We didn't do much this weekend, so I'm going to try and make it sound as interesting as possible!
The original planned route was a brisk walk through Sydenham Hill Woods from the Crescent Wood Road entrance to the Dulwich Golf Course--before the sunlight ran out--to photograph the amazing country views seen across 2 allotments at the edges of the woods with all the trees in the background.
Halfway towards our first checkpoint (Crescent Wood Road entrance), via Crystal Palace Parade and Sydenham Hill, I remembered to briefly mention to Julia that I had groundbreakingly discovered--after hours of thought and surveillance of the area in the weekends gone by--a way into the mysterious ravine at the side of Mountacre close (see: Sydenham Walkabout (01-Oct-06)). Given the risk involved, it never crossed my mind for one second that Juwlz would actually dare to take the course in order to reach it, let alone the treacherous course within... "This girl has got some bottle!" said my friend Tony, as we approached and immediately descended the steeply banked ravine before us. Our plans for this walkabout had suddenly changed.
I realistically doubt we would have made the Dulwich Golf Course in time anyway. With the clocks having gone back the previous night and very little daylight remaining, the photographs I took of the ravine with my Sony 5MP digital camera were too dark to make out any details, but Julia's superior 6MP Canon camera was able to cope much better in these poorly lit conditions to deliver some stunning images.
Julia took the lead and left us blokes way behind! It was just too damn dark and slippery for Tony and I to properly get inside. Using her initiative, Julia was able to aid her descent with some string tied to a tree trunk, and head off in the direction of Vigilant Close (along the red line shown highlighted on the map below). We could not see her or hardly hear her voice, but promptly shouted to remind Julia to take as many photos as possible.
Judging from the back of the old people's home (St. Clements) and through a peep hole into the garden of a Mountacre Close house, I have predicted and envisaged the ravine eventually coming to a sudden steep drop; one could imagine this once being a waterfall. Given the poor conditions, even Julia, whom was complaining about possibly treading inside potential invisible holes through the thick undergrowth, had to admit defeat and return to summit. We will have to go back another time, much earlier in the day, and with better footwear, to fully explore this trail and see if my prediction was true--my prediction about WWIII will have to be false.
Logical observation of the ravine most definitely points to a stream having ran through it at some point in the past. However, sorry to disappoint you guys, but evidently it doesn't actually appear to be either of the two streams that ran through the Wells Park area. The ravine may not have even been a stream at all--who knows!? But it's certainly a curiosity.
1865/1871 OS map.
1849 Drainage map.
Ariel photo showing the lines of the former two streams by superimposing the two maps above--they fitted almost perfectly--the courses must be fairly accurate.
Download original layered PSD file... (you can see where Beaulieu Avenue was built in relation to Longton Grove and the old Westwood Hill houses--for example--by shifting the opacity/transparency of the two maps)
The light blue lines are from the 1865/1871 OS map and the dark blue lines are from the 1849 Drainage map.
The upper stream started right by the ravine, but seemingly didn't take the course through it, and instead went in the north-eastern direction of Mountacre Close before coming downhill through some woodland across the end of what is now Vigilant Close where Pat mentioned a house had subsidence. It then went across Longton Avenue and Wells Park at points we've previously predicted, and finally across where they dug the pond +/- a few metres. The coverage stops here, but you can see the stream definitely missed the first allotment, but the second allotments are in perfect line for it.
We've now also got some idea where the lower stream used to reach--nowhere near the high banks of high level drive/Hillcrest Close where I predicted.
Map showing the ravine we visited today. The circled house is way before vigilant close--more like the corner of Talisman Square.
Julia prepares for descent as seen from my camera; all the rest were taken with hers (click for original size).
Looking back at Sydenham Hill.
Looking forwards towards Vigilant Close.
Looking backwards.
Looking forwards.
Looking forwards with the flash enabled.
Looking forwards without the flash.
Inside the dark ravine at an unknown angle.
Looking forwards with a building on the right-hand side (circled on the map above). Still a long way to travel before reaching the end.
