The Planet Reigate Podcast
47: AquaSports at Mercers, remembering a local war hero … and more
Fri, 02 Aug 2024
Episode 47 “AquaSports at Mercers, remembering a local war hero … and more”For Saturday 3rd August 2024TIMECODE – so you can go straight to what you want to listen to00:00 - What’s in this episode 09:30 - The Good Time Guide: Local places to go and things to do this weekend. 13:00 - GUEST: Aqua Sports is a lake-based watersports centre set in the beautiful Mercers Park, on the doorstep of Redhill and Merstham. I’ve been to talk with Operations Manager, Henry. 24:15 - The Planet Reigate area news 46:50 - Planet Reigate area sport 51:40 - Planet Reigate Stars - thanking local heroes. This week from Reigate. 52:30 - The Good Time Guide: Local things to do and places to go this coming week. 1:00:00 – The story of Redhill’s wartime hero 1:06:00 - The 60-second Soundscape. Reigate and the Priory Park fountain (hopefully it’s not too triggering for you!)If you get value from The Planet Reigate Podcast, please give us value back in return; click here to support us with a small donation: www.buymeacoffee.com/theplanetreigatepodcast or share us with your colleagues. CREDITS:The seven-note Planet Reigate Theme is ©Peter StewartOther music www.Pond5.com:GTG - inspiringaudio Item ID: 116855857NEWS - ThomPie Item ID: 75456323STARS - jwsaudio Item ID: 073206386 SOUNDSCAPE PolkadotFlowersMusic Item ID: 136304431GUITAR - Frogard Item ID: 114324148DRAGON fx https://soundbible.com/ CLASSIC - light orch Victorian - by EaRenTech ID 130569703SAD - pastoral - by RomanAminov ID 056064549 Listen: https://linktr.ee/PlanetReigatePodcastWeb: www.ThePlanetReigatePodcast.comFacebook: www.Facebook.com/ThePlanetReigatePodcastX (Twitter): https://twitter.com/PlanetReigateEmail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is the Planet Reigate Podcast.
Henry joins me from Aqua Sports at Mercer's Lake, so hear how the group was set up and their big plans for the year ahead. All sorts of water-based sports and Henry's tip for the best sunset view in Surrey. Plus, we have the short story of a proper hero in the very heart of Red Hill, the wartime bravery of Jack Harvey himself.
In the news this week, the location of electric car charging points across the area have been announced. How you can find out where to get free tap water for your water bottle over the summer. An update from the driving instructor concerned about the road layout near the aerodrome. Congratulations to a local cricket club for getting hundreds of thousands of pounds from the County Council.
Have your say on our local parks and open spaces ahead of a series of council decisions. How you could get to decide on the future of local police officers who may have been accused of misconduct. How you can help out and build a new shooting range in Reigate. Yeah, why the RSPCA was able to help a fox in a local garden this week. An eight-year-old girl who has all the makings of being...
An entrepreneur and appearing on TV's The Apprentice Show in the future. Plus, we look at recommendations for shady walks in the area. In sport, we feature a local team after new players and a big open day at a local leisure centre where you can try all sorts of sports in various taster sessions.
we feature local lacrosse as well plus we have the good time guide of events across the area across the week ahead planet reigate stars from reigate and our 60 second soundscape before we go at the end of the show this is the planet reigate podcast with peter stewart
But first of all, we'll start off, as we always do, with looking back at some of the correspondence that we've had during the course of the week. And last week, of course, we featured Sean Lamberth, and he was talking about the course of the second annual...
cyclocross Reigate which is coming to Priory Park next week, it's Friday August the 9th, yeah this coming week and he says thanks so much to the Planet Reigate podcast for inviting us onto your podcast we had a brilliant time, also we had another message from Age Concern Merstam Redhill Reigate who said publicly, listen to this great local podcast.
We get a couple of mentions, as indeed they did last week. The Planet Reigate podcast, of course, covering, yes, Reigate, but also the satellite towns and villages in kind of Reigate's orbit. You get what we kind of go with there. Reigate, Redhill, Merston, Buckland, Betchworth, Brockham. And yes, I had a chat with someone recently who said, do you cover Lye? Yes, we do. Do you cover Charlwood?
Yes. Yes, we do. Do you cover Hookwood? Yes. Salford? Yes. It was like a quiz. It really was. And as I often say, we don't do Oxted or Godston. We don't do Gatwick and Crawley. We don't do Dorking. We don't even do Banstead. So sorry, guys, if you're in those areas and you want a similar podcast for you, get in touch with me. we can perhaps sort something out.
But at the moment, the planet Reigate area is, and will always be, Reigate, Redhill, and Merced and Buckland, Betchworth and Brockham. And yes, I know they go over several different boroughs. I get that completely. But you know what? Boroughs are just a line on a map, aren't they?
And they're different from constituencies, and they're different from water areas, and they're different from postcodes very often, and they're different from telephone codes very often, and all sorts of things. So... The planet Reigate area. One more time. Reigate, Redhill, Merston, Buckland, Bechworth and Brockham.
The towns and villages in the orbit of the borough town, I suppose you would call it, of Reigate. Where the Roseroom Tea Rooms are. Who we mentioned last week because they've moved up the High Street. From one end of the High Street essentially to the other end of the High Street. Just near Marks and Spencer's now. Thank you so much for the shout out last week. It's so lovely.
Please do pop in when we open. They didn't say whether I get a free slice of gluten-free cake or whether I can bring anyone with me. I don't know. So, well, I'm quite willing enough for paying for that. Looks lovely if you've seen their posts on social media. They've changed. They've moved to where they collect.
objective was in the rooms just there, up by Nando's, up by the Bull's Head, by Marks and Spencer's. You get it just up that end of the High Street. Now, a few weeks ago, I mentioned about Paul House on Bancroft Road in Reigate, which, of course, is now reopened after all of their works, which have been going on for about a week, 10 days.
And I thought I recalled that it was built on the site of a swimming pool. And last week, Stuart Holmes emailed to say there was a swimming pool opposite the town hall. And I mentioned that last week, didn't I? But what about Pool House on Bancroft Road? Stuart got back to me and said, I can't see any evidence for a public pool at that location.
