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1950 news items

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Friday 6 January 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

TOO FOND OF LIFE TO COMMIT SUICIDE
Mitcham man’s fate at Beachy Head
Foul play involved? Asks coroner
Frank Grimwood, a Mitcham man, was found beneath Beachy Head. His wife said he was too fond of life to have taken it, a farthing was all that was found on him, and his injuries were consistent with a fall. The coroner could not say whether it was accident or suicide, and asked whether foul play was involved. Grimwood’s brother, who had seen him in Eastbourne, gave evidence.

HELPING THE YOUTH OF MITCHAM
Mitcham Council take first steps at The Canons
After a request from Mitcham Youth Council, the Town Clerk and the Borough Engineer were to meet the youth officer, Mr T. Baptie, about rooms for youth work. The Canons, already used by the Boy Scouts several nights a week, was the building being looked at.

TAKE IT FROM US
Playtime in planning
A letter from the Ministry of Town and Country Planning was read as a sign that the Government might no longer carry out the Greater London Plan. In Mitcham that plan depended on moving industry, including works at Willow Lane, off land wanted for housing.

COMMUNITY CENTRE PLAN
Pollards Hill details
There was still no news of a grant for the Pollards Hill community centre. The finished scheme was described as ambitious, with a swimming bath and a children’s playground, but the clubroom was the part wanted first.

NO DEMAND FOR ALL DAY OPENING
Pollards Hill Society debate licensing laws
Pollards Hill Society debated whether licensed houses should be allowed to open all day. Mr A. W. Pink spoke against all-day drinking, and the society’s next debate was set for eight o’clock at Sherwood House.

ALLOCATION OF HOUSES
Motion for common system rejected
A proposal that housing authorities should share one points system, so that applicants with no residential qualification were treated alike, was rejected.

BORN ON NEW YEAR’S DAY
A baby was born on New Year’s Eve at Woodlands, Mitcham’s maternity home, to Mrs Aviss, of Homewood Road.

HER BAG SNATCHED
A woman walking along Eastfields had her bag snatched by a young man who came up to her on a bicycle.

ONLY 10 C.D. RECRUITS
The chairman of the Civil Defence committee told the Council on Thursday that recruiting in Mitcham for the new Civil Defence Corps was very low.

COLLISION AT CROSS-ROADS
Mitcham driver fined
Thomas William Pernacott, of Locks Lane, Mitcham, a driver for 25 years, was fined £2 with £3 3s. costs at Mitcham on Monday for driving without due care. At a cross-roads in Thornton Road he sounded his horn twice; a lorry slowed, and his van still went on.

COUNCIL WANT EMPTY HOUSES TO BE REQUISITIONED
The Council was told of empty houses that could be taken over for families who had been evicted.

LABOUR PARTY WELCOME 1950
Tom Braddock, M.P., was there
Gorringe Park Labour Party held a New Year social. The sitting Member, Mr Tom Braddock, was among those there.

Friday 13 January 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

TAKE IT FROM US
The battle begins
With the General Election date settled, the paper said Mitcham’s three main parties would be given room to state their case. The fight would be between Mr Tom Braddock, the Labour M.P., and Mr Robert Carr, the Conservative. Mrs Doreen Page was standing for the Liberals. The Communists were not putting up a candidate and meant to support the Socialists rather than split the left vote.

CAUTIOUS MR. CARR
All sides are ready
The campaigns were already under way. Mr Carr was described as cautious about how he would fight the seat.

HOW BATHS WATER IS KEPT CLEAN
“Uncle Charlie” got into mischief
The baths superintendent set out how the water was kept clean, in a week when Singlegate Working Men’s Club had also given its annual children’s party.

Friday 20 January 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

BUT LIBERALS START
No mud slinging
The paper said the political storm would not break in Mitcham until 7 February, when Mr Tom Braddock and Mr Robert Carr would both be in the field. In 1945 Braddock had polled 26,910 and the Conservative 19,742, a Labour majority of 7,168. Mrs Doreen Page, the Liberal candidate, was asking local firms for the same help the other parties expected.

MR. CARR WARY ABOUT EXPENSE
Both the Socialists and the Conservatives were watching what they spent. The legal allowance was about £450, which the Labour agent, Mr Thomas, said should still leave a margin, and Mr Carr was not going to set foot in Mitcham for the campaign until his adoption meeting.

GIRL ASKED MAN IF THEY COULD GO AWAY
Dismissed
A widow, Mrs Pearce, summoned a man of the same address in Chapel Road for assault on New Year’s Day. The bench held there was not enough evidence to commit him for trial.

Friday 27 January 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

CHURCHES TO QUESTION ALL THREE CANDIDATES
Christianity and the nation
Mitcham’s churches invited the three prospective candidates to the Baths Hall on Thursday 2 February. Questions drawn up by the vicars and ministers were to be put through the chairman. There were to be no posters, so that the meeting could not be taken as part of any candidate’s campaign.

LIBERALS MAY HIRE CARAVAN
Tories will be barred
Labour will have last big word
If the Liberals could not rent committee rooms near the middle of Mitcham they would hire a caravan, their agent, Mr Browne, said. The Conservatives hoped to bring down a speaker of Cabinet rank, and were planning a large meeting for 14 February. Labour had booked Harold Laski. Early voting was expected on 23 February, and the parties were not to have the use of schools or other public halls for meetings.

FLATS IN MITCHAM
Council scheme for Elm Nursery site
A housing-committee scheme for the Elm Nursery site provided for 102 two-bedroom maisonnettes, 20 two-bedroom flats and 70 three-room flats, with ceiling heights cut so that the rents could be kept within the Council’s limit. Surrey’s planning consultants had raised points the borough did not think it could meet.

BOYS CHASED BY DETECTIVE
Tools worth £5 were reported stolen from a garden on Sunday. A sergeant saw two boys wandering there; Detective-Sergeant Read followed them onto a bus, and one was later found crouching behind a garden gate. They said they had been looking for a club.

