Epsom and Ewell on the Internet - Epsom in the Thirties






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Epsom in the Thirties

This page is part of the Bourne Hall Outreach Programme, an informal partnership between the Bourne Hall Museum and Epsom and Ewell on the Internet.

'Epsom is as clean and bright a town as sound local administration can make it, and it also has the advantage of being an excellent shopping centre. The shop premises in the High street and elsewhere strike a modern note, and although Epsom has its picturesque sides, its business arrangements are not those of an 'old-fashioned' country town'. So wrote the contributor to the 1936 town guide. There was certainly no shortage of food shops - six firms held game licences from the Council, including the large Sainsburys in Upper High Street, Marshalls fish shop in the High Street,and Macfisheries. The butcher's shop of Ardern Elphick, on the corner by the Marquis of Granby, hung up carcases and sides of meat as had been done for the last twenty years - Best English and Scottish Beef, Southdown Mutton. Like other butchers in the town, Elphick slaughtered on the premises: children wondered why so many lambs were driven round the back of the shop, and why none ever came out. Ewell, too, had a butchers - Cracknells, on the High Street/ Spring Street corner, with the slaughterhouse next to it . This was lit through a window with wooden trellis, set high in the wall above the curious glances of the children.

Coppens, the General and Fancy Draper at the foot of Upper High Street, was packed full of everything needed for dressmaking, covers and curtains. They faced stiff competition from Reids, 'the West End store in Epsom', where eighteen departments occupied three sales floors and there was still room on another floor for the restaurant, the ladies hairdresser and the chiropodist. At Lester Bowdens ladies and gentlemen could have tailored cloths together with hunting, polo and racing breeches and racing silks - all made on the premises by expert craftsmen. Emma Harvey at the Quadrant advertised her services as a court dressmaker and ladies tailor, with dresses coming direct from New Bond Street. The shop workers, without whom none of these marvels would have been possible, worked long hours. Tobacconists wanted the Council to let them stay open until 9.30 or 10, but although almost all the fifty local traders in the business supported the petition, it was turned down on the grounds of public health.

Now that so many houses were becoming available, estate agents sprung up: Peacock and Keen were set up to sell properties on the Hazon Farm Estate and Harwood & Co, builders of the Woodcote Green estate, had their own agent's office in the High Street. Epsom's car dealers made sure their premises were grand enough to attract the wealthier new residents. The Woodcote Motor Co. in Church Street were largest, followed by Pages Motors, who had the advantage of a High Street location - petrol pumps swung out across the road for the convenience of motorists, if not pedestrians.

Just about everything for the house could be purchased at Dorsets in Waterloo Road. This ironmongers stocked gas and electric lighting, plumbing and sanitary works, brushes and woodware: there was a foundry on the premises. Further down the High Street, Norringtons supplied decorating materials and tools with appliances for all trades. Absalom & Garland in Upper High Street also stocked plumbing and sanitary goods, and were sole agents for the celebrated Robbialac paints. The Council was still supplying electricity to the area as it had been for 35 years, and its new Electricity Office and Showroom had been opened to the public in Church Street. Here, for 2/6d a quarter, you could rent one of the latest electrical ovens, kettle included. But there was an alternative at the showroom of the Wandsworth & District Gas Company. Many outlying houses were not yet on mains electricity, and they kept up the demand for gas lighting.

Tired out by shopping, the ladies of Epsom could relax in one of the town's fifteen cafes and refreshment rooms, from the Ivydene Luncheon Rooms and Tea Gardens in South Street to Riddingtons in the High Street. Pubs trading in the town centre included the Spread Eagle, the Kings Head and the White Hart; the George had just been rebuilt, and in Upper High Street the Railway Hotel was open for business. Ewell had a cider pub at the Lord Nelson and a beerhouse at the Star in Cheam Road.

