Newsletter of the Hartley and District Residents’ Association Autumn 2009 Protecting and Advancing the Common Interests of the Area

If residents need to contact the association they can now do so via E-mail. Our address is h.a.d.r.a@hotmail.com

Editor: John Clarke Editorial Advisors: John Peecock & Chris Lovelace Printed by R. Young & Sons, 360 Brighton Road, South Croydon, Surrey CR2 6AL, Tel: 020 8680 2242

H a v e y o u p a i d y o u r S u b s c r i p t i o n s

£3 Subscription was due in the spring 2009, if you have not paid please send payments to the Treasurer, 52 Hartley

Hill, Purley, Surrey CR8 4EN

COULD WE HAVE A TRAFFIC LIGHT NIGHTMARE?

HADRA have been in lengthy discussions with Transport For London (TFL) regarding the pro-posed new traffic scheme at the junction of Old Lodge Lane and Brighton Road. We fear that it will result in even longer rush hour queues and delays for traffic exiting Old Lodge Lane - although being assured by Transport For London (TFL) to the con-trary. HADRA however, is still sceptical as this scheme was the subject of a previous Public Con-sultation and Public Exhibition in 2002 as part of the Bus Improvement scheme for Route 60. Addition-ally, Old Lodge Lane traffic queues could be com-pounded by the effect of the additionally proposed traffic lights and pedestrian crossings which are to be sited just before the main junction and lights. TFL's main objective for the redesign is to prioritise and improve the Brighton Road traffic flow through the junction. As most of us use both Old Lodge Lane and the Brighton Road we have a keen interest in the scheme. HADRA is also concerned for the Horse Chestnut Trees on the corner of the junction in the gardens of St Saviour’s Court, which will be used for the proposed new left filter lane. A tree special-ist has voiced fears for the survival of these trees as the road’s foundations will be too near to the tree's roots. So what’s the answer? Do we accept the inevitable that traffic is increasing and that the Brighton Road should get the priority? We will have to wait and see. HADRA will be monitoring the situation over the next few months. Your own experiences could be helpful too. You could email them to h.a.d.r.a@hotmail.com.

The Horse Chestnut Trees at St Saviour’s Court

A23 at Old Lodge Lane Junction Proposed Changes

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VACANCIES ON THE COMMITTEE

We already have a brilliant team of people working to keep our area as attractive and as peaceful as possible. But we

need more residents to help us. No qualifications are necessary but an email facility is very helpful.

We meet once a month at Coulsdon Manor and while most of the communication is now by email, there are a number of community meetings which we attend. These include:

Police liaison; Local health authority; The Transport Committees, Purley and Coulsdon improvements and

many others.. Call Mike Oastler on 020 8763 8708

The Greenlands walk took place on Sunday 6th June 2009 on a fine, warm day. Over 40 peo-ple joined our walk leader Ken West, and quickly congregated around the Coulsdon Manor to hear all about Squire Byron and the changes to Couls-don over the years. These are issues in the Greenlands project cre-ated by HADRA to protect and enhance this area. The walk was a celebra-tion of living in Coulsdon and in London. Instead of

just talking, we walked! Down the golf course to consider conservation ar-eas in the rough. We moved to the Hartley’s and stood in the roads to consider the loss of our gardens to infill, planning laws, and even the need to restrict, perhaps even reduce our population on this crowded island. Down to Hartley Down to see the bulbs planted by HADRA and back up Coulsdon Road under the stressed yew trees!

Nothing is new! The By-rons lived a rural life and

were self sufficient in food, and now, in re-sponse to global warming, we need to replicate their life and grow more food in our gardens, and locally. We visited an organic vegetable garden in Coulsdon Court Road, and on our return to the Manor, safe family cycling was the topic. The great success of the walk was that it brought lots of HADRA residents and their children together, a true community event. The Byrons had a simple rural life and would never have understood our walk subjects of food miles, Transition Towns, peak oil, car sharing, permacul-ture or solar panels. These are our issues and ignorance is no solution. HADRA shares Croydon Councils vision, outlined in its global warming strat-egy: We want Croydon to be regarded as a clean and green borough, that takes responsibility for its environmental and natural resources now and over the long-term, with great spaces to walk, cycle and relax. The challenge is to do s o m e t h i n g a n d Greenlands might be the answer!

