September 2023
Part Three
(Click on image to enlarge)
Bombs on and around Wandsworth Common 1940—1945
I had intended to map (and if possible date) the bombs that exploded on and around the Common, but the material grew so enormous (because so interesting, and so significant in the evolution of our area) that I'm postponing much discussion of it for now. In particular But if anybody wants to discussing the numerous V-1 bombs ("doodlebugs", "buzz bombs"), and the thankfully fewer V-2 rockets that started in September 1944. (As I've said countless times before, I played on bomb-sites as a child, and from the age of 8 lived in a block of flats on Heathfield Road that had been the site of V-2 explosion.)
For now, here are some maps and just a couple of incidents, from early in the London Blitz in 1940 (the Blitz continued until the following May).
LCC [] maps showing aerial damage to property in the area throughout WWII. In this article, I am concentrating on the period June —September when the principal [?] were V-1 bombs (the larger of the two circles).
The larger circles show where V-1 flying bombs ("Doodlebugs" or "Buzz bombs") fell. Four such circles are shown on or near the north of the common, and two on the south.
The V-1 that fell near the corner of Lyford Road and Herondale Avenue killed ?
The smaller (much less numerous) circles represent the generally more destructive V-2 rockets (e.g. one fell on the SE corner of Wandsworth Prison, near Heathfield Road). [next month]
[ADD better scans of the extra-ordinarily detailed LCC maps: Laurence Ward (ed), The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps 1939-1945 (2015) / https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-County-Council-Damage-1939-1945/dp/0500518254.,/p>
Black — Total destruction
Large circle — V-1 Flying Bomb
Purple — Damage beyond repair
Dark Red — Seriously damaged, doubtful if repairable
Light Red — Seriously damaged, repairable at cost
Orange — General blast damage, not structural, minor in nature
Yellow — Blast damage, minor in nature
Green — Clearance areas
Small circle — V-2 Rocket
Large circle — V-1 Flying Bomb (aka "Doodlebug", "Buzz bomb", ") ?mid-JUne 1944 to ?September 1944 Small circle — V-2 Rocket [Missile? Bomb? (aka "". Also "Flying Gas Mains".> [From 8 September, but not officially admitted until 10 November 1944. To 27 March 1945.)
[These maps are now online as part of theLayers of London project.]
"Next Sunday Miss Dolling will lead a run she calls "Grace's Gruelling Grind" into Buckinghamshire, leaving Marcilly Road, Wandsworth Common at 9 a.m. (or later in case of raids)."
[Norwood News, 27 September 1940.]
FOOTBALLERS NEED SHOWER-BATHS — NOT HORSE TROUGHS
SPORTS TALK by KEN DRURY
AWAY WITH THE HORSE-TROUGHS and let's have decent washplaces at L.C.C. grounds. That's the plea the Sunday Football Association will shortly be making to the body which controls most of London's playing fields — and a good few horse-troughs, too.
And there'll be a lot of Kensington footballers behind them. For many of our players have had a sample, oh too often, of the abominable washing facilities that the L.C.C. have to offer at a host of grounds.
I believe it was a Kensal House footballer who last season described the facilities at Wandsworth Common as the nearest thing to a horse-trough in which he had ever had to wash.
And a horse-trough it certainly resembles. A few extra taps make about the only difference.
It's situated in an open courtyard approachable through an entrance that's never closed and which, therefore, lends no privacy to mud-spattered footballers washing their bodies.
And don't think Wandsworth Common an exception among LCC grounds. It might be the worst, but there are several others with washing facilities of the common-or-garden horse trough style, including Wormwood Scrubs.
Mr. Halfacre, general secretary of the Sunday Football Association, tells me that he will ask the L.C.C. to instal shower baths at their ground. By charging about 3d. for a shower, they would soon recover the cost, he thinks.
[BNA: " target="_blank">Link]
"From time immemorial the inhabitants of the Western suburb of London have rejoiced in Wandsworth Common: it is a delicious recreation ground. Nature's own handiwork with no laid out flower beds, no palings or stretched stiff walks.
Alas! there is a probability of this pleasant common, one of the two or three, that are left within ten miles of London, being built over, inclosed, ruined, annihilated. The inhabitants are getting up a memorial to Earl Spencer, the Lord of the Manor, entreating him not to ruin it, but whether it will have the effect of preserving the open common for the pent up Londoners remains to be seen.
