156 THE BRIGHTON ROAD 



weary length of Mitcham Common at all endurable is 

 the scent of it, borne on the breeze from the distillery, 

 midway across : the distillery that no one would 

 remember to be Jakson's, except for the eccentricity 

 of spelling the name. 



This by the way ; for one does not cross Mitcham 

 Common to reach Sutton. But there is, altogether, 

 a sweet savour pervading Mitcham, a scent of flowers 

 that will not be spoiled even by the linoleum works, 

 which are apt to be offensive ; for Mitcham is still a 

 place where those sweet-smelling and other " economic ' 

 plants, lavender, mint, chamomile, aniseed, pepper- 

 mint, rosemary, and liquorice, are grown for distillation. 

 The place owes this distinction to no mere chance, but 

 to its peculiar black mould, found to be exceptionally 

 suited to this culture. 



Folk-rhvmes are often uncomolimentarv, and that 

 which praises Sutton for its mutton and Cheam for 

 juicy beef, is more severe than one cares to quote on 

 Epsom ; and, altogether ignoring the mingled 

 fragrances of Mitcham, declares it the place " for a 

 thief." We need not, however, take the matter 

 seriously : the rhymester was only at his wit's end for 

 a rhyme to " beef." 



Mitcham station, beside the road, is a curious 

 example of what a railway company can do in its 

 rare moments of economy ; for it is an earlv nineteenth- 

 century villa converted to railway purposes by the 

 process of cutting a hole through the centre. It is a 

 sore puzzle to a stranger in a hurry. 



From Mitcham one ascends a hill past the woodland 

 estate of Ravensbury, crossing the abundantly- 

 exploited Wandle ; and then, along a still rural road, 

 to the modern town of Sutton. 



On the fringe of that town, at the discreet 

 " residential " suburb of Benhilton, is a scenic surprise 

 in the way of a deep cutting in the hilly road. Spanned 

 by a footbridge, graced with trees, and neighboured 

 by the old " Angel " inn, " Angel Bridge," as it is 

 called, is a pretty spot. The rise thus cut through was 