G R E E N L A N D S W A L K

THE LORD ROBERTS Upper Woodcote Post Office 19 Upper Woodcote Village

CR8 3HF

Charming Post Office and Shop situated on Village Green.

No parking restrictions Post Office services including

Motor Vehicle Licensing, On-demand Euros, Turkish Lira & US$ notes

AMEX Travellers Cheques Old-fashioned ‘Village’ Shop

Inexpensive Gifts Fresh Baked Bread daily.

For information call 020 8660 7494

THE HADRA WEBSITE

Our website is available and we will be updating it on a regular basis with the

latest information that we have.

It also provides links to other local residents associations and

local council sites.

Our advertisers, who have websites, are linked as well.

It even has some back issues of our previous Newsletters.

Our Social Section has a page which will have up to date information on trips and

functions.

But most important it will let us let you know quickly what is going on

The monthly Committee minutes are Pub-lished, so that you can see what goes on

at our meetings

www.hadra.org.uk 3

Want to enrol as a blood donor

Call 0300 123 23 23 or go to website www.blood.co.uk

S a v e a l i f e g i v e b l o o d

HADRA LOSES A GOOD CITIZEN

(ALAN SHANNON 1926-2009)

Alan joined HADRA in the late eighties and became a Road Steward for Hartley Old Road, which he did for about fifteen years. He was well-liked and always col-lected the most annual sub-scriptions – not an easy task. One of the reasons that Alan was so widely known was the regular walking of his dog. He also was able to keep an eye on things that didn’t look quite right in our area and reported them. He quickly became a Committee Member because he was

very enthusiastic about local affairs and was HADRA’s representative committee member on the East Surrey Transport Committee. Here he many times raised trans-port issues that affected our residents. In addition to working for HADRA, Alan collected for several chari-ties including; Dr Barnados, Help the Aged and Cancer Research. His interests were the family and grandchildren, hill walking, wild life, and photography. He was a keen supporter of the Whytleafe Football Club. Alan, born in Darwen, Lancashire, moved to Poole and in 1968, to Hartley Old Road. He was a Senior Lecturer in charge of the Carpentry and Joinery Section in the Building De-partment at Croydon College and retired in 1991. Alan be-came ill in the early 2000’s and died in July of this year. Alan is survived by his wife Marian, two daughters and a son to whom we offer our sympathy. Stoats Nest Village

Steward Required Do you live in Stoats Nest Village? Can you help? Linda Lawrence who was covering the Vil-lage has had to cut back on her time and is un-able to cover this area although she still does Stoats Nest Road. This is an opportunity to get to know who your neighbours are. People you may have seen while walking up and down your road but have only nodded to. The responsibilities of a road steward are bro-ken into two tasks, primarily to deliver the news-letter which is published twice a year, (Spring and Autumn) and secondly to collect subscrip-tions while delivering the Spring newsletter. If you think you can help or would like more in-formation please contact the Membership Sec-retary Mrs J Hullay 0208 660 0845.

4

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FAMOUS PEOPLE

Nicholas Carew

In 1537 became Lord of the Manor of Coulsdon. The Carews had estab-lished a dynasty at Bed-dington in the 14th cen-tury. Nicholas was brought up at Court and was a constant compan-ion of Henry VIII from be-fore the time when Henry became King. He is said to have answered Henry rather unwisely during a game of bowls, incurring the King's displeasure. More seriously he was accused of being impli-cated in a plot with certain others at Court and ac-cused of treason. He was taken to the Tower and executed on 3 March 1539.

John Neville Crawford

(1886-1963)

Son of the Revd John Charles Crawford first chaplain of Cane Hill Asy-lum, was born at Cane Hill and achieved great fame as an all-round cricketer for Repton School and Surrey before becoming the youngest man to play for England. He enjoyed success in the test matches in Australia in 1907 -1908 and later rep-resented South Australia before resuming his Sur-rey career in 1919. He still holds the record for the highest score by an Eng-lishman abroad, 354.

