City Village

Lower Green c1962
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I grew up in Mitcham, born in 1976 and left there in about 1997. I feel like I have two Mitchams in my head - the old and the new.

I felt a link with the place because my dad had grown up there and my grandad had links with Morfax and ran his own engineering company in the town later. My dad shared lots of memories with me about his growing up in the town and so I had a real feeling of place and continuity.

During my lifetime I saw the Canons leisure centre built, the clock tower moved and the fair green pedestrianised along with the one-way system. I went to Links primary school (in Tooting really) and then Cranmer before going on to Tamworth Manor (formerly Pollards Hill) because they wouldn't let me into Rutlish.

Mitcham always had an oddly villagey feel to it, very local if you know what I mean with lots of local characters and dubious goings on. That was its charm and its romance. I loved the feeling of being a London boy but at the same time having the quaint cricket green area and all the history and historic buildings.

The place has changed so much though, even at the time of those changes I didn't approve. The place is hardly recognisable now, the heart has been ripped out of it.

Such a shame, maybe that's why everybody leaves.