St Pauls, Dorking

I was invited to give a talk to the Monday group at St Paul's Church, Dorking during Science and Engineering Week 2011.

The centrepiece was my patchwork quilt comforter which I designed to commemorate 70 years since WSC became Prime Minister, and the Battle of Britain. Naturally it didn't reveal any of the engineering masterpieces that had been constructed underground, e.g. at Deepdene, so around the quilt on the tabletops I put out all my "props" which everyone enjoyed browsing through, to see the evidence for themselves.

Towards the end of the evening we moved on to medical science and the continuous war against infections which Winston Churchill cared so much about. I was able to provide some good news that probably never reached his ears despite all attempts, and the audience with all their years of experience, immediately recognised the significance. I didn't need to say much about that.

J Arthur Rank

Have you ever wondered what to write in an autograph book? Well, this is what J Arthur Rank wrote on 4th February 1923, here in his home town for a neighbour's boy, Eric Hurst of Edes Fields, Park Lane. I had the great honour of showing it to the two audiences of my lecture, Churchill's Secret Reigate.

Pray about everything
Always expect something
Be thankful for anything
Grumble about nothing.

J. Arthur Rank

As well as all his other achievements in the milling business and the movies, he was the superintendent of the Sunday School at Reigate Methodist Church in the High Street, commemorated by the Rank Memorial Hall which is where I used to go for Girl Guides, the youth club, taking part in plays and concerts - and not forgetting those glorious Saturday night evenings, bopping round our handbags to the latest bands in the 60s!

J Arthur Rank was a great fan of Winston Churchill, even adopting some of his speech mannerisms apparently, and you can see from the blue plaque at Chartwell, he was one of the generous benefactors who eventually bought the place for the Churchills to continue living there, as a thank you gift after the war. During the war itself, J Arthur Rank housed his milling business temporarily in Reigate Priory for safety - just the other side of the wall behind his beloved Methodist Church. It was a wise decision because Hitler's lot had already earmarked the huge London flour mills as key targets.

On another page in Eric's tiny autograph book is a wonderful pen and ink drawing of their beloved Reigate Heath with the old windmill in the background - just as it looks today. The historic windmill is still in good condition and used as a church.

If you would like to see the autograph book, maybe I can take it along, with my WW2 memorabilia and my brand new patchwork commemorative quilt, to the Age Concern event on Saturday 20th November at Merstham Day Centre, 11am - 2pm.

The next day, Sunday 21st November, J Arthur Rank will be featured in BBC's Songs of Praise at Carshalton Methodist Church. Yet they wouldn't have known about those memories and souvenirs of J Arthur Rank that Eric's family have cherished all these years. Perhaps the Reigate Methodists would like to include that special autograph in their service sometime, now that the Rank Memorial Hall has been demolished.

My DVD and photobook are still available of course, by post via http://www.relax-well.co.uk/.

The children buried at Reigate Priory

Memorable features in the Priory grounds are the tiny graves for some cherished pet dogs that belonged to Lady Henry Somerset's grandchildren.

Now we know from archaeological evidence that some children are buried in the grounds of Reigate Priory, too - since, after all, it was consecrated ground. A colour leaflet about the archaeology includes a photograph of two skeletons, with the following information:"A trench revealed these juvenile burials."

It goes on to make a guess as to why: "It seems likely that they were children of citizens of the town, for whom burial in the monastic cloister would have been a symbol of status."

Actually it is much more likely that the children were residents of Reigate Priory, as novices.
Take a look at this carefully preserved worksheet from the days when my mother, Audrey Ward, was setting up the educational museum in collaboration with other expert history teachers at the school. Yes, in her own handwriting, she shows that children did live at the Priory, even in medieval times, long before the building became a stately family home. I would think it is even possible that they had died of the Black Death.

As she explains in the text, "Children were 'given' to the church at a very early age: one way of poor parents ensuring their child a safe future. Cardinal Wolsey, a butcher's son, became a novice at the age of eight and rose to be Henry VIII's Chancellor".

In her authoritative book, Discovering Reigate Priory - the place and the people, she explains that "Augustinian canons took in local boys and taught them to read and write - so Reigate Priory was a school even then!"

This worksheet is the first in a series of 6 which I have kept for future use.