I don't recall anything from my personal experience either. Maybe it had a few pool tables. Is that why it was called Pool House? Or maybe, he goes on, the business had something to do with pools. I think there used to be an outdoor pool in Priory Park. At least that's what I remember.
um and i do as well i remember the pool in priory park uh was it where that really large round flower bed is but it was certainly up there near the cafe area wasn't it and and i seem to remember it was it was um it was fenced off with a low fence and it was more like a paddling pool wasn't it for kids
Then I think after that, when they drained it, they just put sand in and then they created the whole new place. So my memory goes back that far of taking the kids for walks in the woods and flying kites and playing balls and so on in that whole area and going into that paddling pool and sandpit area there as well.
and anyway Stuart goes on he says I've seen photos of people bathing in Earlswood Lakes before my time he says and there was a gap of a few years between the Rygate Baths closing and Donnings opening so we would cycle from Woodhatch where we live to Hawley to go there and Stuart, thank you so much.
I really love local history and where you can look at something and go, God, that is still there and that's what happened there. Someone lived there or someone died there or that's a mystery about it or whatever.
And it has to be said that the episodes of the Planet Reigate podcast in which we feature local history, we've done quite a bit, one that springs to mind, one of the most listened to couple of episodes was our history of the man who built Donata House,
donald's school is there but the story of mr waterloo who who actually built it and why did he build it and who lived there and what's the whole story behind that estate and and who was mr waterloo what did he go on and do so uh search for that in our archive episodes but if you've got any memories if you've got any thoughts about history particularly about paul house in bancroft road
I must get on to Spencer, who I mentioned last week, actually works there at WS Planning and Architecture. Do get in touch with me. Hello at PlanetRygatePodcast.com. This week I was at the Rygate and Banstead Borough Council Volunteers Awards Part 2 at the Town Hall. So hear all about that in next week's show, where we hear from a handful of recipients of local volunteer awards.
And thank you so much indeed for people who've got in touch elsewhere over the past several weeks. Ailsa says, love your podcast. A brilliant idea. Sarah says, I'd love to be involved, please. And Anna says, it looks absolutely fantastic. Well done for setting it up. Well, you know, it would be nothing without your support. And you can do that if you'd like to become a supporter of the show, of
your show really as opposed to the show certainly not my show but it's your show then you can well on your phone if you go to buymeacoffee.com and then slash or search for the Planet Reigate podcast you can donate the price of a cup of coffee so you
three pounds and and then that comes to me because there's all sorts of things that kind of we pay for which is really you know i'm happy to do but if you want to send a bit of appreciation my way that will be absolutely fantastic and be able to support a local initiative talking about supporting local initiatives it's what we do each and every week tell you what's going on across the area places to go things to do people to meet new discoveries to be made we call it the good time guide
The Good Time Guide. Things to do and places to go on the Planet Reigate podcast.
Tell us a couple of weeks in advance if you would like a mention for your event on The Good Time Guide, which comes in two parts. First of all, this coming weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and then a bit later on in the show, a bit later on in the week, Monday through to next Saturday as well. You can fill out the form you'll find at theplanetrigatepodcast.com.
And to get a mention seven days before the event or to get more mentions and early mentions, to get those early ticket sales with one of our Planet Rigate supporters packages, ask me for more information. Hello at theplanetrigatepodcast.com. Saturday, the 3rd of August, Boogie Monsters is back at the Rigate Castle Grounds.
Bring your family, enjoy the fun in interactive pop and rock band for your kids' experience. And the tickets are on sale now, 12 and 2.30 shows. And you can get those via the Harlequin box office online, harlequin.co.uk. Intermediates Crochet Workshop for Saturday, 10.30 to 12.30 at the lovely Plough Inn in Earlswood.
I had to mention last week you go along, learn to crochet in the round to make an elephant. That's going to be something to trumpet about, isn't it? You'll leave the class able to make magic rings and make stitches into them and the knowledge to complete your elephant in confidence.
Just don't get crumbs on your crochet creations because coffee and pastries are going to be served during the class as well. There's an open day on Sunday featuring yoga in the park, and that's happening at Gatton Park. Enjoy 250 acres of capability brown parkland, Edwardian gardens and refreshments in the tea room. Wellbeing coach Teresa will be offering mindful yoga sessions on the lawn.
suitable for beginners and more experienced who want to enjoy yoga in the beautiful setting. £12 till £5 yoga bookings online, £6 for adults guide price. I'm kind of into that kind of thing at the moment. After a few kind of changes in my lifestyle after... Over recent months, healthy eating, more exercise, mindfulness, Pilates, all sorts of things.
Yeah, I'm kind of, you know, I'm kind of going through a bit of a bit of a transformation. I don't know whether I'll turn out to be a butterfly or a slug. I really don't know. But Surrey Fire and Rescue Service have a charity car wash. Go along to get your car sparkling clean and help raise funds for the Firefighters 999 project on Sunday the 4th, 10 till 3, at Rygate Fire Station. So there we go.
Places to go and things to do on the Planet Rygate podcast. And we've got more of that across the area, across the week today.
from monday a little bit later on in the show plus of course we've got that 60 second soundscape before we go at the end of the show from reigate we got our planet reigate stars and also we've got our interview with henry from mercer's lake and aqua sports there what's their history what are they going to go on in the future and yeah his top tip for the best location in surrey to watch the sunset coming up now
Aqua Sports is that lake-based water sports centre in the beautiful Mercer's Park, right on the doorstep of Redhill and Mercedham. Founded by John and Martin, who are friends and water sport enthusiasts, who had a vision to bring the world of water sports to... Well, it's a bit of an inland beauty spot, isn't it, to be honest with you?
And across the time that they've been there, Aqua Sports has taught... tens of thousands of young people and adults to sail and windsurf and paddle and all sorts of things and you know what they've got big plans for the future too as we've mentioned previously on the planet reigate podcast and as i found out when i went along and had a chat with henry down there at the water's edge
We are currently stood down on our main pontoon, looking out upon the lake. Axports is based here at Mercer's Park. We've got about a 50 acre lake with a mile, give or take, walk around the outside. And we're just looking out over all the different kit that we've currently got set up for the day.