I fear that remonstrance is too late. "
[BNA: Link]
[I wonder what "stretched stiff walks" means?]
In marking out the new season's soccer pitches, the LCC improves upon "old Euclid", 1920.
"Among things noticeable on the face of the commons are a number of geometrical patterns formed with great accuracy . . . "
PATTERNS OF STRAIGHT WHITE LINES
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1910.
* * *
Among other things noticeable on the face of the commons are a number of geometrical patterns formed with great accuracy. The County Council is an educative body. It has made this plain to the mind of the most indifferent ratepayer. A straight line is a line drawn without deviation between two points. Old Euclid found that out, but be did not demonstrate it as effectively as the County Council has done. Euclid was content to trace his lines with his finger tip in the sand, a sketchy method and one that could not have been absolutely accurate.
The London County Council's straight lines are about 50 yards long. 'They are drawn with whitewash and they improve on Euclid in a very important respect. A line, said Euclid, who knew no better, is length without breadth. The whitewashed lines on the commons in Battersea have a breadth of at least four inches. Circles and triangles are marked out with equal boldness. But far as we can judge, they are mathematically correct. No doubt they serve their purpose, which is to train the eye of the citizen and to teach him to view County Council proceedings in perspective.
[BNA: Link]
Purely for cosmetic reasons, here's a random spread from Oliver Byrne's The First Six Books of The Elements of Euclid in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters (W. Pickering, London, 1847).
[The Public Doman Review: Link.]
1887-09-03-oppressive new-MBW-regulations-for-WC-SouthLondonPress-03sep1887
Wandsworth Common.
Now that Wandsworth Common is under the care of the Metropolitan Board of Works, instead of local Conservators, pretty well the same regulations will be in force as are applied to other Commons under the charge of the authorities at Spring Gardens.
It will seen that the following proposed bye-laws differ somewhat from those hitherto in force:
1. Carpet-beating, which has hitherto been allowed at spots appointed for the purpose, will be altogether forbidden.
2. Fishing in the ponds will forbidden.
3. Persons will prohibited from going upon the ice on any pond except under certain conditions.
4. Mending chairs or other articles, or causing litter the Common, will be forbidden.
5. Ducks or fowls will no longer be allowed on the Common without the consent, in writing, of the clerk of the Metropolitan Board.
6. Persons will be prohibited from playing any musical instrument, sleeping on any the seats, or drawing or driving any truck, wheelbarrow, or vehicle (perambulator or invalid chair) on any footpath on the Common.
7. It will forbidden to or make preparation to play at cricket, football, golf, or any other game on the Common, except with the consent of the Metropolitan Board, under the band of their clerk.
The proposed bye-law (No. 23) will give great satisfaction to many frequenters of the Common. Many, however, on the contrary, will think it a rather drastic measure, very much curtailing privileges hitherto enjoyed.
We quote the proposed bye-law in full:
Persons will prohibited from delivering, uttering, or reading any public speech, lecture, prayer, Scripture, sermon, or address of any kind or description whatever, or singing any sacred or secular song, or entering into any public discussion maintaining the right to deliver, utter, or read any public speech, lecture, prayer, Scripture, sermon, or discourse, or holding or causing, or taking part in any public assemblage, except between sunrise and sunset, and on the site or sites to approved by the board, which site or sites shall be denoted by noticeboards on the Common, and delineated on duplicate plans deposited the Home Office, and at the offices the board Spring Gardens.
Objections to the proposed bye-laws should addressed to the Home Secretary, whose assent to them will he applied for on or after the 12th September.
[HoWC: Source.]
[BNA: Source.]
"Rus in Urbe" rails against rutted, straight footpaths over the Common: "I, for one, never walk on a beaten track when I can get fresh turf for my feet", 1867
[Source]
WANDSWORTH COMMON.
To the Editor of the South London Press.
Sir, In a very interesting discussion, reported in your journal of the 31st ult., I find that the Board of Works gravely discuss the point of what is a pathway, it appearing that a beaten track is not a footpath.
May I be permitted to remark that I, for one, never walk on a beaten track when I can get fresh turf for my feet; and it is really monstrous to spend time in settling whether an open Common, traversed for thousand years from all points of the compass, is not altogether a footpath — although not worn down into ruts and straight lines, as it is provident the public must learn to do.
