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rugby football clubs) and the newer professional Charlton Athletic
Football Club. It is hard to believe that the area supports 2 golf clubs,
one of which is the Royal Blackheath, the oldest golf club in the
world. With royal sanction it was formed nearly 360 years ago as the
'Society of Blackheath Goffers' at a time when James I was wont to
play with his friends when holding court at Greenwich. It is reputed
that the army title of 'Field Marshal' which dates from 1736 was
copied from the appellation used by the Blackheath Club a century
earlier.
Considering that the Borough is a constituent part of the country's
greatest conurbation, it is well served with parks and open spaces.
These are evenly distributed throughout its area and form 12.8% of
its total acreage, equivalent to 6½ acres per 1,000 of its population.
Shooters Hill, which encompasses Oxleas and Shepherdleas Woods,
Castlewood, Jackwood and Eltham Common in total amounting to
some 312 acres, gives a continuous expanse of woodland as attractive
and extensive as Hampstead Heath. Greenwich Park, designed by
Le Notre of Versailles fame, with its historical associations and
surroundings, covers an area of 185 acres of rich fauna and flora. On
its southern boundary is Blackheath, one of London's most famous
open spaces, 89 acres of which are within the Borough providing
unsurpassed facilities for games, sports and amusements. Excellent
recreation grounds serve the Charlton area for, as well as the Maryon
and Charlton Parks, there is the Greater London Council's Play
Centre and Lido with its well-equipped open-air swimming bath,
tennis courts and bowling greens. In addition to 65 acres at Sutcliffe
Park allocated for a variety of sports, and a beautiful natural lake
at the Tarn, Eltham, the Council has control of attractive formal
gardens and grounds at Well Hall Pleasaunce. Among other delightful
attributes, Avery Hill grounds and nurseries serve as the headquarters
of the Education Authority's Nature Study Scheme
supplying "botany boxes" to the local schools. West of the Royal
Military Academy is Woolwich Common which has been the site for
military displays since the latter half of the 18th century, a practice
which is continued today with the Royal Regiment of Artillery's
annual Tattoo.
Greenwich can boast of modern public baths. There are four such
establishments within the Borough, each of which has two swimming
pools. Moreover, at Eltham, the Council has provided a hydrotherapy
pool, and on the Abbey Estate, has introduced a launderette.
Warm baths for men and women are to be had at Greenwich,
Plumstead and Woolwich and, at the former two premises, in addition
to Turkish and Vapour Baths, public laundries still operate.
In winter, the large pools at Eltham, Greenwich and Woolwich are
covered and utilised for a wide range of recreational pursuits such as
roller skating, badminton, table tennis, etc., and facilities are made