The section of river where the weir is situated (near the railway)was a wide enough for people to fish and swim in, it was called the "wivies". (Wivies are apparently what baskets are made from) Local children used to had battles with the "Ewellies" there. There was a sandy bank here and a nice expanse of grass. The stretch beyond the junction with the Green Lanes river was dirtier water. The field known as Chamber Mead, which is the land behind Northcroft Road was used for the a fair on the occasion of the Granting of the Borough's Charter in September 1937.
There was a cattle crossing which may have been the remains of a bridge at the bottom of Crosslands Rd, which used to be called Bridge Rd after the Bridges family who owned Ewell Court House.
Behind Shawford Rd, before the river was straightened in the 1950's, there were the remains of some gunpowder mill workings with mill stones sunk in the ground. A swimming pool had been built into the riverbank by the stodert family, who owned the Ewell Court house and surrounding land. Using the original sluice to divert the water into this. Mr Sharp who lived next door to the forge used to give swimming lessons every Sunday
I can remember playing in the River Hogsmill with my friends, jumping in from the ruins of the old gunpowder mill, in the grounds of Ewell Court. It was crying shame when the river was "improved."
Playing around the river
Posted - 30 Mar 2005 : 04:40:44 AM
