The general history is this. The docks served the Port of London, once one of the largest ports in the world. The docks and associated buildings (such as warehouses) were largely destroyed by bombing in the early part of the Second World War. Although they were working again by the late 1950s, a general tendency for cargo ships to get larger meant that the port began to lose trade. A government decision was taken to build a new large container port on the east coast of England was carried out. That container port is at Felixstowe, and is served mostly by road transport motorways. Finally, the value of property in London made it possible to rebuild the old port areas into high-value property. Canary Wharf is the best-known redevelopment.