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A dismal council estate trapped between Creekmouth and the A13. This was marshland until the mid-1950s, when the council began
building over 2,000 homes using piles and rafts to secure the foundations. Bastable Avenue is the main thoroughfare. With
industrial sites scattered in all directions, soulless architecture and a pervading air of dilapidation, this is east London
at its most depressing. There is no Thames view from ground level. The estate’s ethnic mix includes residents of white,
black African and black Caribbean heritage, but relatively few of Asian descent. In recent years, the council has placed a
number of refugee and asylum seeking families here, mainly from Eastern Europe. Thames View has been the subject of a Sure
Start initiative aiming to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of babies and young children. Its organisers
commented, “The estate itself is isolated, the community fragmented, with little access to communal facilities. Services
are basic, educational attainment poor, life chances limited.” To the east of Thames View is the new Barking Reach development,
which has begun with the Great Fleete estate. Although merely acceptable in terms of its design and build quality, it looks
dazzling in comparison with Thames View.
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