Sunbury has some famous new comers – Our 6 cows in Sunbury Park have made it onto the ITV News and the Daily Telegraph. Read all about Sunbury Park’s uses through the past century. You will be surprised. You can also find out about the origins of the name Rope Walk, as we explore rope making in the area.
This year started badly with a large chunk of my winter spent in rehab after a long spell of illness and injures that put me a long way behind my competition
Shepperton has a Double World Champion Read More »
Centenary celebrations for the national Women’s Institute in September 2015 attracted widespread media coverage. Some readers may also know of the Middlesex Federation of Women’s Institute’s 75th Anniversary publication entitled Middlesex: Within Living Memory, a collection of members’ life experiences published in 1996
Landscape change: memories of a WI member Read More »
You may know him, and if you like good quality fish at good prices you really should visit him on Wednesdays, as do I and an increasingly large coterie of loyal repeat customers.
A (Wednes)day in the life of Andrew Clarke Read More »
A packed issue this month. Full of history and local stories. I joined St Trinian’s, a long held ambition! We have a look at local houses George Wilson’s boatyard, and Pomfret Cottage both either sold or up for sale. We also congratulate local businesses celebrating milestones this year.
A chapter in the history of Sunbury’s riverside ended recently, with the closure of the long-established boatyard of George Wilson & Sons.
George Wilson & Sons, Sunbury Read More »
Guinness, the black stuff, may be served in the bar, but we are talking Guinness as in breaking records in August.
Guinness Record Attempt and Webb Ellis at Hazelwood Read More »
Clearing out is a great way of discovering long lost treasures. So it was for a local Sunbury resident who was having a clear out and came across his son’s summer school project from when he was 10.
A Child’s View of Sunbury’s Treasures Read More »
Every year crowds gather at Rivermead Island in Sunbury for the annual regatta. This year the event on Saturday August 15th will be the 138th year. We wander around the stalls, watch the arena events, have a bite to eat and cheer on the racers.
The Children’s Regatta – Then & Now Read More »
Lots happening in Sunbury in August. How about the new Sunbury Comedy Festival? Or the Regatta of course. We look at the children’s regatta, meet the brain behind the comedy festival and preview the arrival of the Webb Ellis trophy in Sunbury.
Hopefully you will have already visited Spelthorne Museum in Staines, but if not you are missing a treat! Next time you are in Staines, ome and find us, just through Staines library.
A treasure trove of history Read More »
They deny encouraging the scheme. They deny even knowing any details about it, despite meeting after meeting after meeting with The Jockey Club and their consultants. We’ve made it all up, apparently.
The huge conspiracy theory that will not die Read More »
As many of you will know from my last article, June saw several commemorations locally of the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta. My experience of the celebrations began on the evening of Friday 12th, with a reception at Bisham Abbey for Charter Bearers who had been nominated to carry a copy of Magna Carta in the River Relay from Hurley to Runnymede over the weekend.
My Mad Magna Carta Weekend! Read More »
As well as taking a look at the recent festivities from an insiders point of view, we visit the Swan Sanctuary in Shepperton and hear about their work, this being the month of swan upping again.
We have all passed Sunbury Court, the imposing building on Lower Hampton Road. But how many of us know much about it, let alone visited it?
Salvation Army Opens Doors Read More »
A month of celebration and community events coming up. Have you ever wondered what is in the grand building on the Lower Hampton Road? Sunbury Court is the Salvation Army’s International Conference Centre. It is where their ‘General’ is elected every 5 years (the equivalent of electing the Pope in a way).
Following on from the article about Rossall House in Thames Street, Sunbury, in April’s ‘Sunbury Matters’, I thought readers might be interested to learn of an earlier company which operated from the premises.
The Cowper-Coles Aircraft Company Read More »
In the March edition of Sunbury /Shepperton Matters I appealed for readers who had sales brochures for interwar housing schemes to get in touch. Sincere thanks to those who did. This short article is based on the 1936 prospectus for the Hawke House Estate.
Property for sale: the Hawke House Estate 1936 Read More »
This May sees the 75th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation, one of the most audacious mass rescues in history, some might say. (It is not to be confused with the D Day landings which happened 4 years later).
Dunkirk Little Ships – 75 Years On Read More »
As well as introducing the 2015 Spelthorne in Bloom, we take a look back at both the Hawke House Estate, launched in 1936 and also the Aircraft Factory on the site of Rossall House, which we looked at in last months issue.
In the early sixties young women usually gave up work and stayed at home to care for their children. This meant that they relied on the friends they made at the baby clinic.
