The Story of the Beddington Park walks

When the course finished Sheila, Dennis and I decided to continue with our weekly walks though as we were usually busy chatting we soon dispensed with the 20 minutes of fast walking! We are still walking today though we have been joined by many new walkers over the years. Some have come and gone but today we have a core group of 20 to 30 regulars who turn up whatever the weather. In particular, I should mention two people from the group, Janet Emberson and Mike Geen, who very kindly step in to lead the walk and take the register when I am on holiday.

Beddington Park has many walks to choose from – there is the straightforward route along the main paths where we keep an eye on what the gardeners are doing. The gardens around the Grange are particularly beautiful at different times of the year. Sometimes we walk out of the park to Waddon Ponds along the Wandle Valley Trail or there is Queen Elizabeth’s walk which takes us out of the park, slightly uphill, through Bandon Hill Cemetery and back into the park again. Beverly Shew, who is one of our group, told us about this walk and often has interesting information to share about the bridges and buildings in the park. We sometimes explore Carew Manor Wetland which is a little known area right on the Wandle hidden away behind the manor. Ron Kriehn is the leader of a group of volunteers who carry out nature conservation work here. There is a little used path which goes right around the borders of the park starting behind the Cricket Club and finishing at the beginning of the path which leads to Hackbridge and Mitcham Common. There are particularly good blackberry bushes along that path and in the park so in August and September our walks are more about blackberry picking than walking!

We have also planted two young rowan trees and daffodil bulbs in a few different places and it is always fun to watch the daffodils come up every spring. One of the rowan trees did not survive some rather too vigorous recent cutting back by Sutton Council but the other one is growing very well and towers over most of us!

So you see, it is never boring and you can be sure of good company. Do come along and join us on any Friday morning at 10 am. We meet on the wall in front of Carew Manor or in the porch of St Mary’s Church if the weather is wet or blustery. There is no roll-call and there are no warming-up or down exercises! However, there is lots of chatting and pleasant strolling as we observe the changing seasons and the nature all around us.

Apart from the wildlife there is some very interesting history surrounding Carew Manor and in 2009 my local Brownie group from Mitcham took part in a project re-enacting the lives of the orphan girls who lived there. This was part of the annual Wandle Valley Festival and it was held at St Mary’s Church. We even invited the Queen to join us and received a thank you letter from her saying how much she had enjoyed reading about the Brownies. Unfortunately, she was unable to join us on that occasion but we still hope that she might come and join us and visit the area where one of her descendants, Henry VIII, played as a boy.

This walk is open to all ages! Our most senior walker is 90 years old and uses two buses to get to the start of the walk so that’s a good example to us all. Sometimes we have children and grandchildren joining us and they always enjoy spotting the wildlife on the water and all around them.

Finally, and the most important point to mention: After our walk on the last Friday of the month we enjoy tea, coffee and excellent home-made cakes provided by the ladies of St Mary’s Church which are always very welcome. A tour of this historic 10th century church is also possible at this time and a donation of £1.50 is requested which goes towards church funds.

We look forward to welcoming you to our group.

Melanie Nunzet Based on information supplied by Melanie Nunzet.