Fish Island, Tower Hamlets

The borough’s largest industrial area, situated south of Hackney Wick and east of Old Ford

Symbolic fins at the gateway to Fish Island

Fish Island is bounded by the River Lea, the Hertford Union canal and the East Cross Route, and is so called because of its street names (Roach Road, Bream Street, etc). Old Ford Road used to continue through the marshes and across the river and one large house, later known as King John’s Palace, stood here until 1863.

In 1865 the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company bought 30 acres of land as the site for a new works, but instead decided to build these on the east bank of the Lea in Bromley-​​by-​​Bow. The company sold the site and the present network of streets was laid out, and filled with small houses and multi-​​storey factories. Until recently the island’s largest employer was Percy Dalton’s Famous Peanut Company, at the Old Ford Works in Dace Road.

Fish Island is now dominated by waste disposal and recycling facilities and wholesale and distri­bution warehouses, together with some offices. A number of vacant properties had fallen into disrepair and the council has permitted their conversion to live/​work loft apartments. As in nearby Hackney Wick, the relatively affordable avail­ability of disused industrial premises has attracted a thriving community of artists and designers.

The proximity of the Olympics site on the opposite bank of the river Lea has also heightened the island’s appeal and one new and very appro­priate resident of Fish Island is Forman and Field, who produce gourmet foods here, including smoked salmon, other smoked and marinated fish and shellfish. The company’s former factory occupied the precise site of the new Olympic stadium, now completed on the other side of the River Lea.

Channel 4’s Big Breakfast was broadcast from the Lock Keeper’s Cottage at Fish Island from 1992 to 2002. There had been rumours that the show’s founder Bob Geldof would blow up the cottage on the show’s final day but computer tricks were instead used to fake its disappearance.

Postal district: E3