Wandle Industrial Museum (Heritage Open Days)

Wandle Industrial Museum

As part of Heritage Open Days I decided to pay a visit to the Wandle Industrial Museum in Mitcham. The museum was founded in 1983, and is run by volunteers. It aims to preserve, store and interpret the heritage and history of the industries and people of the River Wandle.

the museum
Inside the museum

The museum is located in a hut beside Vestry Hall, alongside London Road on the way into Mitcham. Its showpiece is a large display showing the River Wandle and its immediate environs. I found this fascinating as although I have walked the route of the Wandle before and I know that rivers flow through valleys, I hadn’t realised just how much of a valley the Wandle’s immediate environment was, and how hilly the surrounding areas were.

museum display
Display on William de Morgan

The museum has a section on the industries of the Wandle valley, including printing and textile factories such as that owned by William Morris. There is also a section on the lavender industry which prospered in Mitcham in the 19th and 20th centuries.

iron wheel
Wheel from one of the area’s many mills

This is a tiny, rather sweet museum that is worth a visit if you’re in the area – and the entry fee is a bargain.

FACTS

Address: Vestry Hall Annex, London Road, Mitcham, Greater London, CR4 3UD

Website: wandle.org

Opening Hours: Wednesday 1-4pm and Sunday 2-5pm (except Bank Holiday weekends)

Prices: Adults 50p, children and concessions 20p

Wandering the Wandle

Yeah, sorry about that title. Anyway, after my enjoyable if exhausting walk following the route of the Fleet, I decided to walk the course of another London river and fellow Thames tributary – the Wandle. This river flows from Croydon to Wandsworth, and I began my walk, as this Londonist article suggests, in Morden.

The Wandle in Morden Hall Park
The Wandle in Morden Hall Park

The Wandle has in its time powered many working mills, despite its current appealing rural-lite setting. It has avoided the fate of becoming a covered sewer and instead is a haven for wildlife (although, with an exception of a few ducks and one perplexed-looking moorhen, I didn’t actually see any on my walk).

The Wetlands Boardwalk
The Wetlands Boardwalk

I got off at Morden Tube station and headed towards Morden Hall Park, across the Wetlands Boardwalk which is now, apparently, home to newts, frogs and herons. Beyond the park, across the tram line, I walked past Deen City Farm, a working urban farm which introduces young city kids to farm animals – an excited pair I passed on my walk were being taken there by their dad.

The Wandle just beyond Deen City Farm
The Wandle just beyond Deen City Farm

After a short walk taking in a housing estate I reconnected with the river as it flowed past Merton Abbey Mills.

Merton Abbey Mills
Merton Abbey Mills

Past Merton High Street, I ventured into Wandle Park, through which the river was diverted many years ago. Crossing the river I reached Wandle Meadow Nature Park, a former brickworks and sewage farm. This section of the walk was rather quiet and eerie, but I soon made it to the small River Graveney, passing numerous families out for a walk before reaching the Wandle once again.

The Wandle in Merton
The Wandle in Merton

I crossed Plough Lane, a busy road near the former Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, and embarked upon a fairly long section of path on the left hand side of the river. I was surprised to see anglers fishing on its bank, while the electricity sub-station loomed in the background. After a while I reached Earlsfield, passing the familiar Tara Theatre before venturing towards King George’s Park.

The Wandle in Earlsfield
The Wandle in Earlsfield

Once I’d reached the other side of the park, I found myself in Wandsworth.

The Wandle in Wandsworth
The Wandle in Wandsworth

I walked through the busy town centre and past the old Ram Brewery buildings before reaching a sluice gate containing a bell, on which is inscribed ‘I AM RUNG BY THE TIDES’. Just a little further and I had reached the island in the middle of the river as it flows into the Thames.

Tidal bell
Tidal bell

I enjoyed my walk and it was a lovely day for it – clear and cool and crisp. I found the signposts and directions to be somewhat lacking, and had to open my trusty Google Maps at several points, but this may just be because I have a terrible sense of direction. In any case, I was pleased to feel as though I’d accomplished something.

The mouth of the Wandle and the Fulham shore beyond
The mouth of the Wandle and the Fulham shore beyond