The story of FW Twort FRS travels to Poland

Back in 2008 I discovered in the Wellcome Trust archives that the famous expert microbiologist and discoverer of bacteriophages, Frederick W Twort was actually born and bred here in Surrey, and I could contact his only son and biographer, Dr Antony Twort.

It was a pleasure to invite Antony to tea. He already knew the way to Reigate because he had regularly driven himself to the Bourne Gallery round the corner in Lesbourne Road (now a trendy bike cafe) for occasional exhibitions.  Little did I know at the time that he had a famous watercolour artist as a distant relative - Flora Twort - whose own magnificent works are permanently on display in the gallery named after her in Petersfield. Antony very kindly brought me some goodies - a copy of his biography, which he inscribed for me, a copy of a crucial Penguin book from 1949 (Science News 14), which was from his father's own stash as one of the key authors, plus a splendid commemorative poster from the American Society of Microbiology that gives his father the credit he deserves in history.

Then in 2012 I also had the pleasure of inviting Antony to lunch - just before his 90th birthday, and I was able to give him an inscribed copy of my book - well, really, I had only written one of the chapters, but I included lots of material about the legendary FW Twort and the pioneering work he did.  It is now, in 2015, exactly 100 years since his discovery was first published in the Lancet, and I hope his son Antony has received my exciting news, that this centenary is going to be commemorated in proper style and dignity in Wroclaw, Poland, 850 miles away, with a one day conference - Clinical Phage Therapy 2015. Sadly, up until now, Twort has always been rather a Cinderella in the miniscule world of microbiology. We can transform all that on Saturday 26th September.

Here is the official website for Clinical Phage Therapy 2015: http://www.iitd.pan.wroc.pl/en/clinphage2015 - detailing the conference programme and speakers, registration, abstracts, and details of the venue and contacts.  Registration is free!

As a special guest, I shall be delighted to attend and present a 5 minute talk with some of my rare Twort photos and happy news of events this year when I have been able to easily spread the word about phage therapy.

Now I shall risk giving the game away: and for some very quick special effects to bring it all bang up to date, I have some marching band music playing Colonel Bogey, plus a video clip of a drone flying over a fabulous fairytale castle just 50 miles from Wroclaw Glowny railway station, which Winston Churchill visited way back in 1906 when it was still called Breslau. So I think that might be rather fun and I do think Dr FW Twort would have approved. (Incidentally, Twort once put butter on the railway tracks and watched the steam train skidding back down the hill again by his local station - naughty!)

My photo: Marching band playing Colonel Bogey to 1000 Churchill Fellows, at Blenheim Palace, 2015
                                                            (click link for the music)

Reigate woman meets the Queen - picture

Reigate resident attends Queen’s reception at Buckingham Palace, to mark the 50^th anniversary of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Grace Filby, a Churchill Fellow of 2007 from Reigate, Surrey, attended a reception at Buckingham Palace, hosted by Her Majesty The Queen on 18^th March.

Her Majesty The Queen, who is patron of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, hosted the event to mark its 50^th anniversary as Sir Winston’s living legacy.

Since 1965, over 5000 British citizens have been awarded Churchill Fellowships, from over 100,000 applicants, to travel overseas to study areas of topical and personal interest. The knowledge and innovative ideas they bring back are shared, for the benefit of their profession, their community, and, in lots of cases, the nation. For many people, a Churchill Fellowship proves transformational, and they go on to achieve great things - effecting positive change within society.

Grace went on her Fellowship in 2007 to the Former Soviet Union (Republic of Georgia) and Poland, as well as the USA and Canada to investigate the health value of bacteriophages.

As she explained in the commemorative booklet, phages are natural waterborne viruses that attack bacteria. Whilst their application is still obscure in the UK, Grace affirms that phage therapy has great potential in the fight against antibiotic resistance.

She says “the Anniversary Reception was an exciting and unforgettable event, with so many amazing people to meet and chat to about their Fellowships and what they have achieved since. As time rushed by, I suddenly realised I hadn’t yet been to meet our host, Her Majesty the Queen. Luckily I was whisked in to be presented to her and the Duke of Edinburgh, with the advantage of not even having to stand in line, so not a minute was wasted! Just one or two people knew that I had, all the while, brought a couple of tiny vials of phage medicine from the Former Soviet Union in my bag, for the sake of posterity. They are perfectly harmless. Considering it is exactly 100 years since phages were discovered by a Surrey microbiologist, I thought it was about time they got some official recognition in the UK.”

