Look East - the view from Hilly Fields of Loampit Vale

In the debate about the future of Lewisham town centre, one of the concerns raised by Brockley residents is that the tall buildings of Loampit Vale and Lewisham Gateway would forever wreck the view east from Hilly Fields. We’ve always been skeptical about this argument, but since construction began at Loampit Vale and Lewisham Gateway got grassed over for an indefinite period, the debate has settled down and we’d not thought much about it.

But Tuesday’s beautiful weather meant another trip to the wonderful playground at the top of the park and as we waited for our family to exhaust itself in the sandpit, we noticed that we couldn’t see the fast-growing towers or even the tower cranes building them – even when we stood on the bench at the highest point of the park (where we took the top photo). That’s not the only vantage point, so we walked towards the eastern edge of the park, where there is a gap in the trees and took the second photo. If you really want to see the buildings and the cranes you can, but Primrose Hill it ain’t.

Of course, there are more, taller buildings to come from Loampit Vale and Lewisham Gateway may one day surprise us all, but for most of the year (at least when the trees have leaves), from most vantage points, it seems that the towers will barely be visible. For those who really want to have their illusions that they don’t live in London shattered, you can still get great views of Canary Wharf down Tyrwhitt Road.