Happy Valley near Coulsdon makes up part of the Farthing Downs. It was purchased under the Green Belt Scheme in 1937 by Surrey County Council, the Urban District Council of Coulsdon and the London County Council. It is an area of managed open countryside of just over 250 acres of downland grass and ancient woodland slopes (Devil’s Den Wood), dominated by a steep‐sided dry valley at the centre and considered an important reserve for all kinds of animal and plant life.