Happy Days In Blakes Lane

A Memory of New Malden.

Way back in the 1940's,on a pre arranged Saturday and as a young lad who was very interested in athletics at the time, I would walk from my home, that was at the bottom of Seaforth Avenue (Number 34),up to Blakes Lane to just about where this photo was taken. I would then either climb over or go under, the large wooden perimeter fence, and spend the rest of the day, partly secreted among the bushes and piles of ash / clinker that surrounded that part of the grounds and watch the athletes of the day, performing. The piles of ash / clinker were there, to keep the running track in good order. None of your fancy man made plastic surfaces that tracks are made of today. If the tracks of yesteryear were made of the modern material that todays tracks are made of, I just wonder how many more UK or World records would have been broken then? Another very happy memory that I recall of Blakes Lane is when, if there was no athletics meeting being held on a specific Saturday,(and during school holidays) I would help drive a horse drawn bakers delivery van (Johnson & Carlton, Bakers of Worple Road Wimbledon), up to several of the large houses that were in Blakes Lane, to deliver bread, cakes or whatever other type of confectionary the customer required. I wonder how many people like me, can remember such lovely days in that area of Motspur Park . They were very happy days that unfortunately are just a memory now. But, like now, they are occasionally unlocked from inside a 77 year old library!.
N.C.MacGregor