Edward Thomas the cycle dealer of East Street could be relied on, not just for bicycles, but for prams, nursery furniture and wheeled toys. He had been quick to spot the expanding market offered by young families raising their children in the area. Mrs. Earle of Earles Stores in Ewell looked after other people's children while they did their shopping, her husband said she was never happy unless she had a baby in her arms. Sidney Best, the chemist who had opened branches in Epsom, Ewell and Stoneleigh, was careful to advertise that he stocked everything for baby, including surgical and sickroom requisites, with a day and night emergency service. Meanwhile at Lavender Hedge in Chessington Road, Miss C.M. Ellis was prepared to look after children (up to seven at a time) in their parents' absence.

As the professional classes began to move into the area, there was a market for private schools. Big houses, like the Brambles in Kingston Road or Park Hill House off Epsom Road, were being converted to schools. Budgell, the headmaster of Ewell Castle, had just added Bourne Hall Girls School to his enterprise. Ewell Castle advertised that it was fully equipped, at a cost of £30,000, so that every room had central heating and electric light. Parents were assured that the school would turn out boys displaying 'those characteristics which have made Englishmen what they are'.

In 1937 Epsom had three picture palaces - the Cinema Royal, the Capitol (later the Granada) and the Odeon. The Cinema Royal was closed the next year, to be pulled down as the road widening scheme in the High Street was extended. The Capitol Cinema opened in 1929 - no expense spared, and 1,513 seats provided. Along with a trip to the pictures, it was able to offer its patrons a cafe which became the smartest venue in town for formal dinners: during the late 1930s it was serving 50,000 custoomers a year. The cafe restaurant was also used for private functions, parties and wedding receptions.

The Odeon opened on 19th April 1937, built as part of Oscar Deutsch's cinema chain. The name is really ancient Greek, but was passed off as a coded message, Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation. Trevor White has written:- 'The premiere seemed an exciting affair to attend - reserved seats, a promise of celebrities, talk of a Military Band - with massed trumpeters - and even a cocktail party afterwards. I remember that slight sharp smell, a mixture of paint, size and distemper plus recently laid carpets permeating the rapidly filling auditorium. I remember tugging my parents through the crowd then making for our 'high class seats' as the programme called them. The stage curtains were of a green velvet-like material and the screen curtains, when disclosed, showed a panorama of a mountainous region with an Odeon cinema planted at the centre. The celebrities on stage were Tom Walls and Ralph Lynn, who came to prominence in the Aldwych Theatre farces in the early nineteen twenties. Tom Walls lived in the Reigate Road, and Ralph Lynn lived in Wilmerhatch Lane and then at Kingswood Road, Tadworth. After a musical interlude by the Band of His Majesty's 4th Queens Own Hussars (containing massed trumpeters) a Gaumont British Newsreel was screened followed by a colour musical and a cartoon Three Blind Mousketeers. Lastly came the main attraction, Beloved Enemy, made at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood and starring Merle Oberon and Brian Aherne. Mum, Dad and I didn't have the nerve to gatecrash the cocktail party. We wouldn't have got far if we had. We almost certainly bought fish and chips at Marshall's Fish Restaurant, next door but one, then went home quietly impressed with the sudden glamour of a unique evening's entertainment'.

'The yard at our coalmerchants',writes John Furniss, 'being next door to the cinema, provided a good park for the VIPs, and one of the coalmen, Bill, enthusiastically acted as car park attendant, doubtless looking for a large tip. He stayed behind in the yard till late that night. Finally, the last to appear was the millionaire Oscar, who tottered towards his car, thrust his hand in his pocket, and with a patronising 'there-you-are-my-man' look emptied the contents into Bill's waiting hand and drove off. Bill looked down. It held fourpence halfpenny'.

The Odeon was built on the site of Chamberlains, a well-loved Epsom tea shop. This was an old-fashioned institution, where you sat on hard chairs at little circular tables and could enjoy a glass of cold milk and a sticky cake called a coconut pyramid as served by Mr. Chamberlain's plump wife or equally plump sister.

Despite the possibility of a stable lads' strike for better wages and conditions, the 1937 Derby went ahead as normal. One new landmark was a temporary Clock Tower on the Downs - many visitors thought it should have been kept permanently.

