28-568: Mudchute Park and Farm is a large urban park and farm in Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , just south of Canary Wharf . It is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation . The name of the site is a testament to the engineering overspill when Millwall Dock was being constructed in the 1860s. Spoil from
56-496: A 400 ft by 420 ft plot on the flat land, planning to develop an athletics stadium for football, cricket and tennis, with running and cycling tracks. The stadium was opened in June 1890 and became the first home of Millwall Athletic football team . An Asda supermarket was later built on the site. The smell remained, though, as Corinthians player and England International Fred Pelly later declaring that he did not mind playing on
84-660: A few lingered on until 1963. The diesels that replaced them were built by the Yorkshire Engine Company but, with declining traffic, the railway system closed on 1 May 1970. The Lord Mayor of London , the chief dignitary of the City of London , is ex officio the Admiral of the Port of London. The PLA uses a blue ensign with a gold heraldic sealion on all its vessels. It also has a house flag and pennants for
112-697: A point marked by an obelisk just downstream of Teddington Lock (the upstream limit of the tidal river ) to the end of the Kent/Essex strait of the North Sea (between Margate to the south and Gunfleet Lighthouse , near Frinton-on-Sea , to the north, ) a total of about 95 miles (150 km). The PLA does not cover the Medway or the Swale . From the City of London , via the Thames Conservancy ,
140-609: A presence in the City in offices at Pinnacle House on St. Dunstan's Hill, where the Chair and Chief Executive are based. Control of ship traffic on the Thames within the Port is orchestrated from two Port Control centres: Both Port Control centres operate the same system for coordinating traffic within the PLA's area, Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). The system involves 16 radar stations along
168-408: A wreath of the colours, an ancient ship Or, the main sail charged with the arms of the City of London. Supporters: On either side a sea-lion argent, crined, finned and tufted or, issuing from waves of the sea proper, that to the sinister grasping the banner of King Edward II ; that to the dexter the banner of King Edward VII The Latin motto is " Floreat Imperii Portvs ", meaning "May the Port of
196-614: Is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London . Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its continuation (the Kent / Essex strait). It maintains and supervises navigation , and protects the river's environment. The PLA originally operated all enclosed dock systems on
224-573: The Port of London Authority (PLA), and was patrolled by PLA Police, but it was used for diverse purposes: a PLA Sports Club football pitch near the Pier St entrance, a huge commercial cattle shed on the site of the later farm buildings, allotments and a large playground for all the children of the Isle communities. When, in the early 1970s, the PLA realised that the Millwall Docks would close in
252-537: The Yantlet Line (between Southend and Grain ). During much of the 20th century the PLA owned and operated many of the docks and wharfs in the port, but they have all now been either closed or privatised . Today the PLA acts mainly as a managing authority for the tidal stretch of the River Thames, ensuring safe navigation, and the well-being of the port and its activities. Comparable responsibilities for
280-575: The 119 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment manned the site until 1945. The guns were fired by remote control using Radar to track the enemy aeroplanes . The Blitz started on 7 September 1940, and on 8 September the Guardroom, canteen and stores was destroyed by landmines, but there were no casualties. During the Blitz 430 people were killed on the Isle of Dogs. After the war, the Mudchute remained owned by
308-517: The PLA inherited the conservancy, management and control of the river instead of ownership of the bed of the river and foreshore (the Crown was prohibited from alienating any of its lands by section 5 of the Crown Lands Act 1702 ; the Crown was presumed to own the bed of Thames and 'as conservators' the City of London were prohibited from owning any part of that same river bed) from Teddington to
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#1732780340671336-482: The PLA's limits. Given the extensive length of river covered by the PLA, day-to-day management of the river is overseen by a team of harbour masters who cover the entirety of the river between Teddington Lock and the outer estuary. The PLA originally had its headquarters on Tower Hill in the City of London , but today it is based at London River House and Royal Terrace Pier in Gravesend . The PLA retains
364-407: The company kept the land undeveloped, mostly leasing it out for pasture. This was also the case of the later Mudchute (or 'Mud Shoot' as it was originally spelled in official documents). The name "Mudchute" derives from it being the former dumping ground for mud dredged from the Millwall Docks, which had to be regularly dredged to prevent silting up. A novel, pneumatic device was employed which pumped
392-635: The estuary and the Port of London. From these stations pilots are sent out and return from large vessels entering and leaving the Port. The PLA employs about 360 people. The PLA owns six piers and jetties on the River Thames . These are available for other river users as well as the PLA's own vessels. The PLA has four channel surveying vessels, eight launches for harbour and river patrols, and twenty other craft. Five new patrol vessels were built by Alnmaritec in Northumberland and delivered in 2009. The PLA inherited an extensive railway system from
420-524: The excavation of the Dock, and silt from its channels and waterways were dumped on nearby land, using a conveyor system. The Mudchute Association, is a registered charity whose primary objective is "Management of the park and farm with special consideration for animals, wildlife, visitors, trainees & staff. To maintain the financial sustainability of the project and to respond to local needs and initiatives." The park now covers 13 hectares (32 acres), and