And it was wet this morning, but it's a beautiful afternoon now. It's a little bit chilly. There's a bit of breeze in the air, which hopefully you won't be able to pick up on the microphone. And we've got a little motorboat coming in. Where's this person been out to?
So this is Sophie. She's just been out doing some little bits on the water, moving some kit around, just because we're coming towards the end of the day, starting to pack some stuff down. Tell me what Mercer's Lake is, or what it was, more specifically.
So Mercer's Lake used to be an old sand quarry. We've got a few of those in this area, haven't we? Various sand, or full as earth, and gravel, and all sorts of things going on.
Yeah, there's quite a few. We're back just to the north by Mercer's West, and then we've got Spinesmere just down the road, about half a mile away, and then over at Homethorpe Estate, there's then the Homethorpe Lakes. which are all nature reserves, which is really cool. We've been around as aquasports for 31 years now. And for about 10 years before that, we were here under a different name.
Exactly how deep it is depends on who you ask. As far as we're aware, it's around 10 to 15 metres. Because we are an old quarry, the banks are quite steep all the way straight down into the water. So even where we are, only 10 metres off the bank, we're already four or five metres deep here.
And that means it's going to be very cold even in the height of summer.
Yeah, so if you look at some of the other local lakes that are shallower than us, they're already up towards 20 degrees water temperature. At the moment, we're still at 16, so it takes us a long time to warm up.
That's the history, that's the kind of backstory. What is here today as far as aquasports goes? Let's kind of look around.
We do kayaking under Paddle UK, which is the new British Canoe Union. We run paddleboard sessions under British Standard Paddleboard Association. We run windsurf sessions under the Royal Yachting Association. We run... Dinghy sailing, we run, again, under the Royal Yachting Association, and we run raft build sessions, and we've just bought a load of mega subs.
So 18 foot long paddle boards that are five foot wide, but eight students and an instructor on board. There's nothing quite like us anywhere nearby. You have to go quite a way to find similar. So all of our staff, everyone who works for us, is recognised under their national governing bodies for their sports. They're kayak instructors, canoe instructors. They're under Paddle UK.
The sailing and the windsurf guys are all under the RYA.
paddleboarding is british standard paddleboard association so we're all recognized under our governing bodies that means that we've all gone through levels of training and tuition to reach that including pre-assessments first aids health and safeties as well as week-long courses in how to instruct those sports you're training all sorts of people from all sorts of ages how young from we take students from eight years old
I think the oldest that I've taught here was 91. Fantastic. That's really excellent, isn't it? And what's the most popular of these water sports? So in terms of just numbers and bums on seats, paddleboarding has seen a massive explosion over the last few years.
The accessibility and kind of the entry level kit has become quite cheap recently and is really good because we're getting a lot of people that just want to get out on the water and enjoy what we do. And it's kind of the easiest, cheapest, best way to get out there and do it.
OK, so I know you're after more staff as well, because sometimes I read out your adverts on the Planet Riot Game podcast. So more and more people, because you are expanding, aren't you?
Yes. So we've just got a new investor and we're currently expanding the cafe, expanding kind of the food and beverage offering that we have here, but also expanding the number of people that we can get on the water and the number of staff that we need for that. So we've just invested from a water side of it in a new fleet of sit on top kayaks. So we're buying loads of those in at the moment.
We've just bought a load of racing paddle boards and racing touring paddle boards, as well as the extra large paddle boards to go alongside our normal paddle board fleet. And then we're expanding the powerboat fleet and the dinghy fleet so that we can run more sailing sessions too.
So tell me on a typical summer's day at a weekend or in the school holidays, what does this lake look like? How many people are out there? What kind of sports are going on all at the same time?
Organised chaos. Organised chaos is probably the phrase. So school holidays, we run all of our school camps or all of our kids camps. So we'll have day camps and week camps going on. So that's where kids come down, students come down. And they'll do a mix of sports through the day. We do at least two. We try and do three if we can. So that could be any of the sports we offer.
If they come down over the whole week, then they'll do everything that we offer. So that's normally around 32 kids at a time running that. We'll then have dinghy lessons happening, which will have about 16 kids on it. A windsurf course, which will be happening with another eight on it. A kayak course, which will also have eight on it. So...
60, 70 kids at a time in the middle of the summer on the weekdays. It gets very busy, but all of our instructors, as we know, are qualified, experienced, and they're all over it.
And very, very popular by the sound of it. I'm guessing people have to book up several weeks in advance, do they, to make sure they get a spot on one of these courses?
Once we kind of get towards the summer, we then try and open a waiting list where we can.
What is it about water sports, about sailing and so on, that people are enjoying?
There's something just about the water, you know, like you can never, all we want to do is be next to the water. In terms of open spaces and mental health for people, it's really important. There are studies that have come out recently that say blue spaces, water is actually three times better for us than green spaces are, which makes sense for a lot of us.
A lot of the instructors here, very chilled out, very happy people. So for people to be able to get out, get on the water and kind of push their comfort zone a
respectfully kicking a ball around the park is a really cool thing and a really interesting thing for them to be able to do and what is your sport of choice my bread and butter what i grew up doing is sailing my whole family sail i'm originally from plymouth so i'm down on the coast i then windsurf ended up doing that by accident but really enjoy it so when there's kind of a nice amount of wind we're sailing when it's really breeze on really windy we go out on a windsurf board and when there's no wind we go paddleboarding
So is there something in a kind of British psyche, perhaps because we're an island nation, or is that doesn't kind of replicate itself as far as skill or interest in water sports and sailing goes?
I think there is something about the British people, because we are an island, but there's something about whatever we do, we end up near the sea, near the coast, near water. So I think it's kind of ingrained in who we are as a people.
Tell me how you reckon aquasports is going to be growing over the next few years. You've mentioned you're getting more courses on, taking on more staff, you're developing the centre, which is just behind us here. So how do you see it developing over the next three, four, five years?
From an operational point of view, the side that I'm kind of mainly looking at, the things that are happening on the water, we're pushing open water swimming. We started that towards the end of last year and now we're running it more actively. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturday and Sunday mornings. So that's really exciting and a really cool thing to do.
