Wombling Around Wimbledon

If you are a child of the 1970s you will, no doubt, have watched the TV show The Wombles of Wimbledon. I well remember it as my children were avid watchers when they were young.  Despite many trips to stay with my son in London I had never visited Wimbledon so decided that since I had a free day I would go and explore it. All the way there on the train from Strawberry Hill the theme from the TV show was running through my brain, oh dear. 

The train arrived at the lower part of Wimbledon, a modern business centre, but my aim was to get to Wimbledon Village and the famous common so I walked for a pleasant 20 minutes up the steep hill.  You can take a bus but I preferred to walk.  The village is lovely with plenty of independent shops and cafes and since the world famous Wimbledon Tennis Championships had completed only a few days previously most were decorated with a tennis theme. I enjoyed strolling both sides of the street admiring the inventiveness of the displays, here are just a few.

Interestingly, Wimbledon is the only place I have ever seen that has special lights on crossings for horses and there were plenty of horses walking through the village giving it a delightfully rural feel.

I had a coffee and snack at a cafe on the High Street to fortify myself before heading to Wimbledon Common. Now this was a big surprise. At 1140 acres it is vast and beautiful.  It's real name  is actually  Wimbledon and Putney Commons but it is hard to know where one starts and the other ends. I have no idea why but for some reason I imagined the common as a big open park so to find that 495 acres of it is thick woodland, with walking paths winding through it, was wonderful,  just the sort of place I love. 

I found a seat overlooking a pond and spent a short while happily contemplating nature before setting off to continue my walk. There were very few people around however I had a chat with a passing man who told me about a windmill further into the common so I set off to find it.

I passed  through a wide open area of grassland, known as The Plain, and part of the common, on my way.

 

Unfortunately the windmill was not open for visitors so could only be viewed from the rear, still good to see nevertheless.  It was in this windmill that Baden Powell wrote his rules for the Boy Scouts in 1908.  Beside the windmill is the London Scottish Golf Club, a cafe and friendly horses graze nearby. There is also a conservation information centre where nature lovers can learn more about the common.

  I rested a while before making my way out to the road and catching the bus back to the village then walking back down the hill to catch the train home.  I highly recommend a visit to Wimbledon Common, especially if you love nature. 

It is the largest heathland in London and a haven for many different birds, insects and small mammals.  It is just a short trip from the heart of London too. I was really tired and happy at the end of the day, my fitbit said I had walked 17,568 steps, around 13kms, so it was high time for a rest.  Oh, and I never saw any wombles whose job in the TV series was to clean up the litter on the common but, pleasingly, I never saw any litter either.