Gordon Pirie (1931-1991)

The family moved to Coulsdon from Yorkshire and Gordon was educated at Purley County School for Boys. He rose from be-ing a bank clerk to an ath-lete by way of an unusually severe training pro-gramme. He was often to be seen running over Far-thing Downs wearing army boots. In 1953 Pirie broke the world six mile record and captured six other Brit-ish records. He ran the mile in under four minutes. In 1956 he took the 5,OOOm world record and three days later shattered the 3,OOOm world record. In the 1970s his family moved to New Zealand, returning in the 1980s. It is estimated that he covered a total of over 200,000 miles afoot.

Crufts

The world famous dog show of this name started in 1891, when its founder, Charles Cruft, who had been a traveller for Spratt's Dog Biscuits, started the show as his own very successful busi-ness. Interestingly, he never owned a dog! The show retained the Cruft name after it was pur-chased in 1942 by the Kennel Club. Charles Cruft died in 1938 and his grandson Charles Edward Croft moved to Coulsdon in 1946 from Sevenoaks, starting the kennelling business at Windmill Farm which he ran until 1976. Charles Edward Cruft died in 1999 at his retirement home in Ottery St Mary, Devon.

All the information above has been taken from the Bourne Society Village Histories. Books available from Purley Library or contact the Bourne Society on there website w w w . b o u r n e - s o c i e t y . o r g . u k

AGM June 2009 HADRA held their AGM in June this year at Coulsdon Manor and it was a very interesting evening. It com-menced at 7.30 with the police from both Kenley and Coulsdon East Safer Neighbourhood Teams giving a brief talk on current issues and then answering ques-tions. This was followed by a fascinating talk and slide show from two Rangers from the City of London on our open spaces. This was very engaging and I am sure that all those present gained a much better in-sight as to how the corporation works, with particular regard to safeguarding our green spaces. The actual AGM then started with a synopsis of the year’s events, a financial report, a report from the so-cial section and election of officers. Finally there was a question and answer session with our local councillors, including Steve O’Connell who is also our GLA representative. If you are able to attend the AGM next year, please do come along as the evening is always very infor-mative. Refreshments are also provided.

5

In 1983 a group of local men were looking for a Ro-tary club to join. They had all been members of Coulsdon and Purley Round Table and had reached its membership cut off age of 40 years.

The Rotary Club of Couls-don, established for dec-ades, was a first choice. Unfortunately, it was a lunchtime club and as the group were all working in London, or outside the area, an evening club was a priority.

A decision to start a new evening Rotary club was taken. Friends and ac-quaintances were ap-proached and with the ac-tive help and support of the Coulsdon Club the Rotary Club of Coulsdon Manor was started. The name came about through its meeting place – the Couls-don Manor Hotel. 26 years on and the Coulsdon Manor Club is alive, well, has a member-ship of 30 and still meets on Monday evenings at the Coulsdon Manor Hotel. HADRA member, Hamish Robertson, is this year’s president. “Briefly,” he explains, “Rotary is an in-ternational service organi-

sation devoted to serving and helping those in need both throughout the world and here in Britain.”

“As an example of the sort of thing Rotary achieves – in 1985 it began a cam-paign to eradicate polio in the world. As a result, re-ported cases of the dis-ease have plummeted from 350,000 a year to around 1000.”

“As we all know, disasters and emergencies happen with an alarming and fright-ening regularity throughout the world, and Rotary does all it can to respond and assist as quickly as possi-ble. A few years ago we had the Tsunami disaster with its horrendous after-maths. As well as being part of Rotary’s immediate help and response, our club wanted to do some-thing more, something lo-cal, and so we held a char-ity golf day at Coulsdon Manor. We had a magnifi-cent response and putting together the proceeds from the day and the numerous contributions that followed we managed to raise over £10,000 which went to-wards rebuilding a primary school in Sri Lanka.”

Hamish continues,” Of

course local issues, local concerns, local needs all motivate and drive us as a club. We put on the vil-lage fair in Old Coulsdon every year, which as well as providing enjoyment and pleasure to the com-munity enables some 100 or so local societies, chari-ties and organisations to publicize what they do and gain much needed funds for their activities.”

“We have a Christmas Carol Collection through the streets, support the eld-erly residents of Toldene Court with a summer bar-beque and Christmas party, involve ourselves with the Old Coulsdon Centre for the Retired, many of the local schools and more recently the Oa-sis Academy. Last year we had another charity golf day at Coulsdon Manor and managed to raise £6000 for the Marie Curie Caterham centre.”

