A new chapter opens in the Thames story

In bright sunshine with hardly a gust of wind, the newly built Trinity Buoy Wharf pontoon was gently craned into place watched by a crowd of locals including residents of London City Island.

For ‘islanders’, the afternoon had particular significance.

While there’s been a pier at Trinity Buoy Wharf for over 40 years, it wasn’t designed to take Thames Clippers- the river bus service that operates commuter services between eastern and central London as well as a tourist service.

John Burton, project manager at TBW said the new pier was an “important infrastructural step”. He said “We have provided a bigger space so Thames Clippers, which will manage the pier, can have engineers, storage, an office and so on but it also means more people can arrive here by boat.”

Trinity Buoy Wharf has a range of spaces for hire including The Electrician’s Shop, a 19th Century industrial building and the 18th Century Drawing Studio. Both are popular wedding venues with guests often choosing to arrive by boat.

The 600 tonne pontoon will now be towed down the river to the Royal Docks so it can be pumped with concrete for ballast. Once back at TBW a new bridge will connect the pontoon to the Thames bank.

Photographer Sokari Higgwe, who lives on London City Island said the new pier was “a very exciting, very historic moment which I wanted to be part of”.

The Thames Clippers will service the peninsular including LCI and Goodluck Hope together with a stop at Ballymore’s Royal Wharf.