245 Fellows from every decade since 1965 represented the Trust at the reception, as well as representatives from The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust in Australia, and the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States.

To mark its semi centennial, The Trust has just awarded a record number of 150 Travelling Fellowships – investing at least £1.3m in British citizens. This year’s Fellows will travel to 58 countries between them, across six continents, where they will carry out a wide range of projects. The average length of a Fellowship is 6 weeks.

Many events are being held throughout the year to celebrate Sir Winston’s life and legacy.

“We were delighted and honoured that the Queen hosted a reception to mark our anniversary year. Sir Winston’s legacy lives on through our Fellows – individuals who, like him, have vision, leadership, a passion with a purpose, and a commitment to help their fellow citizens” says Jamie Balfour, Director General of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

For an official photograph of Grace speaking with the Queen go to:

http://www.wcmt.org.uk/fellows/stories/grace-filbys-story

Monty's birthday bash in Redhill

17th November was a special date in the calendar for my Churchill's Secret Reigate talk at St.Paul's, Redhill - the event also attracted several volunteer stewards from Chartwell.

This time I started off with topical news - firstly a letter from Reigate and Banstead Borough Council thanking me for my street name suggestions, and to confirm that the new residential road off Linkfield Lane will be named to commemorate Churchill's connection with this area, to be ready by June 2012. (I was told on the phone that it will be called Churchill Close. Monty doesn't get a streetname because Montgomery is too long a name - well at least he has a legend for evermore with Monty's Secret Hideout, up on the hill.)

The second bit of news was that it was actually General Montomery's birthday that very day - he was born on 17th November, 124 years ago. Even more amazing was that it was actually on his birthday, in 1941 aged 48, that he was promoted to be head of South Eastern Command and he went immediately, that same day, to Reigate to set up his HQ. Coincidence or design? History in the making.

Reigate Cave Mystery - Lost stone

Have you seen this stone? Missing since 1st June 2011, last seen in Barons Caves, Reigate. There is a long tradition of guides explaining for visitors that it was used in medieval times as a way of summoning service from the castle servants upstairs.

Whodunnit?

Strolling through our Priory Park on Friday, I noticed that the neat lollipop-style bay trees were not looking too healthy any more. Of seven trees, several now have dead, brown leaves and at least one is denuded of its lower bark.

Stopping to chat to my park keeper friend who was carefully tending the herbaceous borders in Monks Walk, I just mentioned this and to my horror, he told me what has been happening.

Repeatedly on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, persons unknown have been yanking those trees out of the soil, lugging them over to the fountain pool at the centre of the Sunken Garden, and leaving them there in the water to drown!

What mindless evening pranks - those idiots responsible for this are thoroughly disrespectful to the trees, to all of us who visit the park and especially with this particular part of consecrated ground beside the old Priory. The whole set of baytrees was replaced last year, but it looks as if this new batch are destined for the tip too. And the cost to ratepayers? £100 each plus VAT. Go figure how much that costs.

Then we have 2 young lads who decided to light a fire in the woods, necessitating a callout by the Fire Brigade, because of the risk of burning peat. It turns out that these thoughtless visitors had travelled all the way from Orpington and London.

And to cap it all, there are so many people coming from all over, with picnic stuff and choosing to go to the more secluded areas like the stable hill - and what do they do with their rubbish? Precisely nothing. This is exactly what I had written about to the local newspaper a few years ago.

I hope they all get caught, named and shamed - and fined. Anyone else with a camera?

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.

Pigeon Post's WW2 pigeon homework

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There is nothing better for cheering me up after a truly awful week than a stroke of luck - or was it merely a coincidence?

The reason I called this blog Pigeon Post is that during World War 2, a prize-winning pigeon loft at 18 Doods Road, Reigate was commandeered for the war effort. Reigate was the Battle HQ for South Eastern Command, headed by the military VIP, General Montgomery.

For my talks on Churchill's Secret Reigate, I always feature the role of these pigeons because it just goes to show how small creatures and small messages can make all the difference if they are delivered safely - and sometimes with great bravery. I have even suggested to the Council of the Reigate Society that they should be commemorated somehow locally, but they seemed to think it was a silly idea. Oh well it's their loss - our next-door ancient market town, Dorking, commemorates a flipping chicken on its main Deepdene roundabout, just where Churchill used to stay as a teenager.

