Wandsworth Common

An open verdict was recorded at the inquest on Wednesday on a newly born female baby which was found wrapped in newspaper among the bushes on Wandsworth Common. Sir Bernard Spilsbury said the child had had a separate existence. There were no marks of violence externally, and death was caused by syncope due to congenital disease of the heart. The child had probably lived for only a few hours.

The Coroner (Dr. Edwin Smith): But whether death was accelerated by neglect you don't know?

Sir Bernard: No.

P.c. Fenner said his attention was drawn to the parcel by a lady who stopped him in Balham Park-road at 8.40 a.m. on Saturday. The body was wrapped in an evening newspaper dated January 2. The Coroner said that on the evidence the verdict must be an open one. The child died from congenital disease of the heart, but there was insufficient evidence to show whether death was accelerated by neglect.

Alterations are to be made at the junction of Bolingbroke-grove, Nightingale-lane and Ravenslea-road, at Wandsworth Common, with the object of increasing road safety. The slip road portion of Bolingbroke-grove, west of the island which forms part of the Common, is to be closed and added to the Common, and the footpaths of Nightingale-lane and Bolingbroke-grove are to be extended to permit the formation of a four-way crossing controlled by automatic signals. Six large elm trees and several holly trees will have to be sacrificed to make this improvement. A fatal accident occurred at this crossing recently.

The recommendation of the Highways Committee to construct a new public convenience for both sexes on Wandsworth Common, at the corner of North Side and West Side, had been "referred back" at the last meeting of the Borough Council. Various suggestions were made, including one that the most useful site was the existing one if it could be extended. The trend of discussion was to reaffirm the association's previous objection to a convenience at the corner of the north and west sides of the common, and that efforts should be continued to induce the London County Council to provide a convenience for common users near the old gun station. It was decided to hold over further action until the matter came before the Borough Council again.

George V's Silver Jubilee on 6 May 1935 was celebrated with festivities across the borough. The South Western Star's special Jubilee edition covered the full Wandsworth programme of celebrations, including events on Clapham Common, street parties in Wandsworth, and the illumination and decoration of principal streets. Beacon fires were lit by Boy Scouts across the area as part of the national chain of 2,000 beacons.

The Great Hyde Park bonfire, the first in a chain of some 2,000 beacons across Britain, was to be ignited electrically by the King pressing a button at Buckingham Palace at 9.55 p.m. on Silver Jubilee Night. The Boy Scouts Association, managing this part of the celebrations, had assembled the Hyde Park bonfire — provided free and built by Mr. S. G. Chappie. A rocket would be sent up before the lighting of each local beacon; the Jubilee beacons across Clapham and Wandsworth Commons were among the chain.

The Bellevue Garage, at 18 & 19 Bellevue Road, Wandsworth Common, S.W.17, placed a full-page advertisement in Motor Sport magazine celebrating their capture of the International Trophy Race Team Prize. The advertisement features photographs of Kenneth D. Evans, Miss Doreen B. M. Evans, and Donald Letts (Autocar Photograph). The garage was directed and managed by Denis G. Evans, and were agents for MG and Austin cars.

Wandsworth Common, one of Battersea's finest open spaces, drew large crowds on Bank Holiday Monday. Picnic parties were very numerous. From four o'clock till six the common was dotted with family groups sitting in semi-circles round the festive board. There were cakes, jam, and bread and butter — "the butter laid extra thick." Great activity on the bowling green, where opposing teams performed mighty deeds with faces like alleged statesmen at Geneva. The drinking fountain, next in popularity to the tea house with its ice-cream, was always surrounded by a crowd of damp and thirsty children.

A disastrous explosion occurred in a No. 19 bus bound for the "Wheatsheaf" at the corner of Tooting and Balham High-road. Fortunately no one was injured, though the conductor's bell rope was put out of action and two passengers were in consequence carried beyond the distance for which they had paid. The cause was eventually identified: a little girl's Christmas balloon, inflated to capacity by the heat of the crowded bus, had burst with a tremendous report — startling every passenger and causing the conductor to tug at the bell rope, which "came off in his hand."