Tuesday 6 March 2012

The highs and lows of Deptford Creek

Late on Christmas Day David took me for a ride on his tandem around his part of London. One thing we saw was something which indicates the state of the tide at the entrance to Deptford Creek.


I have just found out that HIGH...LOW is a solar-powered work of art. This is from the Deutsche Bank website:

The art work, an illuminated sign made up of the words HIGH...LOW, spans 21 metres and 1.5 metres high. A total of 165 LED spotlights create this tidal indicator which sits on the Creekside wall in front of the Faircharm Industrial Estate building - each lamp serving as a pixel. As the tide moves in and out twice daily, the letters within the words are illuminated to reflect the current level of the tide with each segment lasting approximately 20 minutes.

From the same position I photographed the creek itself. I've tweaked the levels to make it a bit brighter.


Deptford Creek joins the Thames opposite the Isle of Dogs. It has been home to ship building, chemical works, engineering works, gasworks, soap and candle factories, sawmills, coal and timber wharves, paint works, breweries, food stores and verdigris works for the manufacture of copper sulphate. (Taken from this concise history).

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