Meadow of ice-packed tufts, shades of black death and serfdom

Tolworth Court Farm, Surrey: The last splashes of Bonesgate stream trickle into the Hogsmill

On a crisp January morning, when a brisk dander is all but compulsory, a thorough frost has whitened the broad corridor of the Hogsmill’s upper reaches. Dazzling sunshine turns the treetops amber and picks out a collared dove’s blush; but the air feels, smells, barely above freezing.

Thick woollen gloves, two pairs of socks and hefty boots cannot counter the numbness in my fingertips and toes. At the river’s narrowest point I cross and become part of its flow using five round stepping stones. Icy bramble branches contort and curve with a static flail.

A mile on, at the edge of Tolworth Court farm’s grasslands, separated by hedgerows from the Ewell bypass and the shadow of Tolworth tower’s 22 storeys, a moorhen’s big-foot pacing and spillage into the Hogsmill appears even more hesitant than usual, like a child tiptoeing over a pebbled beach.

Field names, including Great Meadow, Dewberry Field, Great Hollands, Grub Close and Finch Hoares, evoke a long, continuous, history: this land has been worked since serfdom, and is still used for hay. Today, under contrailed blue skies, the 43ha (107 acres) of meadow are a sea of freshly desiccated coconut. South-west London contains few landscapes as ripe as this for standing, gazing and imagining how things must have looked in pre-industrial times.

Tolworth Court is already a local nature reserve, but there is talk of designating it a country park. Whether that means a car park, cafe and other visitor-friendly resources, and how its character might change, has yet to be revealed. What is known for sure is the habitat’s importance in supporting species rich in number, variety and local scarcity.

The last splashes of Bonesgate stream, reputedly named during the black death, trickle into the Hogsmill. Like a squeaky toy, the moorhen calls from the confluence’s wash. For once, no unleashed dogs are thrashing around in the shallows.

I skedaddle across Great Meadow, the ice-packed tufts just about supporting my weight so my boots don’t sink within the marshy mud of the track, which slopes upwards, to the gate.

Comments

Post new comment

  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <p>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Filtered words will be replaced with the filtered version of the word.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

By posting content on Surbiton.com, you agree to adhere to the following guidelines.

  • Your username and password must only be used by you, keep them safe. If a posting is made using your username and password it will be considered to have been posted by you. If you have a friend who wants to use our site and post messages on the site, show them how to register.
  • Be courteous at all times, inciting racial hatred, posting abusive, obscene, threatening, harassing, defamatory, libellous or sexually explicit material or any material that is found to be offensive is not acceptable and we may suspend your username and password.
  • Retaliating to offensive posts causes more problems for other users on the discussion boards. Just report such messages to us using the Feedback link which is available at the top of every page or the 'report this' link associated with individual postings. We will act on every report we receive.
  • Please respect other people's work and do not post material that infringes copyright.
  • Do not post information that you know to be confidential or sensitive or otherwise in breach of the law. You should only post material that you know to be public knowledge. If you have any doubts do not post it on the site.
  • Never attempt to gain unauthorised access to any area of the site. This is known as hacking and is illegal.
  • Content posted represents the opinions of the author, and does not represent the opinions of Surbiton.com or its affiliates and has not been approved or issued by Surbiton.com. You should be aware that the other participants are strangers to you and may make statements which may be misleading, deceptive or wrong.
  • Spoofing or posing as another user is unacceptable. Anonymous users' postings should always be considered with suspicion.
  • Help keep Surbiton.com a safe place for information and opinion. Please alert us of any anti-social behaviour as described above.
Please note that Surbiton.com does not monitor the comments posted and we are therefore reliant upon users reporting antisocial behaviour.