The 24th January was a stunning day, weatherwise. Clear skies, a shining sun, and yet it wasn't so warm so as to burn you alive. Those kinds of days are why I love British winters so much. And to honour them, I went to Mitcham.
Admittedly, I didn't go to the town centre on this occasion, but I have been before. It's not particularly enthralling, however, though it could be argued the southern end is quite similar. Specifically, the area by the tram stop which is a fair few minutes away from the centre.
There used to be a railway here, running from Croydon to Wimbledon, but it was replaced in 2000 with the trams. Mitcham is one of them, and isn't particularly a groundbreaking stop - I wouldn't visit purely for the trams. Curiously, Mitcham does have three rail stations - this one, and also Mitcham Junction and Mitcham Eastfields, and none of them serve the town centre and you could feasibly argue all of them could be renamed to better reflect their local areas.
And yes, the photo of the pylon is an old one, the day really was quite beautiful.
Tooting and Mitcham United
They are one of the several lower league clubs that truly give the football pyramid its charm. They were founded in 1932 from the merger of Tooting FC and Mitcham Wanderers, and though their subsequent history hasn't been too remarkable, mainly focused on the seventh tier Isthmian League, they have had some successful FA Cup runs here and there.
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| They lost the match 1-0 |
They play their home matches at Imperial Fields, which on the outside looks more impressive than most stadiums for clubs in the Combined Counties Football League Premier Division South. Admittedly the shiniest part of its exterior seems to belong to a bar, and when you walk around the site's perimeter it's more ordinary as expected. That's not to deny it, though, considering the place also has several smaller pitches, probably for academies and training which were being used by many when I arrived.
Imperial Fields was built in 2002, and has also been host to other football teams, perhaps most notably Chelsea Women. They only played here for a brief time in 2011, but during that year Mitcham hosted the first Women's Super League match which was described as "an engrossing, error-strewn game in difficult playing conditions" by The Guardian. Since then the league has become more successful and popular amongst the public.
And if you're wondering how Tooting and Mitcham United are doing? They're tenth in the league, thirteen points off from the playoffs, which I suppose isn't too bad.
Watermeads Nature Reserve
Overseen by the National Trust, Watermeads is centred on a small area of land where the Wandle peacefully flows. There's a single footpath circuit that marks its way through here, and the map that displays it by the street entrance has been almost entirely covered in graffiti. Signs attached to trees from the Morden Hall Park Angling Club tell the public to not fish here.
It's a delightful space, despite its restricted size, especially in weather like this. Admittedly it wasn't perfect - chaotic rain due to Storm Eowyn had hit London yesterday, so the ground was quite muddy in places - yet the clear sky and birdsong made up for it. The myriad flies which swarmed around the river weren't particularly highlights.
However, the place hasn't always been accessible. It's only been open since 2015, having previously been used as a trout stream and later had various mills built along this stretch of river before closing for a century. Most of the nature reserve remains closed to access since it's quite sensitive wetland, so don't expect to roam freely.
In the places you can walk, you can spot the Wandle forking into two, even three, strands, though they all coalesce into the same river as it flows downhill to Morden. There are waterfalls dotted around, yet they're not splendid in height. Currently, it's mainly dominated by a large processing plant that leaves a slight smell and creates a jarring noise, unlike the rest of Watermeads. This report from a local community describes the situation rather well.
Anything else?
The immediate area isn't otherwise all that notable, aside from the nearby Morden Hall, Ravensbury, and Poulter Parks. There's a fire station here, and also a bridge which collapsed a few years ago but got rebuilt. There's also a new bus route here, the 45, which replaced the 118 which I've already blogged about - all this to say that that's the location where I took the lead image for that blogpost.
Otherwise...I'm not entirely sure. You'll have to help me out here.
And with that ends the Mitcham and Morden trilogy of posts which have started out this year. Not that I'll never discuss them again, I just find it interesting that Merton has had three posts already and Norfolk has had more posts than the rest of London.
Great
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