'I remember going down to the end of the lane with Mother - it must have been 1937', says Regina Pickett, 'and watching the King and Queen come by in their car, and the King raised his hat to us, and the Queen waved. The charabancs would come along the Kingston Road, and up Reigate Road and then up Longdown Lane, and we'd follow them. We'd take our picnic with us and meet friends who lived in Longdown Lane. We used to get up what we called the Three Brooms, because you had the best vantage point, right on top of the hill, and we used to have the table cloth laid out on the grass, and have corned beef sandwiches, pork pies, bread and cheese, bread and jam, homemade fruit cake, fruit, sweets, flasks of tea. The men would have the bottles of ale and cigarettes. We had homemade lemonade. I remember seeing Prince Monolulu decorated with all these feathers all over his head, the one-man band, people playing accordions, the pearly kings and queens, the post-horn coach going by up Longdown Lane - I always remember that great long tubular thing. I think people were throwing money out of cars as they went by, but I don't think we were allowed to pick it up. Everybody had a jolly good time. Nobody ever squabbled or bickered. Nobody bothered about dressing up in their finery, or what they looked like, and nobody looked down on other people. It was one big happy family'.

There was excitement off the course as well as on. Thirteen charges of welshing on bets were made at the 1937 Derby, plus four of gaming, and one of assault, while three men were charged with the theft of a taxi cab. William Bramwell from Manchester, bookmaker, pleaded guilty to two charges of welshing. When stopped, he told police: 'They broke me on the last race', but was found to have £50 on him - more than enough to pay out. He was fined £10 on one charge and sent down for six months on the other. Two Leicester men were seen making a book at higher odds than other bookmakers, then leaving their pitch. Stopped on the way to Epsom Downs Station, one was given six months hard labour. Annie Egerton of Thornton Heath reported backing Port of Call at 300-1 when the going odds were 10-1. Her bookie, Thomas Cunningham of Manchester, was nowhere to be found after the race, and when she met up with him later he turned and ran. Stopped by a police officer, he said he had not taken any bets, the £15 in his pocket being profit from selling flags. Cunningham was fined £2 and sent down for two months.

As in many previous years, local conversation before the Derby meeting soon turned from the race to the gypsies. The new Downs Regulation Act had for the first time given the Conservators powers to move gypsy caravans off the Downs. The gypsies, however, were not inclined to let an Act of Parliament obstruct their tradition of assembling for the Derby, and the notices put up advising them otherwise had little effect. Major Gordon tried unsuccessfully to discriminate between those coming to run stalls or tell fortunes, and those with more criminal intentions. The police approached the Downs Conservators recommending theat the gypsies should come on the Downs ten days before the race, to be escorted there by mounted patrols. It was Lady Sybil Grant of the Durdans who saved the day by giving the gypsies free use of a large field on her land. Here the caravans were lined up in order, children were playing in the hot sunshine and the grazing horses completed the peaceful picture.

Fears of aerial warfare had come even to peaceful Epsom and Ewell. The war in Spain, and the Japanese air raids on China had showed what might happen - there were eye-witness accounts of thousands dead, and thousands more roaming the streets terror-stricken and bewildered. In England, air raid precautions aroused massive public concern. Long before the first meeting at Town Hall, the Council Chamber and public gallery were packed - a large committee room was filled with the overspill, and as hundreds more continued to arrive the corridors, staircases, lobby and main entrance were soon just as crowded. 13,500 people were present for the start of the meeting, and more continued to turn up. They were told of the plans that had been drawn up - people were to register at Town Hall so that their skills could be called on if needed. Recruits were needed for the Red Cross and St. Johns Ambulance Brigade. Each street was to have two wardens and at least six first-aiders. The Chamber of Commerce were asked for help with transport, and Mr. Norman of Woodcote Garage offered to construct a gas-proof shelter for 500 in the centre of town, while Page Motors were prepared to supply a drop-sided lorry. In all, some twenty-nine vehicles were offered by local transport businesses for conversion as ambulances during air raids. Even horse boxes could be made use of, with each one holding six stretcher cases and attendants. By October, 1,500 volunteers had signed on for training in First Aid and fire-fighting.