Is there human being who can desire to have the only pretty walk within 10 miles abolished, and to satisfy practical builders, permit the Black Sea, with its islands, to be levelled and covered with angular villas, fitted up with backyards for the children to play in and annoy the neighbours? I shudder at the thought.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Rus in Urbe.
[BNA: Link.]
[*Rus in Urbe — Latin for "country in the city" — the feel or illusion of countryside in the heart of the city.]
"Is there human being who can desire to have the only pretty walk within 10 miles abolished, and to satisfy practical builders, permit the Black Sea, with its islands, to be levelled and covered with angular villas, fitted up with backyards for the children to play in and annoy the neighbours? I shudder at the thought."
(Wandsworth Borough Collection, courtesy of Wandsworth Council)
Alleged Black Sea Nuisance, 1870 . . .
Photograph by Geoffrey Bevington of the Black Sea looking very sorry for itself. The water level may have dropped because the nearby Windmill (actually a water pump) was out of action.
The "Black Sea" had once been considered [ . . . ]. Part of the price Earl Spencer exacted for selling off Wandsworth Common to the people of Wandsworth and Battersea was for the lake to be filled in and a affluent enclave created in its place. For a number of years the lake was allowed to empty and stagnate. It became smelly and widely believed to be a source of disease — the meaning of the term "nuisance" at this time.
ALLEGED "BLACK SEA" NUISANCE
An application from the Patriotic Asylum was made to the board for the abatement of an alleged nuisance arising from "The Black Sea." Mr. Brown remarked that the best reply that could be made to them would be to say that they were the greatest nuisance of the two for occupying a portion of the Wandsworth Common.
The surveyor was ordered to report on the subject.
[BNA: Link.]
Map showing how close the Black Sea was to the RVPA — separated only by the railway line.
This item is quote a puzzle. It refers to a local young man who has been jumping from the chimney of a local printing works at Wandsworth Common using a parachute of his own devising.
CHARLES BALDWIN? JUDD-GREEN?
THE HIGH SHAFT OF THE PRINTING WORKS BY WANDSWORTH COMMON?
South London Press — Saturday 6 September 1890
The young gentleman, now known by the professional name of Charles Baldwin, is a familiar figure in the neighbourhood of Clapham Junction. Before the Alexandra Palace parachutist came to England, this precocious youth used to descend from the top of the high shaft at the printing works by Wandsworth Common with a parachute of his own manufacture.
When he at last reached the height of his ambition, and became possessed of a balloon, engagements flowed in upon him rapidly. He has made ascents and descents in all parts of England; his daring and graceful performance have been pronounced by the provincial press to have surpassed in interest the performances of his predecessors.
His great descent at Rochdale will be remembered. To be sure of clearing the chimneys in his descent, he had to ascend two miles. In making his descent he bad the option of dropping on the telegraph wires or into the canal — he chose the latter.
He is not twenty-one yet, and if he don't break his neck soon he will shortly beat the record as as a parachutist,
"Baldwin" is the young brother of Mr. Richard Judd-Green, and a nephew of Mr. James Judd, the well-known Surrey J.P.
[BNA: Link.]
[born c.1870]
LOCAL CRICKET FRACAS
The Wandsworth Club appears desirous of maintaining the not Trey enviable prestige attaching to it in connection with the Wandsworth Common enclosure.
On Saturday evening, the club-house — the Freemason's Tavern — was the scene of a fistic encounter, in which the original secretary of the club, a well-known medical student, played a conspicuous part.
Whether the heat, or the generous fare provided by the club hostelry, is responsible for the melee, or the diminutive ex-secretary's temper had been soured in the course of the day's cricket, we know not: but a wordy encounter came about between that gentleman and one of Boniface's patrons, resulting in the ex-secretary being very cruelly handled.
After a short but merry "mill," the bar door was opened, and the assailant of the little man was ejected by the landlord, ice and arnica being applied to the bruised one.
Truly, the gentlemen of the Wandsworth Club are bent upon distinguishing themselves. The little bout has been the talk of the neighbourhood during the past week. Several present were anxious to know why the proprietor, in his zeal for the club patrons, ejected the wrong man, who was certainly the most insulted, if the least punished, of the two.
[BNA: Link.]
Sounds of the (18)80s . . .
