Qualla: St Katharine Docks https://qualla.com/st-katharine-docks en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:15 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/st-katharine-docks-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: St Katharine Docks https://qualla.com/st-katharine-docks St Katharine Docks: Introduction https://qualla.com/st-katharine-docks/ Photo credit Panhard, CC BY 2.5. On 1 January 1985, someone picked up a phone at St Katharine Docks and made history. Comedian Ernie Wise made the first public cellular telephone call in the United Kingdom from this spot over the new Vodafone network, dialling the Vodafone office in Newbury some 60 miles away. The dock had seen cargo ships, wartime bombs, decades of dereliction, and then a remarkable rebirth—and now it had witnessed the birth of mobile telecommunications. It was a fitting place for a landmark moment. St Katharine Docks has always been a site where things begin and end, often at tremendous human cost.

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Image: Panhard | CC BY 2.5

]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/st-katharine-docks-wp/gcpv-st-katharine-docks-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full St Katharine Docks: What Was Lost https://qualla.com/st-katharine-docks/ Photo credit Steve F-E-Cameron, CC BY-SA 3.0. Before the docks existed, a medieval hospital stood here. St Katharine's by the Tower had served London's poor since the 12th century. In 1827, Parliament decided the site was too valuable for charity work. An Act authorised the demolition of the entire precinct: 1,250 houses fel...

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Image: Steve F-E-Cameron | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/st-katharine-docks-wp/gcpv-st-katharine-docks-what-was-lost.mp3 0:06 2 full St Katharine Docks: A Clever Design, an Imperfect Trade https://qualla.com/st-katharine-docks/ Photo credit Mark Ahsmann, CC BY-SA 3.0. Telford's engineering was inventive. He designed two linked basins—East and West—both reached via an entrance lock from the Thames. Steam engines designed by James Watt and Matthew Boulton kept the water level about four feet above the tidal river. He also pushed the warehouses, ...

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Image: Mark Ahsmann | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/st-katharine-docks-wp/gcpv-st-katharine-docks-a-clever-design-an-imperfect-trade.mp3 0:06 3 full St Katharine Docks: Destruction and Silence https://qualla.com/st-katharine-docks/ Photo credit Mark Ahsmann, CC BY-SA 3.0. German bombing during the Second World War struck hard. All the warehouses around the eastern basin were destroyed. The site lay derelict through the 1950s. The entrance lock was rebuilt in 1957, but commercial use ended entirely in 1968. London's great Victorian dock system was ...

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Image: Mark Ahsmann | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/st-katharine-docks-wp/gcpv-st-katharine-docks-destruction-and-silence.mp3 0:06 4 full St Katharine Docks: A Different Kind of Port https://qualla.com/st-katharine-docks/ Photo credit Doyle of London, CC BY-SA 4.0. The transformation that followed became a template. Development around the eastern basin was completed through the 1980s and 1990s, turning the docks into a marina ringed by apartments, restaurants, and offices. Today sailing barges bob alongside Gloriana, the royal barge used at...

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Image: Doyle of London | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/st-katharine-docks-wp/gcpv-st-katharine-docks-a-different-kind-of-port.mp3 0:06 5 full