SUCCESS STORY OF AMY SHUARD
Amy Shuard, 25, had signed a contract with the Sadler’s Wells company. She sang on Tuesday. Her first lessons had been paid for while she was a girl at school in Morden, where Miss Norris was a teacher.

MEN IN KHAKI UP FROM ALDERSHOT
Men from the Aldershot area boxed at Mitcham Baths on Wednesday of the previous week in what the paper called Mitcham Boxing Club’s best bill of the season. Sixteen bouts were fought and the programme still ran until 11 p.m. The writer gave pride of place to a loser: 35-year-old Pte Dowdleish, of the Army Catering Corps, making his first appearance for five years, stayed the course against Ron Kenchington of Earlsfield.

CADET TO FLY TO BERLIN
Cadet Flight-Sergeant F. T. Field, of Lammas Avenue, Mitcham, was to fly to Berlin on 8 February as a guest of the R.A.F. He had been nominated by his comrades of No. 2157 (Mitcham) Squadron, A.T.C.

Friday 3 February 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

INDUSTRY AND HOMES MUST BALANCE
Criticisms of the move to Crawley
Provisional plans for the expanded towns were before Surrey County Council. Mitcham was told not to look to Crawley for a quick end to its housing list: people were not to apply until their own authority had said who should go, and new industry had to be balanced with the homes.

COUNCILLOR BAKER WALKS OUT
By-election for the Council
At the housing allocations, Councillor Baker walked out after a dispute about the principle on which tenancies were being given. Alderman Jack Fitch, the oldest member of Mitcham Council and Mayor when Mitcham became a borough, had sent in his resignation because of ill-health. The Mayor and others paid tribute to him.

SLOWNESS ALLEGED
Several members complained that the Council was slow in rehousing people. One case was quoted of a family who had been on the list for eight years.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS
The paper wished many happy returns to Robert, Wilfred and George, the two-year-old triplet sons of Mr and Mrs J. Mara, of Heaton Road, Mitcham.

YOUTH CLUB AND A PARTY
The Coastaliers youth club were refused the hall they wanted unless they could meet a cost of £20. They had been told the arrangements were cancelled when the bills were already printed.

Friday 17 February 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

ELM NURSERY PLANS CHANGED
The Council had substituted a fresh plan for the Elm Nursery site after Surrey County Council treated the Fair Green area as a shopping centre. Rents were still argued over: a wage of £7 was said to be too high a bar for applicants.

£1 NOTE FROM A HANDBAG
A girl, Warr, was remanded on bail for a week at the South-Western Magistrates’ Court, accused of stealing a £1 note from Mrs Emma Miller. The owner missed the note from her handbag and questioned the girl.

ABOUT THOMAS
Sitting M.P. in the wilderness
In the last week before polling day the paper ran a profile of Mr Tom Braddock, to help readers decide how to vote. He had grown up near the Oval, of a Lancashire family, left a job rather than drop his politics, sat on the St Helier division of Surrey County Council, and had been the only Socialist not to support the vote on the devaluation of the pound, because nothing was being done to protect the lower paid against the cost of living.

Friday 3 March 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

ROBERT CARR WINS
86 per cent voted
Conservative increase was 12,139
Thursday’s poll was the biggest Mitcham had seen: 62,800 electors voted, 86 per cent of the electorate and 16,148 more than in 1945. Most of the extra votes went to the Conservatives, who raised their 1945 poll by 12,139. Mr Tom Braddock, the sitting Member, topped his own 1945 vote by 145 and still lost. The Liberal vote was too small to decide the seat.

NEW APPOINTMENT FOR MR. CLAY
Establishment officer and treasurer
The Borough Treasurer, Mr E. C. Clay, was to be appointed Establishment Officer as well. The Council was told it was fortunate to have him to carry both jobs.

GLEBE ESTATE FLATS
On the Glebe Estate, where a hundred flats were under construction, the Council was told that progress was not what it should be. The contractor had not been getting on with the work, and nobody yet knew what the rents would be.

CHANGE YOUR ORANGE CARDS
Reminder for insured persons
About 5,000 insured people in the Clapham and Balham areas were reminded to exchange orange National Insurance cards between 6 and 11 March. Grey, blue and straw cards were not yet due. Anyone who had moved in the last year was told to write the new address on page three, or the next contribution card might not arrive.

Friday 24 March 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

TENDER FOR THE BURIAL GROUND
Mitcham Corporation invited tenders for an extension of the London Road burial ground, including deep sub-soil porous sewers and footways. Forms were to be had from the Borough Engineer at the Town Hall, and tenders endorsed “Tender for Extension of London Road Burial Ground” had to be in by noon on 3 April 1950. The Corporation did not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender.

Friday 7 April 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

NEXT MAYOR OF MITCHAM
Ald. Thomas Arthur East chosen
Alderman Thomas Arthur East, leader of the Independent group, was chosen as the next Mayor. He was 53, first elected for the old East ward, and his family had been connected with Mitcham for about a hundred years. He was a member of Mitcham Chess Club and had long been involved at the Stadium.

POLLARD’S HILL SCHOOL
The argument over a school for Pollards Hill went on. The County Council had been invited to state its needs and had not replied for two years, while the borough laid the estate out. A proposal to put the school behind Recreation Close, in Wide Way, about half a mile off, was opposed locally; Alderman Norris said most of the objections came from people who were already housed, and that Mitcham families would lose out if the scheme were held up.

LICENSING OF PRIVATE BUILDING
The Housing Committee resolved that licensing of private building works had outlived its use, and copies were sent to Mr Robert Carr, M.P., and to the Association of Municipal Corporations. Councillors Gifford and Fido had the resolution taken out, arguing there was still a shortage of timber and little unemployment in the trade. Councillor Bradley called that “a lot of jolly nonsense” and said there was more timber in the country than in 1939.

