Surveying the landsurface, peat and trees at Purfleet

Surveying the landsurface, peat and trees at Purfleet.  The site is on the foreshore at Rainham Marsh, a large area of extant grazing marsh on the edge of London.  The peat deposits run inland beneath the grazing marsh.  The marsh is of great importance for nature conservation and a fragile historic landscape.  The slate roofed building in the left background is part of a Scheduled Ancient Monument, the Purfleet Magazine.  On the skyline is the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, a reminder that this is the heart of Thames Gateway, the largest regeneration initiative in Europe.