A bundle of housing estates developed in the latter half of the previous century, this neighbourhood area in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham might still be referred to as in transition. The historical essence of the locale has been industrial, with the original population being factory workers at the Lawes Chemical and Fertiliser Company. None of the original Victorian residences today and most of the locals live in the area between Alfred’s Way (A13) in the north and Thames Reach in the south, known as the Thames View estate. The council-built housing stock consists predominantly of flats and terraces and the main shopping space is located at Bastable Avenue. This is also where the modern Thames View Health Centre can be found, together with the Sue Bramley Centre which provides welfare and educational services for children. The Ship and Shovel Pub throws dance parties on weekends and is much loved by locals, and Dagenham Sunday Market runs every Sunday from and boasts 600 stalls. While the Thames View Junior School was deemed to require improvement by Ofsted in 2018, the inspection of the secondary Riverside School concluded that the school was ‘good’.

Creekmouth Village was founded in the 1850s by John Bennett Laws. Having been one of the first to experiment with manufacturing chemicals for the purpose of fertilising crops, Laws set up his company and factory in the area. This transformed Creekmouth from a desolate riverside marshland into an industrial hub. Fifty-five cottages were built, along with a school and a pub called the Crooked Billet, the building of which has been preserved and now currently serves as a restaurant.

Creekmouth Village suffered two catastrophes during its short century-long lifespan. In 1878, a paddle steamer called Alice sank after a collision with a ship carrying coal. 650 people on board Alice were killed. Then, on 31st January 1953, the overflowing riverbanks of the Thames flooded the cottages of Creekmouth, spelling the end of the Victorian settlement. The area has since undergone gradual development: Thames View was built immediately after the flood – between 1954 and 1960 – and provided the area with 2,000 new homes; the Great Fleete estate was built at Barking Reach the turn of the millennium.

One notable figure associated with the area is the left-field singer and activist Billy Bragg. Born in 1957, Bragg understood early on that his life chances were ultimately constrained, growing up around Barking. Joining a punk rock band in 1977 before briefly serving in the British Army, his artistic launch happened miraculously when Bragg was playing football outside the BBC headquarters and heard the presenter complaining about feeling peckish while on air. Bragg hurriedly ran to buy the presenter a biryani and thus succeeded in forging a crucial connection. Since then, Bragg has achieved worldwide fame through his politically charged songs and poetry. Meanwhile, the rock singer has maintained a close connection with his roots. He explains how Alfred’s Way is thus named after Alfred the Great, who was the monarch in the 9th century when a Viking invasion reduced a nearby Anglo-Saxon abbey to rubble.

Bragg has also been involved in local community initiatives, like helping the children of Thames View School plant flower bulbs at the Creekmouth Open Space.

It is rumoured that the X Factor contestant Stacey Solomon attended the Dagenham Sunday Market and purchased a cream chiffon frock there. She would wear the garment at the du Soleil’s Varekai.

A mural stands a few hundred metres west of the Sunday Market. It depicts two men spouting torrents of water towards each other with a ship caught in the whirlpool at the centre; this is, of course, the sinking Princess Alice. The work is called Soul Searching and it was created by Tamara Froud.

While the area previously suffered from a lack of transport links, with no rail links in the neighbourhood, this is an issue that has recently been resolved. The new Barking Riverside Overground station opened in 2022 and now connects passengers to central London in as little as 22 minutes and to Barking in 7 minutes. Alin works nearby, commenting that “Creekmouth has been on the fringes of Barking since the beginning; but more and more young families have been coming out here to find inexpensive housing, so the community is beginning to grow.”

The vast open areas which formerly served as the location for dozens of factories have been identified for their potential to serve the pressing demand for housing in the capital. The 443-acre area just east of Dagenham Market has been designated a London Riverside opportunity area and is being developed by a joint venture between L&Q and the Greater London Authority. As the largest development in East London, 10,800 new homes will be provided by the end of the fourth stage in 2034, along with leisure, commercial and community spaces.