Sydenham Walkabout (29-Oct-06)
Re: Sydenham Walkabout (29-Oct-06)
I wonder if people could help with this one. There is a patch of woodland directly on the east edge of Crystal Palace Parade, between, to the south, what was the original entrance to the Palace, with its still-standing low, rounded walls along the pavement's edge, and the Arqiva Tower site to the north. It measures just over 100m by 100m and is immediately visible as a green square on Google Maps. It is supposed to be private land, I think, and nothing to do with the Park. There are various fences and attempts at barricading here and there but none of it looks coherent and much of it gets removed after it has been put in place. There are also definite pathways. Does anyone know who owns this land and, more intriguing, has anyone else heard the rumors that there are several encampments of home-less people, hidden in its depths ? I have personally seen people walking out of the area on several occasions but they most certainly did not look as though they were living rough. There is really no way, though, they could have used it as a cut through. And if they'd been in there for a romantic assignation, I really can think of nicer places.
Last edited by abanemare on 1 Oct 2024 11:28, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Sydenham Walkabout (29-Oct-06)
And I've got another curio. Chestnut Place, a private, gated development runs west off Sydenham Hill. In the works area adjacent to the houses, directly to their east, is a large, very expensive-looking and immaculately maintained electrical generator, the sort I imagine used to cope at a hospital when the power fails. Does anyone have a clue why such a machine, green and marked with the number 23 on Google Maps, should be tucked away in leafy Sydenham ? It is incongruous to say the least. I cannot think what local infrastructure would require such a piece of equipment. The largest tower blocks don't usually get such refinement. As far as I can see, there is nothing nearby that is remotely official or fishy. Any ideas, people ? And am I about to get a visit tonight from some polite but sinister gentlemen ?
Re: Sydenham Walkabout (29-Oct-06)
I think the woodland is Dulwich Upper Wood: https://www.tcv.org.uk/london/urbanecol ... pper-wood/
Chestnut Place is on the site of a waterworks, see this map from 1952: https://maps.nls.uk/view/102905839 Presumably the mysterious green box relates to that, as it's right on where the reservoir was (or still is?).
Chestnut Place is on the site of a waterworks, see this map from 1952: https://maps.nls.uk/view/102905839 Presumably the mysterious green box relates to that, as it's right on where the reservoir was (or still is?).
Re: Sydenham Walkabout (29-Oct-06)
Hiya RJM, the feel of the site - and you can only clamber up from Sydenham Hill to have a nose, there is no access from either side or the back - is that indeed it has the built-up retaining-wall-feel of an urban reservoir. There is no roof to it now, that much is obvious, but yes it is the remains of your reservoir. The length of time it has gone relative to the newness of the generator is what is incongruous. There appears to be a site office in this small patch of land. It is seriously not welcoming visitors, that is certain. The housing part is gated, the actual ex-reservoir is gated, that much you can see. It doesn't dampen my curiosity when I think of the decade old rumors that one of the large houses along to the north on Sydenham Hill was an MI5 or SIS safe house. Perhaps that location has moved south and their communications equipment could presumably not rely on the vagaries of the National Grid. I don't wish to be conspiratorial but Sydenham has always had this strange feel to it
Re: Sydenham Walkabout (29-Oct-06)
My bad in the curious woodland post. Indeed Farquhar Road and its history of decline in the article you linked is Dulwich Upper Wood. I incorrectly said to the west of the Parade, I've now corrected to read to the east. It is the patch bordering the east of the Parade I am describing, literally on the grounds of the Palace and not across the road as I led you to believe. Sorry for the confusion, my carelessness entirely.
Re: Sydenham Walkabout (29-Oct-06)
Perhaps the machinery I describe in Chestnut Place is a pumping installation associated with the underground conduits that the former reservoir was presumably connected to. Might be nothing more than that. It doesn't help that Thames Water is paranoid about its installations, witness the serious gates and warnings at their current reservoir next to the Arqiva tower. Hidden in plain site but a large, flat, rectangular, cared-for patch is always a give-away.