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Walks of art – University of East London launches audio trails around Royal Docks

Friday 11 July 2008

A unique new series of audio trails created by researchers at the University of East London (UEL) are now enabling intrepid urban explorers to discover the fascinating history of London’s Victorian Docks.

The Royal Docks, once the biggest and busiest shipping centre in the world, are finally recovering from decades of post-war industrial decline as the regeneration of Docklands heads east.

UEL’s new 'Ports of Call' walks have been created by a team from the School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies to offer historical interpretation of the region at this time of exciting development.

Highlights of the trails include the beauty of Barrier Park, the horror of the biggest explosion ever to rock London, first hand accounts of working life in the riverside factories and dockside flour mills, and a trip to the last traditional dockers' pubs in the capital.

Dr Toby Butler, director of the project, said: “The closure of the working docks, once the busiest in the world, and their ongoing redevelopment has completely transformed the landscape and the dockside communities such as Silvertown and North Woolwich.

“By creating online maps, public art and historical audio trails with the involvement of residents, we hope to enable locals and newcomers alike to discover new things about their surroundings and gain a deeper understanding of this fascinating part of east London.

"We’re also aiming to make people feel comfortable exploring new dockside developments like the UEL campus, City Airport and the Excel Centre. They’re very interesting places to visit, but if you’ve never walked through them you might not realise that they are publicly accessible.”

The audio recordings, now available as a free download from the Ports of Call website (www.portsofcall.org.uk), contain new music composed by UEL lecturer Jo Thomas, rare archive interviews from the Museum in Docklands and Eastside Heritage, and new excerpts of local people talking about the history of the dockside communities, their present and their future.

Young people at the Asta Centre youth club in North Woolwich helped create one of the trails by recording interviews and composing music, while other local residents helped to identify sites of importance and attended a series of free skills workshops in local history research, mapping, interviewing skills and tour-guiding, all held at UEL.

The trails have been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Royal Docks Trust. They are up to two miles long and cover the Royal Docks, North Woolwich, Silvertown, Barrier Park and West Silvertown.

For those who do not have an mp3 player, listening equipment and CD versions of the trails can be borrowed from North Woolwich Library or Brittannia Village Hall in West Silvertown.

For further information, visit www.portsofcall.org.uk or contact Toby Butler on t.butler@uel.ac.uk or 0795 729 4907.

For details and pictures contact Daniel Cherry: 020 8223 2194

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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