Hamish is keen to make clear that simply raising money is not what Rotary is all about.”I believe that the most important aspect of our club, the spur to eve-rything we do, the thing that drives us on, is the fel-lowship that we share. Fun and enjoyment are high on our agenda and our Monday evenings are always lively and entertain-ing. We also have a shared social life that we enjoy, and this is very im-portant indeed to us.”

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Steve O’Connell 0208 726 6000 Ext.673806

Jan Buttinger 0208 405 6754

Steve Hollands 0208 405 1902

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Brian Udell 0208 405 6729

Chris Wright 01737 555581

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H A D R A S O C I A L

S E C T I O N

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Forthcoming Events.

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Denis Knight on 020-8660-0816

There is something for everyone

6

OLD COULSDON VILLAGE FAIR.

Around 5,000 people flocked to enjoy the fun and frolics of the 12th an-nual village fair in Old Coulsdon on 4th July. Run by the Coulsdon Manor Rotary Club, the event on Saturday in Grange Park, on the cor-ner of Canon's Hill and Coulsdon Road, offered a raft of entertainment. It included clowns, a clas-sic car display, a dog show, music, dancers, a maypole and sideshows. There were also around 100 stalls run by different community organisations including the Old Coulsdon Residents Association, the South East Cancer Help Centre based in Purley, Barnardo's and St Christo-pher's Hospice in Syden-ham and HADRA. It was a great day out, not only for all the visitors but for all the stall holders as well. It was open by the Mayor of Croydon who was good enough to bring some very good weather with him; this made the day that much more enjoyable.

Our stall was well at-tended with our Social Section bringing some of the photographs of the out-ings they have had and some old photographs of our area before and when it was being built. We had a Guess the Tree Competition which carried a £20 Garden Centre to-ken, we also had a Tom Bola which raised £120 which we are donating to the Coulsdon Manor Ro-tary Club to go into their charity raising fund. The tree competition was well supported and of the many applicants we had 60 correct answers. We decided that we would have a draw to pick the winner at our next Commit-tee Meeting and the winner was Mrs Gear of Old Coulsdon. The Rotary Club and the organisations running stalls are expected to raise between £15,000 and £20,000 between them. From its humble begin-nings in 1996 when there were around 15 stalls, the village fair has grown to become firmly fixed in Old Coulsdon's diary.

Clive Stechman, of the Ro-tary Club, said: “In the be-ginning, it used to be a lit-tle fete and now it's grown to be a major event in Old Coulsdon which everyone looks forward to. “It's a big community event with all the churches and

schools getting involved, and it's got a real commu-nity feel to it.” If you would like to help with next year's fair, email Coulsdon Manor Rotary Club's secretary David Sawer on davidsawer@tiscali.co.uk.

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Karate Demonstration in the ring at the Village Fair Denis Knight, Social Section & Josephine Hullay, Treasurer

7

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DOLLYPERS HILL PRACTICAL CONSERVATION DAYS

Dollypers Hill is a Surrey Wildlife Trust reserve on the borders of Kenley and Coulsdon. It lies mostly between Old Lodge Lane and Caterham Drive. It is a mixture of ancient woodland, open grassy areas and scrub and has been managed by volunteers since 1988. This year was particularly good for the Small Blue butterfly which is rare in Britain as a whole but was flying in good numbers here at Dollypers Hill. The Small Blue is one of the small-est butterflies but we also have one of the largest, the Silver-washed Fritillary which likes to feed on Buddleia and Brambles. We are looking to encourage more local people to help look after their local countryside and wild-life. Our practical conservation days for this autumn and winter are as follows:-

2009 Sunday November 1st Follow pointers from Wattenden Primary School, Old Lodge Lane from 10 a.m.

2010 Sunday January 10th and 24th Sunday February 14th and 28th Sunday March 14th and 28th Follow the ‘SWT’ pointers from the junction of Caterham Drive and Austin Close from 10 a.m.

Tools and gloves are provided, wear old clothes and boots or just come along to see what we get up to. For more information call:

Malcolm Jennings on 020 8684 4000

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GARDEN GRABBING COSTS LIVES

Our environment represen-tative has been attending a series of lectures at the British Festival of Science at Surrey University on gar-dens and related topics. This is because HADRA continues to pursue these issues as part of our Greenlands project.