I knew that the Dickin Medal had been awarded to at least one of Mr Blasby's Reigate pigeons. This is the equivalent of a Victoria Cross for animals! In total, 32 pigeons were awarded the Dickin Medal for their magnificent wartime work. Oh, how I would have liked to find out more - like their specific names, and which one did what. I guess that they had a key role in the D Day landings since these were secretly planned by Monty's army staff on a massive scale. I think it is an inspiring story.

So it was a great delight to go to Bletchley Park on Sunday - my birthday - and at the last minute to find a whole roomful of exhibits in code-breaker Alan Turing's Hut 8 - devoted to the role of pigeons in war! I shall have to go again sometime in warmer weather, and allocate an hour or so to view those exhibits in detail.

How strange that this morning, only 6 days later, when Dave my window cleaner and his friend Malcolm turned up about some household repairs - what should the guttering man do as a hobby but breed racing pigeons! So he is going to lend me a book.

And just as a bit of light relief from the ugliness and deceptions of this corrupt, sad world, I am now eagerly awaiting a DVD called "Valiant". It has only cost me one penny and it's the story of one of those splendid D Day pigeons - as a British-made cartoon. I hope that will be fun.

PS It was. I recommend it to schoolchildren needing to learn about World War 2 without any books or study skills.

"Opportunity missed"

For all the publicity about the renovation of Reigate Priory Park through Heritage Lottery Funding of £4.2 million plus more millions from local businesses, I have always maintained that a DVD would be an ideal way of recording the process and the outcome.

So it was a great treat this Christmas to see the new DVD sponsored by the Borough Council and Legal & General. It features some key historical elements since the 12th century, as well as the ancient woodland deerpark, medieval fishponds - now the lake, wild flowers, Victorian-style herbaceous borders and numerous magnificent tree specimens.

Those of us interested in nature conservation might be astonished by the attention to regulations when it came to the demolition of the old air raid shelter with its one resident bat. Similarly with the draining and dredging of the lake, one single duck nest had to be protected by giving it a wide berth of several metres.

The silliest story in my opinion, though, is about the fully grown terrapin that is an unwelcome resident of Reigate Priory Park lake - certainly not a genuine heritage feature and according to Surrey Biodiversity Partnership, actually 'a serious threat to our wetland fauna'. Project manager Nina Porter explained that she had heard about the terrapin before, she had seen it herself and it was a menace, eating fish and ducklings. I wonder if it had been properly listed in the paperwork as a living creature that should be moved to a new and more suitable home, if the opportunity presented itself.

Well, now we know that there was indeed a perfect opportunity, but failure of communication with a naive contract worker.

Suffice it to say that, after all that hard work and financial outlay, the overgrown and unwanted exotic pet still lurks there. Yes, Reigate's Rogue of a Reptile was taking a stroll across the grass when it was spotted by a workman, picked up and ushered back into that beautiful, tranquil and ancient lake, where it remains to this day. Watch out - he or she has grown to the size of a dinner plate.

Now how about a Reward for anyone else who finds it again?

Castle cottages

There is some good news from my Lib Dem councillor Graham Norman about one of my heritage concerns locally - the boarded up cottages in Reigate's Castle Grounds are for sale!

Yes, it will be good to have them occupied again and one trusts fully restored in keeping with their age and location.

If they decided to put them on the market as a result of my raising the subject then I am very glad I did - and with the proceeds there will be more than enough to pay for the restoration of Reigate's magnificent Park Lane gates. After all, it is only fitting that the sale of one historic treasure in this ancient town can fund the long awaited repair of another. Problem solved.

Letters to the Editor archives

Now that the local paper has moved offices out of Reigate to Redhill, there is no space for the archives. They have all had to go to somewhere in Brentwood/ford, I hear.

So for posterity, here are two of the letters published in October 2008, one by a colleague and the other from me. Well, if only more people had read them at the time, such as our MP Crispin Blunt who lives in London, not his constituency. We really could have helped prevent at least 4,445 girls from getting side effects in less than two years, some of whom have needed long-term hospital care.

Yes, both subheadings were shown to be correct - the HPV comments WERE misleading, and Better safe than sorry - but it is too late now for those girls.

Click here to enlarge

Click here to enlarge









For an up to date account of my findings please take a look at my new Pigeon Post page: Truth about Cervarix.

New street name suggestions

For many years my mother Audrey Ward was invited by groups and schools to give local history talks, and far and away the most popular were the ones about street names! We still have the card index, boxes of slides and lecture files, amended each time to satisfy the curiosity of residents of different parts of the borough. Sometimes my father or I went along too, to operate the slide projector and generally provide a bit of support with the various props.

