It takes a while to get over to that part of town, so thought we’d make a bit of a day of it. We began at the East India Dock. To give you an idea of how this place looks, there’s a photo on the Asif Aziz website.

We travelled over by tube, then got a bit lost trying to walk there, then found a helpful bus driver who made sure we got all the way. The first thing to surprise me was that I thought there would be more docks. In fact, the docks have been filled in, with only a little remaining. The water that’s been left has mainly been colonised by ducks, whilst cranes and workmen have colonised the empty spaces. Even at the weekend, there was plenty of building activity, as it seems that the area’s going be pretty important for London’s Olympic games in 2012.

A rather large latte later, we met our contact, Mike, who got us inside the Billingsgate Market, so I could do photos of the empty space.

On Tuesday morning we were back for the real deal. The official Billingsgate Market site says they sell 25,000 tonnes of fish each year, and I could believe it. It’s an early start (the market is open from 5am-8:30am) but definitely worth a visit. In between photographing, we had time to contribute to their annual tonnage, including a couple of sea trout that we had last night, and some smoked mackerel, that are waiting for later this week.

Keep an eye on the blog, and I’ll let you know when the photos are in print!