HADRA are opposed to the loss of gardens to infill be-cause of the destruction of habitat and wildlife, as well as the need to use gardens for growing vegetables. We are, though, understating the case. Suburban gar-dens are now scientifically proven to be the greatest nature reserve in the UK, more than all other wildlife areas put together. As if the environment for wildlife is not enough, the benefits extend to human beings, psychologically, physically, socially and educationally! One researcher even sug-gested that housing devel-opment would be prefer-able on farmland, because we can afford to lose this mostly degraded habitat rather than the far more valuable suburban garden.

Current research suggests that the loss of gardens and green space is far more serious, not for birds and cabbages, but for human life! A garden is not a lux-ury but a biological neces-sity based on 300,000 gen-erations as hunter gather-ers, with a measly two gen-

erations as sedentary be-ings. It is now a scientific fact that looking at, and having access to gardens and green space reduces psychological stress and depression, increases our recovery from illness and reduces the need for pain relief and antidepressant drugs. On the issue of global warming, green space reduces city tem-peratures by up to 4C when compared to concrete, car parks, patios and decking. Add in trees and plants and we get reduced flooding and cleaner air.

Studies have also shown that there is less domestic abuse in urban areas that are greener, as opposed to concrete jungles, when all other factors are compara-ble. If we use the garden as a green gym for activities, it has been shown to use around 272 calories an hour, delays dementia and reduces blood pressure. It also increases wellbeing and spiritual and sensory awareness, is enjoyed by children and improves their intake of fruit and vegeta-bles. The overwhelming conclu-sion being presented now is that gardens and green space are not a luxury, but a human necessity. If this is the case London councils will need to embrace this and stop treating gardens as brownfield sites, fit only for development!

Crime Numbers The following figures are taken from the Croydon Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association, Crime Briefing for the Kenley Sector for the 7th, 8th & 9th months of 2009

Burglary & Attempted Burglary 15 Robbed Person 03 Criminal Damage 05 Criminal Damage Motor Vehicle 18 Theft from Motor Vehicle 14 Theft of MV 03

If you see or have seen any criminal activity and would like to pass on any information please con-tact the Safer Neighbourhood Team in your area.

Coulsdon East 020 8721 2059 Coulsdon West 020 8721 2465 Kenley 020 7161 9342 Purley 020 7161 9342 Sanderstead 020 7161 9525

In an emergency Call 999 But only if URGENT police assistance

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The association came into being in 1937 when neighbours of new houses in Chaldon Way joined to-gether to order topsoil for their gardens-to-be and then realised that this was a good idea. Unhappily, the war intervened, and for those years the concept was largely shelved but was resurrected thereafter. So, we have now passed our 70th anniversary and hope to keep going for many more years. In the 1960s the associa-tion ran a Trading Store in a large shed at the back of THE FORGE in Marlpit Lane. The bunkers that housed a variety of dress-ings and manures were made by the late Mr David May, the Trading Secre-tary, who lived into his nineties and was an active member to the end. Vege-table seeds used to be or-dered in bulk,- anybody visiting him would be handed a package of seeds in small brown enve-lopes and instructed as to

how many should be placed in each. (One mem-ber remembers sneezing when dealing with parsnip seeds and finding the min-ute seeds in unexpected places for weeks).. When the Forge closed, the trading moved to a ga-rage in Bradmore Way be-longing to Mr. Davison until a site was found off Wad-dington Avenue where we could erect a double Mar-ley pre-fab garage. That became and still is our Trading Store between Nos. 28 and 30. For many years the com-mittee meetings were held in Bradmore Green Library. Later, we moved those meetings to the King Room at Cameron Hall. Nowa-days, with a smaller com-mittee, we tend to meet in private premises. However, we are investigating the possibility of hiring a public venue and are reverting to evening meetings to assist younger working members. Continued/Bottom of Back page

