown to North Woolwich and those silver flats gaze out to an unknown future.