Music was popular on parks and commons throughout London. Much of it was performed by military bands. Here's a programme that tells us something of what you could expect to hear. I've found a few examples of performances on YouTube (click on the links). If you come across any others, let me know and I'll add them.
The Battersea and Wandsworth Military Band.
This band plays on Wandsworth Common every Saturday, and grows more popular week by week, A large audience assembled on Saturday afternoon, when, under the direction of Mr. E. J. Haynes, the band performed the following interesting programme; March, "lolanthe" (Newton); valse, Soldaten Sieder (Gung'l); overture, d'Or (Brepsant); Roman dance (Boggetti); valse, "Elaine" (Lowthian); fantasia, "Echoes of the Night" (Riviere); solo (trombone), Mr. Williams; solo (horn), Mr. Elliot; serenade, "May Night," (Hartmann); polka mazurka, "Entre Nous" (Faust); and pas redouble, "March of all Nations" (Asch).
[BNA: Link.]
LABOUR MOVEMENTS . . .
A meeting of the Navvies and Bricklayers' Labourers' Union was held yesterday at the corner of Chatham-road, Wandsworth Common, to organise the large number of men engaged in the building trade residing in that locality. A resolution calling upon all unskilled labourers to at ence join their Union was carried unanimously.
[BNA: Link.]
WANDSWORTH COMMON
RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC
The county councils policy with respect to Wandsworth Common is further defended in another letter written to the editor of the Daily Telegraph mr TW Cole, Ralph Road, Wandsworth Common, rights:
Sir, would it not help matters if the various criticisms on the London county councils management of Wandsworth Common were brought down to their real issue, especially as this is one which affects all London commons? This issue is between the games-playing and the non-games-playing public.
The provision for games necessarily entails temporary enclosures, partial railings, netting, restrictions on dogs, etc. Everybody agrees that games should be played, and the only question is that of preserving equity among the various conflicting tastes — for
On Wandsworth Common the London County Council have provided 18 football pitches, 24 tennis courts, two putting greens, two dry playgrounds for children, one good-sized bowling green, and one green for band and dancing. All your critics apparently think this is too much. (It is the preparation for, and the maintenance of, the grass, etc., which has evoked the present protests, apart from relatively insignificant permanent enclosures.)
Some 500 or of the public can thus enjoy games at one time, sad N we count in the friends and Mom, who evidently enjoy games. the total is it is not amostaient only that the tendon County Council have in view in thus encouraging games. The health and physique of the next generation is the paramount consideration, and even at the risk of displeasing those who do not wish to exercise the right of playing games, or who have some of their .130 of walking, etc., curtailed in Mall part or at times, the London County Council have given priority to players. Front a national point at view there does not seem to be any question as to the judiciousness of this policy. — " Moreover, in actual fact, the curtailment of the rights of the public is negligible on Wandsworth Common, even with wide and wise provision for players. What your critics really complain of is not that the London County Council restricted the rights of public on the common, but have extended them to auncialr. bowls. Putting, etc. Every member of the public in the.. ' rights ' equally. But one cannot such extension of rights without a corresponding limitation on individual option. It is individual option, not public rights. that is in question. In the present case there is DO doubt that the non-plareta are few and far between and that the London ()minty Council Sr. pleasing the vast (lurt mumticulatel majority, besides adding to the health-wealth of the country.
[BNA: Link.]
"Prisoner's arrest was the outcome of the smartness of a scboolgirl named Holly Leggett, 40 West Side, Wandsworth Common . . . "
COMMON SCHOOLGIRL COMMENDED
John Johnson (69), a costermonger, of 56, Welford-road, Croydon, was charged on remand with begging from house to house — at West Side, Wandsworth Common, on Monday week.
Prisoner's arrest was the outcome of the smartness of a scboolgirl named Holly Leggett, 40 West Side, Wandsworth Common. He tried to obtain money from her by telling a pitiful tale about his wife having been robbed at Clapham Junction which she did not believe.
She followed him and discovered that be told a somewhat similar story to a gentleman. She then gave him into custody.
lt was stated that prisoner had served 30 years in prison, including 21 years' penal servitude for minor offences.
Mr. de Grey said great credit was due to the girl, who followed prisoner and found him out. He would be sentenced to a month's bard labour.
Prisoner: Thank you, sir.
[BNA: Link.]
