The East India Company had its military training HQ in Addiscombe, just east of Croydon. It was an amusing story that, despite all their conquests in Asia, the trainees would not enter Croydon as they were regarded as posh boys and would get beaten up or worse. The company has long gone but Croydon hasn't changed much 😂.
My old firm normally only employed graduate trainees but made an exception for an A Level entrant who had worked as a part-time barmaid in a Croydon pub at weekends. If she could handle that she could handle anything!!
When the Addiscombe training school was closed with the demise of the Company, the land was sold off for executive housing. The road names in the development commemorate various HEIC figures - Outram, Havelock etc.
Not a station but Russia Dock Woodland is a hidden gem of a park where you could be walking a long a muddy path unaware you were in London until you see Canary Wharf through the trees.
If you look around the Woodland there are some traces of the London Docklands Development Corporation - eg at the centre of the 'pool' ('Monument' on Google Maps)
Some DLR Trivia: The large station now called Canary Wharf was originally designed and built as a tiny two-platform station called Canary Quay, CAQ as it was shown on the original DLR control displays at the DLR's Operations and Maintenance Centre (OMC) at Poplar. That station never opened for passengers, as the Canary Wharf development, building huge buildings, started shortly after DLR opened in 1987. Since the trains are driverless, though, and the design had a station there, trains stopped there for a while until their software was updated to skip the station without stopping.
Watching this on the dlr heading to west india quays is good fun. Also as someone of both indian and jamaican ancestry its fun i can travel to two places named after my ancestral homelands on one line.
As a boy, I was taken on a Sunday visit around the docks by my father. What a site for a lad to see all those ships in one place. Your man Hazzard, is my man.
Named after the chutes built to load material excavated from the construction of the docks. Name submitted by a local primary school teacher in a competition.
In 1989 I was doing the Aussie working holiday thing in London and DLR had just opened - but it only ran Mon-Fri so it was replaced by bus on weekends. Best London experience was to explore Docklands on the bus and listen to two old dears behind me reminiscing about the Blitz - 'There was a German pilot bailed out, and the place just got bombed the day before. 'e was lucky the police came and got 'im - they'd've lynched 'im if they could!' BTW Elon Musk does have a private army - of bots, crypto bros and incel fanboys.
It's not exactly exotic, but I've always thought Surrey Quays and Surrey Docks were unusual names because it's nowhere near Surrey, but of course, back in the 1800s, Surrey did actually extend as far as the Surrey Docks. What you might not know (and I only just found out via Wikipedia) is that there was a "Grand Surrey Canal" that was supposed to be built all the way from Surrey Docks to Kingston, and would tie in with the Surrey Iron Railway (which you've covered before). Apparently it only got as far as Peckham, and the canal was closed in the 1970s and most of it built over, turned into a road or parkland. Apparently there is a "bridge to nowhere" in Burgess Park that used to go over it. I reckon it would make for a fascinating video, because it looks like there's tons of history to it.
The Grand Surrey Canal also connected to the Croydon Canal. That wasn't profitable and was sold in the 1830s. The alignment between New Cross and West Croydon was converted to rail.
If you are doing a DLR tour of the World, you must note that it is in East London, which of course was named after the South African city in the Cape Province. 😇
I've always liked Bill Bryson's pithy assessment of Columbus: "It would be hard to name any figure in history who has achieved more lasting fame with less competence. He spent large parts of eight years bouncing around Caribbean islands and coastal South America convinced that he was in the heart of the Orient and that Japan and China were at the edge of every sunset. He never worked out that Cuba is an island and never once set foot on, or even suspected the existence of, the landmass to the north that everyone thinks he discovered: the United States."
The last of these chartered trading companies granted wide-ranging powers as the EIC is the Hudson Bay Company. It's still in operation, though it no longer rules over Hudson Bay, only a few brick-and-mortar locations.
True, the Hudson's Bay Company, named after the large body of water in Canada, was a huge influence on how that country was formed, though not to the extent of having their own private army like the East Indies Company. Since the 20th century, they've been just a chain of department stores across Canada.
