A HISTORY OF SURREY 



long ago. Lastly may be mentioned the 

 lake in \^'imbledon Park, on the bank of 

 which many an honest London angler has 

 spent the greater part of the night legering 

 for the big and shy carp which it contains. 



These remarb upon angling in Surrey 

 would not be complete without some mention 

 of the Surrey Trout Farm, which was founded 

 by the late Mr.Thomas Andrews,of Guildford, 

 Who was one of the earliest and most success- 



ful of our English fish culturists. The eggs, 

 which were hatched (practically in the town 

 of Guildford) in his garden, ultimately in the 

 form of fry were transferred to ponds at 

 beautiful Crichmere and other parts of 

 Surrey, and the trout which have been pro- 

 duced in this way have long been celebrated 

 in the south of England for their size and 

 excellence owing to the splendid natural 

 feeding qualities of the waters selected. 



ATHLETICS 



A very large number of athletic meetings 

 are held in Surrey. By far the largest and 

 most important athletic club is the South 

 London Harriers, which has a membership 

 of nearly four hundred athletes, active and 

 honorary. Its headquarters are at Croydon, 

 and its annual sports fixture, which takes 

 place at Kennington Oval in the autumn 

 after the close of the County Cricket season, 

 ranks second only to the Amateur Champion- 

 ships in importance. Sir T. C. Bucknill is 

 a vice-president and a staunch supporter of 

 the club. During the winter the South 

 London Harriers go in for much cross-country 

 work, and invariably run a team in the South- 

 ern and National Cross-Country Champion- 

 ships. The club motto is ' Fortuna sequa- 

 tur,' and the date of its foundation 1 870. 



Still dealing with the Metropolitan dis- 

 trict, a well-appointed ground at Putney has 

 in connexion with it a fairly strong club, the 

 Putney A. C, but its members are for the 

 most part cyclists, the banked cement Putney 

 track being much used by wheelmen for 

 training purposes. The club was only estab- 

 lished about the year 1893 ; it now holds 

 several meetings during the year on its own 

 ground. A very much older club, the Rane- 

 lagh Harriers, founded in 1 88 1 with a mem- 

 bership of 130, also has its headquarters at 

 Putney, near Wimbledon Common, where 

 every Saturday during the winter the mem- 

 bers indulge in cross-country paper-chases 

 and runs. In the same district, and but a 

 very short distance from the Ranelagh men, 

 is to be found the pioneer club and originator 

 of all cross-country running, namely, the 

 Thames Hare and Hounds, whose members 

 during the winter months make the King's 

 Head at Roehampton their rendezvous. 

 The Thames Hare and Hounds Club dates 

 from 1868. It was founded by Mr. Walter 

 Rye, the Walking Amateur Champion of that 

 year, writh the object of encouraging winter 

 paper-chasing simply as a healthy exercise. 



without the inducement of valuable prizes 

 and personal rewards. The club for a long 

 time had the monopoly of the Cross-Country 

 Championship, winning the first contest for 

 that title in 1877, but gradually, as new 

 harrier clubs were formed, the Thames 

 Hare and Hounds lost their supremacy, 

 withdrew from the National Cross Country 

 Association soon after its formation, and con- 

 fined their attention solely to their own club 

 runs. Although the club still exists, the mem- 

 bership is small, and it has quite dropped out 

 of the circle of cross-country competitions 

 except against the University teams. 



One more Surrey Metropolitan club re- 

 mains to be mentioned : the youngest of 

 them all, the Heme Hill Harriers, having for 

 its headquarters the Heme Hill Athletic and 

 Cycling grounds close to the well-known 

 railway junction of that name. The club 

 has a large membership, is run on popular 

 lines, and its colours, red and black, are rarely 

 absent from any important athletic meeting 

 in the London district. Richmond, although 

 it possesses a capital ground and track on the 

 site of the Old Deer Park, easy of access from 

 the Metropolis, has no athletic club in con- 

 nection with the town, and but few athletic 

 meetings are held there. In the winter, 

 however, it is entirely devoted to Football 

 and International matches. In the sixties, 

 however, the Richmond Athletic Sports, 

 arranged by the R. F. C, the leading Rugby 

 club of the period, was one of the chief ath- 

 letic fixtures of the season. Surbiton, al- 

 though without an athletic club proper, 

 annually in the spring holds an athletic 

 meeting managed by the various other clubs 

 of the district, which always attracts most of 

 the best men of the day and is very largely 

 attended. 



Every year at Wimbledon athletic sports 

 are held by some cycle club or other cricket 

 or football organization, but the meetings are 

 not important, and the want of a good ground 



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