I could carry on posting transport news for weeks, you know I could. Instead here's a cul-de-sac in Mitcham.
Welcome to Lonesome, which is right up there in the list of London's Strangest Named Suburbs. It's located between Mitcham and Streatham, not far from Streatham Vale, just south of the River Graveney. It originally earned its name because it was so far from anywhere, possibly derived from a house called Lonesome beyond the edge of the lavender fields. In the 1850s this was the ideal spot for the Lonesome Chemical Works, "Makers of all the Hypophosphites; also of Valerianic Acid and all Valerianates, Bisulphide of Carbon, Chloride of Sulphur, Chlorate of Baryta, and Chemicals for Pyrotechnical and all other purposes". A few rows of isolated cottages were eventually swallowed up by the advance of suburbia, mostly postwar, and today 'Lonesome' lives on only as the name of the local primary school. Oh, and as a cul-de-sac called Lonesome Way.
I was going to write a blogpost about Lonesome Way, it looked interesting enough - a dogleg built on the site of a council depot with gates opening directly into Streatham Vale Park. However there were two issues. One is that 99% of Lonesome Way isn't officially in Mitcham. The boundary between Merton and Lambeth passes diagonally through the house on the left so even though the wreath on the door of 1 Lonesome Way is in 'Mitcham', the binstore alongside is officially in 'Streatham', as are all of the neighbouring homes. Secondly even though Lonesome Way kicks off with a pleasant terrace it rapidly descends into a litter-strewn lane leading to a Travellers site, and this is not the ideal location for a psychogeographical meander.
"At first glance, Lonesome Way appears to be just like any other street in the immediate area. Recently built family homes mask the gypsy and traveller site from the main road; only the grass and trees of the park on the other side of the road suggest anything other than a normal suburban enclave. Rounding the houses introduces a less clement scene. Wooden fences protecting private gardens on the left give way to a high metal barrier marked by graffiti. The tops of caravans can be seen emerging above. A rubbish-strewn, tarmac pavement widens to the right. Ahead, gates and low walls mark the boundaries of two of the Traveller site pitches. One is home to two old caravans, the other to a newer (and considerably more impressive) wooden cabin. Anyone driving up the road or walking to the park gate will do so under the watchful eyes of the site's residents, fearfully vigilant and suspicious of outsiders."
[Lonesome Depot, Lambeth council report, August 2011]
So I scrapped plans for Lonesome Way and have instead tackled Bennetts Close, the cul-de-sac Lonesome Way launches off from.
It too is a dogleg but a mighty one, pushing half a mile in length, and follows the outside of the former depot so stays in Mitcham all the way. A flurry of 2-bedroom townhouses emerged here in the 1980s, shoehorned into a long thin site formerly covered by railway sidings, with no way out at the far end other than into deep woodland. But best start at the beginning.
Bennetts Close kicks off from Grove Road near Streatham Vale Baptist Church. The entire shopping parade opposite is given over to groceries or takeaway, or at least I assume it is because mid-morning it's hard to tell whether any of the grafittied shutters will be unlocked later in the day or are permanently closed. The holy trinity of Chinese, kebab/chicken and pizza may all be present. Follow Bennetts Close past the start of Lonesome Way and very soon Oakleigh Way Recreation Ground opens up on the left hand side. It has squirrel gates (that's iron gates in the shape of a squirrel), two tennis courts, a lot of grass and a patch of scrubby woodland up by the railway, so is rather more enticing than Lambeth's almost-adjacent park.
You can follow the progress of the borough boundary by checking the residents' bins. Allen Close has a Merton streetsign but all its bins say Lambeth on the front. Numbers 235-240 Bennetts Close all have Merton bins because their front doors are in Merton even though their back doors are in Lambeth. And of the 17 houses in tiny Briggs Close, 1-4 and 14-17 get a Merton collection whereas 5-13 are emptied by the Lambeth bin lorry instead. A boundary post once stood here in the corner of a field, marking not just a switch between boroughs but also the point where London became Surrey. I couldn't spot it in the verge, perhaps it was hidden behind a scattering of two dozen tyres... which turned out to be "our community patch - please feel free to pick a tyre, decorate it and plant a gorgeous flower or plant in it!"
The numbering of Bennetts Close is deceptive. The last house may be 240 but the first is only 51, and even then numbers 55-100 are missing as if the original planners had their eye on turning Oakleigh Rec into houses but it never happened. Those planners also had a jaunty approach to street design and architecture because what lies ahead is a resolutely irregular street. The cul-de-sac meanders and wiggles alongside the railway with intermittent reversing points, all of which have had to be labelled 'No Dumping'. Meanwhile the houses are all built at a jaunty angle to the road, every single one of them, and either set back from or nudged forward of their neighbours as if uniform frontage were banned. It's unusual but it works.
This Mitcham outpost seems a pleasant place to live, at least if you like shrubbery, patchy grass and lots of off-road parking. Only a handful of front gardens contain skips, unwanted shelves and overflowing bins - pot plants, palms and painted porches are more prominent. Front door slogans range from "Please take your shoes off" to "Jesus loves you whether you like it or not". One of the houses at the far end has a single tree lit by fairylights, beneath which are floral tributes spelling out GRANDAD and DAD, suggesting a recent bereavement. In the battle of the Christmas decorations number 180 is well ahead with its steam loco and frosty snowman out front, although two doors down might have been in contention had Santa's reindeer not deflated.
Where Bennetts Close finally comes to a halt a swing gate leads through into Eardley Road Sidings Nature Reserve, and simultaneously into another borough. Lambeth chose to turn their end of the sidings into deciduous woodland, mostly silver birch and oak, with the Graveney running in culvert underneath. It makes for a decent circuit for the dog, a good place to birdwatch, a long unlit shortcut to the shops or somewhere to sit and watch trains to Dorking rattle past, delete as appropriate. And on the far side is Summerene Close, but that's a cul-de-sac in Streatham not a cul-de-sac in Mitcham so firmly off-limits.