The second one is especially charming, illustrating young Lord Charles Howard holding a toy wooden galleon just like the ones he would later use in master-minding the defeat of the Spanish Armada!

I wonder, would the Lord High Admiral turn in his own grave (or should I say, family vault at Reigate Parish Church) if he knew that Council staff actually refer to the wonderful galleon in the children's playground mistakenly as a Pirate Ship - yes, sad but true.

So, grown-ups and children, as you career around the paths and walkways on your bikes and scooters, please spare a thought for those much-loved children whose mortal remains are not visible beneath your feet, but whose memory lingers on and certainly deserves some respect.




To illustrate the Black Death, this medieval illuminated manuscript shows plague victims being blessed by a priest.

Lady Henry Somerset's story - and a society scandal

The most famous female owner of Reigate Priory
is Lady Henry Somerset, and her name is associated locally with the restoration of some Victorian garden features in Priory Park. Numerous roads in Reigate and Redhill commemorate her family names and properties; various buildings were constructed or altered on her instructions. Her cottage dower-house, now known as Makepeace, was built right beside the magnificent Park Lane gated entrance, a beautiful and more befitting replacement for the old workhouse which formerly stood there, since royalty and VIPs would be visiting from this side of town rather than the former Bell Street entrance. Only one small memorial to Lady Henry Somerset is present in Reigate: an un-named sundial on the Priory's south wall bears the image of a duck and a child. This is a reminder of the village of Duxhurst which she created a few miles away near Horley - now barely a memory.

Much less well known are the good works that Lady Henry Somerset did throughout her life. Her artistic and literary achievements have been largely forgotten. A gifted orator, she had become world famous pioneering the Temperance Movement. She established Duxhurst as a countryside home for inebriate women. Her love of children was legendary. Yet the terrible time she had as a newly married heiress and young mother was almost unspeakable, and for a while she was ostracised from London Society. For over a century, the story told was simply that Lord Henry had been found in the embrace of a footman, so husband and wife separated and he went to live overseas. Well, as we found out a few years ago, that was a euphemistic understatement ... the Press would have had a 'field day' if they had uncovered the truth.

This is what happened. It was in November 2003 that I was able to take my parents Audrey and Denis Ward to Lady Henry Somerset's ancestral home of Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire. Together, we spent five days studying her archives in the private dining room along with Douglas Sylvanus-Davis, the archivist.

It was here at Eastnor Castle that we made some astonishing finds. One by one, we examined the boxes of papers tied up with faded red ribbon.
Then, just as one of Eastnor Castle's cats snuggled up close in one of those cardboard box lids, I suddenly came across a handwritten document from early 1878. Here were pages and pages which gave a shocking account of events and Henry Somerset's appalling behaviour with his homosexual friends in their sumptuous London home. Isabel was distraught, especially about the influence this might have on her one and only child.

Evidently this document was a first draft for her lawyers in the custody battle. It had been written so painfully by Lady Henry Somerset that it took all three of us with our heads together to work out exactly what some of the writing said. We realised straight away, that here was a great responsibility if the record was going to be set straight for posterity, whilst respecting the dignity of those aristocratic families. After all, Lord Henry Somerset was a son of the 8th Duke of Beaufort, whereas Isabel was the eldest daughter and heiress of the 3rd Earl Somers. Her younger sister Adeline was the Duchess of Bedford at Woburn.

Sadly since that revelation in 2003, my parents and I have not had the energy or resources to publish another book ourselves, especially a biography of Lady Henry Somerset. So it was a great relief in 2009 when local author Ros Black took up the gauntlet and followed up this amazing story from my mother's collection of historic material and our notes from the archive about her heroine. The outcome is the newly published book, "A Talent For Humanity - the life and work of Lady Henry Somerset".

It is very readable and well-produced small paperback with some excellent colour illustrations. Each chapter contains eye-opening detail, for example, I had no idea that Lord Henry had effectively threatened his wife with a knife: 'el cuchillo'. Not surprisingly, there is no photograph or painting of him - just an illustration of one of the songs he was famous for.

The book is priced at £9.99.

To me, it is disappointing that my discoveries in the archives at Eastnor Castle have not been acknowledged.

