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PEOPLE BRIDGES
There are bridges near and far in the exciting London Docklands legacy and they have sparked a flurry of interest throughout the world. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) spent £18M to bridge vast Docks and bring people closer to the water using some of the best designers to develop top class design and excitement, quality and flexibility to the unique Docks urban environment. On both sides of the River Thames, the pedestrian bridges start in Tower and move downstream to Wapping, the Isle of Dogs and finally the Royal Victoria Dock. Half the award winning Canary Bridge has gone to Trinity Buoy Wharf alongside to bridge the River Lea and open up a new area for regeneration.

SLOW GROWTH FOREST
There is no sign of an £8M "urban forest" at Stratford announced in April 1998 following a successful EC Single Regneration Bid (SRB). The trees were due to be planted on derelict land and shelter business clusters for media, arts and culture and publishing. The one-time capital of East London has been remodelled with a stunning bus station, cinema complex, superstore and an award winning Jubilee Line station.

STAY LONGER PLAN
Greenwich has altered its town plans to encourage tourists to stay there longer - days rather than hours. A £500,000 town centre spruce-up, new cycleways, riverside paths and a raft of tourist attractions should help but the Millennium Dome is still struggling for visitors. The maritime town’s biggest problem remains traffic congestion, but not around the Dome where private vehicles are banned for miles around. Greenwich Tour Guides have the best tours.

GOODBYE LARGESSE
The LDDC's farewell party in the Royal Docks saw their Chairman, Sir Michael Pickard handing over £9.5M to LB Newham officials for new schools, longterm funding for community projects and leisure facilities. There was a mad scramble to complete outstanding deals before the wind-up of the corporation on March 30 1998. More than 30 were signed off in the last 48 hours of the quango as finance executives and lawyers worked frantically to conclude what were by then seen to be soft deals.

ALPINE BURIAL
It has long been one of the urban myths of the new Docklands that a steam locomotive was buried amid tonnes of polluted industrial waste when pioneering officers of the London Docklands Development Corporation decided to built Beckton Alps, the ski lift and log cabins development that carries one of the longest dry ski slopes in the UK. It's true - the loco was dragged from nearby Beckton gasworks, where it had become dangerously polluted, and buried at the heart of the man-made Alps.

CRIME CLEAR-UP
A decision to dredge-up dozens of cars from the waters of the West India Docks turned out to be a crime clear-up bonanza for local police. Officers checked each car as it was brought ashore, looking in the boots for the gangster victims that legend claimed. There were no bodies, not even in the Rolls Royce that was dragged out of the Dock, but police went on to solve many crimes from the clues provided by the recovered vehicles. East End gangsters had thought dumping the cars in the deep waters of the Docks would cover their crimes forever.