IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Beech Grove, MITCHAM, CR4 1LD

It seems to have been a long time since there was enough dampness here to sustain many moisture loving plants.

Mitcham Common was once a much larger area of common pasture. The subsequent survival of the Common was helped by the division between four manors. As the boundaries were unclear, no single lord was emboldened to try to control the whole Common. In the early 19th century, gravel winning began in earnest. It became such a problem with gravel pits being started all over the Common that Mitcham Common was protected under the Metropolitan Commons Act of 1891. With the acquisition of mineral rights from the lords of the manors in 1894, the Conservators of Mitcham Common were able to bring the practice of gravel digging to an end. However, the tipping of domestic refuse on Mitcham Common dramatically altered the previously flat profile of Mitcham Common by creating artificial hills. The highest of these is Mill Hill (named after the nearby former windmill) which was completed in 1960 and subsequently landscaped.

I'm standing in the middle of the road, without a care in the world. Some years ago, both ends of the road were blocked to traffic, so this road is traffic-free.

This has never been mapped, but on aerial photographs it seems to be there in 1946 in a mature state.

Common land; typical of how flat Mitcham Common was, prior to landscaping.

This runs along the edge of the common, separated from a residential area to the right by a tree belt, a ditch and a fence, with occasional access points. One is just ahead.

Still with its white lines and street lights, Watneys Road has been closed to vehicles and is already starting to look like a country lane.

Some frost on the ground on the first properly cold day of winter 2014/15 in London.