Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
conveniently placed tearooms nearby. Built in 1817, the mill was closed down in 1864,
and converted into cottages, one of which was home to Baden-Powell when he began
writing his
Scouting for Boys
in 1908. Subsequently restored and turned into a museum,
the windmill is the last remaining hollow-post flour mill in the country; you can also
climb into the first section of the wooden cap and see the giant chain wheel.
Putney Vale Cemetery
Stag Lane • Mon-Sat 8am-dusk, Sun 10am-dusk • Free •
T
020 8871 7820,
W
wandsworth.gov.uk • Bus #85 or #265 from
!
Putney Bridge
Sandwiched between Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, by the busy A3, is
Putney Vale Cemetery
, worth a visit for its wonderful array of Victorian angels and its
peaceful Gardens of Remembrance, at their best in early summer. Once you enter, turn
right, and head to the end of Richards Way, where you'll find the nautical grave of
Bruce Ismay,
Titanic
survivor and chairman of the ill-fated White Star Line; close by
lies Sandy Denny, lead singer of Fairport Convention. The cemetery's most illustrious
incumbent is Alexander Kerensky, along Alexander Way, who died in New York, but
was refused burial there by the Russian Orthodox Church. Kerensky was the leader of
the Russian Revolution of February 1917, which overthrew the tsar, but was himself
ousted by the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917.
22
Cannizaro Park
West Side Common • Mon-Fri 8am-dusk, Sat & Sun 9am-dusk • Free •
T
020 8946 7349,
W
cannizaropark.com
• Bus #93 from
!
Wimbledon
Cannizaro Park
is a small, sheltered, wooded public park, made up of the grounds of
Cannizaro House (now a hotel frequented by the tennis glitterati), and entered from
Wimbledon Common. Within its walls are a grotesque teapot fountain, a lovely stretch
of lawn for picnicking, a maze of paths, an aviary, an Italian garden and a wonderful
array of rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias. The park also stages occasional student
art shows and has an open-air music and theatre festival every July.
Wat Buddhapadipa
14 Calonne Rd • Daily 9am-5pm • Free •
T
020 8946 1357,
W
buddhapadipa.org • Bus #93 from
!
Wimbledon
Probably the most unusual and intriguing sight in Wimbledon is the
Wat
Buddhapadipa
,
a startling, white-washed and gabled Thai Buddhist temple, with a
richly decorated red and gold roof, completed in 1982. You can visit the temple
grounds any day of the week, and there are classes, courses and ceremonies throughout
the year, but the temple itself is only accessible at the weekend.
Southside House
3-4 Woodhayes Rd • Guided tours Easter-Sept Wed 2 & 4pm, Sat & Sun 2, 3 & 4pm • £9 •
T
020 8946 7643,
W
southsidehouse.com • Bus
#93 from
!
Wimbledon
Hidden from the road behind high walls is the Dutch-Baroque mansion of
Southside
House
, built in the late seventeenth century, and now hemmed in by Wimbledon's
King's College School. Visiting the house is an unforgettable experience, not least
because you may be guided round, and fed with anecdotes, by the eccentric
descendants of the Pennington-Mellor-Munthe family who first built the house
- several of whom still live here in a kind of time warp, using only candles for light
and open fires for warmth, surrounded by the house's rich and slowly disintegrating
decor, and the family's ancestral hangings, many of which are extremely valuable.
Inside, the place has a ramshackle feel, partly because at heart it's still an old Tudor
farmhouse, onto which a Dutch facade has been added. Nevertheless, virtually every
room is stuffed to the rafters with artworks and other sundry heirlooms. In the Dining
Room alone, there are no fewer than 34, mostly full-length, portraits, including three
by Van Dyck, one each by Hogarth and Goya, and a depiction of St George by
Burne-Jones. Other treasures on show include the sapphire worn by the last king of
