Local Museum and River news.

This is kinda tangentially related to my holidays as I looked this up whilst abroad, but I've often wondered if the small river at the top of Wickham Lane had a name.

Apparently called the river Wogebourne or the Plumstead river, its source is in Shooters Hill and ends up somewhere in Thamesmead.  A few things intrigued me about this as a kid that I couldn't quite shake,

Firstly, there is something like a sewer line running under Gatling road about halfway down and always assumed it was exactly this. (more on this see point 3) 

Secondly an old neighbour long since passed once told me that there was a river running at the back of Wickham Lane, He basically lived and died in the house a few doors down and had a lot of local knowledge.  Also one of the people to get me interested in cacti.

Thirdly and this backs up point one, we were hanging around waiting for the van to pick us up in Blithdale Road garage area and had Thames water show up to check on what we thought was a sewer line. They told us, as we were bored and asked what they were doing, that it was actually an underground river and showed us it flowing quite heavily down toward the railway lines.

Putting this together we now can guess that it carries on, across Bracondale / Brinkburn and cut across Mottisfont road on the other side of the railway down toward Thamesmead.  I hope this is of use to someone.



Sad museum news.

It looks like our borough museum will be closing soon, its not a patch on what it was when it was upstairs in Plumstead library.  I guess the closing of the firepower exhibit hit it hard.

Catering to war and arsenal stuff (think munitions not the football club though they were local back then) its got a few cannon and uniforms and an array of shells (no really, still think munitions) and some borough archives.  Did a visit Saturday and they were some  really nice people there, its got a few things about making cannon and such but isn't what I came for.

What I came for was something like the old Plumstead museum the one I always had a look round when going to the library.  The one with bits of roman pot, and a stuffed fox and a whole display case of fossils from Abbeywood.  They had a humming bird whose feathers would turn from dull brown to a brilliant green when the light caught it.  Also there was a display case dedicated to bobs (an odd snooker variant) and other things from the thirties.  Where all this is now I don't know but I hope its not lost.

Edit 2021. I've added a picture of the river, when out for a walk today. Its only above ground point is on Woodbrook Road / Wickham Lane, before it cuts into the woods and carries on as an underground river.