Friday 14 April 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

MITCHAM WILL HAVE TWO MAY QUEENS AGAIN
Deidre Atkins was candidate-elect of the May Festival Society, chosen by ballot at the society’s annual meeting, and Betty of Merrie England was to be crowned on the Cricket Green. The sixteen-year-old London May Queen would crown Betty, and about fifty Mitcham children were to take part, with the band of the 4th East Surrey (Mitcham Methodist) Company of the Boys’ Brigade. On 6 May the Mayor of Mitcham was to crown Deidre on the same Green, while Betty went on to represent Mitcham among the London May Queens at Hayes. Helen Murphy, 15, of Hatfield Gardens, and Lorna Tilley were also named.

WHERE TO GET YOUR NEW RATION BOOK
Readers were told to take the old ration book, and the identity card if it did not already carry the right details, to the food office. An identity card due for renewal before 21 May could be dealt with at the same time, and new tea coupons would come with the new book.

Friday 21 April 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

PETROL INCREASE
Mr Robert Carr called the new petrol tax “a thoroughly bad tax” because it would put up industrial costs. A Mitcham paint firm told the Mercury it would mean about 4d. a gallon on paint and would touch them by five to ten per cent.

RAIN AT THE FAIR GREEN
The May Queen’s afternoon on the Fair Green was hit by a downpour just before the crowning. Mrs Ericson cut the cake. The new queen wore her dress despite the weather.

ALBERT BRIGGS AND HIS LANCASTER
Albert Briggs was pictured with his scale model of a Lancaster bomber, in a report of a model-aircraft meeting at which a model crashed and the cause was looked for.

Friday 28 April 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

THE HALL IS NOT A GOOD FINANCIAL PROPOSITION
A hall used by a local association needed a new store hut and a new drugget for the floor. It was said not to be a good financial proposition, but the courts filled a real need and the case for keeping them had been thoroughly gone into.

Friday 5 May 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

MAYOR-ELECT AT THE COUNCIL
The Mayor-elect was before the Council on Thursday. On the works hooter, the paper said people who could afford an extra five minutes might put the alarm clock away, but the hooter would still sound.

Friday 12 May 1950

“SHE DID NOT CHEAT AT PARISH WHIST”
Mrs Hart, the misère queen, wins £300
Mrs Rosemary Hart was awarded £300 after being accused of cheating at a parish whist drive two years earlier. The slander was spoken in the hall while she was present. She said whist had been her life, that she played for love of the game rather than prizes, and that she would not play on the night of the verdict. She had kept a sweet shop, and had been ready to sell up.

Friday 19 May 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

ALBERT PRICE
Death from the war
A verdict of death from the war was recorded at Sutton on Albert Price, 54, a dock labourer of Sunshine Way, Mitcham. His widow, Florence May Price, said he had been gassed in the first war and discharged in 1917, and had had chronic bronchitis and asthma ever since. A pension of 16s. was later cut to 8s., and for 27 years he had no pension until Mr Tom Braddock took the case up. He had been out of work for four years. On the Wednesday his wife gave him a sleeping tablet; he was still asleep next day, their daughter fetched the doctor, and he was dead when the ambulance reached the hospital. The doctor said he died from fibrosis of the heart, consistent with exposure to a toxic gas.

Friday 26 May 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

BENNINGA’S COACH TO BRIGHTON
Benninga’s staff lined up outside their coach on Saturday for the firm’s outing to Brighton.

Friday 2 June 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

ALD. T. A. EAST READS THE DECLARATION
Alderman T. A. East read the declaration undertaking to carry out his duties as Mayor to the best of his capacity. He paid tribute to the retiring Mayor for her dignity and impartiality, and said that if he could match her efficiency the prestige of the borough would not suffer.

Friday 30 June 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

METHODISTS PROPOSE A DESIGN FOR MODERN TIMES
Do you like this church?
A new Methodist church was proposed for the Fair Green, to replace the building destroyed in the blitz. The design, in brick and concrete, was by Mr Mills, who had also designed the Colliers Wood Methodist Mission, and it was among those accepted by the Royal Academy for its architectural exhibition. Work still depended on town planning consent and on the Methodist Church, from which the local church hoped for a grant.

YOUNG CONSERVATIVES
Mitcham Young Conservatives, with Mr E. Trotman, the divisional chairman, in the chair, decided to meet every Thursday at 7.45 p.m. at the Elmhurst Cafe in Streatham Road.

Wednesday 5 July 1950

The Evening News

LONDON TRAMS ARE TO GO
London trams-buses switch will take two years, to cost £9 million, says Lord Latham
South London’s trams were to start coming off the streets at the end of September, when the first stage of replacement by buses would be finished. Lord Latham, chairman of London Transport, said the whole change would take two years and cost more than £9 million. About 1,000 buses were to replace 830 trams over more than 100 miles of route, in a nine-stage plan that included Greenwich, Deptford and Southwark.

THE FISHING INDUSTRY
The Government had outlined the help it meant to give the white-fish industry. The Evening News said the proposals were still not clear, despite a statement by Mr Attlee in the Commons the day before, and that North Shields, as one of the chief fishing ports, was directly concerned.

CANADA LIVING COST AT PEAK
Canada’s official cost-of-living index rose another 1.4 points in May, to a record 165.4, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics reported. Higher meat prices were blamed.

A WALK-OUT AT WALLSEND
All the welders at a Wallsend yard walked out about 2 p.m. after a claim was refused, and met in a cafe. Most went home after a meeting of more than three hours. Shop stewards would not comment afterwards, for fear of aggravating matters.

WALLSEND TORIES PICK CANDIDATE
Preparing for a snap election, Wallsend Divisional Conservative executive recommended Mr Gerard Cuthbert Crangle as prospective candidate. He was a Sunderland man, then a staff speaker-driver at the Conservative area office in Newcastle, and had helped in elections since he was a boy.

Friday 7 July 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

MR. TOM FRANCIS’ GIFT
Lantern slide story of Mitcham
Mr Tom Francis, of London Road, Mitcham, gave his collection of lantern slides of Mitcham to the borough, to be kept in the Public Library. Councillor E. Gulliver, chairman of the Library Committee, called it unique, and Councillor T. Ruff, a former chairman, said it was probably the finest pictorial history of Mitcham that could be produced.

