Greenwich Peninsula

Another day, another permitted period of exercise, this time involving my first 'flight' on the Emirates Air Line cable car from the Royal Docks to the Greenwich. Peninsula. We picked late afternoon giving the best chances of a sunset or dramatic lighting. The trip over was rainy and windy, but after a coffee and cycle around the peninsula the trip back was brighter with snatches of sunlight between the clouds. Photo is the view west from mid-way across the ride.

The Greenwich Peninsula, bounded on three sides by a loop of the Thames, was a mosquito-ridden hellhole before being drained by Dutch engineers in 1625. Formerly known as Greenwich Marshes (OS map of 1867) and as Bugsby's Marshes, it was a tidal mudflat where bodies of executed pirates were hung in cages. It became known as East Greenwich as it developed in the 19th century, but more recently has been called North Greenwich and was the site chosen for the Millennium Dome known now as the O2 Arena.