In March, the training of wardens began in the Foresters Hall off Waterloo Road. There were 175 people there, and the Borough Engineer was put in charge of the street warden system. Over 800 people attended the first demonstration of gas masks. First Aid classes were held in the new Fire Station. Preparations for attack included not just gas masks but gas-proof rooms in the home. 52 people attended the first anti-gas training meeting at Ewell Court. Buildings were chosen for use as hospitals and First Aid posts when the bombs began to fall. Ewell Court was to be a casualty clearing hospital. Schools were warned to send children home during air raids, and to convert themselves into hospitals The banks offered use of their strongrooms as air raid shelters, while the basement in Woolworths' new High Street store was to be Epsom's main air raid shelter. Provisions were made for the exodus of London refugees who might stream into the area at the onset of war. Motor cyclists offered to help as despatch riders, and the local Boy Scouts formed a corps of cyclist messengers.

Charter Day passed in a whirlwind of events. The day began at the War Memorial in Ashley Road, where the Charter Mayoress laid a wreath; then she was taken over to Ewell to lay another at St. Marys church. Just before nine o'clock a procession of ten carriages left the Town Hall, proceeding to the boundary of the authority at the Cheam Road entrance to Nonsuch Park, where a guard of honour was waiting to greet the dignitary who would be handing over the Charter - His Majesty's Lieutenant of Surrey. There was a short presentation at the Mansion House and the carriage then went in procession to the Clock Tower, winding its way around the Borough as it went so that every schoolchild from Stoneleigh East Junior to Dorking Road Infants would have a good view. The procession was not over with the presentation of the Charter at noon beneath the Clock Tower, for the dignitaries regrouped in the afternoon and proceeded to the Grandstand for a civic luncheon.

The Borough regalia were put on display in the new Electricity showrooms in Church Street. The High Streets of Epsom and Ewell were decorated and illuminated, as were Rosebery Park and Ewell Court. That night people danced to the music of the band under the coloured lights in Rosebery Park, while for the select few the Charter Ball (evening dress only) was hosted by the Grandstand. Glenisters Band and Giuseppe Ceci's Neapolitan Cabaret played till half past one in the morning, and it only cost fifteen shillings to buy tickets for two.

A highlight of the great day was the procession of historical tableaux, which left the Organ Inn that afternoon. Mounted on lorries and other vehicles lent by local firms, the procession began with the road-building activities of the Romans and continued with other characterful scenes from local history, not all of them true. Henry VIII destroyed Cuddington village, Henry Wicker's cow discovered Epsom Wells, Mrs. Mapp the bonesetter plied her trade, and Lord Lyttleton trembled before the ghost at Pitt Place. A final tableau on the horses of Epsom brought up the rear.

Urban growth, already part of Epsom's life, had come to Ewell by the Thirties. In 1937 Stoneleigh and Ewell Court had passed in a few years from farmland to immense housing developments. Briarwood Road was the first to be built on the Stoneleigh Park estate in 1932, providing access to the new railway station; then came Stoneleigh Hill estate in 1934, and soon the Broadway was completed. Business was good: one shop recorded takings of £500 in a week. As the population grew, and the first schools were built, the area came to rival its long-established neighbour. By 1937 Cuddington, Ewell and Stoneleigh had 27,000 inhabitants between them, only 3,000 short of the population of Epsom.

Most of the new houses were taken by young married couples, many of them moving out from south London. A season ticket from Stoneleigh station was the key to a new lifestyle. Properties went for an average of £700, so that for the first time many people felt they could buy their own home. Monthly repayments on the new development totalled £20,000 (£5 a head). The Council, like the developers, welcomed the financial opportunity, since the rates from Stoneleigh at £10 a house would increase the total rateable value for Epsom and Ewell by a tenth to £500,000. During 1937 plans were passed for building over a thousand new houses in the area, adding to streets which already stretched for 14 miles.