Friday 11 August 1950

Daily Herald

ACID STREAM KILLS MAN
Henry Harris, 47, of Cavendish Grove, Lambeth, died of burns and shock in Wilson Hospital, Mitcham, after the bung blew out of a drum of phenol-carbolic acid at the factory of James Ferguson and Sons, Prince George’s Road, Mitcham, and a stream of acid struck him and two others in the face. Charles Knight was kept in for observation. A third man went home after treatment. The pressure of gas had forced the bung out.

Mitcham News & Mercury

MITCHAM FAIR OPENS TOMORROW
Mitcham Fair was to open the next day, with the Mayor performing the opening ceremony.

CRICKET WEEK
Saw W. G. on the Green
Lindley and Ide, Mitcham’s opening batsmen, were pictured leaving the pavilion at the start of Cricket Week. Another feature recalled W. G. Grace on the Green, and old Mr Drewett coming to watch.

THOUSANDS OF VISITORS ON BANK HOLIDAY
But where were the decorations?
Bank Holiday brought thousands of visitors, but London Road was in its ordinary dress. The paper asked why there were no decorations, noted that nurseries had stopped selling vegetable and tomato plants, and suggested geraniums and other summer flowers for window boxes, and a competition for the gayest house, for the sake of people coming to the cricket and of motorists passing through.

HIT BUS DRIVER ON THE NOSE
Pleaded guilty
A man pleaded guilty to hitting a bus driver on the nose.

Friday 18 August 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

MR G. SHEPPARD DIED IN HIS FAVOURITE CHAIR
Remembered when Mitcham Fair had only one roundabout
Mr George Sheppard, a gas-works pensioner, died in his favourite chair at home on Tuesday. He had started farm work at nine, liked to talk about the old Mitcham lavender, and remembered the Fair when it had a single roundabout.

Friday 6 October 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

MY RIDE ON THE LAST TRAM
The last tram on route 34 made its final run on Saturday night, in pouring rain. Only a handful of people were waiting at the start. At the first stop someone asked “This the last tram, mate?”, a few more got on, and two police cars followed the car all the way.

Tuesday 10 October 1950

Daily Express

WE ARE SURPRISED, SAY THE LIBERALS
Frank Byers, chairman of the Liberal Party Executive, said the decision not to oppose Clement Davies at Montgomery had come as a complete surprise. The Tory vote there had fallen by more than 3,000 at the last election, and he treated the phrase “for the time being” as an empty threat.

VISHINSKY AND THE UNO ARMY PLAN
Andrei Vishinsky waved an olive branch at the United Nations, but British and American diplomats were suspicious and thought he had been caught in the middle of a Soviet peace offensive. The Western plan, introduced by Mr John Foster Dulles, was to give the United Nations armed forces so that it could prevent another Korea.

DEAKIN TO SEEK A RISE FOR DOCKERS
Mr Arthur Deakin, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, said an official claim was to be made for higher dockers’ wages. Unofficial leaders had been agitating for weeks for a “Dockers’ Charter”, including a rise from 19s. a day.

OLD GLORY
Charles Ralls, commander of an ex-servicemen’s group in New York, accused Washington of a plot to replace the Stars and Stripes with the United Nations flag, after sewing kits were sent to farmers’ wives so that they could make the flags at home.

Friday 24 November 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

WANDLE FLOODS INVADE PHIPPS BRIDGE
Water enters four shops
“Came in just like a wave”
Residents call for action
The Wandle flooded the Phipps Bridge area of Colliers Wood and Mitcham. Water welled into the roadway, traffic was slowed, and extra police were sent in. Four shops were flooded. A boot repairer went downstairs at a quarter past four and found himself paddling before he realised the noise was water against the door; he spent two hours bailing out his kitchen. One woman said that when she opened the door it came in just like a wave. The paper said the river was no longer pretty, that its water was often discoloured and sometimes smelt, and that people who had put up with the floods for years wanted something done.

4,500 ON THE HOUSING LIST
Councillor A. E. Mingay said 4,500 names on Mitcham’s housing list were being considered this year, and that anyone above that number would have to wait until another year. One household of eight, five of them grown-ups, was cited. A complaint of insolence by a council housing employee was left over until full details were given.

Thursday 30 November 1950

The Advertiser

NEW SCHOOL ON SITE OF ANCIENT HOUSE
£100,000 building planned for historic Hall Place
Legends of a famous landmark
Plans were being prepared for a new Mitcham County School for Boys, estimated at £100,000, on the site of Hall Place in Church Road. An official of Surrey’s education department told the Advertiser there were more urgent projects, and little prospect of an early start. Hall Place, home of Sir Cato and Lady Worsfold, had been demolished. Before it came down, thieves had already taken lead and other fittings, and they came back even after the site was fenced. Secret chambers and passages were part of the local legend of the house.

Saturday 2 December 1950

150 YEARS OF PAINT MAKING
Firm of world repute
Thomas Parsons and Sons Ltd., of Church Road, Mitcham, were about to complete 150 years, for most of that time with their main factory in Mitcham. The firm, known for paints, varnishes and colours, also had factories in Dublin and Glasgow, and 55 men on the books had between them more than 1,760 years’ service. A man who had just finished 50 years at the Church Road factory spoke at the firm’s first dance and cabaret, held at the Baths Hall on Friday before the Mayor and Mayoress, the directors and about 300 employees. Mrs George Parsons, a director, and the only daughter of Sir Alfred and Lady Newton, presided.

Friday 29 December 1950

Mitcham News & Mercury

MITCHAM BABIES MEET THE MAYOR
Mitcham babies and their mothers met the Mayor and Mayoress, Alderman T. A. East, at a party arranged with the Food Office. With them were Mrs Dalton, Mr W. Dalton, chairman of the Mitcham Food Control Committee, and the Medical Officer of Health.

REV. GEORGE LUBBOCK
Wind and snow did not deter old folk
Wind and snow did not keep the old people away from an outing with the Rev. George Lubbock.

