COMMONS & OPEN SPACES 199 



the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1879, with re- 

 servations for the rifle range and military exercises. 

 The space is altogether over 200 acres. The ground 

 in ancient times was a wood, adjoining " Old Oak 

 Common," just beyond the London boundary, which 

 was covered with patriarchal oaks. The last was felled 

 in 1830. The ground, being flat, is admirably suited for 

 the War Office purposes ; it has gone through a process 

 of draining, and the only part not downtrodden by 

 soldiers has been " improved " by the London County 

 Council, so there is little wildness or attraction in the 

 place. The presence of a prison, erected in 1874, still 

 further diminishes its charm as an open space. 



This completes the open large spaces on the north ; 

 the south of the river is even richer in commons. One 

 of the most thoroughly rural spots within the London 

 area is Bostall Wood. There is nothing to spoil the 

 illusion, and for quite a considerable walk it would be 

 easy to imagine that a journey on the magic horse of the 

 " Arabian Nights " had been taken to some distant forest 

 land, to forget that the roar of the town was barely out 

 of one's ears, and that ten minutes' walk would take one, 

 out of the enchanted land, back to suburban villas and 

 electric trams. 



Beyond the inevitable band-stand, which attracts 

 thousands on a summer Sunday evening, there is nothing 

 to jar, and spoil the illusion of real country. The woods, 

 and Bostall Heath which adjoins them, can be reached 

 from Plumstead or Abbey Wood Station, in twenty 

 minutes' walk up the steep hill. Pine woods crest the 

 summit, and below them stretches a delightful thicket, 

 chiefly of oaks and sweet chestnut, with an undergrowth 

 of holly and a pleasant tangle of bracken and bramble, 



