Docklands and the St. Fride Swide Mission House

Historically, great wealth passed through the Docklands, some of the greatest ever; but little stayed. The area was a gritty workplace, populated by some of London's poorest. The destruction wrought by German bombings in WWII made it all the worse. One can get a glimpse of post-WWII Docklands in the great BBC series Call the Midwife. After touring the Docklands Museum, we undertook a walking tour of the area, heading to Canary Wharf, where things have changed, massively, and the populace is now very different from what it once was. Next we crossed the tracks, literally, to Poplar, and ended at the mission of St. Fride Swide, the real setting of Call the Midwife. Things have changed there, mostly the population, now mostly immigrants.

Still on the West India Quay

At a resto adjacent to the museum; we had lunch nearby,
an unmemorable fish and chips at a trendy place whose name
has been forgotten; trendy is the word for everything there

Fancy a boat ride along the wharfs? There are many options...

we saw a BBQ boat at Vancouver last summer...

Hot tub boats; I doubt that they allow these on the river, which is 
crowded, busy, and tidal

St. Peter's Barge...London's floating church

A BBQ boat; no takers that afternoon

Sort of summed it all up for me

A remnant of the grit; or perhaps sculpture?

Now approaching Canary Wharf

Looking back toward the central city

Now in Poplar, in a park, a monument to school children
killed by German bombing in WWI

Public baths (and recreation); very newish

The high-rise is from the 1960s, a major part of the
neighborhood's change

Emmaus is there, as well as other charity shops...away from all the
high-rise development, retail, restos, etc., it's still not one of London's
posh neighborhoods

And now at St. Fride's...Nonnatus House, in Call the Midwife;
presumably pretty much as it was throughout the 20th century,
and some of the 19th too

Now mostly residential, flats...

At least it's still there...for now