Rotherhithe

Rotherhithe is the bit of Docklands that kept the river and lost the docks, and estate agents have been taking credit for that ever since. The Brunels dug the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world here, ran out of money before the ramps for the carts, and handed London a very expensive footpath. The eastern end is called Downtown, which has the swagger of Manhattan and the nightlife of a cul-de-sac. Canary Wharf glitters across the water at the ideal distance from a bank: near enough to admire, far enough that you never have to work in one.