Things you didn't know about... Docklands

Docklands is for runners
The course of the Flora London Marathon runs through the Docklands. The runners starts in Blackheath, before heading to Greenwich, doing a huge loop of the Docklands and ending up on The Mall.

Docklands has hosted spectacular outdoor concerts
On 8 and 9 October 1988, Jean-Michel Jarre performed two concerts named Destination Docklands.

Live turtles used to head for Docklands
St Katharine's Docks were built in the 1820s and were used for imported goods such as tea, wool... and live turtles.

Docklands in fiction
The Grapes on Narrow Street in Limehouse was built in the 1700s to serve the workers in Docklands. It is featured in Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend. The Docklands' Limehouse area was once home to opium workers and gamblers—including Oscar Wilde's fictional Dorian Gray.

A train was once buried in Docklands
It is urban myth that a steam locomotive was buried along with several tonnes of industrial waste when the Beckton Alps (one of the longest dry ski slopes in the UK) were built in Docklands. And it turns out the myth is true—nearby Beckton Gas Works was the source of the train, which was dragged and buried at the core of the urban Alps.

Docklands once provided a wealth of treasure for the police
A few years ago police in the Docklands decided to dredge up dozens of cars from the depths of the West India Docks, after rumours of executed East End gangsters being dumped in the waters. No bodies, but more cars than expected, were discovered—including a Rolls Royce—and several key crimes were then solved as a result of the clues found in their haul.

Docklands was a boozing favourite of our most famous writers
The Prospect of Whitby was built in 1520 and is still a working pub. Its regulars once included both Charles Dickens and Samuel Pepys.

The Millennium Dome is a Docklands landmark
These days Docklands is strongly associated with its ever-growing crop of skyscrapers, but an architectural landmark is the Millennium Dome, now known as The O2. It is the largest domed structure in the world and was based on the Dome of Discovery at 1951's Festival of Britain.

Docklands is one of London's biggest movie stars
Filmmakers have long loved the diversity of locations in Docklands and the area has been featured in countless films. It is prominent in the James Bond film The World is Not Enough, for instance, but also pops up in Love Actually, The Constant Gardener and even Spiceworld.