New houses meant increased trade, at first for local builders and afterwards for furniture and other shops. Most houses were heated by coal or anthracite, so coal merchants found themselves with fresh customers. Nurserymen were also in demand. When the estates were first built they were quite bare. There were no trees. and the heavy clay soil had not been respected during development. Under thin topsoil, the new gardeners soon came to the layer of builders' rubble which it covered. The residents of developments also faced unforeseen risks. On the Woodcote Green and Woodcote estates, the new occupants lived in fear of low-flying aircraft from Croydon aerodrome. Already in 1937 a plane had crashed in Purley, and many people were killed. Water could be a menace too - there were calls for Woodcote Pond to be fenced off on safety grounds, but it was needed for watering horses, and so the fences only went up on the side by the road.

Development in other parts of the town was in the hands of the Council, who had initiated a programme of slum clearance. 25 acres of Hook Road were acquired to house families moved from overcrowded properties in South Street, and 185 houses had just been completed at the Ebbisham estate (originally called the Hookfield Estate, but there were problems of confusion with the middle-class development of the same name). To fulfill the needs of new housing, the Council extended their water undertaking with a massive new reservoir on the Downs holding two million gallons. As the new residents settled in, the work of extending public services began. Where there were new homes, there would be children, and children needed schools: so plans began for a central Council school in West Ewell, to take 480 pupils (now Danetree), and for the County school for girls adjoining Nonsuch Park. Plans for a badminton hall and squash courts at Pound Lane were underway in 1937. In East Street work was begun on the municipal baths, which would cost some £64,834 to complete. Ewell Court was to be turned into a centre for the new estate which had grown up around it, to contain a branch library and meeting rooms, but plans to site the mortuary there as well came to nothing.

Concerned ratepayers streamed into the Ebbisham Hall in June 1933 to attend a meeting opposing the widening of Epsom High Street. They had heard of proposals which would make the street 75 feet wide, leading to a bottleneck at the East Street railway bridge, while the wide new road could only encourage speed fiends who would race to the narrow South Street corner. The meeting felt that, at the very least, the town's ambulance station and mortuary should be moved to this point to meet the expected casualties. The protest was led by traders, who felt sure that after the development , people would motor through the town and not stop to shop, while pedestrians feared for their safety once traffic was free to drive fast down an unencumbered road. A relief route was proposed, taking cars along Waterloo Road, Chase Road and Hook Road.

The widening of the High Street went ahead, though it put 2d on the rates and involved pulling down the whole north-east side of the High Street. The Ministry of Transport was creating a fast motor road to the coast, and local interests had to give way. There were problems with Lloyds Bank and Montague Burton, both of whom were redeveloping premises in the area scheduled for demolition. Montague Burton stopped work in anticipation of the new development and negotiated pride of place in the rebuilt shopping parade. Lloyds Bank decided the road issue was a sham and went ahead to complete their new branch, which much to their surprise was pulled down four years later and had to be reconstructed thirty feet further back.

Many landmarks disappeared in the redevelopment, including the Literary Institute, Epsom's original public building. Constructed in the early 19th century, this had a stage, a meeting room for 150 people, and a library with over 2000 books. Lectures, concerts and spelling bees had been the order of the day, but by 1937 it was being used as a furniture store room by Keelings. Nearby the Railway Inn catered for a different clientele: this too disappeared, to be replaced by the new Charter Inn.

The first stage of road widening had been completed by the summer of 1937: Woolworths was ceremoniously opened by Tom Walls, local racehorse owner and film star. Soon after, Boots, Dolcis, and Lilly & Skinner followed in the new parade, with Pullingers representing the local traders. Plans were made for a shopping week, and Christmas leaflets were drawn up to publicise the new shops. At the other end of town, traders in Station Road protested that they were being left out of the action, and so the name of their road was officially changed to Upper High Street.