Again, it's a very accessible thing for everyone to be able to get down and do. Alongside that developing kind of our paddling offering with the racing paddle boards and the touring paddle boards that we've spoken about, investing into the sit on top kayaks so that we can get more people out on the water more easily, safely is really good.
So matched with that is the catering offering, the food and beverage outlet that we've got here. So we're hiring a chef. He started with us recently. His name's Kyle. Everyone come say hi to Kyle. We're doing more cooked food as opposed to the toasties that we used to do in the past.
The menu currently is looking like burgers with chips, there's salads, open earlier in the mornings, open later in the evenings. I always joke that I've got the prettiest and the best office view in the whole of Surrey because I look out from my office and it's the lake. We get gorgeous sunsets here that set at the far end of the lake.
That goes all the way, looking over those are the transmitters on top of Frygate Hill.
Just to the left of those transmitters is where the sun set and it goes poof and it's all very pretty and if you get a really dead flat calm evening you get perfect reflections of the sky and it's just some of the best sunsets I've ever seen.
I'm thinking you need to expand your offer to photography evenings or something like that.
We've started opening up to fitness instructors this year. In the mornings and through the days, we've got a range of different instructors coming in, running family sessions. We've got yoga sessions going on and just general HIIT and high-intensity sessions happening with different instructors. Something that we used to do a few years ago was paddleboard yoga.
oh wow yeah it's really cool it's not necessarily for me i'm not that flexible um but it's something that so you're on your paddleboard doing yoga yeah and you've got to say so so you've got that other element of the board of the ground in vertical is moving as well yeah exactly so for some people it's great for other people like myself who are struggling with their balance it's slightly more difficult but we're currently trying to seek a yoga instructor to do paddleboard yoga which would be really cool i reckon as you suggested it's
You've got a really good job here. You're going to be here for a few years, aren't you? You want to see all this through.
That's the plan. Certainly with all this development that's happening and everything that's going on, it's a really interesting place to be at the moment and a really cool thing just to be invested in and working alongside and seeing where it goes.
And it was great to go down to Mercer's Lake and Aquasports. Henry there, you can find them online. You can see what different courses they've got. And after that interview, Henry said, I'll tell you what, have you got a few minutes? Have you got half an hour? Yeah, yeah, sure. OK, so we jumped into a boat and obviously put on life jackets and so on.
And he took me all around the lake, and he was able to point out, this is a shallow bear, and this is where we saw that animal, and over there we see that nest, and do you see that? That used to be so-and-so. And it was really intriguing. It was a glorious afternoon a few weeks back.
And it was really fantastic just to be on that boat and to have his expertise about the lake, about the history, about the flora and fauna as well. And... Should have been recording this, Henry. He said, you know what? Come back another time. We'll do it again. So, Henry, I'm going to take you up on that.
And if you want to see what the latest is, because if you haven't been down to Mercer's for a year, 18 months or possibly even longer, first of all, why? But secondly, you may want to go down there over the summer, soak up the sun, have a little walk around the lake. A little walk? Yeah, it's not that far, is it?
And also see what changes they are making and have made already to increase their offer down there. And don't forget, we have many more interviews in our archive shows. You'll hear about the Open Air Theatre in Reigate this summer in episode 32. And Wayne and Beth from Reigate Volleyball Club on their love of the sport also in episode 32 as well.
And if you'd like to support the Planet Reigate podcast, you can do that. Buymeacoffee.com slash the Planet Reigate podcast. Sport on the way, but first of all, here's our news sequence of some of the stories which may have passed you by over the last seven days or so. Local locations for a network of electric vehicle charge points set to be installed across Surrey have been proposed.
So I've looked at the map, I've looked at the list, and I can tell you that the government has a set target of 300,000 public charge points across the country in the next seven years. And the locations proposed have been selected because someone has requested one in a certain area. In fact, I highlighted that process a few months ago here on the show.
And I explained how to ask for one of those charging points near where you live. Obviously, it has to be a public place, not just for you, but for other people. But of course, it would be really handy for you, maybe where you live, work, exercise, that kind of thing. Or because there was no nearby access to a charge point.
And an interactive map of the current proposed locations is available on the Connected Curb website. And requests can still be made. More locations will be added. But locally in the Planet Rygate area at the moment, Rygate, Redhill, Merston, Buckland, Betchworth, Brockham, RH1, 2 and 3. A little bit of 6 as well.
In Hawley, Chestnut Road, White Bushes, Wimborne Avenue, Dover's Green Castle Drive there and also outside the shops on the parade at Woodhatch. Also on Stockton Road, RH2, Blackborough Road and Holmesdale Road as well. Reigate and Banstead has become a refill destination and is pledging to help turn the tide on plastic pollution.
Yeah, by downloading the free refill app, you'll be able to easily tap into a network of places where you can refill. So essentially you can top up a water bottle or you can get a coffee in a reusable cup or even go shopping with less packaging. Refill makes going plastic free easier. If you want details on links or any of these, email me at hello at theplanetrigatepodcast.com.
We've got an episode from episode 44 now. Remember I told you about Martin Pitchley, a local driving instructor, saying that the roads near the test centre of the aerodrome were too fast, verges were too overgrown, signs were missing or obscured, there were poor road markings, and he said altogether it's not only unsafe, but also pretty unfair on those new drivers being examined.
As I say, I've got an update. Martin wrote to me saying... I had several developments today which I can only think that your podcast certainly helped happen. Martin, really appreciate that. Thank you. We have a little bit of sway. I've been speaking to several counsellors this week, one on the phone and a couple of others eye to eye, face to face as well.
And Martin goes on, I've been invited to attend a meeting this Friday morning. So this is Friday the 2nd of August, that is, with an official from Reigate Council. And I also received another email this afternoon which said in part, Thank you for the detailed information in the letter and the photos provided.
I appreciate that the matters you've raised are frustrating and concerning, but I can assure you that we will look into them and will be in contact when we have further information. Thank you for taking the time to contact me. Kind regards. the name of the Director of Highways and Transport.
And to be fair as well, they might appreciate people getting in touch because, and this is in defence of Surrey County Council, because they can't always know where a sign has gone down. They can't always know where a bush is overgrown or where road markings seem to have disappeared or something like that. They can't know every single square metre of highway as well as they might.
