15 JANUARY 1954, Page 15

GROTTOES ON THE STREET SIR,—Sir Compton Mackenzie may be interes-

ted to know that the custom of building grottoes has in Mitcham survived the Second War; I cannot speak for Cheyne Walk.

There' is still a sudden flowering of the grottoes—the precursors of the Mitcham Fair —on the pavements in the early days of August, but the grottoes, like many other fanciful things, are unworthy of what they once were. The earlier fantastic arrangements of china ornaments and shells have given place to little patterns of scattered dirt adorned with a few flowers snatched from front gar- dens.—Yours faithfully, H. LAWRENCE 67 Leander Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey