St Katharine Docks

This isn't what you picture when you think of Tower Hamlets, is it?

I was down here today for a meeting. For complicated reasons, we ended up arranging to meet on the docks. I'd never been before, so I aimed to arrive early: Underground from Euston to Bank, hike across to Monument, Underground again to Tower Hill. Then it was 'phone out, Maps app open, and a wander along past the Tower of London.

The entrance to the docks is quite forbidding - it looks like it's private - but, as I (effectively) had an invite, I wandered down towards a building marked 'The Ivory House'. I was half an hour early, so I went into reception to ask if there was a café nearby. The smart looking concierge was a little older than me and smartly turned out but, when I asked about a coffee shop, turned out to have the sort of splendid London accent that Dick van Dyke would have given his chimney brush for.

I took this shot from a Turkish café on the edge of the docks while I was waiting. It was a pretty perfect moment in a hectic week, sipping my coffee, sitting in the sunshine, watching people stroll past and listening to the sounds of the boats and the water. The phrase "how the other half live" popped into my mind but, of course, it's more like how the other 0.01% live!

Later on, after the meeting, I walked back to Waterloo, past the Tower of London, this time close enough to see all the poppies. The juxtaposition of this testament to those primarily working class men in the trenches and the spot where I'd spent the last couple of hours set me thinking - as I often do - about privilege and opportunity, and particularly about (universal) basic income, which is pretty much the best idea I've heard in years. Apparently it's going in the Green manifesto (although I can't confirm that).