January round-up: What a Carve up!

We kicked off the Common’s 150th anniversary year with a virtual talk by local historian Philip Boys about the ‘carve up’ of Wandsworth Common that gathered speed in the 1800s and protests about which eventually triggered the Wandsworth Common Act in 1871.

To begin with it was just nibbling at the edges, but then roads and then railways and then a rash of state and charitable institutions around and on the Common. By 1871 the Common had shrunk from over 350 acres to less than half that. Philip’s talk is available here. There will be others to follow.

Very excitingly, in the middle of January we received a 1st proof of the book we’re writing about ‘The Wandsworth Common Story’ - expected to be on sale from mid-May. This will tell the history of the Common from the very early days until now, focussing on 150 people, places and objects which together make its history so fascinating and colourful.

Ahead of the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, local birder Nick Rutter gave another of his excellent talks, explaining what we were likely to see in the garden and on the Common at this time of year. Catch it here.