In view of Lady Henry Somerset's aristocratic heritage and marriage into the Beaufort family - the highest of British nobility - plus her tremendous love of the arts and the quietness of open space and nature, I wonder if her story will eventually be portrayed on the wide screen, in full colour and with a suitably big budget. Her fame and influence extended around the world through her lectures and writing, and there are lessons to be learned from her pioneering humanitarian work.

Exhibition of sculpture in caves

The sandstone caves in Tunnel Road in the centre of Reigate were used as an air raid shelter during World War 2. There are 4 or 5 open days each year, hosted by Malcolm Tadd and the Wealden Cave & Mine Society.
This exhibition of sculpture called "Reconnect" is by Zita Ra for her MA Fine Art show at the University of Brighton.

The sculptures and caves can be seen by the public in Reigate on Saturday 8th May 2010. I can highly recommend this innovative exhibition and congratulate the organisers. A special event not to be missed!

My mug

The postman has just delivered my new mug from the Welsh Shop in Newport. It's ever so educational because it says "Duw Duw! Well I Never!" - the first Welsh expression I have ever learned. Now you see, this is because Welsh miners were signed up as Royal Engineers in World War 2. They were sent here to south east England with their special skills and techniques to mine the new bunkers for South Eastern Command, all in the utmost secrecy of course. It was one of these miners who accidentally let the cat out of the bag to Mr Foan the barber in the High Street. Hence the reference and brilliant play on words in one verse of my special poem by Barrie Singleton:

Welsh miners exclaiming “dieu dieu!”
Drilled tunnels for Monty’s HQ.
Soon South Eastern Command’s
Subterranean band
Were installed ‘gainst what Gerry might do.

Reigate's role in motoring history

If you are very lucky, you can see these treasured veteran and vintage motor cars on display at special occasions in Reigate. This particular one was a garden party for the residents of a nursing home in July 2009. The enterprising manager at the time asked me for a few local contacts, so it was no trouble at all to put him in touch with the owner of the cars, Bryan Goodman. Bryan is an authority on motoring history and author who lives just round the corner from the nursing home. What a stunning collection and a joy to behold.

Since then I have acquired an original page from the Illustrated London News, November 21st 1896, which beautifully illustrates the famous day when the first motor cars arrived at Reigate - on the inaugural run from London to Brighton. The drivers stopped here for lunch at the White Hart Hotel, which was in those days at the top of Bell Street. Note the magnificent full page illustration by artist H.P. Seppings Wright with his amusing observations alongside. In the right hand corner, in the background is the entrance to Reigate's Tunnel Road - historic in itself as the gift of Lord Somers in 1824 and the first road tunnel in the country.

It must have been some major achievement to get the 'Red Flag Act' repealed in Parliament. Just one year before, it had become law that a man had to walk 60 yards in front of any vehicle waving a red flag - there was a speed limit of just 2 miles per hour in towns! The annual London to Brighton Emancipation Run - not a race - has commemorated this common sense liberation most years ever since. No wonder there is an additional drawing in the bottom right hand corner if you look very carefully. It's a patriotic display of flags flying high, along with the notice "REIGATE WELCOMES PROGRESS". The whole artwork bears close scrutiny and is now carefully preserved in a double glass frame, with a photograph of the unique occasion on the reverse.

Reigate's Royal Navy connections

Reigate's majestic wooden ship,
complete with crow's nest for a bird's eye view


One doesn't expect to find a wooden sailing ship in the middle of a country park for the children to play on, so let's look at why there is this one in Reigate Priory Park.

Well, Reigate Priory was founded in medieval times by Augustinian canons (monks, that is, for those not familiar with the word). Being in such a pleasant and healthy setting, it also had a role as a hospital, with a Guest House or Infirmary on the east side, underneath what is now the Priory car park. In fact, ancient human skeletons are known to be in the sacred ground by the main building - sadly there is no visible acknowledgement of this nowadays as a mark of respect.
When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, instead of destroying this one, he gave the whole area to one of his most esteemed supporters, Lord William Howard. He was the uncle of Anne Boleyn, Henry's 2nd wife and also Catherine Howard, Henry's 5th wife, and the king appointed him Lord High Admiral. They were such friends that they went hunting and played tennis together. It was on 8th June 1541 that Lord William and Lady Margaret became the owners of Reigate manor, as a family home just 20 miles from their house in Lambeth for official duties.

