The Sutton loop: Mitcham and Hackbridge

Today, I'm discussing the remaining three stations on the Sutton loop which have been unblogged. One of them is somewhat new. They're also all on the same railway line, and, alongside Carshalton, are debatably not part of the Sutton loop at all. 

You see, Sutton loop in a technical sense mainly refers to the stations from Streatham to Sutton via Wimbledon. That's because of the railway history, which consists of a combination of lines by the Wimbledon and Sutton Railway, and the Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway. 

The line from Streatham to Sutton via Hackbridge, however, is part of the Sutton and Mole Valley lines, and was concieved by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. I did mention all this in the original post, albeit in a very vague way, but it explains why the stations along the loop opened at such different times. 

All the stations in this post, aside from Mitcham Eastfields, opened in 1868. Lots of the Sutton loop stations arrived in the early 20th century. But what Thameslink wants, I get... 

Mitcham Junction

Mitcham Junction is a bit of a misnomer. There's no rail junction, at least since 1997, with the railway crossing a tram line since the advent of Tramlink in 2000. Head west for Wimbledon and east for Croydon on the trams, along the former railway which used to stop here. It surprised me to find out it's not particularly well used - only 379,000 annual passengers - despite the tram link. This isn't really a slice of suburbia, like Eastfields, which I'll get onto. 

The station provided Mitcham with a second rail link after Mitcham station, which is now tram stop. And I've already blogged about it! Note that neither are anywhere near the centre of Mitcham, which is particularly obvious when you exit Junction.

   

There isn't much to see here, unless you're a fan of golf courses or parks; Mitcham Common isn't too far away, and Mitcham Golf Club has existed since 1891. However, should you head down a footpath parallel to the tram tracks, and persist with it for half an hour, you're rewarded with some splendid views. I'm talking about the Beddington Farmlands, which I briefly discussed a while ago:

I then headed north through the Beddington Farmlands, with this route unsettling me throughout. It's possibly because there was only one footpath, the way out took a while, and I could hear drilling going on in the background. The noise happened to be due to railway repairworks going on at Mitcham Junction, and eventually I made it out, having seen some wonderful views along the way. 

This is landfill site territory, though they've been trying to turn the place into a birdwatching area and nature reserve. There are viewing points, but they're covered in graffiti - ULEZ stuff, if I remember correctly - and you are quite far from all the action. Despite this, I still thoroughly recommend you visit, if not for the opportunity to also see Beddington Park beforehand, which is wonderful.

Lovely thistles in the farmlands

Mitcham Eastfields

Mitcham Eastfields is unique because it's split in two, owing to a rail crossing that cuts the road in half. The area itself is quite residential, not too far from Streatham and the Pollards Hill estate, and the line brutally dissects it, which is out of necessity. The area itself is officially called Eastfields, as vague and undescriptive a name as any, and its Wikipedia page has more space devoted to nearby areas than to actually discussing the area. That's not too surprising, though - it was rather grim when I visited Eastfields. Nothing of note is here, aside from similar-looking housing and the odd school.

    

It's also by far the youngest Sutton loop station, opening in 2008, though there had been plans to build the station since the 1930s! (And if only the archive page didn't have an annoying pop-up, I might be able to give an exact number.) As such, it filled a large gap between Streatham and Mitcham Junction (which is 4km as the crow flies), and gave Mitcham a second station. Whether it's any use is debatable - it is a bit of a walk away from the town centre - but it does take 1.22 million passengers annually, which is the most out of the four featured stations today. And I'm sure the nearby local areas are appreciative of the station...

Interlude to Tooting

When I went to see Tooting station, it was alongside the visit to Eastfields. This section chronicles both that walk, and also an unrelated trip I made recently to a nearby location. 

Nearby lies Streatham Vale, which is similarly non-descript. I quickly deviated from Eastfields, thinking I might get to write up about Streatham Vale, but there isn't much here. There are various shops, including a Lidl, as well as the corrugated Vale Industrial Park and a local cemetery. Yet another area mainly devoted to housing, and an unglamarous one at that. 