So they do rather rely, don't they, on people, on drivers, on pedestrians, particularly if you are a professional driver, like Martin is, to contact them to say, hey guys, don't know whether you appreciate it, but... And he kind of links in to...
doesn't it, to a story we spoke about last week about another school which is after St Bollard's and some more signs and lower driving limits outside one of the schools in South Rygate. You need to tell people where... you think they may have slipped up or something that perhaps they should, inverted commas, know about, but don't. Anyway, so that was, I thought, very positive.
Not only has he got a meeting, but also he had that letter back from the Director of Highways and Transport. I thought I'd pass that on. Now, he also emailed me again on Thursday, so that's the 1st of August, to say, I am meeting directly with the council tomorrow. It's going to be 10am.
I've been invited to go around with a guy in his van to physically show him all the areas that are very concerning. I'm sure everyone will benefit from the changes. Thank you. to the Planet Reigate podcast. Well, Martin, I appreciate the thanks, but thank you for helping to kind of push that through and having those eagle eyes as well and being able to, as I say, contact the people involved.
A little bit of media pressure as well. Don't know how much sway we had, but as I say, I know that several councillors and people in the council and further afield, decision makers, influencers, do listen to the podcast. So hopefully we have been able to make a little bit of difference.
Talking of which, I mentioned last week about how to get some free money for your group from a fund that local councillors have to spend in their local community. So news and congratulations to Salford's Cricket Club for securing, get this, £431,000. from this fund, which is called Your Fund Surrey.
They say, thanks to community efforts, the pavilion now has an accessible meeting space, a volunteer-run coffee shop, and modern accessible changing facilities for women, girls, and disability cricket. Now, more on how you can get cash, not necessarily £431,000, but it will be for your group, in last week's show.
There's the email address in there, so you'll be able to email and get some more information. So it could just mean that you want a table tennis table for your group, or Something like that, which could just be £100 or might just be £50 to swell the coffers for maybe a petrol fund to pick up people or to drop them off or whatever it happens to be.
I'm suggesting that if you do pick up people, you probably need to drop them off as well. You don't just take them to a community event and then abandon them. You get what I'm talking about.
Rygate and Banstead Borough Council inviting everyone who visits the borough's green spaces to help shape a new strategy that will make sure its parks and open spaces continue to meet the needs of local people and wildlife. You can tell I'm reading that off a press release, can't you? Help shape a new strategy.
Now, essentially, it's called the Green Spaces Strategy, and it's going to be looking at what people want out of parks. So that could be your Priory or your Memorial, but also your Merston Rex or your Battle Bridges area where they've got the running track and things like that.
Now and also in the future, improving the quality of what is there, the facilities, but also the turf and the paving and the trees and that kind of stuff. And also the accessibility. Can you actually get to it? Is there parking available? Is there accessibility for people with additional needs? That kind of thing.
And this whole strategy is going to provide a clear and structured approach to managing the borough's green spaces to meet the needs of local people and wildlife. So it's not just those kind of organised green spaces, but it's some of those other areas which you couldn't call a park, you couldn't call a wreck.
But maybe, for example, the triangle of land just at the top of, you know, in Earlswood there, just on the corner. Yeah, just on the corner before you go up the hill and down to, you know where I mean, just opposite the pub there, where the Earlswood Carnival is. Yeah. Has it got a name, that area there? Anyway, so it's that kind of thing as well.
Again, the council needs to know what you want them to know so they can do something about it or not. They've got the final decision, but again, they need to know what you want them to know. And anyone can have their say by completing a short survey about their experiences of the borough's green spaces and how they can be improved. Online, reigate-banstead.gov.uk slash greenspaces-strategy.
Bit of a mouthful. If you want to know more, get in touch with me and I'll put you in touch with them. Incidentally, bestopenspaces.com. for shady walks so there wouldn't really be open spaces would they there'd be shaded spaces for shady walks over the summer months that list coming up in a few minutes time Tim emails me, Tim Bellers.
He says, Hi Peter, a few months ago you featured me via my very good friend Dave Setters, who suffers from motor neurons disease. Yeah, I remember this. And Dave is an avid campaigner for MNDA. It's another one of those really horrific conditions, isn't it? I was speaking to somebody about this at the Town Hall a couple of days ago.
Anyway, on Saturday the 20th of July, says Tim, I completed my seventh marathon. It actually happened to be in Germany. Seventh marathon in seven months in seven countries. It was a whole challenge for MNDA. I remember mentioning this to him. And he says, I've just passed the £4,000 mark and would appreciate any publicity to push the total nearer to £5,000. Boy, oh boy. £4,000 is a terrific sum.
But when you compare that with an ROI, return on investment of running seven marathons in seven months in seven countries, It doesn't really seem enough, does it? So Tim says, as I say, I'd really appreciate any publicity to push the total nearer 5k. I said to Tim, can people take your email address, Tim? And he said, yes, of course they can. So here it is. Tim Bellers, B-E-L-L-A-R-S at Yahoo.com.
dot co dot uk tim i really appreciate what you are going through to raise money and to raise awareness for people with motor neuron disease and really appreciate you getting in touch and asking me to pass on your thanks and also your email address one more time tim bellas at yahoo.co.uk he deserves more than a yahoo for all of that doesn't he
Do you have experience of leadership, a commitment to openness and the passion to make a difference in our communities? Well, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey says we're seeking skilled individuals to join our joint audit committee and, and this may be particularly interesting, act as independent panel members in police misconduct hearings in Surrey.
Now, they are few and far between, but they do come around occasionally. And you don't necessarily hear about all of them because some of them are just kind of
low level they're not necessarily going to hit the headlines but it may be something where a police officer has stepped out of line and needs to be reminded and needs to be referred upwards anyway you get the idea both positions are vital to maintaining public trust in surrey police which of course is something we all want and offer a unique and rewarding way to play a role in policing our county this may be something that you're particularly interested in so you can join their joint audit committee or be an independent panel member
Now, you can learn more at, well, it's another complicated website address. But get in touch with me and I'll put you in touch with them if you want to know anything more about that. Here's another really interesting thing. Do you want to help build a new shooting range in Reigate? Yeah, it's at the Jordan Heights campsite up there on the hill. They say we really need you.