During the next 140 years the Howard family and their descendants owned Reigate Priory, but it wasn't all "smooth sailing" for Lord William and his wife however. As the old stone monastic building was being modernised into a Tudor mansion, complete with brick-built Tudor Tennis House and stabling for the hunting horses, the King became furious with his wife, suspecting her of infidelity. He imprisoned her uncle and aunt in the Tower of London - 'forever'! After some months, the King relented, released them and returned their properties, so what a relief it must have been for them to return safely to Reigate in 1543. Such drama!

Their son Charles was just seven years old at the time, spending much of his childhood in Reigate. As he grew up, he also came to be very highly regarded and famous too. He often went to sea with his father. His bride was Catherine, the new Queen Elizabeth I's closest friend and First Lady of the Chamber, with the great responsibility of supervising Her Majesty's wardrobe and her jewels.

With his noble parentage, the Queen appointed young Charles, above others, as Lord High Admiral to lead the Navy - 'and Army prepared to the seas against Spain'. Yes, for the history books, this was the Charles Howard, Lord Howard of Effingham and First Earl of Nottingham who had the leading role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. How grand it would have been to have total command of the fleet, with the Ark Royal flying the Howard standard, just like the one carved into the top of the Tudor fireplace here at Reigate Priory! He had the advantage of Sir Francis Drake as second-in-command.

Lord Charles Howard, who foiled the Armada
and prevented subsequent Spanish invasions


Reigate's famous link with the defeat of the Armada explains the modern beacon at the southern edge of the grassed parkland, which was installed in 1988 to commemorate 400 years since the Armada along with a massive fireworks display. Oddly, the beacon was lit whereas to be historically accurate, the original array of beacons across the country were to be lit only if the Invasion took place (which of course it never did). You see, we had the military tactics of an excellent Lord High Admiral, plus an excellent second-in-command, plus better sailing ships. Naturally, the weather would have had something to do with it too.

To this day, Reigate can be proud of the Ark Royal , having adopted the modern version: in 1914 at the start of World War 1, a seaplane tender was given the name, taking part in the ill-fated Dardanelles campaign. Ready for World War 2, in 1937 the Navy's second ever purpose-built aircraft carrier was launched as the Ark Royal. That one successfully tracked and helped to sink the Germans' flagship, the Bismarck, much to Hitler's fury! The Ark Royal was a key target now and was actually destroyed near Gibraltar, not long afterwards. The current Ark Royal aircraft carrier, launched 1978 has just recently 'set sail' in 2009 after a £12-million refit. It is 210 metres long - 683 feet.

The Reigate Unit of the Sea Cadets Corps is also named Ark Royal.

Returning to Charles Howard and England's safeguarding of 1588, we should note that Her Majesty did not authorise any funds for the welfare of the injured and disabled sailors, so he bore the expense himself. Later he founded the Chatham Chest which funded the creation of the Royal Chelsea Hospital.

The next naval link with Reigate was in the 17th and 18th centuries when the very wealthy and influential Parsons family took ownership. Sir John Parsons was Commissioner for Victualling for the Royal Navy since 1683. His brewing business in London was popular for its strong stout, known as "Parson's Black Champagne". For ship's biscuits, oatmeal was the main ingredient so this is why Sir John Parsons encouraged the growing of oats and the milling via numerous windmills locally. This was also big business, with large amounts of money owed by Sir John to at least one oatmealman in Bell Street, it emerged in a trial for murdering his housekeeper. His face was recognisable from a description in the press; having run away, he was caught out and as a result, he was hanged. Dare I suggest that, without the security of the money he was owed, and with the sudden news of a baby on the way he had reached the end of his tether...?

Early in the 20th century, Reigate Priory was a popular place for the 'Marlborough set' on lease and for house parties. Who should be visiting again in the summer of 1911 but Winston and Clementine Churchill! This was exactly when he was made First Lord of the Admiralty. Now he needed to have some key discussions with Lord Jackie Fisher, a much older and very experienced First Sea Lord cronie of his. Where would be an ideal location for a comfortable long weekend? Reigate Priory of course. He commented on the 3 day meeting in his diary, so did Lord Fisher, whose brain, he wrote, was buzzing like a hive of bees - and naturally there is the Guest Book to check signatures. Disappointingly, the Churchill biography by Roy Jenkins bears no mention of Reigate Priory itself. His team of researchers must have had no idea of the significance of the place and 'dumbed it down', referring to it as just a country house in Surrey, as I recall. I didn't bother to read the rest of it.