The Post Office announced a record Christmas in 1937, having handled 35,000 parcels and over a million letters. Inundated by demand, they took over the old Barnados Home in East Street, which was soon afterwards rebuilt to house their sorting office. Christmas in 1937 was a successful time for the shops, which enjoyed unprecedented trade, and for the churches. At St. Martins the congregation presented The Story Of Bethlehem, in a church decorated with lilies, chrysanthemums and evergreen. £50 were raised for the sick and poor in the Christmas Day collection. Christchurch put on a carol service and a mystery play, Bethlehem Tableaux, with a crib set up in the childrens' corner. St. Barnabas celebrated Midnight Mass and had a special Blessing of the Crib.

At the Cottage Hospital, thirty-four patients including three children received a Christmas as good as any they might have had at home, including a visit by the Mayor and Mayoress. All the wards were decorated, and breakfast was bacon and eggs - for those able to eat it. Visitors were admitted at 2.00pm, and as a special Christmas treat, each patient could invite two guests for tea. At the Dorking Road Institution (the Workhouse, as it used to be) the oldest patient had celebrated her 97th birthday, while the youngest were two boys born in the maternity ward on Christmas morning. The Mayor and Mayoress came round, presenting each man with cigarettes, after which the special Christmas dinner was followed by singing to the accompaniment of piano and accordion. Then it was off to the Isolation Hospital for the Mayor, where he supervised the handing out of more presents to children. Meanwhile at Ebbisham Hall, 170 guests attended the annual childrens' party run by the Epsom Brotherhood. Children gazed in awe at the two large Christmas trees and the decorations in the hall before taking away their presents of chocolate.

Charitably minded citizens had another problem on their minds as the town's population grew - there was a shortage of hospital beds. A series of meetings chaired by Lord and Lady Ebbisham kept this in the public eye. Only 40 beds were available to serve a population of 58,000 - the Cottage Hospital in Alexandra Road was crowded out, so that beds were having to be put on balconies, and urgent cases were being turned away. There was a popular movement to build a new hospital as part of the Coronation celebrations. Meanwhile the Council displayed some forward thinking at Ashley Road cemetery, investing in land for future burials. Until called into use, this was to serve as a pound for stray horses.

Photographs in this exhibition included:

