Quite the view: and when you reach the summit of Croham Hurst, there are benches from where you can take it all in
THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: This week, seeking pudding-like rock, a Bronze Age barrow and one of the highest viewpoints in Croydon without taking a lift in a tower block, KEN TOWL has been to Croham Hurst, where he may have found a new hobby
Hurst: in English
(hɜːst)
noun archaic
1, a wood
2, a sandbank
Word origin Old English hyrst; related to Old High German hurstCollins English Dictionary
If Inside Croydon went in for clickbait titles, this would be headlined something like “You won’t believe that there is a hill in the middle of Croydon made of pudding!”
Or “I found the Bronze Age barrow on top of Croydon’s best viewing point.”
But we don’t stoop so low.
Here’s the thing. Croham Hurst stands to the south of central Croydon. It forms a high ridge, steep on the western side, resistant to erosion (because of the “pudding”, but more of that later…) and is aloof from its suburban surroundings.
It is dramatic. It is interesting. Objectively so: it has been designated an SSSI, a site of special scientific interest. It is beautiful, a haven of woodland and birdsong and, at the top it boasts a stunning panoramic view to the west and north.
Like much of Croydon’s green spaces, Croham Hurst Woods is owned by Croydon Council. Like many of Croydon’s spaces, grey or green, it was once owned by Archbishop Whitgift. The Whitgift Foundation sold it to the council in 1901. While it is owned by the council, it is effectively managed by the Friends of Croham Hurst Woods.
Nature reserve: owned by Croydon Council, Croham Hurst is cared for by the local Friends group
This pattern – oversight by a cash-strapped council, hands-on care by a group of dedicated volunteers – is common.
I met two of Croham Hurst Woods’ best friends this week.
I quite liked the look of the straight, simple, one-street route to the northernmost point of Croham Hurst Woods that runs from Coombe Road, just by Lloyd Park tram stop. You just get off the tram and walk back to the beginning of Croham Manor Close and there you have it – keep walking till you get to the woods.
Croham Manor Close becomes Croham Manor Road on the way. The gentle upward slope becomes less gentle as you get close to the hurst.
As arranged, I met the chair of the Friends of Croham Hurst Woods, Ian Mitchell, at the junction of Croham Manor Road and Bankside. He had brought along Emma Reynolds, the FoCHW secretary, who is very excited because, according to Merlin, she has probably heard a hobby in the woods that morning.
Subbuteo: bird watchers have found a hobby
I am grateful to Ian, who asks what a hobby is. Turns out it is a bird of prey. I looked up hobby afterwards. Its Latin name is falco subbuteo, the second word of which means “below a buzzard”.
It is also the name of the flick-to-kick football game because of the sense of humour of its creator, Peter Adolph. He had wanted to copyright his invention as “hobby” but the word was too generic, and so he reverted to the Latin name of the bird of that name: Subbuteo was born.
Merlin is also the name of a small bird of prey, indeed, the smallest found in the British Isles. So, confused, I asked who or what “Merlin” is. It turns out that Merlin is also one of those useful modern things, an app. If you put it on your phone it can identify birdsong and calls. So very useful for checking when you think you’ve heard a hobby in the woods.
Ian and Emma kindly let me get my breath back before we started out into the woods.
Needs protection: the heather at the top of Croham Hurst has suffered through wildfires
We took a circuitous route (which I would recommend), following a path with the Croham Hurst Golf Club on our left, which allowed them to show me the dead hedging that lined the border between the golf club and the woods, a mutually-beneficial element that helped to maintain the good neighbours relationship between the two institutions.
It struck me that it didn’t take much to see where the ultra-manicured golf course ended and the lightly-managed wildness of the hurst began.
Management of the woods involves work such as keeping the pathways clear and cutting back hazel, as well as controlling laurel and holly that can offer too much competition to native species such as the sessile or stunted heathland oaks.
Much of the Friends’ work is focused on maintaining the biodiversity of the hurst’s flora. When we get to the top of the hurst, we see the heather, some of it fenced off to protect it, struggling in the dryness of the country’s fifth heatwave of the summer, and after a succession of damaging fires.
Ancient remains: the barrow at the top of the hurst dates back around 3,000 years to the Bronze Age
Nearby, the Bronze Age barrow is barely discernible, little more than a suggestion of a burial mound, with a tree standing in the middle of it. Some of the pudding stone, the natural iron-oxide cement that has held the hurst together against millennia of climatic vicissitudes, is visible above the surface near the top of the hurst.
It is reddish and contains lots of pebbles. With your imagination on full power, it could be thought to look a tiny bit like a fruit pudding.
The view from the top is stunning, ample reward for the climb. It was a clear day and you could see for miles. I think it was Ian who mentioned what a green borough Croydon is, as we looked over a panorama of trees and shrubbery that dominated the gardens and parks of the borough and beyond.
Dead hedging: the volunteers’ work helps keep the boundaries clear, as the woods are out of bounds for Croham Hurst’s golfers
It was definitely Ian who said that he likes to get into the woods every day to get away from the pressures of day-to-day life. I could see what he meant. There was something palpably calming about being in the woods.
You could be part of this. The Friends could always do with more friends. And it is easy to be a friend.
On the last Saturday of every month they supply volunteers with tools to do maintenance work (between 10am and midday). If you fancy helping out, you can contact them at friendsofcrohamhurstwoods@outlook.com to arrange things.
They claim to be a “friendly, welcoming group”, and if Ian and Emma are anything to go by, they probably are.
If you prefer to offer money rather than time, you can become a Friend in that way. Their annual meeting has settled on a recommended donation of £10 annually, though you can pay less or, of course, more.
You can find more information and their bank details here.
Above all, go there.
Go for a walk, go for the hobbies and the stunted oaks and the heathland and the heather, and the shaded paths through the woods. And you’ll come to believe that there is a hill in the middle of Croydon made of pudding.
- Ken Towl is making visits to Croydon’s many Friends groups, and the greenspaces that are in their care
Read more: Friends on a mission in Selhurst’s neglected Whitehorse Rec
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The learned Paul Sowan who was an undoubted expert on all excavating matters always stated that the Barrow on top of the Hurst was a Myth and simply had no supporting evidence. The alleged barrow was excavated by an amateur archaelogist who made the claim despite no evidence of burials being found and the requirement of imagination to identify a raised mound at this site. Further the fused hard rock underlying Croham Hurst (and which makes it a SSSI) would have been impossible to excavate at the time of the Bronze Age with the tools that would have been avaliable during this era.
He did note that Croham Hurst does have a number of sinkholes and one remarkable one that exceeded the measuring device they had at hand. This was at one time fenced off as a danger, but this has long eroded as with the memories of it.
Interesting. It does seem a good location for a camp.
Sink holes soon to be joined by more in Croham road if Thames Water carry on the status quo.
With the rising cost of living, many families are not looking forward to the festive season. And as man-made climate change destroys our once green and precious land before our very eyes, the last thing we need is a mass outbreak of consumerism adding fuel to the wild fires.
Delboy, can we hire you to come to all of Croydon’s infants and nursery schools in September to tell the kids that Father Christmas / Santa Claus is “a myth and simply has no supporting evidence”. Just don’t go too far and say the same about the Holy Trinity
Best bit of Croydon
Maybe be careful when telling Mrs Towl that you’ve got a great new app on your phone for finding birds.