London Canary Wharf Google view

One of the best ways to illustrate the relationship between the Canary Wharf business district and the historic wharves is to look at it through Google satellite. The Canary Wharf tube station in the adjacent pictures is in just about the center of this picture and is marked. From this you can get a sense of how much of the Canary Wharf business district is built on water and can see the historic locks for raising and lowering ships from the Thames into the area around the wharves.

The one thing I don’t understand, and hopefully some of my European friends will explain, is why the original wharves were built at an elevation above the Thames. I’m sure it’s related to the facts that the national canal networks were higher (to account for higher terrain in central Britain), but it would have seemed easier to lower the canal boats than raise the larger seagoing ships.