448-627: The foreseeable future, they negotiated with the GLC , the Greater London Council to transfer the Mudchute land to them for housing purposes. However, the Association of Island Communities launched a successful campaign to make sure the land became a public, open space. A newly formed Mudchute Association leased the land, except for that land leased to ASDA for one of their supermarkets from Tower Hamlets Borough Council. A farm and garden
476-511: The ground, but he objected falling down on it because "the smell wouldn't come off for weeks". In 1901, the dock company decided that it wanted its land back, in order to use it for timber storage. It had plans to install a large timber transporter, which would carry off-loaded timber from the docks to warehouses on the ground where the stadium was located, which would become known as the Transporter Yard. Millwall Athletic football club
504-579: The liquefied mud through a pipe over East Ferry Rd (close to the George pub), dumping it on the other side. This system was designed by dock engineer Frederic Eliot Duckham (father of Alexander Duckham who later founded his eponymous lubricating oil company in Millwall ). The mud stank terribly, and Poplar Borough Council continually complained to the dock company that it was causing disease (including diphtheria) among locals, attempting unsuccessfully to have
532-494: The local authority describes the farm as the largest urban farm in Europe. Mudchute DLR station , named after the park, opened in 1987. However, the nearest railway station for the park is Crossharbour . The Millwall Freehold Land and Dock Company owned a huge swathe of land across the Isle of Dogs as it intended to extend the docks to meet the Thames in the east one day, when there was enough business to justify it. Until then,
560-516: The mud dumping stopped. (Later Mudchute allotment holders who built wells to provide water to their plants complained at its condition, but it was some decades before the council pumped clean water to the Mudchute allotments.) By 1890, the Millwall Dock Company had not yet dumped mud on the northern edge of its land east of East Ferry Rd, which meant the ground was flat and solid. Landlord of the nearby George pub, William Clark, leased
588-534: The previous dock companies. This included engine sheds, located at Millwall, Tilbury and Custom House , its own signal boxes and level crossings. The main duties undertaken by the authority's locomotives were shunting the various sidings, wharves and factories around the PLA estate. The PLA operated a fleet of 0-6-0T and 0-6-0ST steam locomotives made by various manufacturers including Hudswell Clark, Robert Stephenson, Andrew Barclay, Hunslet and Manning Wardle. The steam locomotives were largely withdrawn in 1959 although
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#1732780340671616-690: The river (except the Regent's Canal Dock ), but these have long been closed to commercial traffic, with the exception of Port of Tilbury , which was privatised in 1992. It inherited the private police forces of the companies which had previously run the docks, reorganising them into a single Port of London Authority Police . The PLA receives no funding from the government and is entirely self-financing. Revenues are raised from conservancy charges on vessels and cargo, pilotage charges, annual port dues, hydrographic services, river works licence fees and charges for other services. The PLA's responsibility extends from
644-557: The river and out in the estuary. The PLA owns Denton Wharf and Jetty in Gravesend, which is the main base for its fleet of more than 40 vessels. It also provides lift-out and maintenance services for other users of the Thames. The PLA owns Barrier Gardens Pier and Unity House, near the Thames Barrier, providing a convenient base for its Driftwood vessels. There are also two pilot stations at Harwich and Ramsgate , beyond
672-468: The river including, and upstream of, Teddington Lock fall to the Environment Agency . The PLA today has a number of statutory duties, including river traffic control, security, navigational safety (including pilotage , buoys , beacons , bridge lights and channel surveys), conservation (including dredging and maintaining certain river banks), encouraging both commercial and leisure uses of
700-484: The river, and protecting its environment. The PLA is responsible for the operation of Richmond Lock , but not for the Thames Barrier which is managed by the Environment Agency in its flood management role. The PLA's navigational safety team is headed by a Chief Harbour Master who has overall responsibility for defining and enforcing the regulations needed to support and manage the safety of navigation within
728-529: The use of the chairman and the vice chairman of its board. The coat of arms of the PLA was granted in August 1909. The blazon or heraldic description is as follows: Azure, issuing from a castle argent, a demi-man vested, holding in the dexter hand a drawn sword, and in the sinister a scroll Or, the one representing the Tower of London , the other the figure of St Paul , the patron saint of London. Crest: On
756-497: Was established in 1977. Cubitt Town Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 217237353 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:52:20 GMT Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority ( PLA )
784-473: Was forced to find its fourth ground on the Island (they moved to an area of land that would later be known as Millwall Park). During World War II the Transporter Yard served as an RAF embarkation point, and a section of the higher land was the site for four Ack Ack Anti-aircraft guns. The 154 Battery of the 52 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was stationed at the Mudchute until 26 March 1941. Then
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