The Fair Green

A Memory of Mitcham.

The Fair Green was one of the first places my sister Valerie Cooper (nee Hook) worked in her capacity as an apprentice horticulturist for the Mitcham Council. When she went for the job they told her that she would have to do the same work as the men. If it meant climbing trees and pruning them , she had to do it too. If it snowed and the roads had to be cleared she would have to go out with them with the shovels and clear the snow. She also did a lot of the planning of garden beds and designs for the Parks department of the council when she had served her apprenticeship. She did the flower clock at Figgs Marsh as well as the World Football cup design at Figgs Marsh when England hosted the matches. She also did the flower beds etc at "The Canons" which she was very proud of. Valerie was the first woman gardener employed by the council where she worked from 1957 to about 1965 when she moved to Doncaster with her husband and family. When we lived there the Parks and Garden Department always did a good job of the area but I have not gone back to Mitcham since I set sail for the South Pacific in 1967, so I don't know what it is like now.