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| The back of the house from the garden |
Did you miss me? I was away on personal stuff for five days last week, which was why there wasn't a blog post. Life is a bit like that at the moment. Still, I had a lovely visit to Carshalton later in the week to meet up with a friend. Time was short, so we chose somewhere halfway between where we both live where there are walks and a nice cafe. We met there not that long ago, but the museum wasn't open then. This time it was, and although I've been there before, I couldn't remember a lot of it.
On meeting, we set off to walk to Wilderness Island owned by The Wildlife Trust, and visited a gallery which has become our favourite. This was once a mill house. At the back you can see where the wheel would have been, but the water is now overgrown with foliage.
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| Once a corn mill, then electrified to supply water |
locally.
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| Waterfall near the ponds |
Back at the ponds, we stopped for lunch overlooking the water - a gorgeous vegan lunch of panini with pear, tomato, cheese and salad. Wow, what a great combo.
After lunch we visited the Honeywood Museum next door to the cafe. Tenant, John Pattinson Kirk, a photographer, moved into Wandle Cottage in 1978 with his wife and adopted daughter, He demolished the house next door then called Honeywood and rebuilt it, renaming Wandle Cottage Honeywood. You can read all about the family and the work carried out here. It's a very interesting article and follows the history of the house before John Kirk's time, and after.
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| The billiard room |
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| There are lovely fireplaces in this house |
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| Butter Mill where the gallery is now |
The arrangement of rooms and stairs is quite interesting and the result of all that rebuilding. The billiard room is as was, but the other rooms are not really furnished. Instead, there are exhibitions about the area of Carshalton and surrounding places like Beddington Park and House, a trail of mills which dotted the River Wandle, and other historical facts about the Kirk family, the house and the industry in the area - mainly different mills, including paper mills and sniff mills and breweries. We found it very interesting.
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| Snuff boxes and bottle |
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| Some original wall |
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| A view from the upstairs drawing room |
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| Who remembers these train boards? The station master had to change them manually. |
I may well have posted some photos of the museum in the past on this blog, but I don't suppose they will all be identical.
I bought a Heritage Walking Map which I will explore another time. It is an interesting area with much to discover. I like the little town too, so I will go back again sometime. The house is free to visit and has a little gift shop and toilet. The SL7 express bus (Heathrow Airport to West Croydon) stops in the High Street at Carshalton. There is a station, but I've never used the train. I imagine it goes into Sutton and then into London. There is also parking off the HIgh Street.
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| A view across the ponds |
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