Mitcham Then And Now

A Memory of Mitcham.

I was born in Streatham Road in 1948 and lived there until 1968 when I had to leave to get closer to my work. I looked out the bathroom window onto Figges Marsh and often played there. I saw my first film at the Majestic, my first school was Gorringe Park, and I'd catch the bus to go to Tooting at The Swan bus stop outside the pub.
I was shocked recently to see how much it has changed. The Swan has disappeared completely, Fair Green is almost unrecognizable, built over and around, with a new traffic system taking almost everything around too, the Majestic is long gone, a supermarket stands on the site now, many of the trees on Figges Marsh have been cut down and replaced by street lights, and the shelter and public conveniences at the Streatham Road end is no more. I remember running from lamplight to lamplight on Figges Marsh in the early 60s on my way home from lying my way in to see (I was 13!) a reissue of the original Hammer Dracula in Tooting where it scared the living daylights out of me! We called that place the fleapit, unlike the wonderful Granada, still there but a Bingo hall. No cinema in Tooting at all any more when there were 5 in the 50s and 60s!
A lot of Mitcham looks dirty and tatty these days, and I couldn't live there again. Many happy memories though.

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