If you go down to central Lewisham, you will notice the skyline changing. Look closely and you’ll see the new Quaggy sculpture, Street Waders by Anna Reading, marking
New skyline, new sculpture
Central Lewisham is changing. For some, the skyline and street layout is barely recognisable from even a few years ago, with more redevelopment on the way.
Higher skylines, office blocks, shops and flats promise much but can also feel overwhelming and put more pressure on services and our environment including our local rivers.
One modest contribution to the revamped area is Street Waders, local artist Anna Reading’s response to changes in the weather and environment surrounding Lewisham’s River Quaggy.
On Saturday, 13th September 2025, Street Waders was officially unveiled. Anna and QWAG talked about the inspiration for her idea and answered questions.
Street Waders represents not just past flood risk but today’s need to properly protect, improve and restore the Quaggy and other local rivers as part of our urban realm as part of reducing flood risk, health-harming heat and other aspects of an already changing climate.
Street Waders
You will find Street Waders at the Plough Bridge Pocket Park, Lewisham, SE13 5AF, opposite the New Lewisham Gateway development.
It’s where the River Quaggy takes a hard left turn to head beneath the road to flow into the revamped confluence of the Quaggy with the River Ravensbourne.
Responding to the memories of local people who experienced Lewisham’s Great Flood of 1968, Street Waders, acts as a weathervane.
Anna’s design incorporates silhouettes of a kingfisher and reed-like plants which can be seen on our local rivers.
Central to the sculpture’s imagery is a rising water line evoked by a zigzag, above which is a hollow vessel, perforated with holes allowing rainwater to drip through.
Hanging beneath the water line are dangling, wading feet and cast impressions of smooth black rocks, representing Blackheath Pebbles, the 55-million-year-old rocks found on the bed of the Quaggy.
Incorporating elements of the past, present and future of the river, the work intends to act as a wayfinder for our ongoing relationships to the urban environment within a changing climate and increasingly volatile meteorological events.
Merging site-specificity with community narratives, the work comes at a time when fostering a local ecological consciousness is paramount to our survival.
Street Waders was fabricated with support from Jamps Studio.
About the artist, Anna Reading
Anna is a Lewisham resident and artist.
Born in Newcastle Upon Tyne (1987). Anna has a BA in Fine Art from Central St Martins (2010), an MfA in Sculpture from Slade School of Fine Art (2017) and is the winner of the 2018-19 Mark Tanner Sculpture Award.
Anna’s work deals with issues around anthropocentric perspectives and the subsequent impacts upon environments, bodies, and human psyches. Her sculptural works attempt to engage and collaborate with the environment around us, looking for lessons in survival within hostile settings.
Anna creates hybrids of imagery, materials and forms to highlight the unruly spaces at the edges of the built environment.
About Lewisham Underwater: Remembering the Great Flood of 1968
On 15-16 September 1968, following days of torrential rain, much of Lewisham and south east England was under water.
What became known as the ‘Great Flood’ had a profound effect on Lewisham’s people and their relationship with its rivers. To this day people have strong memories of the deluge.
For more images, memories and stories see Remembering Lewisham’s 1968 floods – and lessons 50+ years on | Quaggy Waterways Action Group.
You can also explore images and memories of the ‘Great Flood’ of 1968 in the In Living Memory digital archive – see the QR code at the end.
For Lewisham’s 2022 Year as London Borough of Culture Quaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG) and Lewisham Council’s Climate Resilience Team gathered memories of the Lewisham residents who were affected, connecting an event over 50 years ago with our relationship to local rivers and our changing climate today.
Through public art, fun-filled river activities and even a new flood real ale, called Deluge, Lewisham Underwater made our local rivers and how we treat them everybody’s business.
About In Living Memory
Led by Goldsmiths, University of London, In Living Memory is a people’s history of the Lewisham borough celebrating its heritage and diversity age for London Borough of Culture 2022.
The project empowered communities across Lewisham borough to tell their own stories, present them through traditional means as well as artistic and cultural activities and events.
For more images, memories and stories
See Remembering Lewisham’s 1968 floods – and lessons 50+ years on | Quaggy Waterways Action Group
You can also explore images and memories of the ‘Great Flood’ of 1968 in the In Living Memory digital archive:
