Ropemaker's Field

I thought I would write a bit about our home here in London.  We are very happy here and are quite happy to recommend this house to other exchangers.

The house is located in a little pocket of suburbia right in the middle of the city.  It is very comfortable, with an open and airy kitchen, dining, living room combo on the first floor.  The kitchen is spacious and well-equipped and includes a dishwasher, washing machine and good sized refrigerator.    There are very good lights throughout the house.  The living room has plenty of seating and a nice tv.  Also on the first floor is the large foyer with a convenient half bath.

On the second floor is the master bedroom, a full bath with tub and shower, and a child's bedroom.   The master bedroom offers a comfortable king bed.  The third floor offers a bedroom with twin beds, another bathroom with stall shower, and a guest bedroom with desk for computer.

The location is ideal.  A 1 block stroll takes you to the banks of the Thames, along which you can meander over to Canary Wharf where there are big shopping malls and a huge financial center.  Or, take a longer walk along the Thames and get to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.  A walk through the adjacent park and few blocks north takes you to the Docklands Light Rail station.  From the DLR you can get anywhere in London.

This location is very historic.  In the 19th century this whole area was built into docks by the
West India Corporation and other shipping magnates who were tired of waiting for weeks with their goods stuck on ships because there were not enough watermen to offload the goods onto small boats and take them to shore.  The importers also had a lot of trouble securing their goods once they did get to shore and hundreds of thousands of pounds were lost to pilferage and outright theft.  The rich guys solved the problem by building enclosed wharves which allowed the ships to enter an enclosed, secured bay and the goods to be off-loaded and moved directly to adjacent warehouses.

The street names attest to the many trades that were practiced here--Ropemaker's Fields, Limehouse, Haymarket, Barleycorn Way, Horseferry Road, Sailmakers Row, Candlewick Rd.  In Victorian times this was a bustling, busy place, although many of the workers lived in abject poverty.  

This house on Ropemaker's Field was a pub during the and 19th and 20th centuries, and it's claim to fame is that during the Blitz the entire area was decimated, and yet this one building was left standing.  Hence it earned the name, which is displayed on the park side of the house in big, bold letters, "The House They Left Behind".

  Previous to that it was called The Black Horse and was built in 1857.  The homeowners have done a nice job of remodeling the pub into a comfortable, airy, and charming home.

A car is really not needed in this location.  We have used the car once in the whole three + weeks we have stayed here.  The public transportation system--the Tube, the DLR and even the bus system--will get you where you want to go very quickly and with no hassle.  Cars in London are a hassle.   So, a suggestion for exchangers, instead of taking up a car here, ask the exchangers to purchase a weekly Oyster Card which allows you to unlimited use of the public transportation systems within the central two zones of London in trade for the use of your car. This would be win-win: They get the use of your car and the expense of the oyster card will be much less than it would cost them to rent a car.  If you need to travel farther afield, a supplemental fare can be added to the card for a reasonable charge.

More information about the area:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limehouse