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CHRIS LOVELACE

Chris joined the commit-tee in 2001. He describes himself as a reluctant re-cruit, offering initially to help out with the produc-tion of the newsletter, but for some unexplained rea-son, it was not long before he took over as Chair (despite the fact that he was still in full time em-ployment, running his own advertising business), and remained in this post until the AGM in June 2007, when he agreed to con-tinue for a further 12 months as acting Chair. He continued on the commit-tee itself until the 2009 AGM. During his tenure, Chris maintained a business like approach with the introduc-tion of targets relative to what aspects HADRA would be concentrating on for each year, as well as encouraging timescales and action plans for par-ticular activities, and above

all ensuring that these ac-tivities moved with the times, reflecting popular current public trends. Residents will recall his steady hand at each AGM which he ran with great efficiency. Behind the scenes, he offered encour-agement to committee members involved with their particular disciplines, and above all the newslet-ter has continued to be a testimony to his hard work and expertise. He was also involved with coordinating opposition from local Resi-dents’ Associations to any development of the Tesco store in Purley. Chris, and his wife Ann, have celebrated their golden wedding in August 2009 and we wish them well for the future without the encumbrance of HADRA (albeit that Chris for the time being will re-main involved with the newsletter). Possibly, the greatest accolade is the fact that HADRA has been advertising for a replace-ment Chair for over two years with out success, as possibly, any candidate knows that they would find it difficult to match the high standards set by Chris.

Mike Oastler Honorary Secretary

OLD COULSDON BOWLING CLUB Coulsdon Road, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 2LD

Telephone: 01737 552580

Old Coulsdon Bowling Club is a members bowling club located in the old part of the town of Coulsdon in Surrey. The club is committed to providing the highest level facili-ties to play out door bowls and is noted for having one of the best maintained greens in the area. The club has a small club house and is always keen to welcome new members to take part in the inter club and local tourna-ments it hosts.

10

PLUM AND HAZELNUT SLICE

Makes 10 slices, PREPARATION 20 mins, COOKING 35 mins, 400 calories per slice

480g red plums 150g unsalted butter or margarine 150g light muscovado sugar (brown) 3 eggs, beaten 175g ground hazelnuts 175g self raising white flour 5ml baking powder 25g toasted and roughly chopped hazelnuts caster sugar for dusting

1. Grease and base line a 27 x 19 cm shallow baking tin. Set aside 3 plums; stone the remainder and then puree in a food processor.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Add the plum puree, eggs and ground hazelnuts. Sift in the flour and baking power. Mix thoroughtly until smooth.

3. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Stone and slice the remaining plums. Scat-ter chopped hazelnuts and plum slices over the surface of the mixture. Bake at 180 C for a fan oven or 170C/ Gas mark 4 for about 35 minutes until risen and just firm in the centre.

4. Leave to cool in the tin. Dust with caster sugar and serve warm or cold cut into fingers or squares.

Suitable for home freezing, and if served with whipped cream, thick yoghurt of custard, it doubles up as a simple dessert.

Christmas & New Year Celebrations

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To make a reservation please call 020 8668 0414

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Croydon CR56 2LL

OXFORD HOTELS & INNS

Party Nights

Join us for one of our festive party nights for a delicious 3-course meal to give you the energy to party the night away with our resident DJ until 12.30am.

Crackers, party hats and novelties included. Manor House or Blenheim Suite £32.50 - Wednesdays: Dec. 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd

£35.00 - Thursdays: Nov. 26th, Dec. 3rd, 10th and 17th £40.00 - Fridays: Nov. 27th, Dec. 4th, 11th and 18th

£40.00 - Saturdays: Nov. 28th, Dec. 5th, 12th and 19th Manor House 8.00pm sit down prompt

Blenheim Suite 8.30pm sit down prompt Dress Code: Smart Casual Over 18 years only

Christmas Day

Family joining you for Christmas but not enough room or may be you just want to treat yourself and your family?

Manor House Restaurant 12.30pm - 3.00pm (last sitting) £80.00 per guest Children under 12 years £40.00

Santa will be making a special visit with gifts for all those good boys and girls!

