Running the River Peck

Surrey Quays

This was my second river run following on from the Ravensbourne last June. 

The River Peck is a tributary of The Earl's Sluice and is the source of the name Peckham which means 'the village of the River Peck'.

The waters emerge from beneath One Tree Hill in Honour Oak. The Oak that currently stands there was planted in 1905 although the hill is named after the previous tree where Elizabeth 1 once had a picnic beneath its branches.

The Oak of Honour

I descended the hill along the steps and pathways to Brenchley Gardens and headed towards Peckham Rye Park. This took me past Honour Oak Reservoir, the largest underground brick reservoir in Europe. I reached the park and had my first glimpse of the river as it appeared from under the road and meandered through the park and its Japanese garden feeding a couple of ponds on the way.

The majority of the river has been enclosed since the 1820's and so I wouldn't see it again until I reached the Thames. The only way to follow its course was by following the parish boundaries separating Deptford from Camberwell and Bermondsey.

My route took me through Peckham high street past the market stalls and onto the Surrey Canal Walk. From here I joined the A2 and then turned north-east past South Bermondsey train station. Here the river drains into the Sluice and continues to Surrey Quays beneath the A2208.

The Earl's Sluice meets the Thames

Through the Quays and past the modern flats and yachts and the water then spills out of the Sluice into the Thames.