please empty your brain below
Another grade-A post DG, a great read.

Waterhouse | 08.12.14 - 8:49 a.m. | #

As I drove through urban Spelthorne yesterday, I was reflecting on your recent forays to rural Wennnington and Noak Hill and how inconsistent the drawinbg of the GLA boundary was fifty years ago. Epsom & Ewell illustrates the point very well - the Green Belt starts well outside the GLA boundary in the SW, but well inside in the NE. Did Havering get the same in/out choice that E&E had? And if so, why did they jump the opposite way: was Surrey better managed than Essex in the 1960s?

And yes, I like the idea of Ewell-tide.

timbo | 08.12.14 - 10:04 a.m. | #

Ha! Thanks for visiting the town of my birth and first 18 years. Great summary so far!

The hospitals were a remarkable community that I remember well - my Mum worked in West Park. They had their own social life, sports clubs, laundries, canteens. Thousands of staff, many from Spain / Portugal / Italy. Also the architecture was good - particularly West Park.

However, despite best efforts life for the patients was not great, with a lot having become instiutionalised and many more heavily sedated.

Ian | 08.12.14 - 12:50 p.m. | #

Thanks for the nostalgia trip! Like Ian I spent my first few (well, 30+) years there.

As a child I always found the hospitals a bit sinister especially at weekends when some patients were allowed to walk into the town. (A bit un PC to say so now, I know!)

I recall my Dad took me to an opening event at Bourne Hall and was very impressed as it indeed seemed to be something out of this world.

Not to be forgotten is the local football team ("Epsom and Ewell") who had a brief run of relative success and indeed reached the first FA Vase final at Wembley. Unfortunately they lost that but it was a good day out.

Tim | 08.12.14 - 1:44 p.m. | #

@timbo's idea of Ewell-tide trips off the tongue, in just the same way that 'Ewell Yule' does not.

Time to get the IP lawyers to register your coinage in time for 2015?

Roehamster | 08.12.14 - 3:46 p.m. | #

I too used to live in Epsom and went back recently for the first time in about 20 years and found the town itself more uninspiring than I remembered but the surrounding countryside is still fascinating. Looking forward to part 2.

whiff | 08.12.14 - 4:22 p.m. | #

Tim, haha I was at that Wembley match too! Skelmersdale?

Another memory of Bourne Hall was mates of mine who left a garden statue on the top of the roof one day. Seriously, it's a superb facility.

Ian | 08.12.14 - 4:42 p.m. | #

Timbo: I think the cases where the London boundary goes beyond the urban area are unsurprising; as I mentioned before, a district is typically a town with its surrounding countryside, so when the town is absorbed into London, the countryside will go with it. The cases where the London boundary falls short of the urban area are more striking; they do seem to be largely along the south-west border, suggesting it is indeed something it is indeed something to do with Surrey, though Chigwell, which is in Essex, is an exception.

Andrew M | 08.12.14 - 6:05 p.m. | #

Aha this brought back memories of when I lived in West Ewell with my grown up children in the 80's. I worked in Epsom, and I noticed in a recent visit that it has come up in the world lately, with new shops and restaurants etc. A good weekly market is held there I believe. Lovely walks and countryside nearby too, especially the Downs.

Tina | 08.12.14 - 6:32 p.m. | #

Another ex-West Ewell resident here. I used to cross the Hogsmill via a footbridge on my way to and from school. Blissfully ignorant of the Pre-Raphaelite connection until now. Thanks, DG.

Great Aunt Annie | 08.12.14 - 8:40 p.m. | #

In my part of west London the residents of Denham fought to remain in Bucks rather than join Greater London. I think some now quietly regret this, as they pay higher council tax for poorer services, can't use the nearest library or tip, don't get a Freedom Pass and yet still have to put Uxbridge in their postal address...

Andrew S | 08.12.14 - 10:42 p.m. | #











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