A work party at Jordan Heights on Sunday, the 18th of August, 10 till 4pm. Not only to build a new shooting range, but also build and move the pioneering store to finish the campfire circle, general maintenance of the site as well, and tidy it all up.
I can't help thinking that if, possibly perhaps, if you're nice enough to give them a few hours of your time in helping to build a new shooting range, then you could be a bit cheeky and say... When it's open, I couldn't come down here and fire a few bullets and experience it for myself, could you? That sounds interesting, doesn't it?
So if you're interested in that at the Jordan Heights Reigate campsite, again, get in touch with me and I'll put you in touch with them. Hello at theplanetreigatepodcast.com. A fox cub has been rescued after it got stuck in a wooden garden chair in Reigate. The female cub was freed by the RSPCA after officers from the charity were called to a garden in Greenhaze Close.
Animal Rescue Officer Chloe Wilson said the distressed fox club had both front paws caught between the slats of the chair. It's the back slats. They were, I think, perhaps trying to climb up. And their feet, their paws got within the slats and then of course they couldn't push themselves up where the holes were wider to ease themselves out. So they were just literally left hanging.
Chloe is quoted by the BBC saying, when I arrived, the young female fox had cuts on her legs where she'd been pulling and tugging to try and free herself. Another fox cub was hiding nearby. Quote, so I suspect they've been playing on the furniture when she somehow managed to get herself trapped.
I put on some thick gloves and approached the vixen slowly and thankfully was slowly able to lift her up and free her paws. The cub was taken to the Wildlife Aid Foundation. That's over a leatherhead, isn't it? for treatment and rehabilitation. As I say, more on that story and pictures on the BBC website Search for Surrey.
I'm loving this story from the Parish Pump magazine, which is for Charlewood, Hookwood, Norwood Hill and Sidlow Bridge. If you want a copy of this, as I do, as I get, editorial at parishpump at gmail.com. I'm going to read this out for you from the August edition. Inspired fundraising from a young resident. Quote, this is being written by Kitty, aged eight.
The school asked if we could raise some money for the PTA. I started with a pound to see how I could make more money for the school. I thought of an idea to make plants in pots with faces and give them all names for themselves. to fit in. Then I went to Hobbycraft to collect the cups and the googly eyes.
We put soil in the cups then me and mummy took cuttings from our favourite big plant at home and we stuck the plants in the soil then of course we put water on the plants so they could grow and be happy. I thought of names for each one of them. Mummy told people in Charlewood what I was doing to see if they wanted to buy any. So when I got home from school that day I got the best news of my life.
Someone had ordered Daily Dot. I I'm guessing that'd be a dahlia, might be, wouldn't it? I was so happy, I screamed with excitement. Lots of orders came after that, and we matched the plants to the people. Of course, the plant called Noah went to Reverend Sue. I like that. I was very busy making more pots every day. In total, I raised, how much do you reckon?
Kitty, aged eight, started off with one pound. And then, in total, quote, I raised 115 pounds for the school. I'm very, very, very happy as well you might be, Kitty, aged eight. What an entrepreneur there. Absolutely fantastic. As I said at the start of the show, I can see Kitty being on The Apprentice in years to come, can't you? Editorial.parishpump at gmail.com if you would like a copy of that.
e-newsletter sent to you every month and I should also say that the Nutfield area magazine is called the Nutfield link as you probably know it's been going for 599 editions after all 599 well it's full of local news and information for that area available on social on subscription as a hard copy for £5 a year.
And this month, the August edition actually features an article on the Planet Rygate podcast. Yeah, feature on page 30. Thanks to editor Phil for the coverage. And actually, you're going to hear more about Phil in a few weeks' time on the podcast. A bit of a quid pro quo. Contact him for more information on the Nutfield link at editor at nutfieldlink.co.uk. We've got sport in a few moments' time.
And also, I'm going to be telling you about that post on social this week, which asked, does anyone have any recommendations for a nice shaded walk in the area? Even better if a pub is involved. Thank you in advance. And I'll tell you what people came up with in a few moments' time, right here on the Planet Rygate podcast.
See, touch, smell and try before you buy and speak to real people who can advise you. The Belfry Shopping Centre, Redhill. Woodlands Lettings, connecting landlords with tenants for over 20 years. If you have a property to let, pop into our office on Station Road by the Belfry Main entrance for a coffee and a chat, or call 01737 372 797.
From Reigate and Red Hill, Buckland, Betchwith and Brockham, great stories from places you love and people you know. This is the Planet Reigate podcast.
So, as I said a few moments ago, that post on social media over the course of the past week, when it was really hot, wasn't it? It was lovely. And that was asking, can people recommend, please, some local shady places? When I say shady places, I think what they really meant was places with some shade, not shady places that are a little bit dubious.
You wouldn't want to walk there alone at night, you know, that kind of thing. Carol said, what about Felland Cops near Earlswood Lakes?
um laura louise said through priory woods up to the skimmington castle yeah that's another good one isn't it lots of tree cover there um yeah you don't want to go on that kind of more open uh land there particularly we get towards the heath and so on uh and and but yeah keep the keep the tree cover Michelle, Priory Woods to Skimmington Castle. Again, Earlswood Lakes, come out by the Plough Pub.
The theme here is obviously a watering hole slash drinking establishment. Rygate Hill, walk along. And that's shady, isn't it, for the first part of it, before you get up to the memorial, certainly. And then to Mogador, to the Sportsman Park. Been to the sportsman. Yeah, that's been there for a while.
But yeah, yeah, the sportsman, the dog and dog outwork outward has walks right next to the pub as well. Not been there for a long time. So that's reminded me.
as jenna has to uh to get down there another vote for mogador and the sportsman pub leanne says if you go on to the dog and duck website there's actually a list of circular walks you can do parking in their car park and ending back at the pub that's good marketing isn't it Well done to the dog and duck for doing that. I think the skim does something on that as well, doesn't it?
