There is no denying that Wimbledon Common is currently very wet but your photograph of Rushmere pond on Wimbledon Green shows that it remains very underfilled in spite of recent heavy rain.
In recent times the level has fallen progressively; it is silting up and becoming overgrown with reeds and even trees.
The natural history of such ponds is that this process causes them to disappear eventually. That would be a sad fate for this beautiful and historic landmark.
The Museum of Wimbledon exhibition, ‘Wimbledon Now and Then’ currently displayed at the Village Hall Gallery at the Wimbledon Society in the Ridgway, displays historic photographs of Wimbledon matched by contemporary images of the same scenes.
The poster for this exhibition shows Rushmere in 1908 matched with a photograph of the same location in 2013.
It is obvious that the water level remains much lower than it was, and this is still the case in spite of the recent downpours.
The Commons Conservators need to wake up to the need for remedial work and pray for more rain to fill it up again!
The Rushmere pair of photographs are just one of 29 such pairs on display. All are welcome to visit and we hope to publish a book with over 70 of these pairs of photographs in the next few months.
Dr Simon Joseph; Curator of Photographs, Museum of Wimbledon
What do you think? Leave your comments below or send a letter to: letters@wimbledonguardian.co.uk.
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