0002" target="_blank">Link]
Kalulu — who is more familiarly known as "Stanley's boy," being brought home by the celebrated journalist and traveller, Mr. H.D. Stanley — has once more cast in his fortune with his patron, and left Halbrake House, where he was placed by Mr. Stanley for tuition, and has gone out with Mr. Stanley to act as a medium of linguistic intercourse between that gentleman and the natives; so that Kalulu was not this year, as last, one of the lions, or rather the lion of the day . . . "
Halbrake House Athletic Sports.
The celebration of the annual sports in connection with Halbrake House Schopl, New Wandsworth, constitutes one of the permanent features in the diary of events to come amongst the middle and upper classes resident in the neighbourhood, and is looked upon by the parents of the pupils as entirely a red-letter day.
Saturday last proved no exception, and the principal, the Rev. John Condor, may be congratulated upon the success of the day's proceedings, the attendance being both numerous and select, notwithstanding that the sports had been postponed, on account of unfavourable weather, from July 15 — a period more favourable to a large attendance than the present, when so many families are absent at the seaside.
Although on this account many familiar faces amongst the local gentry were absent, there were still many of the leading inhabitants present. The scene was an effective one. The gay toilets of the ladies, as the latter flitted hither and thither — the bright costumes of the competitors, in addition to the gay colours of the flags which marked out the scene of contest, afforded the necessary elements to the production of an animated and festive assembly, whilst the military-attired band of the Laylands Boys' House, under their evidently painstaking master, Mr. W. Herring, infused an additional spirit into the proceedings.
The locale selected — a field adjoining the residence of Mr. James Du Buisson, J. P., which was kindly placed at Mr. Conder's disposal — was both central and well adapted for the purpose, the picturesque and rural surroundings lending an additional charm . . .
kalulu-video-title-1024.jpg kalulu-section-from-wilson-beeches-talk-jan-2022.mp4It may interest many if, before closing our notice, we state that Kalulu — who is more familiarly known as "Stanley's boy," being brought home by the celebrated journalist and traveller, Mr. H.D. Stanley — has once more cast in his fortune with his patron, and left Halbrake House, where he was placed by Mr. Stanley for tuition, and has gone out with Mr. Stanley to act as a medium of linguistic intercourse between that gentleman and the natives; so that Kalulu was not this year, as last, one of the lions, or rather the lion of the day.
[BNA: Link.]
Horse Chestnut, from The Ladybird Book of Trees (1963). Text by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald with illustrations by one of my favourite Ladybird artists, S. Roy Badmin.
Quest for conkers has begun. As in former years we have endeavoured to ascertain why, but so far we have again met with scant success.
In Trinity-road, which is bounded on one side by Wandsworth Gaol, and on the other by the Common, we came across a group of schoolboys who were risking their lives, rummaging among the fallen leaves by the wayside.
Having got them safely on the pavement. we interrogated them as to the why and wherefore of their proceeding.
One of the boys was remarkably bright, his eyes glinted with intelligence.
"Why do you look for conkers?" we asked.
He thought awhile and then answered, "Because we want to find 'em." which was a very good answer indeed, and a model which we commend to Parliamentary candidates when they are harassed by hecklers.
Questioned further, the 'boy admitted that he not eat conkers, though he did not know what urchin discovered that fact.
. . .
We supposed the discovery by the proceeding known to scientists as trial and error. Some hungry boy ate a conker — boys will eat anything, spill most of what they eat does them good. The conker made him sick, and all the generations of boys since then have profited by his experience.
"We can't eat conkers, but we can rlay games with 'em," explained the bright-eyed boy in Trinity-road.
And can't you play with other thing?!"
"Yes, but they aren't conkers, " which again is only too true.
Then we to findout why conkers have no attraction for girls.
"Girls can't play conkers," we were informed in something like a tone of superiority.
We suggested that they could make necklaces of them, and that girls, when they get big enough, make conquests, and to that extent are conquerors.
These subtleties were lost on the intelligent Wandsworth schoolboy. He resumed and intensified his search for conkers.
We intend to pursue our quest when next we meet with an accomplished psychologist, for we feel almost sure that this adoration of the horse chestnut has its roots in ancestor worship.
[BNA: Link]
A man with a badge . . .
You may remember . . . ."Couple's disgraceful conduct" (1901) . . .
