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Devils Steps Portal

Proper original Lewisham Wildcornerz stuff ... 

A post on Facebook that caught my eye recently.

 Devil's steps was an access point for local children to climb onto the railway which led to a huge disused gravel pit a little way along the tracks. This is obviously where the road name Granville Park came from.

 'A paradise for adventurers'. 

An old Lewisham Natureman white stag can sill be seen behind the creeping plants, calling into a portal at the bottom of Devils Steps.

 [My mum remembers accessing the same pit through the rail bridge further along known as Lover Lane, where the stag beetles would fly in the summer.]

Oil painting of Devils steps which used to hang on my grandmother's wall. 

Wild Corners on the Western Borders

Exploring Lewisham's far South Western border, in search of wildness.
Behind some flats in the shadows, a dark path can be seen through scrub and pine trees.

It continues and starts to climb into steps upwards, away from the visibility of the road.

The trail then steadily falls into a small woodland valley; a remaining shred of the ancient Great North Wood. Remains of the Crescent Wood Tunnel start to surface through the ivy.

The Tunnel cuts into the Sydenham hill. The portal is to a long forgotten internal network eventually leaving Lewisham at its furthest south western boundary and entering Crystal Palace. 

The tunnel first opened in 1865 to facilitate a train line which ran from Nunhead to serve the great exhibition. The tunnel was design by the same architect who designed the palace; Joseph Paxton. 

A section of the line was painted in a landscape by Camille Pissarro during the days of steam.

[1954, Pic Subterranea Britannica]

After many years of struggling, the fire that destroyed the Crystal Palace also sealed the fate of the line, as it declined further and finally closed in 1954. 

For several years there was talk of the tunnel being used as part of the Bakerloo line southern extension but the plans were scrapped.

[1980, Pic Disused Stations]

The tunnels were still accessible up to the 1980’s and used by local kids until some younger local children went missing and police searched the tunnels. No children were found but the council sealed them off with heavy gates after this.

[2005 Pic Subterranea Britannica]

On approach to the Tunnel, a familiar shape can be seen through the trees. 

The stag can be seen feeding on hind legs to the left of the entrance.

[2023, Wildcornerz]




Sources: Subterranea Britannica, Disused Stations, Portals of London, 'Sydenham and Forrest Hill Through Time' - Steve Grindlay, History of the Borough of Lewisham - Duncan Leland, Lost Lines of the South - Nigel Welbourn

Lewisham Natureman article [Archive]

Newshopper Article from 2014 about some of the stag sightings in the borough. 

Interesting the article suggests they have been made using stencils. The few that I have seen close up, look like they were painted with a brush.

Lewisham Natureman Catford Bridge Sighting

These photos were taken some years ago now [maybe 5 or 6] featuring Lewisham's own wandering spirit of wild places. Under Catford Bridge it is seen walking alongside the Ravensbourne, as the river passes underground. Thank you to P.M for the tip off.

.. and again some years later, disappearing and reappearing.

Far from home

 Rare spotting of Lewisham's illusive wild walker far from home. 

Seen from the DLR, I did a triple take and then jumped off at the next stop to investigate. 

                                   

 

New Lewisham Natureman Sighting 2017

Its been a few years since we at Wildcornerz have received any news of sightings of Lewisham's lone stag. He seemed to had vanished from the borough, along with the rapid decline of the wild places he inhabits. 

Until yesterday. As we drove back south from the Blackwall tunnel I spotted a fleeting dash of white against an old wall, in a small wildcorner

 just beyond the boroughs borders in Charlton.

It was him, the Wild Walker - deer spirit, aka the Lewisham Natureman, 

moving quickly and silent across the nettles and creeping buttercup's.

Catch him before he's gone again.

Lewisham Natureman Stag Spot

The legendary Lewisham Natureman spotted on a piece of wild land in Kidbrooke.

The wild, wandering stag spirit can be seen through the fence where the former Thomas Tallis school once was.

Catford Corner, Summer 2013

I finally managed to find my pictures of the 'Wild Walker' spirit taken in 2013. 

The corner was originally one entrance to Catford dog track. It is cut off at either side by the train lines of Catford Station on the West and Catford Bridge Station and also the river Ravensbourne on the East.

Earlier that summer it was briefly home to a group of travelers before they were evicted by the owners of the land, the GLA. They sold the land to Barratt Homes who have since built luxury style apartments on the site.

 The spirit of the Lewisham Natureman appears on an old container at the far end, standing tall, head back and howling. 

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/10679388.Pictured__Traveller_caravans_leaving_Catford_near_former_Catford_Greyhound_stadium/

Lewisham's Wild Walker spotted again in Ladywell SE13

Spotted him early last week from the top deck of the 185 and managed to catch these pictures on my phone.

Lewisham's deer spirit appears at the back of a fresh gap of land, where Ladywell Leisure Centre used to be.

He stands between two Silver Birch trees in the wildest corner of this young wild corner, where the ground was spared from the bulldozer and vegetation grows. 

His head is turned towards us.