A bit delayed publishing this one – but I wanted to get it ‘out there’ as I feel the subject matter definitely warrants its own London Shoes blog.
The other week my London Shoes legged it down to a place called ‘Canada Water’ down Rotherhithe way – for the specific purpose of visiting an exhibition that is most certainly pulling the punters in from all over at the moment – the “LEGEND OF THE TITANIC”
The ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition is being staged at a venue called ‘Dock X’ located in Canada Water–London SE16 – in the Rotherhithe district, once part of the large Surrey Docks.
The Canada Water location is defined by a large freshwater lake that’s become a little safe haven refuge for some species of wildlife.
Canada Water tube station on the Jubilee Line (the Grey line on a standard tube map) , is situated alongside the lake – so the area is easily accessible.
In 2024 an impressive ‘boardwalk’ was constructed – spanning the length of the Lake, where reeds and aquatic plants attract water fowl wildlife such as coots / mallards / swans plus many more.
There are a couple of large exhibition type venues alongside the Canada Water lake – an extremely popular ‘Minecraft’ exhibition is running in one of them – and the impressive “Legend of the Titanic” is in ‘Dock X’ building, the other exhibition type venue there.
The ’Legend of the Titanic’ is another ‘immersive’ type experience event, that have become extremely popular throughout London the past few years.
This particular ‘Legend of the Titanic’ immersive exhibition (I believe there may be a similar one in the Camden Lock area) – features historic authentic artifacts from or associated with the legendary ship and its amazing story.
It also has mock-ups of the ship’s cabins and deck areas – plus loads of film props.
There are story boards displayed throughout the exhibition, that tell stories of people that were actually on board the ship that fateful night – stories that cover-off their background – why they were on-board – what happened to them – and how the lives of those who survived, ended up.
One of the story-boards relates to a lady by the name of ‘Eva Hart’ who was just a child of 7yrs and the only child of her mum & dad Benjamin and Esther Hart, when she boarded the Titanic at Southampton – for a journey that would take them to a new life in America.
Eva’s mum Esther already had a bad feeling about this voyage on what was then billed as the world’s first safest and unsinkable ship.
Because of her fears, Eva’s mum would sleep during the day, but stay awake all night, just to be ‘prepared’ should anything happen.
At around 11:40 pm on the night of 11th April 1912 Esther Hart felt a ‘slight bump’ that seemed to come from within the ship – when the Titanic hit the iceberg – and she woke her husband Benjamin up and told him to take a look to make sure all was ok.
Benjamin Hart returned to the cabin a little later and told them that apparently there had been a ‘little’ collision and that they should really get up on deck to hear any info/instructions there may be.
Up on deck, Eva’s dad placed his wife and daughter in Lifeboat 14 and told Eva to “be a good girl for her mummy and to always hold her hand”. It was the last thing he ever said to her and the last time she ever saw him – his body was never found.
Eva Hart and her mother were rescued the next day by the RMS Carpathia which then took them to New York – upon which, Esther Hart made immediate arrangements for her and her daughter Eva, to return to Britain.
For years – growing up, Eva would suffer horrendous nightmares of her experiences on board the Titanic that fateful night.
Now – the reason the (now famous) story of Eva Hart resonates with me especially is because Eva was an ‘Ilford’ girl – brought up in the same hometown as me.
She lived a full and varied life. She was a professional singer in Australia – a Conservative Party Organiser – a Magistrate – a volunteer in the throughout WW2, organising entertainment for the troops – she also organised the distribution of supplies to East End families during the Blitz – and she would attend many Titanic enquiries and conventions throughout the World. In 1974 she was awarded the MBE for her political and public services in London.
As a married woman in England, she moved to Japan Road– Chadwell Heath, just down the road from Ilford – and, in her senior years she would happily give ‘talks’ to local schools and clubs – and the reason I know that, is because she gave a talk at my eldest daughter’s Junior School – and I remember clearly, my little girl coming home from school and telling me all about this lovely old lady that came to visit her class and talk about a ship she was on that hit an iceberg and sunk.
Eva Hart died in London in Feb 1996, just 2 weeks after her 91st birthday – and a few years ago, the old Chadwell Heath Police Station was sold off – and was bought up by the Wetherspoons pub chain – who converted the old police station building into the “Eva Hart” pub – to commemorate this remarkable ‘local hero’ lady.
Getting back to the exhibition at Canada Water – the actual ‘immersive experience’ of the exhibition is great fun. It uses cutting-edge technology to bring the ship’s story to life – allowing you to walk freely throughout the entire ship – its decks – the boiler room – its cabins – up the ships famous grand staircase – all of which allow you to explore every nook & crannie of the ship in detail.
Slipping the old VR headset on is a proper laugh – at one stage I was physically walking up and down the famous grand stair case – whereas in reality, there was nothing there…….it must have looked hilarious to anyone looking in on the ‘immersive’ room who didn’t have a headset on.
In another part of the museum – you sit in a room with 360 degrees of Titanic stuff surrounding you, as though you’re in the sea, watching the Titanic heading towards you and hitting the iceberg – the sea then gushes in all over you and lifeboats appear beside you as the ship slowly sinks…..really effective, and you find yourself ducking and getting out of the way of stuff coming towards you and building up around your feet……even though there’s nothing there at all!!!
