A bit of history

The sun is out, the autumn colours glowing and I'm off to Merton Abbey Mills. There used to be a lovely arts and crafts market there to which I quite frequently went. The atmosphere was pleasant and one could usually walk away from an afternoon's browsing with something memorable to keep.

It is actually quite a historic site with buildings dating back as far as the 18th century. It was then called the Merton Priory Estate. The river Wandle runs through it. Calico printing works were established there in 1724. Learning about it I found out that the area was already associated with textiles and adjacent land was used for bleaching since the late 17th century. Printing soon developed into a profitable industry. It passed through many hands and eventually was sold to Liberty & Co in 1904 - you may be familiar with the shop on Regents Street/Great Marlborough Street. Liberty's renovated the area tearing down three of the old buildings replacing them with new workshops five of which are still there today. In 1972 Liberty sold up and quality fabrics were still printed there. In 1982 a disastrous fire sadly brought about the final closure of the works. And today, although less than I had remembered it to be, the existing premises are being still used for the crafts market. Mostly on weekends.

Today I was drawn to the river. There I met two guys fishing. I wanted to know the name of the river which helped start up a conversation. It's actually one of the guys, beer can in hand watching over his fishing rod who told me all about the history of the area. He seemed pretty passionate about it which, I can't deny, surprised me.

"My Godfather was a historian. He could have told you even more about it. Sadly he is dead now"

I also learned that the river Wandle was one of London's most had worked rivers. Apparently the natural properties of the river was claimed to possess special qualities that made it ideal for the dye and cloth connected trades. The water was exceptionally pure and clean. Also the fast running water of the Wandle was vital in providing power which was another reason for the growth in the textile industry in Merton.

Today's activity is reduced to guys fishing in it.

"There are big carp fish and even black trout" they enthused.

All I got to see today, however, was one of them dangling a dead rat he had just found... and I shot out of the hip which looks like becoming quite a familiar technique :) which I'll show you now before showing you....

... some prettier sites too!