STANDARD UPHOLSTERY STAFF DANCE
Standard Upholstery Co. Ltd. held its Christmas staff dance at Kennards on Saturday. Mr Ben Hensher was among those pictured with the party.

October 1956 news items

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From the front pages of the Mitcham Advertiser in 1956.

4th October
11th October
18th October
25th October

Thursday 4 October 1956

Shops may be built in front of church
A vacant stretch of land in front of Mitcham Baptist Church on London Road—between the borough hall and the borough library—may be developed with a shop frontage, with access to the church retained through an imposing archway. The Rev. Burden said the church hoped to sell some of the land (once intended for a new church facing London Road), extend the Sunday school hall at the rear into a more commodious building, and improve what had long been an eyesore.

HOUSING PLAN ATTACKED
Councillor speaks of ‘key money’
‘WE MAY BURN OUR FINGERS,’ HE SAYS
Coun. C. A. Norris, the only Independent on Mitcham Council, attacked the plan to house 250 local families in the Frimley and Camberley “expanded town” project, under which Mitcham would pay £8 a year for each house for ten years—£20,000 in all. He called that tantamount to paying key money, doubted the wisdom of continuing, and warned that the council might “burn our fingers rather badly,” after the borough treasurer reported an expected additional cost of £11,668 between then and 1961/2.

Lady Mountbatten opens mental health exhibition
‘MORE HOSPITALS NEEDED’
Opening a mental health exhibition at Tooting Methodist Central Hall on Tuesday, Lady Mountbatten outlined a four-point plan: far more money should be spent; more hospitals should be built (“long overdue”); overcrowding should be reduced; and the public should be taught a more enlightened attitude to mental disorders. The exhibition, showing aspects of life in mental hospitals from patients’ and staff viewpoints, was open until 13 October.

Recording of choir is taken during service at church
The vestry of St. Mark’s Church, Mitcham, became an engineers’ studio on Sunday evening when Ronald Hunt (17), of Tamworth Lane, and John Read (17), of Tonstall Road—both church members—recorded the choir singing “The Song of Thanksgiving.” Play-backs at rehearsals had helped organist and choirmaster Mr. D. W. Kent improve the performance; discs for the choir were expected to be cut from the master tape.

THIS WILL FOIL LEAD THIEVES
After staff at Mitcham baths found the buffet floor flooded one morning—an outside lead gutter having been torn away and stolen—the council replaced it at a cost of more than £27 with a rubber composition gutter intended to foil lead thieves.

FOG MARRED THEIR TRIP
Two coach-loads of old folk from the Old People’s Club in London Road “felt” their way to Box Hill on Monday afternoon in thick fog that hid the scenery. Ald. W. Jeffery, chairman of the Old People’s Welfare Committee, and the travellers still enjoyed the outing, with music from the Old Folk’s Band and the “Bright Sparks.”

If everyone backed Sir Anthony…
Lord Lloyd, Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, told the Wandsworth Central Conservative Association at a dinner at the Fountain Hotel, Tooting, that if all parties backed the Government’s Suez policy a speedier solution could be reached. He argued the Government had a right to expect patriotism and co-operation from the Opposition, which he said it had not had.

Clocks go back this week-end
Summer Time ends in the early hours of Sunday; clocks and watches should be put back one hour on Saturday night.

‘Alarming’ drop in membership
R. D. Dines, secretary of the Mitcham division Labour Party, told members at Beddington and Wallington that membership there—and in Mitcham—had been going down “rather alarmingly,” blaming administrative problems. He hoped renewed drives would restore the 1952–53 strength of between 3,000 and 3,500 members.

ALL-IN WRESTLING?
A split-second picture taken during basketball practice at the new Pollards Hill school, where Mitcham Youth Committee had started Friday evening training classes.

The last day of a perfect holiday
On the last day of a holiday in France and Spain, 25-year-old pharmacist Audrey Grime, of Upper Tooting Road, and her friend Jill Greenfield found their 1953 Singer car missing from the Boulogne quayside—then lying damaged on the harbour bottom. After it was raised and shipped to Dover they came home a day late; an Englishman charged on Monday said he had only meant to take it for a joy ride.

1,644 appeal against new assessments
Mitcham Council were told that 1,644 proposals appealing against new rate assessments had been received, of which 80 had since been withdrawn. Borough treasurer Mr. E. C. Clay reported collections 2.01 per cent lower than a year earlier—partly because appellants need pay only on the original assessment until heard—and that 279 summonses had been applied for, no more than last year.

‘BAN FLYING OF MODEL AIRCRAFT’
Residents near Three Kings Piece were being asked to sign a petition calling on Mitcham Council to ban model aircraft flying there. Mr. H. King, secretary of the Park Model Aircraft League—whose members flew powered models there two or three times a week with full council permission for 18 months—called the campaign “ill-natured prejudice” and said traffic on the main road bothered neighbours less than their “tiny engines.”

LOCAL M.P.’S WIFE DIES
Mrs. Elizabeth Hughes-Young, wife of the Conservative M.P. for Wandsworth Central, died on Tuesday at St. John and St. Elizabeth Hospital, Hampstead, after a long illness. She had helped her husband’s General Election campaign the previous year despite being unwell, then retired from public life; they had five children. A private funeral was fixed for the Friday.

30 years a fireman
Station Officer H. S. Shepherd, who joined Mitcham Fire Brigade 30 years ago, retired this week as officer in charge of Mitcham fire station (further report referred to the Mitcham and Tooting Review, page 10).

Arrested shortly after he became engaged
Donald Leslie Aldred (26), coalman, of Derinton Road, Tooting, pleaded guilty at South Western Magistrate’s Court to taking a motor cycle without the owner’s consent, using it uninsured, and driving while disqualified. He said he had got engaged that day and took the machine after drink; the magistrate sent him to prison for a total of six months and disqualified him from driving for five years.

