The life and activity of the East End centre is in the Docks, with all the manifold industries that spring up around a great seaport. London's position as a great entrepot of trade, through which pours an unceasing and colossal stream of wares of every kind, invests its docks with a variety and interest unequalled elsewhere. No one can view without interest the spacious basins crowded with shipping of every flag discharging cargoes from every region between the poles and equator, the huge warehouses for the storage of goods, the apparatus and machinery adapted for every need, or the constant skilled activity that prevails. A long day's visit to the docks is fatiguing; but a visit should be paid at least to London Docks. Luncheon, if required, should be brought; the eating-houses and taverns near the docks are not adapted for the ordinary visitor.
ADMISSION. The docks and warehouses are open as a general rule only to those who have business to transact there. Permits are issued to others (not on Saturday) at the discretion of the Dock & Warehouse Manager, to whom application should be made in writing at the offices of the Port of London Authority, Trinity Square, E.C. A fair general view may be obtained from the train between Shadwell and Blackwall.
