The Painted Door

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A couple of weeks ago, the landladies (ground and first floor) decided it was time to restore the joint front door to its glory days of the late 19th /early 20th century when cows still grazed in parts of Wimbledon. Raise not your eyebrows for the presence of these bovine inhabitants can be confirmed from the photos in Richard Milward's 'Wimbledon Past', which I  I chanced upon at local charity shop. It has been fascinating reading about the history of  what used to be the village of Wimbledon. Who would have guessed that this would become the bustling Zone 3 (out of 9 zones) in London about 100 years on. The village itself still exists and is home to tennis celebrities, lawyers, bankers and the odd winner of the EuroMillions lottery no doubt.

Coming back to my front door which lies in the 'squeezed middle class' part of Wimbledon, I wasn't so sure about the colour when the paint-man did a primer followed by the first coat. It stood there for a few days drying itself out in the hesitant London spring.The door I mean, not the painter. Initially I thought it was a bit too leaf-green. However the finished work does look rather nice and the stained glass looks more charming than before. The potted plant belongs to the downstairs neighbour- a nice touch.


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