 

The nearby Pollards Hill, a series of estates built to satiate the post-World War 2 housing shortage, could warrant a post of its own, though it's similarly rather grey and unremarkable. There is an actual hill, though, with a view over London and a stand stating what you can see from there. Sure, it requires a trek through the estate, but that's not too difficult to achieve.

A view from a Pollards Hill

From Streatham Vale, I headed back to Eastfields by bus and set off to Tooting by foot. If you went by train from Mitcham Eastfields to Tooting around the loop, you'd be delusional. But say you took the gambit - it would take you 36 minutes. Thus it's faster, cheaper, and possibly more pleasant to walk; it took me just under 15 minutes to do so.

Tooting is on the complete other side of the Sutton loop - head clockwise and you'll get further away from Streatham. That means that anyone wanting to go from Mitcham to Tooting should either walk or take the 127 bus, it will save you so much time!

More flats, looking rather identical, and various warehouses with fences around them. Someone left out a cabinet with three decrepid chairs standing round it, looking like a long forgotten makeup session. A damaged sign telling people to not litter now has slang terms thrown about it in marker pen. Some graffitied walls await you as you walk via Sandy Lane and approach Figges Marsh.

   

William Figge is the namesake to this 25-acre park; he owned it in the 14th century, and by 1891 it became common land, coming under the ownership of Mitcham Council in 1923. During World War 2, trenches were dug into the field to prevent enemy planes from landing here, and that's the history section on this website paraphrased. 

The area itself isn't all too thrilling, despite Merton council's best efforts to make it more engaging. "Follow the arrows back to this point to complete the Merton Mile!", various signs say en route - those arrows by the way are merely two small yellow triangles painted on the ground, it took me a while to realise that. Now I know an adult could burn more than two digestive biscuits worth of calories by running a mile, though I'm not sure what I'll do with that information. There are some lovely small flowers planted here and there along the path, as well as a small bookshelf consisting of the Lord of the Rings, a media law textbook, a company law book, a contract law book - I wonder if the Mitcham startup trade is going well.  

Hackbridge

I'd already been to Hackbridge when I visited Wilderness Island, but part of me thought this wasn't enough - I hadn't visited the station - and so I went. Needless to say, I could have spared myself the time.

Hackbridge town centre itself isn't particularly remarkable, with housing combined with standard shops. It's a typical suburb, albeit one on the Sutton loop. The station also opened in 1868 - in fact Mitcham Junction, Hackbridge and Carshalton all opened at the same time - and contributed to the area becoming the suburb that it is today. 845,000 passengers use the station annually, funnelling through the rather standard brick building, nestled by a car park, that is the station. It also has a village sign, though part of me wonders why a suburb needs one - it's not a village - although it's rather lovely, with silhouetted birds flocking around nature, possibly related to the nature around the Wandle.

In fairness, I only turned up for the station, photographed it, and went on my merry way, both pleased I'd finally completed the project, but also slightly sorrowful that I'd never get to experience this for the first time again. This does mean I didn't notice BedZED, a housing development intended to be completely carbon neutral and which I learnt about in Year 8 geography. Whilst I don't have the notes from the lesson - they've long decomposed - the development came about in 1997, and progress started in 2001 when land was acquired around the Beddington Farmlands. From images, the residences look like identikit blocks with stupid hats, though I don't think I should be so quick to judge.

And so, it is now over. Dude, let's go! Who'd have thought a simple railway service consisting of fifteen stations will have taken me this far. How many people can say they've been to all the Sutton loop stations, and blogged about them as well? Maybe the passenger numbers are rather low, considering the success of Thameslink services in Central London. But may the line never die!

I hope I don't need to say more to satiate the Sutton anoraks, wherever they may be.  

Well that's 756 days of effort...