Merstham, for example, has a housing estate with roads named after different types of rock - Portland Drive, Malmstone Avenue, Purbeck Close, Greensand Close - perfect material for learning about geology and geography! We have a heavy box of rock samples which I think came from the local stonemasons/undertakers.

Woodhatch has an estate full of beautiful tree names - Blackthorn Road, Juniper Close, Holly Road, Hornbeam Road, Willow Road, Hazel Close, Cedar Close and so on.

In Reigate we have the historic connections with aristocracy: Beaufort Road, Somers Road and St.Albans Road to name just a few.

Redhill, developing rapidly in the 19th century due to the railway as well as royal patronage at Royal Earlswood, is blessed with names like Philanthropic Road, Prince's Road, Asylum Arch Road and Victoria Road.

A new addition to Redhill's one way system in recent years was Princess Way, commemorating Princess Diana; whereas a new street name was needed for Reigate Priory's converted stable mews - what a good idea - it became Stable Mews!

What treasures they are, each with glorious stories and inspiring characters to discover! We had hoped to turn them into a book but unfortunately there has been no chance of any funding or interest from a publisher - after all, the number of streets has increased considerably in just a few short years. It seems unlikely in these times of harsh economy, that any more Lottery money will be coming our way either.

Strangely there is not a hint anywhere in the borough's street names of the significant role of Reigate in protecting our country during World War 1 or 2.

In honour of two generations and our leaders who greatly valued this area, I would like to make a little plea that we can name any new roads to commemorate Sir Winston Churchill, General Montgomery, the Welsh miners who constructed the Battle HQ bunker inside Reigate Hill and even the pedigree carrier pigeons who lost their lives delivering messages.

While we are on the subject, perhaps we can also commemorate the Girl Guiding movement - since, after all, it is their centenary this year, 2010. Even more significantly - it was all the idea of a group of pioneering Reigate girls who had 'gatecrashed' a Scouting jamboree at Crystal Palace in 1909. Look what effect that has had internationally ever since! My personal guiding experience was with the 2nd Reigate company, in the now demolished Rank Memorial Hall in the High Street, from 1963-70, and before that as a Brownie at the 3rd A pack, next door at the Congregational Church - another demolished piece of Reigate's long, distinguished history.

So I do hope that Reigate & Banstead Borough Council will consider these very topical commemorative road-naming possibilities in the near future.

Bad news - Reigate in the ITN health archives

With so much rich history, a healthy environment and magnificent views over many counties, Reigate's residents have much to be thankful for. Over the centuries, it has been the scene of various battles, on land and in the air. Even cannonballs have been found in the Priory park, possibly from when a local Lord mounted cannon to frighten the rightful young female owner away. Like mine, her name was Elizabeth - Lord High Admiral Charles Howard's granddaughter.

Did you know there is a different sort of battle going on here right now? Since 2008, Reigate has hit the history archives again. There is televised news evidence by ITN, now in their online archives, about a young female casualty - 13 year old Rebecca Ramagge. She is still very ill indeed, two years on. What was the cause of injury, according to the doctors?* 3 tiny jabs of a new vaccine called Cervarix - given in school.

Click here for archive ITN evidence of the effect it is having on Rebecca and her family.
http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/2009/09/29/T29090911/

Our Reigate MP, Mr Crispin Blunt, is the only one to have called a parliamentary debate, and the House of Commons was practically empty at the time. Now, over two years into the programme, more than 4,445 girls have had their side effects reported officially to the UK's regulatory watchdog. Whereas some may be "quite mild" and "not long lasting", clearly, as you can see from ITN, some of these are also serious and long term - a great cause for concern and a great shame.

For the record, I can add that in October 2008, here in Reigate I proved that the original advertising materials circulated to GP surgeries and PCTs contained false information about the incidence of side effects, news which the Dept of Health and a former Health Minister accepted and apologised for - to me, anyway. It sounds from the archive news clip that medical professionals were indeed, misled by that false information. Too late - the damage is done.

Then in September 2010, I proved that the regulatory watchdog, the MHRA was wrong in continually stating that there is no evidence that the side effects can be long-lasting. They have since thanked me and kindly confirmed that they are going to take my comments into consideration.*

With great teamwork, my associates in other counties and other countries have unearthed more huge errors and oversights with the HPV vaccine programmes so I make no apology for the fact that I am not a working scientist, nor am I medically qualified.* At least I am female, and at least I care about the welfare of our young girls.

