We got in quite late last night, well it was for us, so it was nice to have a bit of a sleep in this morning

Phew, another hot and humid day. Started out very overcast, but we thought ‘Well that’s not going to stop us going out’ and it didn’t.  A couple of weeks ago we spotted The London Wetland Centre on the map and thought it would be somewhere nice to go, and it was. So lunch packed we tottled down to the station and were soon on the way to Clapham Junction, where we switched trains to Barnes.

The site was originally a reservoir created in the 1890’s  to supply London’s water. The old reservoirs where drained and the concrete broken up and all of it was recycled on site. New ponds and specific habitats were created. As hoped these attracted feathered visitors who either made their homes their or used it as a weigh station on their annual migration.  Sir David Attenborough opened it in 2000 and has now welcomed more than a million visitors, human that is . 

Commemorative statue to the founder of WWT Sir Peter Scott

It is an amazing oasis almost in the heart of the city, for people as well as the birds, and not just birds, we were fortunate enough to be there at otter feeding time. These delightful aquabats were the stuff of some of my childhood stories. I especially envied the kids who had them as pets.