MEMORIES OF ASHTEAD IN WORLD WAR TWO - BOOK REVIEW BY ANNE FRASER

'Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.' ¹ This is the story of the small Surrey village of Ashtead during World War II. Oral histories, letters, photographs and documentary evidence flesh out the effects of conflict during this dark period of history. 

Time marches on, and the recording of first-hand accounts through the eyes of those who were children at the time is invaluable. Thankfully, the authors have painstakingly collected interviews and documentation over the last five years to ensure that these memories don’t stay silent. The book is thoughtfully collated and clearly divided into sections for different aspects of life at the time.  The first section concerns the start of the war and the narrative  moves on through areas such as food, military service and visiting Canadian troops, before coming  to the end of the war and … bananas!

Our senses are invoked. One witness recalls the terror of an eerie silence when the roaring engine of a V1 Flying Bomb would suddenly cut out. You soon learned what that meant. Later, there are photographs of homes in Gaywood Road after a direct hit from a landmine. The fronts of the houses give no clue but if you look beyond at the next image, you will see the terrible destruction that would devastate lives and change families forever.

What comes across is the resilience and resourcefulness of the inhabitants.  A recipe for a pie using economical ingredients is detailed. I can almost believe it tasted delicious! Entertainment took minds from troubles. This included sporting activities such as cricket at the City of London and Freemen’s School and never mind the small matter of sheep droppings on the pitch! While times were often harrowing, there is a lovely current of humour running through the book as people recall friendships and family life with great fondness.

The chapter on war brides is poignant but life-affirming. The young bride, Marjorie Ashwood aged 19 and a barmaid at the Leg of Mutton and Cauliflower, married her Canadian sweetheart, Andy Stewart in 1942. They set up home in Montreal before returning to Ashtead in 1947. The wedding photo shows a happy couple with the bride in white and carrying a beautiful bouquet.

Documentary evidence is fascinating and gives further figures and statistics to accompany the stories. The appendices at the end of the book list categories such as military service as well as air raid warnings, of which there were 30 in the first week of October 1940 alone. There is also a long list of contributors, and it must have been a real joy to listen as they recalled the events of over 70 years ago.

The authors have successfully managed to pull all of these resources into a coherent, lively, comprehensive testament to the lives of people concerned, their sense of community and their bravery at this most challenging of times.

Copies of Memories of Ashtead in World War 2 are currently available from Barton's Bookshop, Leatherhead and the following outlets in Ashtead: Michael Everett Estate Agents, The Street; Bumbles, The Street; Post Office, The Street and Post Office, Barnett Wood Lane. Also from the Wishing Well in Great Bookham. Additional copies can also be supplied by directly contacting John Rowley, chairman of the L&DLHS, and will be among the many publications on sale at the Leatherhead Museum in Hampton Cottage when it reopens next spring after refurbishment.

¹Lucy Montgomery The Story Girl (Quiet Vision Pub. 2000. First published 1911)

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SURREY WITH A FRINGE ON TOP!

Visitor John Morris enjoys his appointment with a hair-brushing machine at Hampton Cottage, one of Surrey's most enduring 17th century houses.

OK, things aren't quite what they seem! Hilda and Frank Hollis, last private residents of the cottage, are played by actors and John is actually a Friend of Leatherhead Museum, now located at the cottage in Church Street, Leatherhead. 

The hair brushing machine was one of many attractions during this summer's Craft Days in August.  

REPERTORY STARS DROP IN AT HAMPTON COTTAGE

The cast of The Secret Garden, second of this year's brand new repertory productions at Leatherhead Theatre, called into Hampton Cottage between performances. They are seen here outside the Museum with Katherine Mount, producer and co-founder of Leatherhead Rep. Photo by Robin Christian.

The first repertory season at the theatre in almost 30 years kicked off in April with a first class production of  Yes, Prime Minister  by TV writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic children's story, has been adapted as a musical by Dave Simpson. The third production is the comedy Communicating Doors  by Alan Ayckbourn.

Katherine said: 'The beautiful Leatherhead Theatre has such a rich history of repertory and deserves to be a thriving creative resource again in the centre of its community. In 1969 people came out in huge numbers to fund-raise for this theatrical centrepiece to the town. We want the artistic programme to do those efforts justice once again.'

Tickets can be purchased from the theatre box office and the company websites. Leatherhead Rep Tel: 01372 365141 http://www.leatherheadrep.com

Communicating Doors

Tuesday 1^st May – Friday 4^th May – 7.30pm 

Saturday 5^th May – 2.30pm and 7.30pm  

Full price £18 Concession £16 Friends of Leatherhead Theatre £15

CATHY BRETT STARS AT FRIENDS AGM THIS MONTH

Cathy Brett, the Leatherhead-based arts designer who created last year's exhibition theme at Hampton Cottage, will be guest speaker at this year's annual general meeting of the Friends of Leatherhead Museum on Monday, 30 April in the Letherhead Institute. The event starts at 7.30pm for 8pm. Wine and juices will be served.