This is another battle that we shall win in the end, and, I sincerely hope, with no more casualties thanks. "Never wonne ne never shall".


*Note: GarethT.

A quilted comforter to commemorate the Battle of Britain 1940

Yes, it may be a strange thing to do, but I had never made a patchwork quilt before, and I figured it would be a pleasant pastime to combine the fabric colours and prints into a padded picture to mark a remarkable wartime achievement 70 years ago, in August-December1940.

A few of my squares are now printed with photos of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, army General Montgomery, my Luftwaffe aerial photo of the Reigate area and the corresponding map that the German navigators had from the 1930s. It covers Redhill, Dorking, Leatherhead, surrounding villages, golf courses, roads, railways and countryside. They identified the golf courses and the Merstham rail tunnel but a lot more was well hidden underground! There is even a Spitfire and a Hurricane, with a British airman looking up wistfully into the air.

The squares are arranged to represent the pale blue sky, the North Downs with chalk scars and green vegetation. Below that are a rich variety of oak leaves (representing Surrey and the ancient Vale of Holmesdale), beech woods, barbed wire and undergrowth where our allied soldiers, especially Canadians, would be grouping and training in their hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile, manmade caves and tunnels were hastily being adapted for wartime purposes or constructed afresh - invisible to the enemy from the air.

As I peer at my small cotton squares and think of a talk I shall be giving next year to a group at St Paul's Church, Dorking, it is inspiring to think of all those flying aces, swooping and looping overhead. A Reigate girl actually married one of them - Tony Eyre from Churchill's Own - the 615 Squadron based at Kenley aerodrome. He did well to survive the war from 1942-45 in a PoW camp but then as Wing Commander was killed in a flying accident in 1946. His Welsh gravestone was almost forgotten until this year. A contemporary of his in 234 and 238 Squadrons, Old Reigatian Battle of Britain ace Wing Commander Bob Doe is well-remembered with a blue plaque on an exterior wall of Reigate Grammar School. Thankfully, he survived those war years for another 70 years until February 2010, aged 89, and is noted for some wise words: "We do not want to be remembered as heroes, we only ask to be remembered for what we did....that's all."

It is really intriguing to spot on the scraps of old map, some of our local country estates which Churchill was so familiar with:

The Deepdene - a fabulous estate where he and his brother Jack used to visit their aunt on many occasions - how exciting it must have been for them to explore all those sand caves in their youth and wonder about their potential in times of need - how right they were;

Reigate Priory, again, that 'dear old house' as his mother Jennie had described it - with sand tunnels connecting to local houses and the old castle caves a veritable tourist attraction;

Polesden Lacey - the euphemistically-called grand "country cottage" where his autograph is permanently on display in the visitors book, along with that of "Christine Churchill" - who knows who she was? (I think it was his wife Clemmie's sense of humour);

Cherkley Court, where Winston Churchill was lavishly entertained by his newspaper baron/Air Ministry head - Lord Beaverbrook - yet slept in a bedroom there where you could "barely swing a cat";

Juniper Hill, where, I am told, Churchill used to go and watch secret air reconnaisance film footage in the undergound cinema;

Norbury Park, which by then was the sumptuous home of Marie Stopes, the reformer whose book on "Married Love" was lent to Clemmie by Jack's wife Goonie in 1918 and she wrote about it in a letter to her husband Winston - they already had three children and two more were to be born to her;

Oakdene at Holmbury - a mansion previously owned by Augustus Perkins, who I have since discovered was a Colonel and 'grandson of Boston's merchant prince of the China trade'. Churchill's parents appear to have been friends of the family which is not surprising considering his mother was American - his father sometimes stayed there at Oakdene and travelled by train back to London;

and Headley Court, which was chosen for the recuperation of RAF wounded airmen - not surprising, because this is a beautiful part of the world.

A curiosity - school fire escapes made of wood

44 years ago this summer, there was a tragedy waiting to happen in a village in Wales, because nothing had been done about an overloaded slag heap and a water main in a disused canal. It was only a matter of time - actually by October of 1966, when a third factor - so much rain - created a disaster at Aberfan.

"Tip No 7...slipped and descended upon part of the village killing 116 children and 29 adults. The tragedy occurred just after 9 o'clock in the morning under circumstances which apparently precluded the issue of warning." Well, that is the official view of the Cabinet Office in their case study this summer. They describe the rescue at Pantglas Junior School as "near fruitless" and
"the mental scars are so hard to heal, some 40 years after the Aberfan disaster".

