Trouble around Victoria Park

[Cosmic]

We have had a couple of reports sent to London Boaters in the past few days about problems in the area between Broadway Market and Mile End, centred on Victoria Park.

 

The first was sent on Saturday:

I thought it worth bringing to your attention a recent crime spate in Victoria Park and the a joining tow path that has started in the past week.

 

Gangs of youths are currently significantly increasing muggings in the park and on the tow path after dark. Along with attempting thefts of bikes in particular from boats and the tow path. I myself was mugged last Tuesday evening returning to my boat on Old Ford Lock going through Victoria Park via Approach Road. Police have increased their presence in the park due to the volume of crime now being reported, but this seems to have little effect on the gangs presence so far. Some suggestions for other boaters would be:

 

-Try not walk through Victoria Park past dark as the gangs start to appear from as early as 8pm

-Try not to walk though the park or along the tow path on your own after dark

-Be aware of individuals in trouble on the tow path when you're on your boat. Lights turning on or people going to deck seem to move the gangs on.

-Gangs of 6/7 are surrounding victims and demanding phones and wallets are handed over after showing knives or insinuating they have knives. Be aware of gangs like this.

-Secure all valuable items such as bikes

-Don't carry valuables on your person after dark such as laptops

-And ultimately report ALL incidents to Police even if they involve intimidation/ attempted theft/ anti social behaviour. The more reports that are made to the police, the more they'll have to increase their resource to the area.

And this one has just been sent by a lone female boater:

At 12.30pm today I was followed back to my boat from sewardstone road to the visitor moorings at victoria park. The guy waited outside for a while then crossed over the boat next to me and onto mine, he knocked on the door, asking if I had a light, he said he was on the boat next door (this being my boyfriend's boat) I didn't open the door and he left after a couple of minutes and was last seen running off through vicky park.

 

Fortunately I had a friend on route but what it has reminded me is that had I known more about my location the police would have been here quicker.

So what I would recommend is knowing the nearest street name and postcode, eg E3 (you don't need to know the full postcode) to where you are moored.

Also having a number or few of boaters moored near you. My neighbour in front was in but I couldn't contact him.

 

The police were here within minutes of confirmation of location, a first for me in them locating boaters in trouble.

[sheriff]

shame im not there roaming around at night,too far away now,you take care tony..

[Donald Gilchrist]

Remind me again,why I dont live in London

[sheriff]

today i travelled along the canal at 06:30am and saw little lambs jumping around playing,London was a million miles away..............sadly boaters live in london,and need our suppport.

 

prevention is better than detention....lock it up or lose it....as far as muggings go...if your capable defend yourself,if not hand it over,call the police again and again,untill such time the police mount an operation to collect such persons up.im led to believe the MET are going to gather up the unruly just before the olympics and treat them all to b&b

[tug-major]

as i go up and down the canal in london i here about this all the time sorry to say

[Starcoaster]

I lived in Peckham until I moved aboard, it's reputation precedes it for most people.

Funnily enough, tales of the normal, everyday people who live there going about their hard working lives and coming and going late at night and in the dark hours safely and unmolested, never makes the news...

 

Crap like this happens in plenty of places, not just London!

[sheriff]

come on james,sort it out down there

[tug-major]

lol sheriff london gone mad with evethink dont think any one can now

[mrsmelly]

Remind me again,why I dont live in London

 

Why the hell would anybody.......Its a prize Sh one t hole !!

[Ange]

Why the hell would anybody.......Its a prize Sh one t hole !!

 

[mrsmelly]

 

You need to get to bed if your tired ..just thank yourself lucky its not in the big slum starting with an L

[Rebotco]

You need to get to bed if your tired ..just thank yourself lucky its not in the big slum starting with an L

 

Oi! Thats no way to talk about Leeds!

[mrsmelly]

Oi! Thats no way to talk about Leeds!

 

Naaah thats just a little Slum

[Gazboatman]

Oi! Thats no way to talk about Leeds!

[blackrose]

Remind me again,why I dont live in London

 

The thread's about a specific area of East London that the canal runs through, not the whole of London.

 

However, when people on the forum ask about safe places to moor on the Regent's canal in East London, Victoria Park is often recommended!

 

Boaters should use their own judgement, but personally I didn't want to stop there and went straight through to Limehouse basin. Perhaps that opinion was partly based on the comments of two long-term moorers I got talking to in City Rd basin who advised me not to stop until I got to Limehouse and also two young policemen patrolling the towpath that started talking to me at Actons lock, who told me there were lots of muggings in the area. Or perhaps my perspective was coloured after being waved over to avoid police divers near Kingsland basin who were searching for a body...