Tennis trophies presented
At a North Mitcham Improvement Association evening—military whist and a dance attended by about 180—cups and plaques for Woodland Tennis Club tournaments were presented by president Mr. Derek Bray. The mixed doubles trophy went to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Challis; the men’s doubles to Mr. L. Ashmore and Mr. J. Reid.

Thursday 11 October 1956

COUNCIL DENY ACCUSATION
‘Level of pond is not going down’
ALMOST SAME AS FIVE YEARS AGO
Mitcham Residents’ Conference alleged that drainage linked with tipping near Windmill Road was emptying Seven Islands Pond on Mitcham Common, despite a Surrey County Council condition that the pond and surroundings be preserved. Croydon Corporation, who control the tip, denied any effect on the level; deputy borough engineer Mr. R. L. Gee said readings that month were within a couple of inches of November 1953, soon after tipping began.

Coronation arches go to Suffolk
Four steel arches which spanned The Mall at the Coronation—erected by Scaffolding (Great Britain) Ltd. of Mitcham, stored at Willow Lane, and weighing 56 tons—were being taken by lorry and rail to Stowmarket to form part of a huge straw storage barn (about 130 ft span, 60 ft high and 180 ft long).

DEATH OF PARISH CLERK
Mrs. Dora Perkins, of Mellows Road, Wallington, clerk of Mitcham Parish Church, died aged 57. Daughter of Mr. A. Champion, who had been parish clerk for 55 years, she succeeded him in 1951 and travelled from Wallington for every service; the Rev. John Thorold, Vicar of Mitcham, called her “a most loyal and faithful servant.” The funeral was at the church; she left a husband, a daughter and a small son.

Rex III, police dog who made 125 arrests, is dead
Rex III, Britain’s most famous police dog, was put to sleep on Monday after specialists confirmed throat cancer. The Alsatian, who lived with handler P.-con. Arthur Holman in St. James’s Road, Mitcham, made 125 arrests in six and a half years, won a gold cup as most outstanding police dog of the year, and once cornered an Army absentee who fired three shots at him in Tynemouth Road.

C.D. drive — 12 have enrolled
Between nine and ten thousand cards urging volunteers for the Civil Defence Corps had been delivered in Mitcham during a three-week Surrey campaign ending 20 October. Civil defence officer Mr. G. H. Bateman said about a hundred replies had been received and a dozen enrolments completed; strength was about 320 against a peace-time establishment of 954.

HIS 39 YEAR OLD QUEST IS OVER
Man meets Italian who saved his life
Mr. Kenneth Littleton, of Commonside East, Mitcham, finally met Ferdinando Molteni, the Italian who pulled him half-conscious from the sea after his troopship was torpedoed off Finale Ligure on 4 May 1917. After decades of contact with the town—including a 1924 visit and a 1928 honeymoon civic welcome—they met this year amid Press and radio enthusiasm.

Plan for swimming club
Mitcham Youth Committee planned to run its Youth Committee Swimming Club from next season on proper club lines—training, life-saving and diving—rather than as a large recreational session, after baths authorities became dissatisfied with behaviour and numbers proved hard to control.

RESIDENTS COMPLAIN
Following repeated complaints about weeds round the edges of Mitcham Common, the Common Conservators told the Mitcham Residents’ Conference they might buy a machine to cut them down, staff shortages having made present work impossible.

G.P.O. REJECT REQUEST
The G.P.O. said there was no possibility of a post-box in Chilmark Road, Mitcham: a census of letters posted in the two nearest boxes showed numbers too small to justify another pillar-box.

HOUSEWIFE WHO STOLE SAYS— ‘I have lost the love of my eldest son’
Mrs. Elizabeth Yeo (45), of Topsham Road, Tooting, told London Sessions Appeals Committee she had lost the love of her eldest son after stealing a comb, brush and other articles from British Home Stores, Brixton Road. A six weeks’ sentence passed at Lambeth was quashed and she was conditionally discharged for 12 months; counsel said her young daughters had taken an active part in what was described as organised pillaging.

Greengrocer obstructed policeman
William Edward Hayes (48), greengrocer, of Longmead Road, Tooting, was charged at South Western Magistrate’s Court with obstructing P.-con. Macintosh and with being in charge of a van causing unnecessary obstruction. He was fined 10s. for the van obstruction and £2 for obstructing the officer after knocking the policeman’s notebook down.

£81 RAISED
Collections in Mitcham for Princess Elizabeth Flag Day on 29 September totalled more than £81, with depot holders’ amounts listed from about £5 to Mrs. B. Elliott’s £17 4s. 3d.

GIRL MISSING
Margaret Runciman (15), factory hand, had been reported missing from her home in Steers Mead, Mitcham, where she lived with her foster parents.

Thursday 18 October 1956

LONDON ROAD DANGER SPOT
‘Sometimes takes ten minutes to cross’
RESIDENTS PROTEST
South Mitcham Residents’ Association branded the London Road and Church Road junction the most dangerous spot in the borough, saying police had recently been posted there in the evening rush when it was often impossible to cross for ten minutes or more. The association again called for traffic lights; the Town Clerk said the borough engineer had been asked to discuss the problem with the county authorities. Members also backed a Whitford Gardens resident’s petition for Fair Green traffic lights to be readjusted, complaining the “cross now” signal lasted only nine seconds.

Attitude of these people is ‘absolute nonsense’
Lady Kilmuir, wife of the Lord Chancellor, told the women’s divisional branch of the Wandsworth Central Conservative Association that every time workers asked for another pay rise without being prepared to do more work it was another step in the country’s decline. She dismissed “class war” talk about making money for those who already had too much as “absolute nonsense,” and said she had little sympathy for people who smoked, did the pools and had television yet claimed they could not afford a 10d. loaf.

Great-Grandmother’s advice to young couples—‘emigrate’
Mrs. Frances Johnson, 74, who emigrated to Australia six years ago with her husband, returned for a five-month visit to relations in Mitcham and Tooting. Staying with her daughter Mrs. Elizabeth Burke in Turner Avenue, she advised young couples to emigrate, citing wages of £15 to £16 a week, neighbourly spirit, and better pensions—an old couple, she said, could live comfortably on £4 to £4 10s. a week.

