London, The Unfinished City.

From Russia With Love The history of Russia Dock is a narrative of global trade, industrial might, and radical urban regeneration. For over 150 years, this stretch of water formed part of one of the busiest, most specialised dock systems in the world. Today, the area has evolved from a series of 19th-century timber ponds into a tranquil 21st-century urban forest. 19th-Century Expansion (1811–1860s) The origins of Russia Dock date back to 1811–1812, when the Surrey Commercial Dock Company dug an extension alongside the Grand Surrey Canal to capitalise on London's shipping boom. Over the following decades, workers widened and engineered the channel into a dedicated shipping basin tailored specifically for Baltic timber imports. By the mid-19th century, the docks covering the Rotherhithe peninsula expanded into a massive 460-acre network. To aid navigation, basins were named after the origins of their primary cargo, creating Canada Dock, Norway Dock, and Russia Dock.