the ravensbourne is a tributary of the river thames which, as it joins the tidal reach of the main river in south east london, becomes deptford creek. it was once an important industrial area on the thames periphery, but like many other parts of maritime london has suffered from the changes of shipping practices and post-industrial decline. in recent years there have been efforts to regenerate the area around the creek. these few images — which were taken very much ‘on the hoof’ — do little justice to those efforts. the multi-coloured building seen through the arch of the railway bridge, below, is the laban creekside dance centre designed by pritzker prize winning architects herzog and du meuron in collaboration with conceptual artist michael craig-martin. it won the prestigious stirling prize for architecture in 2003