CHURCH TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE
£2,500 plan is reply to council ultimatum
Tooting Congregational Church prepared to launch an appeal for more than £2,000 to rebuild their hall adjoining the church in Mitcham Road after the district surveyor said it must be repaired or pulled down. Wandsworth Council authorised the work; plans were with a quantity surveyor for an estimate thought to be about £2,500. Treasurer Mr. F. C. Cheney said the 30-year-old corrugated-iron hall, used by Boys’ Brigade, Girls’ Life Brigade and a youth club, would be bricked round, re-floored and extended.

Suzie is up to monkey tricks again
Suzie, a six-year-old Rhesus monkey in the pets’ corner at the Fountain Hospital for Children, Tooting, escaped for the second time in three years after a hole was found in the fence on Sunday; companion Sally was stopped just before she ran off too. The R.S.P.C.A. warned schools not to touch Suzie if seen; a hospital spokesman said they had not found her yet and were relying on the public to report sightings.

THE FIRST RATING APPEALS
The first appeals against rating reassessments were heard at Mitcham Town Hall: 79 properties were involved. The valuation court granted reductions in 24 cases (small amounts, 4s. to £4), refused after assessment in 37, while 12 appeals were withdrawn, one adjourned and five settled before court—almost all last week’s cases concerning houses or flats.

Councillor speaks of ‘dirty politics’
Coun. W. E. M. Townsend told Graveney Ward Conservatives that at the May local elections he had his first experience of “dirty politics” in the ward, alleging the Labour candidate tried to “befuddle the electorate” with a housing report forecasting rent rises that was issued to the Press but never placed before the council. Council rents, he said, had not gone up a penny.

ACTING TORY AGENT
Mitcham Division Conservatives had an acting agent, Mr. C. P. Poulsen of Tonbridge, temporarily replacing Mr. Reg Cook, who had been recalled to the Army because of the Suez crisis. Mr. Poulsen had previously been agent at South Nottingham and Newport (Mon.) and had worked at Conservative Central Office.

140 will go to Hengelo next year
The Mayor of Mitcham and the Chairman of Carshalton Council praised the local A.N.S.C.A. (Anglo-Netherlands Sports and Cultural Association), which links Mitcham and Carshalton with Hengelo in Holland through annual exchanges. After a thank-you party for Dutch visitors, about 140 people from Mitcham and Carshalton were expected to go to Hengelo at Whitsun the following year.

MAN AWARDED £4,000 DAMAGES
In the High Court, Mr. Dennis Patrick Flannery, of Eveline Road, Mitcham, was awarded £4,000 damages with costs for injuries to his left leg after he fell 15 ft while painting a railway bridge at Orpington in November 1955. Judgment was entered against his employers, T. H. Kenyon and Sons Ltd., of Croxley Road, West Kensington.

Few have used cemetery gate
Although the Broadwater Road gate of Streatham Cemetery (at Tooting) had been kept open for a three-month trial, Wandsworth Council were told only a few people had used it. The gate had been closed four years earlier to stop hooliganism and thefts from graves; old age pensioners had acted as gatekeepers, and the question of leaving it open was to be reconsidered in six months.

Another ‘black spot’ causes concern
At a Graveney Ward Conservatives “any questions” session, Mr. Derek Bray asked about road safety at the London Road “black spot” near Tooting Junction. Coun. L. Freestone said schemes put forward included moving the pedestrian crossing by the railway bridge and traffic lights; ideas so far had been turned down by the county road engineer, though lights at the Links Road junction were the main current idea.

More people out of work
The local employment committee at Tooting were told unemployment in the district stood at 712 (211 of them women)—nearly 100 more than the June figure. Seasonal return from seaside work, registration by some married women after school holidays, and to a limited extent arrivals of immigrants from Jamaica, were cited; demand remained firm in paint and varnish manufacture.

Mission appeal a success
The Vicar of St. Mark’s Church, Mitcham, said he was “very pleased” with a two-week mission appeal for hospital supplies to be sent abroad for church hospitals; articles received included medical dressings and bedding.

Swan crashes
A swan crash-landed among the blocks of flats on the Glebe Court Estate, Mitcham, on Monday morning with injuries to neck and feet; after treatment it was taken away to be released on the Thames.

CYCLIST HURT
Mitcham cyclist Mr. Alfred Spencer Best, of Fern Avenue, was detained at St. Helier Hospital on Saturday after an accident with a car in Bishopsford Road; he had a fractured collar bone and rib.

FARE GOES UP
For the planned Hengelo party the return fare by land and K.L.M. aircraft had risen to £12 10s.

TEACHERS WANTED
St. Mark’s Church, Mitcham, wanted at least ten more Sunday School teachers.

Will Ruler be as famous as Rex?
A week after losing Rex III, P.-con. Arthur Holman was training a new police dog at his St. James’s Road home: a 13-month-old Alsatian christened Ruler, chosen at the Metropolitan Police dog training school near West Wickham—the age Rex had been when Holman first had him. Holman expected Ruler ready for duty in about three weeks.

REX’S TRIBUTES
On the Holmans’ sideboard was a pile of letters from all parts of the country paying tribute to Rex III, including one from Lady Munnings (who had presented his gold Black Knight Cup when he became Police Dog of the Year). Unsigned and signed messages alike hoped the next dog would prove as good; a wreath from Worcester Park read “To Rex III. The Best Police Dog.”

Thursday 25 October 1956

FAIR GREEN ‘DANGEROUS’
Traders’ plan for a complete roundabout
THE TWO GARDENS WOULD BE JOINED
Mitcham Chamber of Commerce revived a scheme first put forward years earlier for a complete roundabout at Fair Green, calling present arrangements and traffic lights unsatisfactory, inadequate and dangerous. The plan would join the two island gardens, close the stretch of London Road between them, and round the corners of Upper Green West and Upper Green East so one-way traffic could circulate properly instead of being cut in two by London Road.