Boxing Day

After the hectic festivities of Christmas Day, come and enjoy a delicious 3-course carvery lunch with family or friends in the relaxing surroundings of our

Manor House Restaurant. Lunch served from 12.30pm - 2.30pm (last sitting) £29.95 per guest Children under 12 years £15.00

OXFORD HOTELS & INNS

CROYDON BACH CHOIR

Saturday 28th November St John the Evangelist

Church Auckland Road,

Upper Norwood SE19 2RX Commences: 7.30pm

Handel - Four Coronation Anthems

Haydn - Little Organ Mass Mendelssohn - Ave Maria

Purcell - Hail Bright Cecilia

Wednesday 16th December St Matthew's Church,

Croydon, CR0 5NQ Family Christmas Carol

Concert Commences: 8.00pm

For more information go to the website below:

www.croydonbachchoir.org

For Tickets Telephone: Helen Draper 8405 2172

Email: helendraper@blueyonder.co.uk

PURLEY CHRISTMAS LIGHTS 2009

When Croydon Council stopped putting up Christ-mas Lights in Purley a few years ago we had a year in darkness. So a small group of people got to-gether to ensure that we would be lit up over the Christmas period and, not only have we been able to buy our own lights, but also been able to put them up Russell Hill and along Purley Road for the first time. We've also intro-duced a switch on day, when we close the High Street, have some enter-tainment and last year we introduced a market. It has started from small begin-nings but is growing each year and we would hope to make it into a really good day for everyone in Purley. We've been looking at what happens in other ar-

eas where they have suc-cessful "Switch on" events and have found that the whole community has got involved in all sorts of ways.

So we have now formed the Purley Christmas Lights Project and are looking for people who can be part of the working group to help organise things and bring new ideas for what can happen on the day. The Switch On Event this year is the 28th November and we already have a Christmas Market booked for the whole day. We have a stage and school choirs singing plus other music, Mary and Joseph on their live donkey and even Father Christmas comes for the day! There will also be a craft fair at the United reform Church. For those who like football, Richard Rufus, who used to play for Charlton, is coming to switch the lights

on.

Funding in the past few years has come from the local traders, Rotary, the Churches and other or-ganisations but half of it came from Tesco in the first years and last year, as a one off, from Sainsbury. So for this year we'll need to raise money in other ways and something that is very successful in an-other area is that a family or household can become a member of the Christ-mas Lights Association (for us it is the Purley Christ-mas Lights Project) and pay a subscription of only £5.00 a year. So we'd like to ask you to consider that and make sure that this puts Purley on the map!

If you’d like more informa-tion, please contact Pam Bryan 020 8668 09422 or email at pam.bryan@purleybaptist.org.

GOT A PROBLEM AND NOT SURE WHAT TO

DO?

There are times when you as a resident may have a problem and are not sure what to do. We have com-piled and published a se-

ries of referral topics which provide you with guidance. These include the following and details are available on

our website (www.hadra.org.uk)

under “Referral Topics”.

Planning Pollution control – Noise

Bonfires Road safety

Police Parking

Street debris Overgrown plants and trees

Rubbish in front gardens Useful telephone numbers

NEWS FROM THE SOCIAL SECTION

The loss of any member of the Social Section Committee leaves a hole in the organisation and the following is our tribute to one such member.

Robin Michael Blake

We were sad to learn that, after a short illness, Robin died in August. He had lived in the area for 30 years and many will remember him from the days when he organised the rolling rubbish collection. He was a much valued member of the Social Section Committee, acting as a most efficient Treasurer, and his fiendish quizzes had become a fixture on the Social calendar. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him and our deepest sympathy is extended to his wife Stella and son Malcolm.

Our Walking Treasurer Hunt in August had been arranged by Robin and unfortunately we had to cancel it due to his ill health.

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS Sat. 24th Oct. 2009 Evening Event

Murder Mystery play with refreshments.

Sat. 5th Dec. 2009 Coach trip to visit the Dickens Festival at Rochester

Sat. 23rd Jan. 2010 Wine tasting evening

Sat. 20th Feb. 2010 Illustrated Talk

Sat. 20th Mar. 2010 Event to be arranged

Sat. 17th Apr. 2010 Skittles at the British Legion, Limpsfield

Sat. 19th June 2010 Visit to the Whitechapel Foundry

For details and booking please telephone Denis on 020-8660-0816 Entry to all events is by ticket only

