♫ Claire ♫
Royal Victoria Docks - London 2012 Olympics
The Royal Victoria Dock is dominated by the ExCeL Exhibition Centre, constructed on the north quayside and opened in November 2000. This is where we were heading for the Women's Team Foil event.
Royal Victoria Dock was opened in 1855 on a previously uninhabited area of Plaistow Marshes. It was the first of the Royal Docks and the first London dock to be designed specifically to accommodate large steam ships.
The dock was an immediate commercial success, as it could easily accommodate all but the very largest steamships. By 1860, it was already taking over 850,000 tons of shipping a year - double that of the London Docks, four times that of St Katharine Docks and 70% more than the West India Dock and East India Docks combined. It was badly damaged by German bombing in World War II but experienced a resurgence in trade following the war. However, from the 1960s onwards, the Royal Victoria experienced a steady decline - as did all of London's other docks - as the shipping industry adopted containerization, which effectively moved traffic downstream to Tilbury. It finally closed to commercial traffic along with the other Royal Docks in 1980.
Royal Victoria Docks - London 2012 Olympics
The Royal Victoria Dock is dominated by the ExCeL Exhibition Centre, constructed on the north quayside and opened in November 2000. This is where we were heading for the Women's Team Foil event.
Royal Victoria Dock was opened in 1855 on a previously uninhabited area of Plaistow Marshes. It was the first of the Royal Docks and the first London dock to be designed specifically to accommodate large steam ships.
The dock was an immediate commercial success, as it could easily accommodate all but the very largest steamships. By 1860, it was already taking over 850,000 tons of shipping a year - double that of the London Docks, four times that of St Katharine Docks and 70% more than the West India Dock and East India Docks combined. It was badly damaged by German bombing in World War II but experienced a resurgence in trade following the war. However, from the 1960s onwards, the Royal Victoria experienced a steady decline - as did all of London's other docks - as the shipping industry adopted containerization, which effectively moved traffic downstream to Tilbury. It finally closed to commercial traffic along with the other Royal Docks in 1980.