Birdwatching memories from the 1930s

Richard Fitter, who opened our 'Going Wild in Croydon' exhibition a few years ago, is the author of numerous books on natural history and he was asked to give us his memories of bird watching in the area:

I lived at Wallington from 1928 to 1933, and at first my main birdwatching site was at Beddington Farm, long before it became so famous. Here I remember finding my first lesser whitethroat nest. It was in the bushes by a flooded pit beside the main Mitcham-Hackbridge road. I also used to visit an open area on the west side of Croydon Aerodrome, where there were several overgrown hedges, good for thrushes and finches. I did briefly join the Croydon Natural History Society, but found it was more interested in its Regional Survey under C. C. Fagg, than in watching birds. After 1933 my family moved to Ewell, where I soon found that Epsom sewage farm was the best site for birdwatching, and remember, among other waders, once seeing a green sandpiper there. By this time I had joined the London Natural History Society and used to go to remoter places to birdwatch, especially Staines reservoirs and Slough sewage farm. Epsom and Ashtead Commons, which had nightingales, were other places I used to visit, and so was nearby Nonsuch Park, though I do not remember anything special I saw there.

Richard Fitter

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Last updated March 10^th 2004
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