Nonsuch Park, not too close but really good. A whole shaded woodland with a long walk. I'm going to come back to that in a second. Buckland to Rygate Heath and go in the windmill church. Yeah, the Heath can be shady but also can be quite exposed as well alongside the golf course there. Hear my report from Rygate Heath in last week's episode of the show. Brockham, across the fields to Betchworth.
Again, I know that walk is quite a bit open there. And Holmwood Common in Dorking is very shaded and keeps cool all day there as well. Yeah, Nonsuch Park. Do you know Nonsuch Park? I was brought up near Nonsuch Park. It straddles the border of Epsom and Ewell and Sutton and Cheam.
and it's right on that border, so if you go up Reigate Hill, and I'm just thinking of the best way to kind of get there, if you go up to, and just carry on going, essentially, yeah, as though you're going up to Banstead, and if you go, if you go left at the Asda, down to Burr Heath, And then down to the petrol station. Are you following me?
It's probably going to be easier to look up Nonsuch Park, but it's huge. If you're familiar with Richmond Park, it's a little like that, but without the deer. It is huge. And they have festivals there and open-air concerts and things like that. Plus, in the middle, there's an old... It kind of looks like a castle. And it's got grounds.
It's got garden grounds that you can go in, which are kind of manicured. And there's a lawn there and there's a little tea shop and so on. It's a kind of safe space. There's a lovely hill for kids to roll down, as I've done several occasions. Sometimes quite recently, it has to be said. There's a sundial, there's a fish pond and that kind of thing.
There's a wooded area for them to explore and play things. So as I say, that's in the middle at the castle area. But also there's a huge area where you can take the dog and you're never going to walk on the same path twice. Nonsuch Park, check that out. It's, as I say, in Epsom and Yule border with Sutton. Oh, my gosh. You know what I've just done?
I've just spent a while talking about somewhere that's not... Yeah, yeah, so if you go to Nonsuch, just watch out for the dragons. I thought it was worth mentioning. OK, here we go. It is the Planet Rygate podcast. I'm Peter Stewart. Let's move on to sport. And a few things to mention this week.
First of all, Dan got in touch to say Hawley United FC under-12s team are looking for two to three additional players to join the team for the coming season. Yeah, Dan goes on to say, if you've got a player that's got some experience playing for a club, perhaps was part of a team last season, but didn't get much match time, then consider joining us.
We've got a smaller squad size and that makes it more likely they're going to get more points. Match time. Players must be going into year seven school in September. Training is twice a week. Match day is Sundays. And you can check out the club at hawleyunitedfc.club. So if you're interested in that, or maybe because sometimes people go to clubs. and they just don't fit in.
Perhaps they're not getting the matches, as Dan said, but also maybe you don't work together with other people in the team. Maybe you're not quite gelling with the coach or something like that, or maybe it's a little bit out of the way and you've got to drive some distance, or maybe there's a date clash with when their training and match days are, that kind of thing.
You may want to check out haulerunitedfc.club from our friend Dan Reynolds, who we've spoken on the show before because he is the guy behind RH Networking. which we often mention on the show, and that is a service, an organisation, a group, where you can get together if you are involved in business locally, so you can network with other people and swap ideas and expertise and so on.
Got another mention here. I believe you've been kind enough to mention our events in the past, but just wanted to let you know about the open day we're hosting at Hawley Leisure Centre on August the 10th. So this is going to be next Saturday. There are taster fitness classes and swimming lessons, as well as free swimming and gym sessions.
Plus, we'll have some local businesses, food and drink and more, something for the whole family and the chance to find out more about what the centre offers. Yes, you may not have thought to go down to the Hawley Leisure Centre. Maybe you're up near Reigate, Redhill, Merstam and you're naturally perhaps more joined to Donnings and perhaps you go there very often.
But maybe you've thought to yourself, I'll be really good if Donnings did this and they don't. And maybe it occurred to you to perhaps try out Hawleyleisure. So this is an opportunity for you to do just that. Saturday, the 10th of August. They've got taster fitness classes from 8.30 in the morning through to 2.30 in the afternoon. Various sessions, spin, body conditioning, Zumba, Pilates.
I've done a bit of Zumba. I know. Pilates, mindfulness. This is me, isn't it? Pilates and mindfulness. Dance sessions and a power pump. And Taste of Swimming Sessions between 9 and 12. Foundation for 4 Plus. Swim Biz for the four years, from three months to four years. Foundation Development 25 metres and Academy for Advanced. And a swim doctor as well.
plus more you can get onto the website better.org.uk slash Hawley if you want to find out more about that it's a day of fun food and free activities open to all ages and interests you'll find more ways to play at Hawley Leisure Centre is what they say Let's turn to lacrosse. Rygate Lacrosse are running fun weekly sessions this summer. Every Wednesday evening from 7 to 8.
A free trial session for new players. £5 a session after that. £50 for the whole summer. Probably a bit of a discount as we're several weeks into it now. All abilities welcome from complete beginners to experienced players. More information at womensrygate.com. It sounds like a song, doesn't it? LAX there on the end. WomensRygateLAX at Outlook.com.
And Yvonne Phillips says, from those first kicks to scoring hat tricks. Nice line. Little kickers are with you every step of the journey. Our classes are running throughout the summer without a break. So if you'd like to grab an opportunity to try a class for free and beat the autumn rush... then get in touch.
East Surrey at littlekickers.co.uk and they've got sessions in Redhill and Reigate as well. We featured them on the programme before. If you want to know more about that, essentially it's a fun way to do sport, particularly kind of with a football bent, but also you're learning colours and numbers and teamwork and things like that at the same time. littlekickers.co.uk if you're interested in that.
And we mentioned this a couple of weeks ago. Rygate Business Guild says they've got a golf day Thursday 26th of September at Betchworth Park Golf Club. Join us for a fun day and evening. Help raise money for Rygate's Christmas lights. And if you want some more information to get involved with that, then get in touch with me. I'll put you in touch with them.
And they also say non-golfers are also invited to attend the evening as well.
Planet Reigate stars, thanking local heroes who are out of this world.
Follow us on social media and also subscribe to the show, maybe called Follow, wherever you get your podcasts. The name is always the same, the Planet Reigate podcast. OK, let's sprinkle a bit of stardust on a local hero. And this week from Reigate...