The entire exhibition takes you through 13 ‘immersive’ experiences that easily take a good 2hrs plus to get through – and at the end of it all you can have your photo taken on board the decks of the Titanic – or at the bow of the ship, where you can do a pose like the famous Rose and Jack (ie Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio) scene from the blockbuster Film.
Now – for this particular Shoes jaunt out, I was delighted to be accompanied by Mrs Shoes (Angela), but she made it clear to me that she didn’t want to re-create the famous Rose & Jack pose at the bow of the Titanic, with me…….always a spoilsport!!!!
All in all a really engaging, interesting and extremely well-presented exhibition for ALL ages – one of the best ‘immersive’ experiences I’ve been to – well worth the entrance fee in my opinion…….definitely worth a visit.
Hope the photo gallery below helps bring the visit to life a bit for you.
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See below the entire gallery of photos taken to accompany this blog article
The ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition is being staged at a venue called ‘Dock X’ located in Canada Water-London SE16
“Canada Water” is a location in the Rotherhithe district of London and is defined by a large freshwater lake that’s become a little safe haven refuge for some species of wildlife. Canada Water tube station on the Jubilee Line (the Grey line on a standard tube map) , is situated alongside the lake – so the area is easily accessible.
The exhibition opened in July 2025 – and has become extremely popular
London Shoes companion on-board the Titanic (Mrs Shoes – aka Angela)
There are story boards displayed throughout the exhibition, that tell stories of people that were actually on board the ship that fateful night – stories that cover-off their background – why they were on-board – what happened to them – and how the lives of those who survived, ended up.
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Mrs Shoes (Angela) – Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
The very last Menu – on board the Titanic – inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16 – (and the band played on)
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
One of the story-boards relates to an ‘Eva Hart’ who was just a child of 7yrs and the only child of her mum & dad Benjamin and Esther Hart, when she boarded the Titanic at Southampton – for a journey that would take them to a new life in America.
The Eva Hart story board – Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
More of the Eva Hart story board – Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Eva Hart in her more senior years – at her home in Japan Road Chadwell Heath
A few years ago, the old Chadwell Heath Police Station was sold off – and was bought up by the Wetherspoons pub chain – who converted the old police station building into the “Eva Hart” pub – to commemorate this remarkable ‘local hero’ lady.
The ‘Eva Hart-Pub……Chadwell Heath-High Road-Romford – the building used to be Chadwell Heath Police Station
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Me – Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
A ‘Kate Winslett’ doll – modeled from the blockbuster film Titanic – Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
Inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – at the ‘Dock X’ venue – Canada Water -London SE16
The life jacket worn (& autographed) by actor Bernard Hill who played Captain Smith in the blockbuster film ‘Titanic’
A piece written by Bernard Hill following his role as Captain in the film Titanic
A photograph on display inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition – believed to be the actual iceberg that the Titanic hit on that fateful night.
Me – alongside a sinister chunk of ice-cold frozen item – and also a replica of the iceberg that did the damage to the Titanic
A scaled down replica of the lifeboats used on the Titanic that fateful 1912 night – inside the ‘Legend of the Titanic’ exhibition
The famous Titanic band – who all agreed to play on, on deck as the ship was sinking into the icy Atlantic
A story board depicting the very sad story of Liverpool born ‘Frederick Fleet’ – a lad who, as a child, had been abandoned by both his mother and father. He was one of the lookout’s that night and who first raised the alarm about the iceberg in the distance. He survived – served in both WW1 & WW2 – and continued to work at sea – but suffered from severe depression and sadly committed suicide in 1965
One of the 13 ‘Immersive’ rooms of the exhibition – where you sit, whilst all the Titanic stuff is ‘coming at you’ and ‘going on’ all around you …….its sooooo good
The moment the Titanic collides with the iceberg
The icy waters of the Atlantic start seeping into the lower decks of the Titanic
The Titanic hits the iceberg and the cold icy waters of the Atlantic ocean start gushing into the ballroom.
At this point, me & Mrs Shoes (ie Angela) start getting a little bit anxious
The icy Atlantic waters start surrounding us !!!
The sea water is lapping up against the walls
We’re all hanging on for dear life – with water gushing in around us.
Suddenly – out of nowhere – a lifeboat come to the rescue
And from the safety of our lifeboat – we watch the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic slowly plunge into the depth of the icy cold Atlantic Ocean
We watch as the final section of the Titanic sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean
Stats on who died and who survived
The Stats on who died and who survived
Me & Mrs Shoes – doing our extremely ‘reserved’ version of the legendary ‘Rose & Jack’ (Kate Winslett & Leonardo DiCaprio) scene from the 1997 Hollywood blockbuster ‘Titanic’ film.
Thank you for taking me with you!
That sounds well worth a visit mate if I’m ever down in the smoke
Was lucky enough to go awhile ago just amazing and story seems to grow thank you great pictures cheers ☘️🇨🇦
Thank you, I really enjoyed this one, an interesting, informative blog, as they always are, and what an interesting woman Eva Hart was, although it was such a tragic and terrible thing to have happened .