Plan for 20 homes for old people
Subject to Ministry of Housing and Local Government permission, an acre at the Pollards Hill Estate on the south side of South Avenue—previously shown in the Surrey Development Plan as part of a neighbourhood shopping area—was to be used for 20 flats for old people. Surrey’s town and country planning committee supported Mitcham Council’s wish to purchase the land, judging existing shops (with possible further eight) adequate for the fully developed area.

M.P.’S VIEWS ON AUTOMATION
‘The ally, not enemy, of full employment’
Mr. Robert Carr, M.P. for Mitcham and Wallington and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, told an Ealing meeting that automation was the ally, not the enemy, of full employment. He blamed exaggerated publicity for false fears, said unemployment was more likely from factories not kept competitive, and argued increased production would have to come from more machines as the working population’s growth ended.

Good start for C.D. campaign
Mitcham’s autumn civil defence recruiting drive had got off to a good start: nearly 20,000 cards inviting people to join C.D. had been distributed, 139 returned to the Town Hall, and 50 had signed enrolment forms. Officer Mr. G. H. Bateman believed many who replied would become volunteers; about 150 attended a showing of the film “The H-Bomb” at Mitcham Baths.

‘BETTER TO READ THAN SEE TV’
Girls of Mitcham County School were told at speech day at the Baths Hall that it was better to read a book than to watch the television version or listen to a radio dramatisation. Miss Dyson, headmistress of Haberdashers’ Hatcham School, said reading let you stop to look back and think, whereas with television “you cannot stop to think even for one minute,” and urged parents not to pamper children into a passive attitude to life.

QUEEN MOTHER’S COMING VISIT
When the Queen Mother visits the Citizens’ Advice Bureau in London Road, Mitcham, on 14 November, she may listen to inquiries being dealt with in the general office. Due at 3 p.m., she was to be welcomed by the Mayor and Mayoress (Coun. and Mrs. T. H. Longshaw) and Town Clerk Mr. R. H. White, meet C.A.B. officers and founders, see a display at the Town Hall, and take tea with regional and local committee members.

Warning on bogus meter man
The London Electricity Board warned that a man falsely claiming to be a board employee had been involved in robberies or attempted robberies. His method was to say he had been sent to change the meter or switch off the supply, then break open a slot meter or get the householder to watch while he went into other rooms; genuine employees carried a signed photographic identity card.

Watchman died after accident
An inquest at Kingston heard that night watchman Mr. William Henry Davison, 78, of St. Barnabas Road, Mitcham, was fatally injured early on Saturday when knocked down in London Road, Mitcham, by a car driven by Mr. Edward Douglas Woolley. Davison was apparently taking a wheelbarrow of hurricane lamps across the road; none of the scattered lamps was alight, and lighting-up time had not yet ended. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

POLICE MAKE APPEAL FOR WITNESSES
Police appealed for witnesses after a woman pedal cyclist was knocked down and seriously injured in Christchurch Road, Colliers Wood, on Thursday evening. Mrs. Ivy Bradshaw (71), of Collingwood Road, Mitcham, was knocked from her machine at the junction of Bridge Road; no witnesses had been found and the other driver involved had not been traced.

Man attacked at Tooting
Mr. Geoffrey Harris, a clerk, of Tooting Bec Road, was attacked by three men in Mitcham Road, Tooting, on Friday afternoon and received head injuries. A police wireless car was called; C.I.D. officers searched for the attackers. He was detained at St. James’ Hospital, Balham; injuries were not serious.

Civic reception is planned for Dutch boxers
Dutch boxers from Enschede were to be given a civic reception by the Mayor of Mitcham (Coun. T. H. Longshaw) on Thursday next before opposing Mitcham Amateur Boxing Club at Mitcham Baths that evening. Mr. George, Vice-Consul of the Netherlands Embassy, and Mrs. del Valle were among those expected at the Town Hall.

PARENTS AND ROAD SAFETY: ‘Some take more care of dogs than children’
At the Balham and Tooting Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Association, chairman Mr. W. J. Barker said some people took more care of dogs on the road than of their children—always putting dogs on leads but taking no notice of small children. Other members blamed motorists’ speed or “low mentality”; Mr. W. W. Paice thought many accidents resulted from carelessness rather than speed alone.

Damage to his greenhouse
The North-eastern Divisional Education Executive agreed to recommend payment of £1 10s. 6d. to a Greenwood Road, Mitcham, resident for repairs to a greenhouse and replacement of plants damaged by balls coming into his garden from the playground of Pollards Hill County Primary Junior Mixed School.

Rear wheels of car stolen
A 1933 Jowett belonging to Mr. Walter Bateman, of Sunshine Way, Mitcham, was stolen from Bond Road on Friday night and found next morning abandoned in Mount Road minus both rear wheels and the spare, resting on its brake drums; it was towed to Mitcham Police Station before he collected it.

‘SUZIE’ RETURNS
Suzie, the six-year-old Rhesus monkey which escaped from the pets’ corner at the Fountain Hospital for Children, Tooting, on Sunday of the previous week, returned to her cage on Saturday.

KNOCKED DOWN
Mrs. Lily Ann Gunter, of Phipps Bridge Road, Mitcham, was taken to the Nelson Hospital, Wimbledon, for treatment after being knocked down by a motor cycle combination in Christchurch Road, Colliers Wood, on Monday.

REVENUE FROM THE FAIR
Mitcham Trades Council attacked Mitcham Council over Mitcham Fair lettings income, arguing the money should go to old people’s homes instead of the rates fund. A branch of the Electrical Trades Union, which raised the matter, had already written to the council.

Pigeon show judge
Mr. Alfred J. Pays, licensee of the Beehive public-house, Commonside East, Mitcham, was to be one of the judges at the International Show of Mitcham Racing Pigeons at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster, opening Friday 30 November. His garden lofts could house 100 or more pigeons; that year he had won the National Flying Club’s Grand National Race first prize of £250.