Canary Wharf being named after the Canary Islands, brings up a lovely fact - the Canary birds, synonymous with the islands, aren't the origin of the name. The birds Canaries are named after the islands. The Canary islands are actually named after the dog breed Presa Canario, Gran Canaria was originally called Dogo Canario.
I imagine it's the history of Liverpool and Bristol as much as London, there's certainly plenty mentions of the East India Company in the architecture 🫤
Despite the horrors, it's worth mentioning that Britain was a leading force in the abolition movement. Slavery had been the norm for centuries, all around the World. After being involved in it for some time, the British decided it was indecent, and pushed for its abolition. In time, we gained the support of Portugal and a few other countries: Portugal, initially a major player in the transatlantic slave trade, as well as Spain, signed treaties with Britain in the early 19th century to abolish the slave trade. Other countries were soon pressured into following suit. Good video, though.
Lets not pretend that the British gave up slavery because of its morals and Christian values!😂 Nobody wanted to give up slavery due to it being such a money maker. In fact it was one of the factors that helped push the Industrial revolution in the UK. The truth was that there were more troubles and rebellions happening in the Caribbean. Back in those days, it was becoming expensive having to constantly send soldiers a very long way to try and stamp out the problems to only die from Tropical disease. Many others were unable to cope with temperate clinate and unknown territory . The price of slaves also began rocketing. The continent of Africa was less keen to surrender its people and also wanted a larger share in the profits so prices increased. So overall it became more trouble than it was worth! So they went round the British Empire to places like India and Hong-Kong to work on the plantations after slavery was abolished. Which is one of the reasons why you get such a variety of people in terms of skin tone and hair texture. Throw in the indigenous Caribbeans, the Jews, Germans, Lebanese and of course the Scottish and Irish and you get a Jamaican!😂😮❤
There is a California between Wokingham and Finchampstead, which is actually a country park and some surrounding houses. It had a grocery which was open on Sundays, so if we ever ran out of milk or bread, we would talk of " popping out to California" to get some.
There's also a California in Birmingham, just over a mile southwest of Harborne. Apparently so named because the property developer who built the houses made the money to do so in the California Goldrush. Not sure if that's true, but a good story!
There is a California in rural western Pennsylvania, US, home of the "California University of Pennsylvania". Also an Indiana, home of "Indiana University".
Yeah I've always wondered what the name connection is... I can't imagine it's a complete coincidence. Yes, one place that ships traveled to was the Canary Islands... but that's only one destination and clearly a small part of the overall trade. Yet eventually that name became associated first with a whole wharf and eventually the entire modern redevelopment I assume that is something to do with the clever "Isle of Dogs" wordplay involved
There are plenty of streets/roads in and around the docklands that are named after places around the world. Jamaica road near London bridge station is just one example.
more important than the army, since they conquered the ports first securing the foothold until their army went inwards murdering…i mean “taming” the locals
My great great grandfather abandoned life and family in the UK and joined the Eat India Company Army. Fought in the mutiny and ended up settling in Victoria, Australia.
My great great grandfather's family were weavers, living in a small hamlet outside Oldham. In 1803 or 1805 (I can never remember which), because the weaving industry was being taken over by large factories, he signed up to the East India Company and left Britain, never to return, as was customary then. Young British men were encouraged to take Indian wives, which he did. His descendants remained in India until after Independence in 1947 when it became difficult for those of partly British ancestry to find jobs. My parents left India in 1954 with what they could fit into two suitcases and settled in north west London, where there was already a thriving community of Anglo Indians (those of mixed parentage). Had history been a little different, I might have been born and living in India!
@@thomasm1964 yes”S” eat is eat and wet is wet and never the Twain shall meet! Was that Kipling? The one that wrote the books or the ones that make the cakes?
Excellent and informative, as ever. I'm looking forward to your video on Cyprus, the town. I'm a lifelong Londoner, but I hadn't even heard of it. I assumed the station name was to do with trade docks, like the others.