 

This was all on one trip! Moor in E. London, no thanks!

Edited March 20, 2012 by blackrose

[larkshall]

 

 

Out of ORDER

[Black Ibis]

When we visited London by boat we only moored in Paddington Basin and Limehouse. Aside from the worry about trouble, there was no space round Victoria Park!

[pearley]

When we visited London by boat we only moored in Paddington Basin and Limehouse. Aside from the worry about trouble, there was no space round Victoria Park!

The same with us, however, time was getting on so we moored on some nice BW bollards about 500 yards or so past. No problem but next morning walkers said we were lucky not to have had trouble - it was Mile End Park. Seemed a nice quiet spot.

 

On the return journey it was not only the visitor moorings that were full but the lock landings as well.

 

Regards

Pete

 

Currently on the Chesterfield - plenty of mooring space!

[system 4-50]

London is big.

It has good bits and bad bits.

 

Where I have a house (in a good bit) the folk are very well behaved. For example when they leave litter in the street, bottles, drink cartons, etc, they are always left upright in an out of the way corner. The litter bins are used, but since the word "Litter" is not written on them in 17 languages, it is not surprising that not everybody uses them. In fact there is probably an East European family living in some of them

Where I'm boating, NW Midlands, it is clear that all litter is ejected from passing motor vehicles at high speed and the volume is such that I believe all the fast food detritus in the district is disposed of this way.

 

There is a recent trend in London for bad behaviour to go in waves. There is a clamp down in one area and the level of mischief goes up in another.

 

I don't believe it helps to knock an area, it just gives a few wayward types an image to work up to, and the local television loves to play up anything bad.

 

It is a shame if Vicky park is going through a bad patch, I hope the boaters in the area manage to create a sufficiently strong sense of community that nefarious activities take themselves off elsewhere. I can remember (~1985) going for a swim in the open air Lido there. It was quite safe and ****** cold!

[MaryP]

 

 

It is a shame if Vicky park is going through a bad patch, I hope the boaters in the area manage to create a sufficiently strong sense of community that nefarious activities take themselves off elsewhere. I can remember (~1985) going for a swim in the open air Lido there. It was quite safe and ****** cold!

 

That Lido long demolished, but another built in London fields - near Broadway Mkt.

[WJM]

If I am staying in the Victoria Park area I moor around the corner on the Hertford Union canal. It seems to be quieter there.

[Leni]

I can understand people's reluctance to venture into areas known to be 'a bit dodgy', but I can't help feeling that to stay away from a given area because it is reported to be the haunt of 'baddies' only becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy! If all the 'good' people stay away from an area it will of course become an area where trouble can thrive.

 

I think we need to reclaim areas with a bad reputation, and continue to do so until the trouble-making minority - and they are usually a minority, although rumour and fear, often fueled by the Media, exaggerate them and give them a power they don't really deserve - either slink away somewhere else or, who knows, maybe even learn by example to live a lifestyle more acceptable to the law-abiding majority.

Edited March 21, 2012 by Leni

[WJM]

I was once working single-handed through the lock after Old Ford when a group of very frightening ethnic 'Yuff' surrounded me and began to hassle me with that very aggressive patois. When "Wot You Doin Man?" was bellowed into my face I thought it was time for some creative thinking. So I gave them windlasses and began to instruct them on how to work the lock. They loved it, winding the paddles, opening the gates. They smiled and waved as I left!

 

Ok, it is not always going to be that easy, I was probably only dealing with boredom, with drugs involved it can be different.

[Doorman]

When we visited London by boat we only moored in Paddington Basin and Limehouse. Aside from the worry about trouble, there was no space round Victoria Park!

 

That's because it was overrun with muggers!

 

I feel that all of the criticism about our fine old capital is unfair really. It's a fascinating place with brilliant architecture to marvel at. If you can get past the language barrier, it's well worth a visit and must be one of the most popular places to come home from, innit!

Edited March 21, 2012 by Doorman

[Joshua]

I can understand people's reluctance .......................that to stay away ............ becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy! If all the 'good' people stay away from an area it will of course become an area where trouble can thrive.

 

I think we need to reclaim areas with a bad reputation, ...........................

 

 

Agree 100%.Some years ago, my girlfriend and I lived in a small village on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells. My girlfriend's habit of taking our dogs for a walk along an unlit pathway each evening dismayed the other women living in our street. Worried about being attacked by sex fiends who might be hiding in bushes, these neighbours locked themselves in as the sun went down. They were right that my girlfriend was vulnerable to attack, but only because they all stayed at home, if they had all gone out to walk their dogs at night, the sex fiend hiding in the bushes would have been the one at risk.

 

 

 

Joshua