Shepperton Matters Articles

I met Noel Franklin-Taylor just over a year ago. We were both being presented with Pride of Spelthorne certificates. 
But I already knew of him. Many of you in Shepperton would.

This postcard, dating from the 1930s, shows the River Thames in the area of Shepperton Lock, looking north east. It must date from after 1935, as the Desborough Cut which was opened in that year can be seen at top right.

At the Spelthorne Business Awards at the end of last year, the Healthy Business award was won by Sunbury based Harfield Dance Studios. It capped a special year for the company, which has just celebrated 35 years in business.

Just around the corner from Shepperton Studios is the beautiful church of St Mary Magdalene, Littleton. It was founded in 1135, and still retains its medieval walls and other ancient features, one of the oldest churches for miles around. What made it the building that it is today? There have been many stages, but one

St Paul’s in Sunbury have just had a major win in the sporting calendar, snatching the crown in the national AASE rugby finals and a player who stood out was Callum Hennessey son of proud mum Kerry of Quality Fruit!

Shepperton’s Green Goddess, Diana Moran had quite a month at the end of last year. She received not one, but two major awards for her work, both presented the same week!

Shepperton has lost a good community member. Brian Holt who died in late September was part of the very fabric of Shepperton.

This festive season you can see an alternative take on a Christmas window display. Local Shepperton resident and TV/film set designer Rebecca Morton has been working with Two Rivers Shopping Centre, Spelthorne Borough Council Leisure Services and a selection of Spelthorne primary and Secondary Schools to create a magical and meaningful Christmas display on Staines High Street.

Charlton Village is just that…a village. Surrounded by fields, stables and horses, you can forgive yourself for thinking you are in the countryside (ok, ignoring the busy road that bisects it of course).

I remember seeing a huge poster advertising litter awareness when I was young, with hundreds of speech bubbles stating “My little sweet wrapper won’t make any difference”. The point is, if everyone thought that way, then we would all be under heaps of litter.

One dedicated individual has been behind a running surge in the area. Having moved to Shepperton in 
November 2014, Steve Barrington was keen to join a local running group. Finding that there wasn’t one, he set up the Shepperton Running Group.

The recent commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the airborne landings at Arnhem during World War Two reminded me that the man who led the operation on the ground came from Shepperton.

Loud Impact is a new company hoping to make a positive impact on the world and change lives. Started by Nigel Whitear who is an Addiction Mentor and Life Coach, the group supports people of all ages with a range of addictions and with issues relating to Domestic Abuse (both men and women).

Visiting The Burlington in Manygate Lane, Shepperton recently, I was introduced to resident Marc de Henrie. It so happened that he had been persuaded to exhibit some of his works to share with locals and residents, on the occasion of National Care Home Open Day. Being a fan of photography myself I was enthralled with his work which featured celebrities with their dogs.

Few people today know about the Llandow Air Disaster, which happened on Sunday 12th March 1950. It is, after all, beyond the memory of most people alive today, but when an Avro Tudor 5 came down in a South Wales field, just yards from a safe landing at RAF Llandow, eighty people on board the aircraft died and it became what was then the world’s worst aviation disaster.