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.