A Genelex electric washing machine and wringer helped take the drudgery out of washday for the well-off housewife
Denis and Lois Blades in July 1937, proud to show off their sunken garden at 33 Hays Walk
Putting the finishing touches to one of Harwood's upmarket houses on the Ewell Downs Estate
Crowds at the opening of Nonsuch Park
Lord Snell, the chairman of London County Council, opening Nonsuch Park
Epsom's almshouses stood in East Street. It was traditional for the Mayor to bring a cake here each Christmas morning
Ebbisham Sports Club, where new premises were opened in 1938 by Lord Ebbisham
The new Fire Station stood in Church Street
The Electricity Showrooms in Church Street had demonstration and interview rooms for prospective customers
Lena Cooper in the field on the Durdans where the gypsies were allowed to stay, holding her newborn baby
The new public baths in East Street, an original designer's drawing
Hookfield House, which was converted as a hotel
The West Street railway bridge carried a sign advertising the Hookfield Hotel
Advertising the Council's new Electricity Showrooms
As the Cottage Hospital became increasingly overcrowded, there were calls for a new hospital
Mittendorf House in East Street was a Barnados home until it was redeveloped as the sorting office for local post
At Foresters Hall in Waterloo Road, the first street wardens received their training
The Westminster Bank on the High Street corner, one of those whose strong rooms were to act as emergency air raid shelters
The owner of Woodcote Motors, Mr. Norman, offered to build the town an air raid shelter
Anti-gas training was held at Ewell Court
Leaflets were issued, and people tried to make a gas-proof room in their homes
The Cinema Royal, by the East Street corner, was pulled down for road widening in 1938
Inside the Capitol Cinema
The Capitol Cinema in Church Street
Chamberlains Bakery & Tea Shop was pulled down to make room for the Odeon
The Odeon, just before completion
Inside the Odeon (the potted palms were for the first night only)
Tom Walls the comedian won the Derby in 1932 with his horse April the 5th
The Derby Sunday service on Epsom Downs, near the Grandstand
A temporary Clock Tower was installed on Epsom Downs for Derby week
Prince Monolulu was famous with his exotic clothes, ostrich plumes and umbrella
Pearly Kings and Queens brought a colourful touch of fashion to the Derby
Gypsy caravans continued to attend the Derby, despite the doubts of the Downs Conservators
A presentation party of girls in green and gold gave bouquets to the Charter dignitaries
Epsom Market Pace at the moment of presentation of the Charter
The Charter Mayor formed part of a picturesque procession
The Town Clerk, Edward Whiteoak-Cooper, reads the words of the Charter
Dorking Road School (afterwards part of Rosebery) was just one of many local schools passed by the procession
A menu for the Charter luncheon
Morgans the butchers and A.E. Logsden, ladies hairdresser, were among the first shops in Stoneleigh
Stoneleigh Broadway before building was completed on the northern side
Stoneleigh viewed from the By-pass, with Park Avenue in the left foreground
Stoneleigh as it grew - the railway is on the left
Roads between Park Avenue and Rutherwyke Close
Stoneleigh Station
Houses on the Ewell By-Pass
The Stoneleigh Park estate was distinguished by entrance gates
The narrowness of Epsom's High Street led to calls for the demolition of buildings to ease the flow of traffic
When the High Street was rebuilt, Burtons the tailors had pride of place; the Charter Inn is two doors away
The new parade was built behind the old street, and shops were already open before the old ones were demolished
Finishing touches being given to the rebuilt Lloyds Bank
The Railway Inn was pulled down, built again on a new site, and renamed the Charter Inn
Charter decorations are already in place as the new High Street nears completion
The rebuilding of the High Street, with Woolworths already complete
The flags for the 1937 coronation were to be used again a few months later for Charter Day
The reputed Nell Gwynnes House was a popular stop for meals
Epsom's new Town Hall was dressed up for the coronation, and floodlit at night
The Odeon was decorated for the coronation, and advertised Charles Laughton, starring as Rembrandt
Pages Motors decorated their premises with flags around the lamp posts
Coronation flags covered the Post Office
People stood outside the Clock tower to listen to the Kings Speech
The High Street was decorated as far as the Railway Inn
The new Fire Station stood in Church Street
Car crashes were a side-product of the motor age - here the Fire Brigade attend one in Church Street
Before the Council provided ambulance services, private firms like this West Street garage were needed
Looking up Church Street to the High Street, with Hope Lodge on the left
The shops in West Street included Joys Dairy
Young mothers like these were typical occupants of the new estates
Houses on the Woodcote Green Estate are being advertised on the roof of this corner shop by the Market Place
Faint traces of the painted sign for Foords Care Hire can be seen on their old premises in Waterloo Road
The Star beerhouse in Cheam Road
Steve Donoghue inspects the course on a Derby morning
Christmas parties were put on by the Foresters in the Public Hall at the foot of Upper High Street
A stretch of the old High Street by Mortimers chemists
The end of the High Street, from the Albion past Trueloves undertakers to Unwins wine merchants

F. Lodges shop in South Street, 'the house of exceptional value', also advertised Woodcote Motors.

This page is part of the Bourne Hall Outreach Programme, an informal partnership between the Bourne Hall Museum and Epsom and Ewell on the Internet.

The Bourne Hall Museum mounts exhibitions each year on aspects of our local history. These exhibitions are fascinating - and much appreciated by those who see them. They take considerable care and trouble to assemble, and it is a great pity that, until now, the material in these exhibitions has been inaccessible to the general public after the exhibitions have closed. The Bourne Hall Outreach Programme will put the text from all the exhibitions back to 1992 on the Internet, thus giving you a mine of information about local history. We hope you will find it useful.

The Museum has a permanent collection and also mounts exhibitions on specific aspects of life in the past. They welcome enquiries about places in the Borough, which should be addressed to the Curator, Bourne Hall Museum, Ewell, KT17 1UF.


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