A trip under the river to south London at the end of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR); well one of the ends anyway. Not been there before so not sure what to expect, but en route, I felt I was being stalked by Transport for London (TfL) ticket inspectors as I was asked to show my ticket on each of three different trains. Reassuring I suppose that checks are carried out, but it will be interesting over the lifetime of this blog to see how many times I get asked to produce my ticket; my experience as a commuter was very rarely. I was also impressed by the knowledge of the DLR guard on the last leg of my journey as he gave a touristic and historical commentary of things to see and do at every station we stopped by; most famously the Cutty Sark being the first stop on the south side of the river.
Anyway, I arrived at Lewisham DLR, which is adjacent to main line services and took a moment to get my bearings. The ‘town’ is about half a kilometer from the terminus, which you get to by walking around a building site, a large regeneration development. Lewisham is defined in some way by its position between two rivers: the Quaggy to the east, and the Ravensbourne to the west, which is spawned from Deptford Creek on the Thames, down to Sydenham and beyond. Cyclists and walkers can follow the Waterlink Way, an attractive eight mile route along the river side.
The town is dominated by some modern high rise tower blocks, art deco conversions and scaffolding, but a short walk off the main road reveals streets and streets of typical London bricked terraced properties. Stopping to enjoy some intricate brickwork, a local decorator who’s working on the house proudly explains it’s a former dairy where now there’s a garage was once the cowshed where the milking took place.
Walking around Lewisham, residents were clearly focussed and drawn to the market which forms the town’s hub just outside a modernised 60’s shopping centre. Predominantly fruit and veg based but with some colourful alternatives. The fishmonger was happy for me to take pictures but less so in engaging in any conversation. A shout out though to the Ribena crew who were happy to strike a pose (other fruit flavoured drinks are of course available).
The town provides leisure facilities in the guise of a modern looking Glass Mill Leisure Centre, and caters for religious diversity as it is the home for The London Sivan Kovil Temple, a Tamil temple, as well as St Saviour, St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist Catholic Church and associated Primary School.
Social commentary comes in many guises and amusingly I overheard several conversations, but two comments caught my attention, so much so I had to write them down…
‘…I don’t mind what you call me as long as you don’t call me late for my dinner…’ and
‘…When was the last time you stood naked in front of a fella?…’
I walked on with a smile
Graffiti is never far from anywhere in London, and Lewisham is no different, although in some hidden quarters, they were quite amusing and entertaining. View the Instagram feed for the full size otter and bee
For more info, look up Lewisham on Wikipedia
Picture of the Day
This is a short pedestrian bridge over the Ravensbourne River at Waterway Avenue headed towards the main ring road at Molesworth Avenue. The bright sun casts a dark shadow through the geometric designs of the railings onto the footpath, and creates an interesting mirror image.
Although the original picture is taken in colour, the Vista filter transforms the image into a strong Black and White landscape.
Settings: Camera – Canon EOS 200D; Aperture – ƒ7.1; Shutter Speed – 1/400; Focal Length – 55mm; Film Speed – ISO100; Google Photo Filter – Vista
Social Media
YouTube, Instagram, Google Photos, Triptipedia – here I share some tips I use when travelling around London. A different twist on my ‘end of the line’ story
The End Of The Line 