Twinkle Park

Just over the border in Greenwich borough is one of Deptford's best kept secrets. Twinkle Park is right at the end of Watergate Street and it's a place you might only happen upon accidentally. But when you've been once, you will occasionally be drawn back to this tiny cobbled street a stone's throw from the river.

When I visited it yesterday it was the busiest I've ever seen it - a construction worker from the adjoining Paynes & Borthwick Wharf development (more of that tomorrow) was taking a shady break on one of the benches, opposite a sleepy looking chap enjoying a can of beer on the other side of the pond. While I was there a fourth visitor joined us, although she preferred to read her book under the 'bandstand' type structure in the adjoining Charlotte Turner Gardens.

The pond looks particularly lovely surrounded by a band of yellow irises in bloom and their green spiky leaves, its surface almost totally covered in the tiny little leaves of some type of pond weed.

Teeny tiny moorhen chicks

Five very young moorhen chicks - so small they could have been on their first outing - were struggling to paddle through the weed, led on by mum.

You would hardly think you were in Deptford!

 Twinkle Park Trust, which runs the park, is holding its annual summer festival on Sunday 17th June, so if you haven't been yet, it would be a good time to visit. And if you have been, you might like to find out about the proposals for the final works to Charlotte Turner Gardens, which are to be installed later this year. The festival takes place from 2pm–7pm and includes family activities such as DJ Stormy playing reggae music, Artyparty making animal masks, and pond dipping. The Paul Zec Jazz Quintet will play from 4pm–7pm.