Isle of Dogs
from Greenwich Observatory |
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The Isle of Dogs is a tongue of land enclosed by the river
and which is home to a collection of basins that make up part
of the Port of London and which once contained some of the largest
warehouses in Europe. Their importance in the second half of
the 20th century waned considerably to the point that an ambitious
regeneration scheme was implemented in the 1980's under the stewardship
of the London Docklands Development Corporation. The name Isle
of Dogs is first recorded in 1588 , but had been in use for some
years before this. Brewer's 1898 Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
attributes the name: "So called from being the receptacle
of the greyhounds of Edward III. Some say it is a corruption
of the Isle of Ducks, and that it is so called in ancient records
from the number of wild fowl inhabiting the marshes. The picture
also shows a view of the Old Royal Naval College, designed
by Sir Christopher Wren. The future of the college was until
recently undecided, as the Royal Navy no longer needed it and
is now occupied by the University of Greenwich and Trinity College
of Music |
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