My neighbourhood's Open Gardens took place over the weekend; usually an annual event which needless to say took a couple of years out due to the pandemic. I have opened the garden in previous years but what with one thing and another I didn't this time round. 

 On the plus side that meant I was able to have a look at other people's gardens. The first I visited was a community garden just up the road. I was struck by this obelisk among the greenery. Apparently it served a dual purpose. 

 The area now known as Telegraph Hill was the manor of Hatcham in ancient times purchased by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in 1614. For several centuries the land was farmed as market gardens. Between the 1860s and the 1890s the Haberdasher's Company gave it over to a large scale housing development.

 I gather this object is one of several in the vicinity that marked the edge of the estate and also the historic border of Kent and Surrey (which included Hatcham). In 1899 the county of London was created by Act of Parliament and the 'Home Counties' retreated to the margins of the capital. People born and/or living in the metropolis tend to identify as Londoners or with their immediate locality or both. 

 Indeed the thought never occurred to me that really I live in Surrey. All of a sudden I feel grander and more prosperous!