Facing Your Fears and Climbing Mountains
January is the time for New Year resolutions. What have you been putting off? What do you want to change to make life better?
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Sunbury Matters Articles
A CHRISTMAS GHOST STORY
Charles Dickens, who knew the Sunbury and Shepperton area well, was the man who popularised the idea of the Christmas Ghost Story, in the mid nineteenth century. Whilst looking through old Christmas editions of the Middlesex Chronicle at Spelthorne Museum in Staines, I came across the following story of ghostly goings-on at Battlecrease Hall in Shepperton in the edition for 27th December 1946.
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Middlesex – London’s Market Garden
I recently visited a fascinating exhibition put on by the Environment Trust about the forgotten history of market gardening in South West London entitled “Feeding London”. It is on at the library of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew and is well worth a visit.
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Youth Speaks 2015
The ability to stand up in front of an audience and be able to give an address, is always going to stand you in good stead. Think of that best man’s speech, making a sales presentation or standing up and asking a question at a public meeting.
New HQ for Sunbury Scouts & Guides
I was a shy young thing. Ironically, joining the Brownies, would have been just the thing for me, as I discovered when I went to the grand opening of the new HQ of the 1st Sunbury Scouts & Guides. The event was teaming with old and young, those who had been a scout or guide back as far as 40 years ago.
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Légion d’Honneur for Sunbury Man
The Légion d’honneur, is France’s highest decoration. It was established by Napoleon in 1802 to recognise individual merit. Among its recipients are those who have played a part in the liberation of France and so it was that Sunbury’s John Cairns was recently invited to a special ceremony at the French Embassy to receive such an award for the part he played in WW2.
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Historic Getaway sold at Auction
At the turn of the last century, Sunbury was a weekend and holiday destination. The river was bordered by many little cottages and the beauty of the river and peace of the village offered sanctuary from the bustle of London. Many of those weekend retreats have been sold and redeveloped.
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Sunbury Park – Much More Than Just Cows!
How can six cows become such an attraction? There was much talk of it last year, but finally, with little warning, six Aberdeen Angus cows arrived in Sunbury Park.
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Kempton Memorial to Brave Pilots
Sunbury will be marking a remembrance on October 18th this year, the date when two brave RAF fighter pilots lost their lives 75 years ago, whilst attempting to land at Kempton Park Racecourse.
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Rope making in Sunbury and Shepperton
For many years before the coming of the railway to our area in the mid nineteenth century, the main way of moving around bulky goods was by river.
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Shepperton has a Double World Champion
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
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Landscape change: memories of a WI member
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
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A (Wednes)day in the life of Andrew Clarke
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.
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George Wilson & Sons, Sunbury
A chapter in the history of Sunbury’s riverside ended recently, with the closure of the long-established boatyard of George Wilson & Sons.
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Guinness Record Attempt and Webb Ellis at Hazelwood
Guinness, the black stuff, may be served in the bar, but we are talking Guinness as in breaking records in August.
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A Child’s View of Sunbury’s Treasures
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.
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The Children’s Regatta – Then & Now
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.
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A treasure trove of history
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.
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The huge conspiracy theory that will not die
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.
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My Mad Magna Carta Weekend!
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.
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