COMMONS & OPEN SPACES 203 



Common, but it has long since been built over, and, 

 with the exception of the small Deptford Park, there is 

 a large district of dense population without any open 

 space. The nearest is Hilly Fields on the south. This 

 is a steep, conical hill, with little beauty to recommend 

 it, except its breezy height, and views over chimney-pots 

 to the Crystal Palace. A large, bleak-looking building, 

 with a small enclosure on the highest point — at present 

 for sale — marked the West Kent Grammer School, 

 does not improve the appearance of this open space. 

 There are some 45 acres of turf, and a line of old 

 elms and another of twisted thorns show that there were 

 once hedgerows. There is some promiscuous planting 

 of young trees, and iron railings, and of course a band- 

 stand ; otherwise no particular " beautifying " has been 

 attempted since it was opened to the public in 1896. 



In the valley of the Ravensbourne, below the hill 

 stretches the long, narrow strip of the Ladywell Re- 

 creation Ground. It lies on either bank of the stream 

 between Ladywell and Catford Bridge stations. It is 

 intersected by railways, and the pathway passes some- 

 times over, sometimes under the lines, and constant trams 

 whizz by. But in spite of such drawbacks, the place 

 has a special attraction in the stream which meanders 

 through the patches of grass devoted to games. Where 

 the stream has been untouched, and allowed to contmue 

 its course unmolested between iron railings, even the rail- 

 ings cannot destroy a certain rural aspect it has retamed. 

 Alders and elms, with gnarled and twisted roots, lean 

 over the banks, and hawthorns dip down towards the 

 rather swiftly flowing water. When the land was bought 

 for public use in 1889 the stream frequently overflowed 

 its sandy banks, and one or two necessary cuttings were 



