Chapter 12 by Year 6 students at St Josephs School

The taxi driver looked around him and asked, “So what has happened since 2010? What happened when some of it was flooded?”

The woman sounded well-rehearsed as she narrated the story: “The Thames Barrier did not hold back the flood. The water rose over the gates. There was so much water that it came in a great wave knocking aside everything in its path. It surged onwards and upwards, when it arrived in Central London it was as high as Nelson’s Column. The water was so dirty, it was almost black, taking with it dead animals, buildings, rotten food, and goodness knows what else! Downstream, all the water meadows were deluged, Hall Place was submerged, Sutcliffe Park, Belvedere and all parts of Essex were unrecognisable.”

“So what about all the things that were planned… what about the Olympics?” I asked, aware that it was perhaps a strange question, but all the preparations had been happening when we left 2010.

“Well, I was in the Olympics actually,” she said, smiling. “I was a runner. But it didn’t go so well.. it was complicated.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was the keeper of a magic diamond.” She replied. “But when I took part in the race it fell out of my pocket. When I stopped to pick it up all the other athletes ran past me and it got kicked into the crowd. The race was won by someone else, everybody stood up, clapping and shouting and hurried out of the stadium.

“The diamond? Do you mean our diamond?” the taxi driver asked incredulously, but she simply continued with her story.

“A little girl from the crowd had taken it. I tried to get it back from her- I even chased her mother’s car- but she threw it into the River Thames and I had to swim after it. But a fish had swallowed it and I ended up having to cook it to get it out!” she smiled at the memory. “But it is difficult to keep hold of things when the river keeps flooding every few years.”

“So these floods,” I said, “why are they happening? Is it because of climate change?”

“Yes,” she replied. “The first big one was in 2025, and then there was another one in 2040. I tried to keep hold of the diamond like I was supposed to, but every time it flooded all of our possessions would get swept away. It once fell down a pothole and we had to get some archaeologists to come and look for it. But in 2040 it was knocked into an oyster shell along the Thames beach. When we found it that time King Joseph sent us a letter to congratulate us.”

“King Joseph?”

“Yes, William’s son,” she said, as if it was obvious.

As she spoke a strange animal walked past.

“What on earth is that?” asked the taxi driver with a jump.

“That is Dynamite Danger,” the woman replied. “He’s my pet- he’s half pig and half horse.” She patted him on the head as she spoke.

“Half pig..?” I began.

“Yes, he has amazing special powers and can sense danger from afar. When he senses danger he bangs his hoof on the ground. He can create an earthquake which only applies to the victim. Then with his laser eyes he burns the evil out of them. He grows bigger and more powerful each time he uses his powers. When he can’t burn the evil out of someone he eats them. He consumes the scorched plants that can’t be eaten by the humans. He used to live in caves hidden deep in the grass on the mountains. He drinks salty water, pond water, animal Red Bull, Coke, lemonade.”

The strange creature suddenly jumped and lifted his front leg. Shaking his head he stamped it into the dusty ground in front of us.

“Danger! He can sense danger!” the woman exclaimed, and looked at us with a worried expression.

Chapter 11 by Richard Sudlow

“You could say that,” I replied. “It’s a while since we were here,”

“Shall I show you around?” she asked, already out of her seat and walking towards us. It seemed she had already decided.

“It’s very different from how we remember it,” said the taxi driver.

“well if it’s a few years ago, yes it must be quite different,” she replied. “There are still some old people who tell us about this ‘shopping’ that used to happen here. Now we just sustain ourselves. Of course it’s very difficult in the wet and dry seasons.”

“What do you mean? Summer and Winter?” I asked.

“You do talk in strange old language!” she laughed. “No, now we only have two seasons, the wet season where half of the land is underwater, and the dry season, when the reeds get so hot they catch fire.”

“So which are we in now?” I asked, looking around. The ground did look quite wet but I just thought it had been raining.

“This is end of the wet season,” she replied, “which is why you can’t go to the top of the Peninsula at the moment. Just like a lot of the country, it’s become a wetland, with wildlife and birds living there. So when they re-introduced the wolves and lynxes a few years ago, they started going there so they could get some birds to eat.”

“So it’s all gone, the shops, the cinema, the O2?” I asked in disbelief.

“Well of course the O2 is inaccessible because of the water,” she replied. “but the cinema is still there, they show holographic films and hire out headsets.”

“So out of everything that was here, the cinema is the only thing to survive?” I asked incredulously.

“Well nobody has that kind of equipment any more, so they have to go there for entertainment.”

“But what about the shops?” I asked. “where do people get their food from?”

She looked at me blankly. “Well of course we are self-sufficient,” she replied. “Where else would we get it from?” 

Richard Sudlow is a volunteer at the Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park

Chapter 10 by Iris Dove

I looked towards the Ecology Park. It seemed a calm and peaceful place, I felt as if we were hidden away, miles from everywhere. I had always thought of this part of the Peninsula that way, but now it really did seem as if there were no other buildings near us. The big grey and blue skies were still all around us but I couldn’t see the Millennium Village. The water was covered in lily pads, just like in the fairy stories when there would be toads sitting on them. I could hear people walking on the shingle, so the Park must still be there in some way. I could see birds: cormorants, snipe, coots, moorhens and goldfinches. I could see people walking around moving large bags around in wheelbarrows. Some of them were wearing waders and carrying scythes, others were kneeling down on cushions, looking relaxed and talking to each other.

I could remember when you had to leave the Thames path and cross over the motorway. The O2 and the DLR looked as if they were on the other side of the river. The area felt rather isolated and windswept, I had often felt as if I was out in the wilds in this part of the Peninsula, despite the roads.

We walked through the gates of the Ecology Park and I realised how different things were. At the edge of the Park, where I was used to seeing the Millennium Village, was an open space that looked something like a village green. People were also working here- digging and tending to the plants. There were so many plants- not just in the ground but also in various containers. Looking more closely I could see that some of the containers were objects- like footballs and dolls’ heads - cut open, with herbs and leaves sprouting from the tops. I remembered that the Yacht Club used to have a nice garden, and that there were other gardens along the path that surprised you as you walked along it, but nothing on this scale.

I turned around and looked at the river. It was so much busier than it had been before, it actually looked as if it was being used properly. The fisherman who had given us a lift was standing talking to a group of other men, and next to them was a pile of different kinds of fish. Looking further down the river I could see huts, a fish market, almost a village. All along the river were sculptures made from rope, brooms and other found objects- I could remember seeing one of them there before, but now there was a whole collection. A group of seals could be seen basking on the rocks at the edge of the water.

“Let’s go and see what the rest of it is like” said the taxi driver.

We continued walking up what could just be recognised as John Harrison Way, towards what still somewhat resembled the motorway flyover. We walked around the roundabout- now covered in corn- and went towards the shopping centre.

But to my shock, the shops were no longer there. In their place were some allotments, and although I could make out parts of the buildings, they looked like ruins, with trees and bushes growing from parts of the orange signs of B&Q and Sainsbury’s. Turning around I saw a group of caravans and smoke coming from a fire- it looked as if a travelling community had taken up camp here.

Next to the caravans was a small hut, and through the open door could be seen a woman who was looking at us. “Are you strangers here?” she called out.

Iris Dove is a volunteer at the Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park