Open spaces
The green, green grass of home
The outstanding,and perhaps best, feature of the LCC cottage estates was the amount of greenery that existed within them. The planners latched on to the attraction of bringing countryside into the urban environment that had first been visualised by Ebenezer Howard who created the idea of Garden Cities. Natural features were maintained as far as possible, houses were built around small greens and most homes had a garden bordered by privet hedges.
On St. Helier, many of the great old elms which had lined the original roads were left in place. A large open area was left from the Wandle right across to where the hospital now stands. Original copses from Hill Farm still exist today.
To the children arriving from London - the place was a paradise.