Ratcliffe Highway, in Stepney, was one of the most notorious thoroughfares of early 19th century London. It was an area of sailors' lodgings (and of the young, and not so young, ladies who preyed on the sailors' earnings) and today is lost beneath more modern buildings.
It skirts the shadwell dock (Ewan McColl Sweet Thames flow softly)

Tiger Bay in Cardiff was a similar area. Now with the construction of the Barrage it has been cleaned up and is no longer recognisable.

As a kid in the 50s my father used to take me up to dockland on occasions, as he worked for a hardwood importer based just north of the docks and the "highway". In the 60s I had many saturday nights in the Prospect of whitby on wapping wall. This pub dates from around 1580 and it is said Hanging judge jefferys used to sup there. Very close by was Execution Dock where the ADmiralty had their own hangings over water for 4 centuries (Captn. Kidd being but one) Bodis were left for three tides to wash over them and pirates were hung with a shorter rope so they slowly suffocated instead of having a broken neck.