Mayow Park

I went to view a property with my youngest daughter in Sydenham today. It had a lot of plus points and she's made an offer, so we'll see how it goes. It was close to Mayow Park which I explored as she had to get back to Greenwich. I had a very tasty bacon butty  and coffee in the park café. The park was opened in 1878 following a campaign by the Headmaster of Sydenham College, the Revd William Taylor Jones. One of the reasons he gave for the need of a public  recreation ground was that young people had nowhere to go and were loitering on the streets and street corners causing a nuisance and "moral pest". That remains a familiar refrain these days, which is why youth clubs and playing fields should not have been closed down to the extent they have. The fountain commemorates the Revd Jones. Unfortunately there is no water flowing from the fountain but hopefully it will be reinstated as part of the programme to bring Victorian drinking water fountains back into use.