Sunday 16th October 2022
Another bucket list item ticked off. Today I visited the Crossness Pump station which was... "Constructed between 1859 and 1865 by William Webster, as part of Sir Joseph Bazalgette's redevelopment of the London sewerage system, it features spectacular ornamental cast ironwork, that Nikolaus Pevsner described as "a masterpiece of engineering – a Victorian cathedral of ironwork". Wikipedia
I saw the photos of the ironwork on a Facebook post a few years ago and I saved it. Today I stood under the metal art in awe that such detail was important even in a building that was seen by so few but had such an important job.
Humans have by-products and it's a shitty job but someone has to do it. It's one of those invisible jobs that happens in our modern lives and gets forgotten about until there's a problem. 8 million people in London. It sounds hectic, but where I am this weekend, it felt calm and suburban.
The Victorian pump station has been replaced by a larger, more powerful, and more efficient plant which I walked past after my tour. It certainly turned my nose up and I didn't have any perfume in my bag to breathe in. Mouth breathing didn't block out the smell and eventually I had to just close my nose. Fortunately it was only at a small area that it smelled so bad and the rest of my walk was lovely.
The Thames River is fascinating and the tides and wildlife and everything that happens around it might take a lifetime to understand. So much to learn and I feel like I know nothing but I did enjoy my visit on the site this morning.
I think the fresh air must've tired me out because I ended up snoozing again once I got back. Mind you, I had walked around 10km.
On the move again tomorrow.
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