As a result, Churchill's priority decision was to convert the Royal Navy from Welsh coal to oil. He then asked the now retired Fisher to solve the question - to "crack the nut" of the "riddle" of supply of oil. Fisher accepted the challenge, suitably delivered with a touch of eloquent flattery along with his personal, direct request in writing. Of course it made sense that the Welsh miners had skills to be expertly employed in the Royal Engineers, digging subterranean bunkers - including the secret one in Reigate's chalk hill 30 years later.

Now who else was a naval friend of Winston Churchill from those pre-WW1 days? None other than the young and dashing Admiral David Beatty. He married the fabulously wealthy American, Mrs Ethel Tree and went on to achieve great successes in sea battles during WW1 with his famous battle cruiser flagship, HMS Lion. What a powerful symbol. Incidentally, a lion is the coat of arms of the Churchill name. Ethel meanwhile, had her own large sea-going yacht named Sheelah. With no expense spared, she had this kitted out as a hospital. She staffed it with leading surgeons and nurses, personally took part in the caring for injured sailors and organised huge amounts of fundraising for the sailors' families.

By 1919, Admiral David Beatty was rewarded by the British Government to the tune of £100,000 and created an Earl, Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord. His official residence was now the Mall House in Admiralty Arch, yet he and his wife had several properties around the country. Still , London was not peaceful enough for Ethel, who had suffered increasingly from depression and loneliness when her husband was away. When the opportunity came up in 1921 to buy the historic Reigate Priory with such maritime connections, that they were already so familiar with from various visits, this country property became their next acquisition. It was as a result of this purchase at £35,000 by the newly promoted Earl and his Countess that the 19th century dining room ceiling now became modernised and painted gloriously with gold! The Admiral's Daimler and the Countess's Rolls-Royce became their chosen forms of land transport and they entertained lavishly, honoured by the company of the King and Queen at dinner in London. We know that even some minor iron gates on the premises were painted gold, whereas others, the Park Lane gates and railings, dating back to 1720 and of a vintage comparable with Cheyne Walk, Chelsea were of huge value. By this time, the stately brick pillars had been adorned with stone pineapples on top.

What happened in the wintertime? Nature takes over. The hunting horses on the estate would be in their stables whereas Priory Lake would freeze up, much to the enjoyment of Countess Beatty and her visitors as a temporary site for a skating rink, complete with coloured lanterns and a magical party atmosphere!

On a sombre note, lest we forget, it was Earl Beatty with the greatest dignity, who made a speech to the crowds on the official unveiling of the Borough's War Memorial in 1923. Earl Beatty is himself commemorated in Trafalgar Square, directly behind Lord Nelson. He received a state funeral and was laid to rest in St Paul's Cathedral alongside Lord Nelson. There is a school named after him in Toronto, Canada. After all, the Canadian Army was stationed here in Reigate too "with their drawl and their chrome", during WW2 before they were shipped off to Normandy on D Day.

Now I hope that explains why we have a whopping great wooden ship in the middle of Reigate Priory Park, and a Churchill Fellow to tell you about it. I hope that also explains why it is named the Grey Lady...? I cannot offer any explanation why this stately galleon should be described on an official website as just a "pirate ship" but perhaps no-one had ever told them about the REAL maritime history, with all its gunpowder, blood and gore.

The last of Reigate's famous admirals,
with a commanding view over Trafalgar Square and its famous pigeons


Reference 1: 'Discovering Reigate Priory - the place and the people' 1998
Author: Audrey Ward
Editor: Grace Filby
Publisher: Bluestream Books, 1 Howard Road, Reigate RH2 7JE
Proceeds are for Reigate Priory Museum

Reference 2: 'Churchill's Secret Reigate' illustrated lecture by Grace Filby featuring a specially commissioned poem by Barrie Singleton, 2009.
A DVD and summary are available.

DVD of Churchill's Secret Reigate talk

It's £8 plus Post & Packing - and you can buy it here online, from anywhere in the world! For a limited time the pack also contains the specially commissioned poem by Barrie Singleton which was the finale of my presentation.

P&P

UK + £1 post and packing £9.00 Overseas + £2 post and packing £10.00 UK pick up £8.00