Earlier this year, I went with my wife to the Docklands Museum. a short walk from West India Quay DLR. One of the displays there is a real eye-opener, showing the history of Sugar and its relation to the Slave Trade. You often get idiots circulating memes on social media, about how British History should be taught in schools (as if it isn't), accompanied by pictures depicting pageantry, royalty and patriotism. I doubt if they really want the true British History taught in schools, just their expurgated version.
The DLR can't match the Paris Metro for exotic names. The stations are often named after the boulevarde above and these in turn are named after cities, countries and geographic features around the world. Where else could you travel from the Kremlin to Argentina in just a few stops?
Great video jago and interesting information behind the station names. I've often wondered how the DLR stations got their exotic names. Really enjoying your DLR videos as I've never really known much about the system until now.
The interesting thing (to me, at least) about the Clockwork Railway is whether we'd still build it if we knew what was going to happen. If memory serves (usual caveat), the DLR was built as it is because money was short and usage was expected to be limited. A 'proper' railway (eg an extension of the Underground) would have been way too expensive, and unjustifiable, considering the limited traffic expected. But, of course, that's not how things turned out, and the Docklands soon found itself with a railway that was slow, had very limited capacity, and didn't go where people wanted to go. And the result is that we now have a patchwork 'solution', with the greatly extended tramway serving locals and people who need to get to less popular places, and/or aren't worried about how quickly they get there, and 'proper' high capacity/speed railways, filling the gaping holes in the original plan. Were we to start now, or had we known how travel requirements would expand then, I imagine we would have built the new and extended high capacity/speed lines we now have much earlier. But would we still have also built the DLR to 'fill in the gaps'? I suspect not. After all, with the main lines in place, would there have been the justification to add a complex glorified tramway as well? So is the DLR actually effectively an 'accidental railway' - one that we only got because of an accident of town planning and lack of foresight? It's nice that it is there, especially for us rail nerds, but should it actually exist - is there really a point to it that couldn't have been served (as more usually) by an inadequate bus service, driving and walking?
I had forgotten over the years, the origins of the term "Indians" when referring to Native Americans. The point about Columbus had reminded me of such history. I've been binging your videos for three days now. Thank you kindly for the education!!
I'm sure many of a certain vintage remember Saturday morning picture club, with B&W film of the cowboys and red Indians. The other non-PC element of that was that the cowboys had black hats for the baddies and white for the goodies.
I love the DLR. it’s wonderful system and should be extended. I’m currently upwards the end of the Cs on my AtoW of oyster stations so I’ll be “travelling “ to Cyprus, I can’t wait, for that and your next video too.
Don't forget the Danish West India Company, Real Compañía de Comercio de Barcelona a Indias, the German New Guinea Company and the Portuguese Casa de India.
You may not change anything, Jago, but at least you've recorded it for posterity. If your body of work does anything, then education of future generations may achieve something.
Been to Cyprus and East India on the DLR as well to Beckton and Beckton Park. I still do think that the DLR extension to Thamesmead will still get the go ahead.
It’s hard for an American like me to see the name Canada Water and not think of it as a drink rather than a station, probably because of the Canada Dry brand of drink mixers and soft drinks. Or perhaps most Americans don’t think that way and I’m not quite normal…
After all your hard work I think you should look at Cyprus the country in more detail, but the only way to do that would be to do it in person, for two weeks, all inclusive (of course)
In Toronto there is an area called The Canary District, a former industrial area and named after a long-gone restaurant there called "The Canary." It may be re-opened someday. It's surrounded by condos now and the industry is also long-gone.
Just viewed this video of our empire much sadly lost and as a residents on Shooters Hill SE London you must visit Severdroog Castle their with 1st class views across the docklands and a history connected to that excellent area..