"In a Furze Bush — Alleged Spy Charged with Blackmail"
IN A FURZE BUSH
ALLEGED SPY CHARGED WITH BLACKMAIL
Cases of men spying upon lovers on commons and rural parts around London have been frequent lately. Another case, said to be of this description, came before the magistrate at Soutb-West London Police Court.
Charles Nicholls, aged twenty-eight, described as a music-seller, having no address, was charged before Mr. de Grey with unlawfully demanding with menaces a sum of 5s. from Eugene O'Keiffe, a sapper of the Royal Engineers.
The prosecutor stated that he was with a young lady on Wandsworth Common, when the prisoner, wearing a bowler hat, to which was affixed a badge bearing in brass "L.C.C., 643," accosted them unawares, saying, "I've been watching you for a quarter of an hour. You have been behaving improperly, and will have to come with me to the policeman on point duty."
The prosecutor replied, "Very well," and with the lady, who was much agitated and distressed, walked along with him.
After going 200 yards the prisoner stopped and said, "It won't do me any good to run you in; I can be squared."
The witness asked him what he wanted, and he said 5s.
He told him he had no money except sixpence and a few coppers, but promised to meet him at the same place the following night, when he would give him the five shillings.
"What are you going to give me now?" the prisoner asked. He then gave him the sixpence, and the prisoner, accepting his name and address, which he entered in a pocket-book, left after wishing him (witness) good-night. He [Eugene O'Keiffe] reported the matter to a police-constable, and on the following night again visited the common in company of a man friend.
The prisoner did not make his appearance.
They searched about, and discovered the prisoner concealed in a furze-bush. He struggled to avoid arrest, but eventually he was got to the police-station.
William Hutchinson, also of the Royal Engineers, who accompanied the prosecutor to the common, said he was the first to discover the prisoner. He had concealed himself a short distance from a seat on which a lady and gentleman were seated.
The witness said, "What are you doing here? Get up," to which he answered, "I'm not the man."
He was wearing the bowler hat referred to, but near him lay a cloth cap, which he claimed as his.
The prisoner, offering no defence, was remanded for inquiry.
[BNA: Link.]
BLACKMAILER'S L.C.C. BADGE.
Charles Nicholls, 28, bricklayer, was found "Guilty" of demanding money by menaces from Eugene O'Keeffe, a sapper in the Royal Engineers, of Battersea. lt was proved that he blackmailed young couples on Wandsworth and Barnes commons, and in the course of the case it transpired that he wore a London County Council badge, No. 643.
David Brooks, head common — keeper, Wandsworth-common, proved that the prisoner was not employed by the London County Council. The badges issued to officials were issued annually, and not recalled.
Mr. Loveland, K.C., said this case should provide a hint to the London County Council to call in all disused badges, because they might be ut to all sorts of dishonest ends.
Witness said this had already been done.
Detective-sergeant Harvey, V division. stated that the prisoner had been carrying on the "game" on Barnes, Wandsworth, Clapham, and Tooting Bec commons. On several occasions be had aggravated the offence by attempting to assault young ladies after he had succeeded in separating them from their lovers.
Mr. Loveland said the prisoner's conduct was most vile, and he sentenced him to 18 months' hard labour.
[BNA: Link.]
This was not the first time a Parkie's badge had featured in a crime.
Another man with another ("mysterious") badge . . .
THE MYSTERIOUS BADGE
Charles George (38), Ingrave-street, Battersea, engineer's turner, charged on remand with causing annoyance to the public on Wandsworth Common, contrary to the London County Council by-laws.
The accused was seen on the common with badge in his hat, with the letters "W.P.C." inscribed thereon. A woman named Falkner told a L.C.C. constable that the prisoner ordered her off the common. "He had a badge in his hat," the woman said, "and I thought he was a common keeper."
>When before Mr. Garrett last week, Mrs. Falkner, who lives at 23, Park-road [presumably today's Elsynge Road], Battersea, told a different story. She said that the prisoner never ordered her off the common, but that he merely told her to get up as a policeman was approaching. She further stated that she never saw the badge in the man's hat.
Prisoner said he picked the badge up on the common, and innocently placed it in his hat.
Mr. Garrett: Have you found out what the letters "W.P.C." mean?
P.C.220 L.C.C.: No; we don't know what to make of them.
