Rotherhithe

Clinging to the south bank of the Thames is Rotherhithe, which actually means mariner’s haven. Unsurprisingly, shipbuilding has always dominated local life, and the first dock was established here in the late 17th century.

East Bermonsey also falls into this locality, and has not undergone the same energetic renovation that has gone on to the west, in the part that falls within the more prestigious SE1 postcode sector.

You would have to go a long way to find a more typical eighties yuppie development than Surrey Quays. Already very dated, this area grew up on land that had laid ruined sine the second world war. Here people don’t have cars on drives out front of their homes, they have boats on moorings.