Ever since the Wandle passed under a train line in Merton, it's changed. Less playful, less happy. The river has been hiding away from the Wandle Trail. Keeping its distance.
Last time I tried to walk down the Wandle Trail round the Merton/Sutton border, I got lost in a housing estate. Somehow I lost the river and never managed to find it again.
There are two sources to the Wandle and one is at Waddon Ponds where swans and geese glide effortlessly across the water, and small children try to offer them bread to eat.
East Croydon railway station is a strange place for the 13 mile Wandle Trail to begin. It doesn't really make much sense. The source of the River Wandle is actually a few miles up the road at Waddon Ponds, right next door to a tram stop. I could just sit on the tram and do the first part without even moving my legs.