Mr. Garrett: I should think not. They're mysterious to me.
The accused, who was given an excellent character, was discharged.
An inspector of the L.C.C. asked what order Mr. Garrett intended to make relative to the badge.
Mr. Garrett (smiling): Oh! I can't make any order about that; it's too serious a matter.
[BNA: Link.]
"Obstinate alien" lands on Wandsworth Common.< /p>
AN OBSTINATE ALIEN
Pascali Scal, an Italian ice-cream vendor, of 79, Surrey-lane, was charged with causing an obstruction at Wandsworth Common. P.C.111W stated that prisoner was in charge of an ice-cream barrow. He was told to move away and went, but a few minutes later returned. On being asked a second time to go he refused and was taken into custody. Scal was fined 5s or five days [in gaol].
[BNA: Link.]
Dr Thyne's practice was based in his home at 101 Earlsfield Road.
I had intended to write something substantial about this remarkable local doctor — who, as it happens, was much loved by the people of Wardley Street and Lydden Grove mentioned in Part One. I've run out of time this month, but soon . . .
Dr John Tod Thyne, headstone, Wandsworth Cemetery, Magdalen Road. His wife, Hannah, was born 13 September 1870, and died 21 August 1950.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/220726372/john-tod-thyneIn the meanwhile, does anybody know where exactly their grave lies?
Dear Reader: I'm collecting material on the lives of a number of people in this cemetery. Do you know of anybody buried here that you think is remarkable, or would like to know more about? Might there be some interest in cemetery walks?
An occasional feature noting appearances of Wandsworth Common in novels, short stories and poetry . . . .
Date? Title? Author?
"This required a good deal of pretence, for besides the fact that my brother's invitation was anything but cordial, I knew that Charles, being dyspeptic and abstemious and frugal in the matter of diet, and having a serious turn of mind, devoted the few hours of relaxation which business permitted to open-air preaching on Wandsworth Common."
Leeds Mercury — Saturday 3 September 1892
KITTY'S FATHER.
A Romance of the Period.
FRANK BARRETT, Author *Tha Admirable Lady Baddy Fane,* *Fettmd for lilt,' CHAPTER XIX. / vr fast, arm i. parted tha street a* the door the tM, York . . .
[TO BE CONTINUED]
[BNA: Link]
Also
Liverpool Weekly Courier — Saturday 3 September 1892
[BNA: Link]
SO many more stories still to tell. But that's all for now, folks.
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"COMMON MEMORIES: Life on & around Wandsworth Common, 1930s-1980s"
COMMON MEMORIES — Life on & around Wandsworth Common, 1930s—1980s
6/2023 — Over the past year, members of the Friends of Wandsworth Common Heritage group, led by Ros Page, have interviewed lifelong residents of the Common to explore their life and experiences and how the Common used to be.
The interviews were all filmed by John Crossland and the more than 20 hours of footage beautifully and sensitively edited down into this 'charming and engaging' film by Rosa Navas, a local film maker and Friend.
The film is interspersed with old images and film clips, bringing alive the narrative of the interviewees. The result is a fascinating insight into how life on Wandsworth Common has changed over five decades.
With special thanks to the production team led by Ros Page, including Stephen Midlane, Henrietta Gentilli, Louise Murphy, John Turner, cameraman John Crossland and editor Rosa Navas.
The film was launched on 6 June 2023 in the Fiennes Theatre, Emanuel School, and special thanks are due to Lisa Irwin and the school for their very generous support.
The video is now available to view via the Friends of Wandsworth Common website or on YouTube .
A DVD is also available, at £5.
Down with the Fences Part II (May 2021) [link and info to be added].
Down with the Fences Part I (March 2021) [link and info to be added].
Wandsworth Common / WaterWorld (March 2021) [link and info to be added].
What a Carve Up (January 2021) [link and info to be added].
From the early days of the first lock-down:
Incidentally, a couple of years ago I made a short video (my first) from Edwardian postcards and photographs of the lake, set to music by Claude Debussy, which you can view here. Utterly self-indulgent.
HistoryBoys | Magic Lantern Show #1 | The Lake, Wandsworth Common . . . also known as the Dog Pond, the Long Pond, or just 'the Pond'.
And here's one on the Three-Island Pond:
HistoryBoys | Magic Lantern Show #? | The Three-Island Pond
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