Mudchute DLR station
From Free net encyclopedia
Mudchute DLR station is in an area of the Isle of Dogs near to the Millwall Dock. The station is on the Lewisham branch, between Crossharbour and Island Gardens stations and in Travelcard Zone 2. On the route of an old Victorian railway line, the modern-day station opened as an elevated station on August 31, 1987 when it was the last station before the then terminus at Island Gardens. When the line was extended to Lewisham, involving tunnelling under the River Thames, the station was rebuilt in a shallow cutting immediately before the tunnel entrance, opening on November 20, 1999.
The station was originally intended to be named Millwall Dock, but around the time the DLR was being constructed, Millwall F.C. had experienced some particularly nasty incidents of hooliganism, and a minority of its fans were considered to be amongst the most riotous in the country. Despite the fact that the club's ground is some distance away on the other side of the River Thames, it was thought that the original name carried an unacceptable risk of attracting these undesirables to the area and so the name Mudchute was chosen.
The name of the area is in testament to the engineering overspill when Millwall Dock was being created in the 1840s. Spoil from the excavation of the Dock, and silt from its channels and waterways were dumped on nearby land, creating "The Mudchute", which quickly established itself as a wildlife habitat and adventuring location for local children.
In 1974 the Greater London Council gave permission for the construction of a high-rise housing estate on The Mudchute, and the resulting backlash from the local population lead to the 1977 creation of the Mudchute Association, a registered charity whose primary objective is "Management of the park & farm with special consideration for animals, wildlife, visitors, trainees & staff. To maintain the financial sustainability of the project and to respond to local needs and initiatives."