I know it was just a throwaway line, but that comment about changing trains at Canary Warf has me wondering. (and, of course, chuckling. UK humor is a truly lovely thing.) Also, Point of Clarity, for a Yank, please? I thought it was always pronounced more like "Cannery Warf", not "Canary" like the bird, simply as a difference in dialect. Was I misled? Also, all too true what you say at the end there about London being its history -- everyone and everything has a story, as I often say, and every story is interesting. While I _can_ think of a place with an odd name, it's a street or lane, not a Tube stop, and there's probably not a full video behind it, but upon chancing across its signage, my mother and I did laugh uproariously (despite ourselves) at the time. It's a tiny little road over near St Paul's Cathedral, almost a mere bike-path, as I recall, and it's named "St John's At The Loo".
Re. Canada Water: the timber barges that brought wood from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick stopped at London and Belfast. The ones returning westward from Belfast carried Irish immigrants, who could travel for free as long as they brought their own provisions. These immigrants were overwhelmingly Protestant and quite possibly the most pro-Empire group in human history; their descendants held such a stranglehold over politics in the Atlantic Provinces and eventually southern Ontario that it wasn't until after *World War II* that it was possible to be elected mayor of many cities - including Toronto - without the express support of the Orange Order. Incidentally, the Order was both more powerful and more popular in Canada than it ever dreamed of being in Northern Ireland. At one point there were more members of the Order in Canada than there were people living in Northern Ireland.
Thank you very much for that. When we got to Cyprus, and that it was a new town to service The Biggest Dock In The World (I'm sure it must have been) my thoughts, I regret, went, "Cyprus. Home of Venus. Docks. What is a big trade near docks? Ah, I see."
Rule Britannia! I always think it’s amazing that this tiny island ruled the world!! But an almost magic coincidence of events led to this… the temperate climate, cold winters, glass, the humble cow and undoubtedly the Industrial Revolution gave us the muscle we needed to go big!
Hello Jago - 1) I didn't know that in London that there were areas called East India & Cyprus for which I have been to the Real Island of Cyprus (also known as the Party Island!!!) many moons ago!!! & 2) @ 4:39 - Your videos aren't silly - Just interesting & enjoyable to watch!!! 😉🚂🚂🚂
I'm British by birth but I live in Calgary, AB, Canada. The Canadian locals always refer to the local (mainly Sikh) population as 'East Indians'. Always reminds me of how colonial us being in the Western Canadian foothills really is... The local (white) Canadians often look at me with horror when I refer to many of our contractors as 'Indian' - which amuses me as many are from India! They have not yet got round to the current term First Nations for our local indigenous population.
Named after Calgary on the Isle of Mull of course, which is a very pretty little bay and country house. Nice tea room just up the road with sculpture park, well worth a wee roam.
I'm similarly always fascinated by the neighbourhood names which emerge when you zoom in on google maps, like Little Portugal in Stockwell or Little Russia in North Tottenham.
Little Russia at least is thanks to Pogroms in the mid and late 1800s and early 1900s which led to a lot of Jewish eastern Europeans emigrating to western Europe and the UK, being followed up in 1917/1918 by exiled aristocrats.
I do love this part of London - SS Robin is docked opposite ExCel Centre so I'm a little biased. The Thames water looks so much cleaner here. Phenomenal how developed the area is these days.
The banana trade: At least once (in the 50's?) an eyelash viper was included in a "bunch" of bananas and delivered to the UK. Admittedly, these snakes can be a vibrant yellow, so might have blended in (except, I believe bananas are typically shipped green and continue the ripening process en route, so ...). Would have given quite a start to grocer (by the time stocking was being done, the bananas would be nicely yellow).
You showed the O2 Arena in North Greenwich, but that station doesn’t have a DLR station. The station is between Greenwich and Woolwich Arsenal, and on a different line to both of them. It’s also not in east London, it’s on the south side of the Thames in southeast London.
No, wait, let me get this straight. You're telling me that the stations the railway visits have something to do with where the railway runs? But really, this one was unimaginably good. I had never really thought of the DLR as a place to go for perspective. I was wrong!
I guess if people spoke vaguely of 'the Indies' including Indonesia and the Philippines it makes it slightly more reasonable for Columbus to think that the Caribbean was the previously unknown eastern tip of that archipelago.