Author of five teen novels and illustrator of around 40 more by other writers, Cathy grew-up in Leatherhead, her youth shaped by Therfield School, juice bar discos and roller-skating at the leisure centre. She also sold ice-cream at the former Thorndike Theatre - now Leatherhead Theatre, of course - and enjoyed night time walks to and from the William IV pub. After a 30-year absence pursuing careers in art, design, publishing and academia, she’s moved back to the town, building her own studio in her parents’ garden.

She is co-creator of the award-winning ELECTRIGIRL Series for Oxford University Press and her current project, a graphic novel set in Surrey, was a finalist in the Laydeez Do Comics Prize 2018. Since returning to the town she’s thrown herself in to local projects and community collaborations.

In 2018 she is artist-in-residence at Rye Meadows Wetland, Ashtead; visiting lecturer at UCA, Farnham; and will be delivering workshops at the Big Draw, Epsom in October. She will also be opening her studio to the public during the Surrey Artists’ Open Studios event in June and running a series of creative workshops there throughout the summer. She and Lorraine Spindler, curator  at Hampton Cottage, are also planning future artistic collaborations.

SUFFRAGETTES LEAD 2018 EXHIBITIONS

This season's exhibition at Leatherhead Museum will focus on the story of the Suffragettes and suffragists in Leatherhead to mark the granting of votes for women a century ago this year. The garden of Hampton Cottage, shown above, will become a "suffrage garden".

Also featured this year at the Museum will be the story of Ashtead Pottery which existed from 1923 to 1935, providing work for men disabled during the First World War, and a historic photograph album presented to the Museum on behalf of the late Pearl Kew. 

The Museum reopens on 5 April with a formal opening ceremony at 10.30am on Saturday, 7 April. The guest of honour will be Jim Fuller whose uncle was an Ashtead Potter.

New Museum Managers Appointed

L&DLHS President Alan V Pooley has confirmed the appointment of a new joint team to manage the Leatherhead Museum on behalf of Museum Curator Lorraine Spindler. 

He said: "I am very pleased to advise that Peter Humphreys and Duncan Macfarlane have agreed to work together as joint Managers of the Museum. 

"Peter is well known through his involvement with the Leatherhead Institute and is a volunteer steward at the Museum. Duncan is also local, well known and a volunteer Museum steward for at least the past decade. Another great asset to the team.

"Lorraine and I are both delighted to have their enthusiasm and expertise on board."

Three brand new exhibitions opening in April 2018

The Museum will feature three very different topics in its new exhibitions opening in April. These will be:

• The Suffragettes' struggle in Leatherhead
• One family's album of memorabilia from the First World War
• The short-lived but highly successful Ashtead Pottery

The road to suffrage for the women of Leatherhead was often bumpy. When the Women’s Suffrage Caravan rolled into town on Saturday, 16 May 1908, it produced riots among many menfolk. In December the local Unionist Club  passed a motion that it was ‘unpropitious’ for legislation on the question of women’s suffrage. Yet from her home in Belmont Road, women’s rights campaigner Marie Stopes had begun to pen Married Love, campaigner Dame Millicent Fawcett would later fascinate her audience at Victoria Hall in 1910, and Emmeline Pankhurst’s arrest and detention at Leatherhead police station would capture the interest of the nation. Leatherhead secured centre stage in the push for women’s rights. 

A notable local figure was Pearl Kew, one of the first women in Leatherhead to own a car which allowed her to drive to work as a teacher in Guildford. When Pearl died recently she left the Museum her father’s scrap-book from the First World War. In at least one incident his horse saved his life and he was allowed to bring it back home to England after the war. Pearl lived her whole life in Leatherhead. Her mother died relatively young when she fell from a bus.

The Ashtead Pottery had a short life, operating in Ashtead village for just 12 years from 1923 to 1935. It was set up to provide jobs for disabled ex-servicemen after the First World War and employed up to 40 men. Its main driving force was Sir Lawrence Weaver, backed by the architect Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978) who built the extraordinary village of Portmeirion in Wales, and Richard Stafford Cripps (1889-1952), the prominent Labour politician and later government minister.  The company's vast array of wares ranged from figurines and commemoratives designed by leading artists of the day, through to everyday crockery in bold bright designs.

Leatherhead Museum set to reopen in April

Leatherhead Museum at Hampton Cottage in Church Street will reopen on Thursday, 5 April 2018 with the official opening on 7 April.