The South end

Hidden Treasure in Morden

Many Londoners search in vain for the city’s elusive hidden treasures: areas of peace, tranquility and natural beauty in the heart of this bustling metropolis. Public parkland is widespread throughout the city, but is often uninspiring, and can be as crowded as the high street on a warm afternoon. Getting out in the country, on the other hand, often involves a stressful crawl to get past the M25. Those of us looking for a happy medium of countryside tranquility and urban accessibility could do worse than travel to the southern tip of the Northern Line.

Morden will be familiar to most of you only as a place name on the front of a tube train, and tourism generally comes in the form of drunken revellers falling asleep on the last train home. In truth, there’s little else to recommend the town centre, but a few yards down the road lies a genuine hidden treasure. Morden Hall Park, a National Trust-owned house with surrounding parkland is a world away from the built-up bustle that encircles it.

Entering through a narrow gap in the boundary wall alongside a busy main road, you wander into what looks like a medieval village, complete with squat little cottages, stables and a duck pond. A walk out into the parklands is equally pleasant. In the centre of the grounds, the view is of swaying green trees and immaculate expanses of grass. A wooded area hides a network of wide, clear streams with birds swooping and clucking around you. Even on a bright spring afternoon, it’s easy to find a spot without another person in sight.

Ultimately, Morden Hall Park can’t completely escape its urban setting; the far boundary of the park is marked by a tram line, it smells a little bit like green diesel, and the outline of Merton Civic Centre can be glimpsed through the trees. It’s an interesting and picturesque place though, its landscaped gardens and wide open spaces lifting it above other city parks. The distant rumbling of the nearby roads may taint the idyllic setting slightly, but there can’t be many more peaceful and attractive countryside retreats to be found on the Tube network.

Kew Gardens

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a fan of gardening or not, a trip to Kew is always worth it.

There are many things to do, and you might need more than a day (I would recommend membership as it works out far cheaper than the price of a one-off entrance fee). My personal highlights include taking a picnic and sitting by the lake, which has a fairly new bridge, which is not only beautiful and seems to sit on top of the water, but it also makes crossing the lake much easier.

The palm house is well worth a visit, and do make the time to climb the spiral staircase as the views are worth it. Don’t be surprised to end up a bit wet by your time in here, the plants need plenty of water and are sprayed regularly. The temperature of the house is also either a bonus on a bit of a chilly day, or a bit of a curse if you’re visiting on an already hot and humid day.

The water lily house is amazing when the water lily is at its peak and you might be lucky enough, like I was once, to have butterflies fluttering by.

The new sky walkway isn’t for the feint hearted! Not only did the lift not work on the day I went recently, but the platform actually moves, giving an unstable feel to it, but again it’s worth the effort.

Kew’s programme of events changes regularly as plants and flowers come into season which helps to give it a feeling of there always being something new to see. So, take the kids, take a pic-nic (though there are plenty of places to buy food and drink) take grandparents, friends, lovers or even visit on your own. You will not be disappointed.

Review: South London band The XX

The xx, the revolutionary English indie rock band is taking Europe by storm, with countless sold out concerts throughout. They have been considered the breakout band of 2009 and are expected to gain continual attention and acclaim.

The trio, which consists of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith (who is also the producer of the band) offer a unique indie rock. To accompany the lyrical styles of Croft and Sim, who also play guitar, and bass, Smith provides all of the necessary beats for the band, as well as the keyboard. His soft, melancholy sounds perfectly accentuate the vocal stylings of the pair.

Originally a four piece band that formed in 2005, the xx consisted of Croft and Sim, but also keyboardist Baria Qureshi.

Their debut album, self-titled “xx”, received critical acclaim as well as being placed on Rolling Stone’s “best of the year” list at #9, while NME placed xx at #6 on their list “NME The Future 50 List” (not to mention their efforts to take CD packaging to a whole new level).

Released by Young Turks Records in 2009, their debut album was recorded in a small garage of XL studios, often at night. This helped create their unique, almost whisper-like quality to both the vocals and the beats. Their single, “Crystalised” was featured on iTunes (UK) as the Single of the Week for 18-24 August 2009.

The band also brings an eclectic audience to their concerts. The standard youthful crowd invariably shows up to fill the seats, but there are also a large number of forty-plus fans. The audience members at most of their concerts on their European tour are staunch supporters and bring the concert to a high level of energy.

The xx are set to take America by storm, as they are planning to take part in two of the biggest festivals in the US, Coachella and Bonnaroo festivals.