Down at the Creek

As part of the current Deptford X art festival, Fran Cottell has placed gold balls at various locations in the area, apparently referencing the stone globes seen on local buildings such as the Royal Naval College in Greenwich and St Pauls Church, Deptford and the gold ball of the pawnbrokers sign. St Nicholas, to whom Deptford's oldest church is dedicated, is the patron saint of pawnbrokers as well as sailors and children. This example is by the Creekside centre.

Sometimes I have the heretical thought that there might be too much art in Deptford - or perhaps rather that the area is in danger of becoming over-overlaid with artistic meanings to the exclusion of other versions of what the area means to people. On the other hand work like this does make you pause and notice the strange beauty of places you might otherwise pass by. And anything that gets you out on to the Ha'penny Hatch footbridge to admire the view over the Creek can only be a good thing.

Thanks to Juleigh Gordon-Orr for the photographs.