Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire 375 "
Coulsdon Commons, Surrey 347 "
Epping Forest, Essex 5559½ "
Highgate Woods 69 "
West Ham Park 77 "
Wimbledon and Putney Commons are under a board of conservators. The
London County Council's parks and open spaces increased in number from
40 in 1890 to 114 in 1907, and in acreage from 2656 to 5006 in the
same years. The expenditure in 1907-1908 was £131,582, which sum
included £11,987 for bands. (See also separate articles on boroughs.)
Bathing (at certain hours) and boating are permitted in the ornamental
waters in several of the parks, music is provided and much attention
is paid to the protection of waterfowl and other birds, while herds of
deer are maintained in some places, and also botanical gardens.
Surplus plants and cuttings are generally distributed without charge
to educational or charitable institutions, and to the poor. Provision
is made for cricket, football and other games in a number of the
parks. Large gatherings of spectators are attracted to the first-class
cricket matches played at Lord's ground, St John's Wood, by the
Marylebone Club and the Middlesex County teams, Eton College against
Harrow School, and Oxford against Cambridge University; to the
Kennington Oval for the matches of the Surrey club, and the Leyton
ground for those of the Essex club. In the Crystal Palace grounds the
final match for the English Association Football cup is generally
played, and huge crowds from both the metropolis and the provinces
witness the game. At Queen's Club, West Kensington, the annual Oxford
and Cambridge athletic meeting and others take place, besides football
matches, and there is covered accommodation for tennis and other
games. Professional association football teams are maintained locally
in several parts of London, and much popular interest is taken in
their matches. Rugby football is upheld by such notable teams as
Blackheath and Richmond. Fashionable society takes its pastimes at
such centres as the grounds of the Hurlingham and Ranelagh clubs, at
Fulham and Barnes respectively, where polo and other games are played;
and Rotten Row, the horse-track in Hyde Park, is the favourite resort
of riders. In summer, boating on the lovely reaches of the Thames
above the metropolis forms the recreation of thousands. The growth of
popularity of the cycle, and later of the motor-car, has been a
principal factor in the wide development of a tendency to leave London
during the "week-end," that is to say, as a rule, for Saturday
afternoon and Sunday. With many this is a practice at all seasons, and
the railway companies foster the habit by means of tickets at reduced
fares to all parts. The watering-places of the Sussex, Kent and Essex
coasts, and pre-eminently Brighton, are specially favoured for these
brief holidays.