London Fire Brigade Purley

London Fire Brigade Purley has 4 watches, Red, White, Blue and Green; Paul Barnett is White Watch Commander. They work 365 days a year to keep us safe in our homes. They have an estimated 160 “shouts” a month and the calls can be various with the seasons playing a part in what type of call they get. In the summer they have a ten-dency to grass fires with the normal bonfire shouts for November and the Christmas season with Christmas lights causing problems. Cats up trees are a rarity now and gen-erally the false call tally is very low. The Fire Brigade will visit schools and local young peoples’ groups to make them aware of the dangers of fire and it is believed that this strategy has a great bearing on the false call issue. Although they are able to train with ladders the tower at Purley has been deemed unsafe by the Health and Safety Execu-tive and is not used for training, but this still means adequate training has to be carried out on the other tender (fire engine) equipment including breathing apparatus. They also have old cars delivered so that they can practice the best way to get trapped peo-ple out. Lectures also take place on building structure so that when a fire is being dealt with they understand the dangers of collapse. The tenders are checked both at the start of a watch and after a call out to make sure they are ready for the next call. The station has received many commendations. One sad case was a young person who died, but it wasn’t the fire that killed him - it was the smoke. Evidently more people are killed by

smoke than fire. There is an initiative being carried out where your local fire station will attend your property at a time convenient to you and with your permission check your home for any possible safety hazards. The attending officer will then give you some ad-vice regarding any issues that have come to light and finally supply and fit smoke alarms for your property free. Contact: Paul Barnett 0208 555 1200 extn 84560 E-mail: paul.barnett2@london-fire.gov.uk or go to www.london-fire.gov.uk/YourSafety.asp and fill in your details.

All correspondence to be addressed to: The Secretary, HADRA, 66a Hartley Old Road, Purley, Surrey CR8 4HJ

HADRA COMMITTEE Chairman Vacancy Vice Chairman Vacancy Secretary Mike Oastler 8763 8708 Legal Representative Zarina Gani Planning Dick Weber 8660 8272 Newsletter Editor John Clarke 8660 0845 Environment & Transport Ken West MBE 8645 5271 Membership & Treasurer Josephine Hullay 8660 0845 Committee Member Diane Hearne 8668 1778 Committee Member Paul Eyres 8660 6965 Committee Member Colin Etheridge 8668 3707 Social Chairman Denis Knight 8660 0816 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

ROAD STEWARDS Asmar Close Miss Ann Smith Bencombe Road Mrs Sue Bentley Brighton Rd Mrs Jeannette Abdey (odds) Burcott Road Vacancy Filled Byron Avenue Mrs Kath Rees (evens) Mrs Barbara Gown (odds) Cearn Way Mrs Helen Pierce Coulsdon Court Rd Mr Colin Coates Coulsdon Rd Mr Bill Collar (evens) Hartley Down Mr Andrew Dunlop (evens) Mr Denis Knight (odds) Hartley Farm Mr Denis Knight Hartley Hill Vacancy Hartley Old Road Mrs Joyce Earl (odds) Mrs Helen Moon (evens) Hartley Way Mrs Barbara Gown Haydn Avenue Mr Colin Etheridge Hillars Heath Mrs Peggy Brown Old Lodge Lane Mrs Heather Elliott (part evens) Vacancy (part evens) Mrs Liz Marsden (part odds) Mrs Alba Dourado (part odds) Petersfield Crescent Miss Ann Smith Stoats Nest Road Mrs Linda Lawrence Stoats Nest Village Vacancy _____________________________________

New Residents Welcome Please let our Membership Secretary have your name and address if you would like to become a member of the Hartley and District Resi-dents’ Association (HADRA) 12

Photographs from the Autumn Show

Continued from/Col.3 page 8

We still use the original bunkers, a tribute to their workmanship, and volunteers man the Store. We now have very few road stewards so rely on members paying their annual subs at the Store. We no longer have a Summer Show but we still hold a Spring Show in April and an Autumn Show in September when members can exhibit their produce, hob-bies and cookery - in other words typical "Village Fairs".

With the ever-rising costs we feel that being "on the doorstep" of residents in Coulsdon, Kenley, and Caterham-on-the-Hill we have a useful part to play as well as supporting a good old English tradition, and speaking of tradition, our President and Vice-President are the daughters of early members Mr. Davison and Mr. Houghton.

Visit The Garden Shop 28 to 30 Waddington Ave. Open 10.00-12.00 Every Sunday February to October inclusive. Closed December to January

Crew Manager: John Whiley. Watch Manager: Paul Barnett. Firefighters: Martin Cooper, Peter Bullock, Lee Ayres