During lockdown, many of us came to appre-ciate the benefits that being outdoors with nature and gardening can bring, and maxim-ised our gardens to enjoy the fresh air and benefits gardening can offer to both physical and mental health well-being, despite the colder weather! Many who discovered gardening during this time decided they wanted to […]
Discover Your Outdoor Office Read More »
Heavenly Hellebores I fell in love with Hellebores a few years ago after an early spring visit to the Botanical Gardens in Cambridge where there are some beautiful displays. They provide a spring garden with elegant colour, and I admit to being quite excited when they appear. They are poisonous plants so are probably best
Jan Lancaster (pictured) decided she needed to find a focus during lockdown last year. She had retired from a career in office management some 4 years earlier, but lockdown gave her time to think. She decided that at the marvellous age of 67 she was going to launch her first business. What a brilliant thing
It’s Never Too Late to Start a Business Read More »
Thanks to a number of locals who contacted me to tell me about their vaccination experiences. By all accounts, it is a relatively simple procedure, painless and without side effects. The actual process of booking seems to have a few things to iron out. One reader told us that he had initially received a letter
COVID Jab. What to Expect Read More »
By Monica Chard Hardy by name and hardy by nature! Sheppertonian and former Halliford pupil, Alex Hardy set himself a challenge before Christmas of walking 1500 miles in 100 days. He is walking locally, so you may spot him (you may know him from his job in Prezzo in fact). He tells me his target
Alex’s Walkathon for MIND Read More »
By Bob Speel, Church Monument Researcher There are over 40 ancient churches in West London surviving from the lost county of Middle-sex, with St Nicholas Church in Shepperton the most southerly. Like most of them, it contains interesting wall monuments. Visiting churches to see the monuments is not a hobby to pursue now, alas, but
Exploring St Nicholas Church Read More »
By Nigel Scott I noted your comment about Sea Eagles over Shepperton in the January edition. The Sea Eagles released by the Roy Dennis Founda-tion in the Isle of Wight ranged far and wide over the UK this summer, one even flew back to Scotland where it had been born! Birdwatch magazine last year reported
Bird Watching and Sea Eagles! Read More »
By Barbara Unsworth, Big Tree Night Committee The Big Tree Night Committee would like to take this belated opportunity to extend Happy New Year wishes for 2021 to you all. To overcome the diffi-culties that Covid 19 have presented we still have challenging times ahead of us. With the vaccination being rolled out we are
Christmas Windows Bring Cheer Read More »
By Nick Pollard On the night of 28th September 1932, a mysterious fire destroyed several of the stands at Kempton Park, which dated back to the opening of the course by Samuel Hyde in 1878. Mysterious, as it was the second time in a month that a fire had broken out at the racecourse, and
Disastrous Fire at Kempton Park 1932 Read More »
By John Taylor Some readers, may recall with nostalgia the Festival of Britain, perhaps attend-ing the main events at the South Bank London, or going to the funfair at Bat-tersea. It was in 1951, just six years after the end of World War Two, that the event was held to celebrate the British contribution to
The Festival of Britain 1951 Read More »
You may have read in the press and on social media that pop musician Gerry Marsden died on 3rd January. His group ‘Gerry and the Pacemakers’ was founded in 1959 and were at one time almost as famous as their contemporaries and fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles. Their songs included ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey’ and a
Gerry Marsden & the Sunbury connection Read More »
Last August it became clear that driving through France would not be possible, so we sold the car, fin-ished packing up the house and took a plane from Heathrow to Pisa. Freight was still allowed so our belongings ar-rived three days later, just time enough for us to paint a room. Getting to Coreglia before
By Monica Chard It was 1950 when Terrick Fitzhugh started a couple of projects. His hobby was historical research and he had decided to write a history of Shepperton, at the same time as considering starting a magazine for fellow history enthusiasts. It was while he was mulling these projects over, that the idea of
Sunbury & Shepperton Local History Society Celebrates 70 Years Read More »
It’s that time of year again, when the season’s change to give nature a chance to re-cover its strength, renew re-serves, and get ready for the dawn of a new season in a couple of months. The picture shows the pond just after the rains resulting in a minor flood around the site. Part of
Winter at Laleham Pond Read More »
Keep these lovely photos coming. They brighten our day. We live in a beautiful place and the sunrises and sunsets over the river are definitely favourite scenes. Thanks to this months contributors. Do send any photos to monica@villagematters.co.uk
By Inspector Maxine Cilia The past month has seen a decrease in dwelling burglaries, however, on the other hand, an increase in vehicle crime. The main types of vehicle crime we are seeing are the theft of Catalytic Converters. This crime takes only about a minute to commit and usually the offenders are well prepared
By Spelthorne Borough Council In October 2020, Spelthorne Council announced that it intended to revise downward the housing needs figure for its new Local Plan, following heavy criticism of the Government’s original formula for calculating the number of new homes needed in local authority areas. This was derived from the Government’s plans to change the
Government U-turn on housing numbers for Spelthorne’s new Local Plan Read More »
By Monica Chard A book has recently been published which will be of immense interest to residents. Plotlands of Shepperton by Stefan Szczelkun is a charming little book, focusing on the river communities of Shepperton, and a little on Sunbury. It puts into historical and social context how these riverside dwellings came about. Many of
History of Plotland Dwelling Read More »
By Monica Chard Nourish our Nurses is a campaign which was set up back in March 2020, right at the beginning of the first lockdown. It’s objective was to supply NHS staff and community nurses in Surrey with boxes of sustenance, full of fresh fruit, veg and pasta, enough to last a week. We can
Please Help Nourish the Nurses Read More »
By Monica Chard Last year, more than any, was an immense challenge for most of us: job uncertainty, financial worries, illness and death, family tensions, isolation and loneliness to name but a few. Without going into detail, I have been through rather a lot of challenges myself. But I find myself looking at 2020 with
The Art of Resilience Read More »
