Flybe / September 2018

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44 / Flight Time / SEPTEMBER 2018
Travel
F L I G H T D E TA I L S
Flybe has flights to London City from Amsterdam, Belfast City, Düsseldorf,
Edinburgh and Exeter. Flybe’s franchise partner Blue Islands has flights to London
City from Jersey. Flybe’s franchise partner Eastern Airways has flights to London
City from Aberdeen.
also home to London’s parkour academy
– so if you fancy taking your Docklands
explorations to the next level…
Ten minutes’ walk from Trinity Buoy
Wharf lies City Island, a rebranding by
developer Ballymore of what was once known
as Bog Island. This thumb-shaped bit of land
formed by a tight bend in the Lea is not strictly
an island – but it certainly feels like one. In
fact, despite the new gleaming apartments, it
still feels very much like somewhere deserving
of the name “Bog Island” – the Lea’s banks
remain timelessly, obstinately muddy. There’s
no gentrifying those. English National Ballet
have signed up to move their headquarters
here and the visual contrast – ballet on Bog
Island – is startling.
I walk around the decking path that edges
City Island with Nimrod Vardi, the director
of Arebyte Gallery, which has recently moved
here from Hackney Wick. “Developers are
starting to understand that the arts are not
just box-ticking marketing exercises,” he
tells me. “They’re actually place-makers.
And for us, it’s exciting to bring people to
a new part of town.” It is an exciting part
of town. Disorientating, frustrating, even
dehumanising – but definitely exciting.
Nimrod bids me farewell and I continue
my stroll solo, soaking up the muddy sights.
I begin to fantasise I’m strolling about the
deck of a ship. Up ahead, to the north, a red
bridge crosses the Lea, connecting the ‘island’
to Canning Town DLR. A man is making his
way across it. I see a pirate’s victim walking
the plank.
Docklands is murder on the feet – but it
does wonders for the imagination.
DOCKLANDS ’
R I VERS I DE PUBS
Docklands doesn’t have
many pubs, but the ones it
does have rank amongst the
city’s finest. And one of them
is hands-down the best place
to eat in the area. Head first
to The Town of Ramsgate
on Wapping High Street
(the dinkiest ‘high street’ in
London, quite possibly). This
medieval boozer sits next to
Wapping Old Stairs, which
led down to the waterside
Execution Dock, where
pirates were once hanged.
A 25-minute riverside walk
east brings you to The
Grapes (www.thegrapes.
, owned by Gandalf
(aka Ian McKellen), which
was built in 1583 and
featured in Dickens’ Our
Mutual Friend. The tiny
balcony is a prime spot for a
pint with the Thames sloshing
about underneath you.
For more drinks – and food
this time – meander half an
hour east again to The Gun
(www.thegundocklands.
com), once a haunt of Lord
Nelson. Again, the riverside
views are fabulous, and the
food – ranging from hearty
to refined – is a perfect
end to an afternoon’s
Docklands exploration.
Flybe recommends
MATTHEW
W I NWOOD
DASH 8 F I RST
OFF I CER ,
ABERDEEN
“I grew up around London
and, maybe it’s just a pilot
thing – but I love the views
looking down over the
city! And London can be a lot
easier and more affordable
than most tourists realise. In
East London try Aqua Shard,
a bar at the top of the Shard
building. You can avoid the
long queues for the tours; go
straight in the St Thomas Street
entrance and get the express
lift to the bar. In the West End,
try Galvin at Windows bar on
the 28th floor of the Hilton Park
Lane. Just walk through the
hotel lobby to the lifts. No entry
fee, no bookings required
and great views right across
London!”
“Developers are
starting to understand
that the arts are not
just box-ticking
marketing exercises.
They’re actually
place-makers”