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I must now carry you to another spot of suburban sylvan beauty. About 

 two miles south of Croydon, close to the Brighton railway, is a tract of common 

 land, called Purley Downs, dotted all over with juniper bushes, but unfortunately 

 spoilt by a new railway being cut through the middle of it, and a rifle range made 

 in one part. Before these innovations it was a very pretty bit of natural scenery. 

 The short greensward was ornamented with the juniper, sometimes in single bushes 

 and sometimes in little groups of five or six, and it was delightful to ride or drive 

 in among the shrubs of nature's planting. At the extreme northern side of this 

 common is a grove of beeches, and amongst them half-a-dozen giants, which it is 

 worth a much longer pilgrimage to visit. They are indeed powerful rivals to my 

 friends at Hayes, for they have been allowed elbow room to grow in, and their 

 grand proportions have been fully developed. I measured four of the largest, and 

 their dimensions are as follow : — 



No. 1, 15 ft. 6 in. girth ; spread of branches, 24 yards. 



2, 16 ft. „ „ „ 29 „ 



3, 19 ft. „ „ „ 21 „ 



4, 25 ft. „ „ „ 26 „ 



The first three are fine trees in full vigour of growth. No. 4 is a much older tree, 

 and is spht and gnarled in a most picturesque manner. I was alone in my visit to 

 Purley, and have therefore no sketch to show, which I much regret, for No. 4 is a 

 splendid old fellow. My artist friend who had visited these beeches some time ago 

 has lent me a sketch in water colours, which shows them better than any descrip- 

 of mine. I think the larger tree in his sketch is the one I call No. 3. To look up 

 into those trees and see the massive trunk and leading branches towering aloft, 

 clothed with that beautiful bark peculiar to the beech, covered over with its bright 

 green canopy of leaves, and lighted up, as I saw it by a brilliant sun, was a sight 

 never to be forgotten by any one who has the slightest right to belong to the 

 Woolhope Club, or call himself a lover of nature. But that I dread the displeasure 

 of our reverend president, I would say that I could worship such a tree as I saw 

 then. I can forgive the Druids all their superstition for their reverence of a great 

 tree, and I will not confess how nearly I broke the first commandment both at 

 Hayes and at Purley. 



In conclusion,'! would say to the members of this club, that when tired with 

 the din and bustle of London they cannot do better than find their way to Hayes, 

 or Purley, or both, and I am sure they will return refreshed and invigorated ^vith 

 a quiet carouse with Nature there. I should be glad to j-id anyone by my know- 

 ledge of the localities in giving him detailed directions how best to reach these 

 places, which I need not enter into now. To any mycologist amongst our members 

 I may mention that Mr. Reed, the rector of Hayes, possesses the original drawings 

 of fungi made by his sister, Mrs. T. J. Hussey, the talented authoress of " Illus- 

 trations of British Mycology," and I dare venture to say that he would gladly show 

 them to any of our members who called upon him, using my name, on their way 

 to the oaka of Hayes Common. 



