IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Epstein Road, LONDON, SE28 8DQ

Viewed from the edge of Birchmere, this would be a former drainage channel on Plumstead Marshes which has been landscaped into a canal as part of the development of Thamesmead. It flows from Birchmere towards the Thames.

Viewed from a footbridge on the path encircling Birchmere, this would be a former drainage channel on Plumstead Marshes which has been landscaped as part of the development of Thamesmead. It flows from Birchmere towards the Thames.

Great reedmace is often mistakenly called bulrush. Beyond this patch on the northern shore of Birchmere is the outflow from the lake on the left.

One of the network of watercourses in Thamesmead, this one is at the rear of the houses in Austen Close. Apart from the coot in the water a heron is just visible lurking on the top of the bank to the right. The Thamesmead development has been built on the former Plumstead Marshes.

These two 68 pounder guns dating from the first half of the 19th century were found in West Thamesmead in 1984. They have now been relocated overlooking the lake of Birchmere.

A bank of reeds and a willow help enhance the otherwise rather bare bank. The outflow of the lake is hidden by the reeds.

This is seen from Bentham Road. Tump 53 is hidden behind the trees.

Bank holiday weekend, and a small funfair comes to the park south of Birchmere (this park is unnamed on any map that I have seen).

A bank of reeds and a willow help enhance the otherwise rather bare bank. The outflow of the lake is out of the picture to the right.

A substantial amount of the land at Thamesmead once formed part of the Royal Arsenal where explosives and weapons were manufactured, tested and stored. About 30 moated magazines, known as tumps, were built around 1890 to direct any accidental explosion harmlessly upwards. Some of the tumps have been preserved within Thamesmead. The brick walls, banked with earth have been preserved but the special lightweight roofs have been removed. After the First World War the Arsenal declined because it lay too far from coal and steel sources and the site was vulnerable to air attacks. The GLC was able to purchase the land from the Ministry of Defence in 1965 to build Thamesmead on the site. This is Tump 53 which is now a nature reserve. It is on the right hand side of the canal and the old walls are largely hidden by vegetation. Bentham Road is up the bank to the left. See https://www.visitgreenwich.org.uk/thamesmead/ for more information and contact details.