Ha'penny Hatch: in search of Sand Martins

I wandered down to Ha'penny Hatch footbridge over Deptford Creek at the weekend. I was hoping to spot some sand martins, which have apparently nested in a sandbank there (quite rare in London area), but it was not to be.

Still the bridge, which opened in 2002 on the site of an old tollbridge which closed in the 1920s, is always worth a stroll. There's the rail bridge next door with an old train carriage perched on top.

The Creekside Discovery Centre:

The view of the Laban, now dwarfed by the new flats behind it:

The back of Faircharm, with the future of its artists' studios uncertain in the light of planned redevelopment (see report at Deptford Dame).

Oh and if you do go there, look out for one of these... The sand martin is a small brown and white bird in the swallow family.