Rivets Size:XL A magpie surveys the overgrown

A magpie surveys the overgrown grounds of Newington Armament Depot and Nature Reserve from a stretch of weathered concrete

its surface stripped back to bare rusted metal and peeling paint

Female Ward 9/10 was part of that original intention

green growth spreading across grey rubble in the 2017 light

A timber cottage with a rusted corrugated iron roof sits low in a hollow

Rivets Size:XL A magpie surveys the overgrownHeavy iron rivets secure a large pipe inside West Ryde Pumping Station, rust blooming across the grey metal after decades of continuous service. The pipe is part of Station No. 2, commissioned in 1921 as the largest steam powered water pumping station in Australia. West Ryde Pumping Station has supplied water to Sydney's northern suburbs without interruption since that year. Part of the West Ryde Pumping Station series.