Yet the case study makes no mention of prevention or any concerns expressed by professionals or local people before the tragedy.

Here in Reigate in 1966, that event immediately sparked a concern with a teacher at a local primary school that there were no fire escapes for the upstairs classrooms. It only took one person to realise that if something went wrong in the boiler room, there would be no escape since the children's only staircase was directly above it.

What happened next? A letter to the local authority resulted in a terse conversation with an official who reckoned to the effect that "If you make a strong point like this and we have to spend our limited resources on fire escapes then we cannot afford to allocate funds to Redstone Secondary School for much needed playing fields." Fortunately, that intuitive teacher was inspired to reply gently along the lines that there may be less need for playing fields at secondary level if a whole cohort of children were to suffer in a disaster in a primary school with no alternative exit route.

Oh well, this is all history now. I will just divulge that fire escapes were authorised to be installed in this Surrey primary school as a result. The silly thing is that the new fire escape to the upper floor of the Infants department didn't even match up with a suitable door or window (I am told), and would you believe it - what a classic blunder - the fire escapes to the Infants department and the Juniors department were both made of WOOD. This must surely be a local curiosity?

I would like to ask for a bit of common sense and balance in local authorities. This can be achieved, very economically, by listening to employees and local residents who have the courage to voice their concerns and offer some practical suggestions. With modern communications technology and the internet, history might just prove the point as "Lessons Identified" - or even, "Lessons Unidentified".

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.

My Naughty Little Sister in Reigate

Dorothy Edwards was a "traditionally built" lady with a bun who lived for most of her life, 1914-1982 in Reigate. She used to read her much-loved childen's stories aloud on BBC's Listen with Mother, much to my delight as a child of the 1950's and 60's. Little did I know that she lived only a mile or so away from our family, and even visited local schools on a regular basis, also calling in on Mr Sean Hawkins, owner of the Ancient House Bookshop for updates on sales and lengthy chats. During that time she and her husband Francis lived in a cottage on Woodhatch Road, just by the bus stop beside the historic Angel Inn. They then moved to one of the newly built properties in Burnham Drive.

Do you remember the original black and white illustrations, the escapades with Bad Harry, When My Naughty Little Sister Was Good, and that Naughtiest Story of All? Happy memories and a far cry from the antics of some British children these days.

Reigate Castle Grounds and Barons' Cave

This is my latest slide show of the 11th century castle area in the centre of Reigate - a stone gateway, dry moat, inner bailey, outer bailey, wet moat, barbican, southern approach, public gardens, private grounds, medieval inn/assizes, castle walk, cottages, stately trees and rare flowers. The man-made Barons' Cave may have been the castle wine cellar before becoming a local curiosity for visitors by the 17th century. The cave is open to the public on a number of advertised Saturdays throughout the summer. Watch out for the dinosaur.

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 horses

Visitors to Reigate might be unaware of its equine history. There isn't a single horse or even a donkey alive in the central part of the town nowadays, whereas there were several at the stables in Reigate's Priory Park as recently as forty years ago.

There is actually a rather high class wooden rocking horse which has been used as the symbol for Reigate Priory Museum since it was founded in the 1970s. The museum is open during school term times on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, and additionally for special occasions such as Heritage Weekend in September each year. At the top of the grand staircase is the rocking horse which used to belong to Mr Clifford Price, former headmaster of Holmesdale School and Reigate Priory School. It was adapted from a fairground horse.

The unique notebook illustrated is one I had made as a gift for CHASE children's hospice.

This second photograph shows the 2010 remains of the beautiful old thatched stables looking from Park Lane with the Priory Park and hills in the background. This is where Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited many of her champion racehorses who were trained here over the years. Surrey County Council is responsible for the site. My mother wrote in her book, Discovering Reigate Priory: "In 1997 the buildings were sold for conversion into desirable homes" but there have been no signs of developments since then except decay, neglect and arson.

Reigate Priory's ancient horse ponds were just by the new Pavilion, (now covered up); 6 strong horses were needed to pull carriages up Reigate Hill; do you know about the famous Reigate Mare, or a horse called Plowman which had won the Prince's Plate at Newmarket, the hunting horse that was so admired by King Louis XV that it was given to him, and Reigate's American Countess Beatty who loved to hunt?