Quote, this may seem silly, but just to quickly shout out the motorcyclist who stopped on Bancroft Road around 7.30 at night to rescue a squirrel out of the road. I hope the poor thing was OK. And thank you to the gentleman for rescuing it. We need more people like you. We do indeed. And that's why we are giving him a Planet Reigate Star Award this week.
The Good Time Guide. Things to do and places to go on the Planet Reigate podcast.
The story of Redhill's hero soldier coming soon before we go at the end of the show. Also, we have our 60 second soundscape from the borough town of Reigate. But first of all, here's the second part of our Good Time Guide. Not been told anything that's happening in the area on Monday. So let's skip forward to Tuesday.
Now, over the past several weeks, we've been talking about various holiday camps. Now, I've decided not to mention them every single day they're on, because obviously you would need to have booked up, and I have covered them over the past several weeks. So I'm just going to be talking about the new ones which are starting this coming week.
And on Tuesday, summer holiday camps for children in Reigate, Redhill and Merstham. A total of 12 days to choose from for children aged between 4 and 10. From indoor full-day musical theatre and dance camps to outdoor classes in Priory Park. More information at reigateschoolofballet.com. And it is all there August 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22. Dance, drama, singing and crafts.
They call themselves Reigate's Most Popular Performing Holiday Camps. So let's move on and tell you about some other things which are happening across the area. Priory Park Summer Dance Class is here. It's also by Reigate School of Ballet, so it's a little bit more information. Little Boogies, 2 to 4, 10 to half 10. Mini Boogies, aged 5 to 7, 10.35 to 11.05. £5 a class.
And if the weather is poor, the class moves to the Community Centre behind Morrisons. To Thursday then, Thursday the 8th, Athletics Academy via Athletics Kids. There's summer camps for ages 3 to 6 and 7 to 10. It's between 10am and 1pm, all happening at St Bede's School. Thursday the 8th, Monday the 12th, Tuesday the 20th of August.
Various prices and times, book now they say, and you need to search for, it's always an Thank you very much. For aerial work, aerial workshops, great fun, it sounds, doesn't it? Red Hill Studio based. They're talking about aerial hoop, sling, silks, trapeze, dancing and singing, arts and crafts, energetic, fun and unique, they say. The 6th, 7th, 8th.
12th and 13th of August, between 9 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon. Spaces are limited. It's a very awkward booking form number to give you. And I say number because it's got about 20 digits in. So again, as I always say, for more information, get in touch with me. I'll put you in touch with them. Hello at theplanetrygatepodcast.com.
Wednesday the 7th, let's move on to the Merstham Youth Project. Every Wednesday, the 7th, 14th, 21st of August, 3.15pm to 4.45pm, and then it goes into September 4, 11, 18 and 25, from 4.30pm to 6 o'clock, experienced youth workers, and they will be able to... Essentially, look over what it is that's being done and to help you and invite you to play different activities and so on.
Playplace.org, if you want some more information on that. It's the Mercedom Youth Project at various locations for young people aged eight and over. Friday the 9th of August, really looking forward to this. Spoke about it in last week's show. It is the big event. It's the second annual Cyclocross Rygate which is happening. So you can either go along and take part or go along and watch.
Friday night, food and drink. Bring your noise. So it could be a cowbell, could be a horn, could be just your vocal cords. And it's happening from late afternoon, Priory Park. And they say after the success of Rygate's inaugural, non-ranking, stand-alone trophy CX event, CX is what us people in the know call cyclocross, don't you know? Last year, 2024 is going to be bigger and better than ever.
New additions to the course, racing in the under-12s, youths, juniors, seniors and vets in the open, and women's-only categories, an opportunity to race as a team in the senior events if you want to participate. Hopefully you've signed up already. Food and drink available. Bring your own noise. Enjoy the racing.
And there's also going to be an after party at the Pilgrim Brewery taproom after racing and the podiums. Every competitor over 18 getting a free pint of local beer. Now, more information on the times, the best places to go, what you need to take and so on, so forth and such like cyclocrossrigate.com.
And we always look ahead to the Saturday as well, just so you can get things sorted out for the following weekend. And it goes like this. It's Surrey's Air Ambulance. I'm mentioning this because even though it's going to be happening outside the area... The Surrey Air Ambulance, of course, is based at Redhill Aerodrome, so it's Heli Fun Day, Surrey.
It's over at Lowsley Park, which is not a million miles away from Guildford. Meet the crew, see our helicopter, and yeah, I know I mentioned Guildford. Watch out for the dragons once you go over that one. CPR demonstrations, games and prizes, food stalls, face painting and glitter stalls. And as I say, you'll actually be able to see the helicopter subject to emergencies.
Plus, book your tickets now, but it's all free. So mentioning that, because it is the Surrey Air Ambulance that we share with Sussex, that we share with the county of Kent as well. And of course, it is based in our neck of the woods in the Planet Reigate area.
in red hill aerodrome it's always interesting isn't it if you go down to the hangar nine cafe is what it's called nowadays and uh as well as the air ambulance which flies from there also the bbc news helicopter flies from there as well i don't know whether they share that do they share that with sky and and and uh itn itv as well i'm not entirely sure but certainly it's the news helicopter and usually there's only one up at the at a time because usually you're following perhaps a
prime ministerial car going to a palace or a funeral cortege or or things like that so obviously they don't want too many up at the same time because they are literally need to be want to be in exactly the same place but anyway what am i saying in a long-winded way as is my won't um that it's always good to go to the aerodrome sit outside with a cool drink and see the various things as they take off
OK, this is the Planet Reigate podcast. I'm Peter Stewart. That's the Good Time Guide. And I'm back in a few moments' time with the story of Redhill's hero soldier.
Planet Reigate is the indoor pool at Donnings and the water sports lake at Mercer's. And this is the Planet Reigate podcast.
So the next story comes courtesy of Graham on social media, and I spotted this post a couple of weeks ago, and I was waiting for just the right time to bring it to you. Graham Norris wrote, Well, that's already piqued my interest. First of all, do you know where Redstone Cemetery is? Well, it's just off... It's just up there off Philanthropic Road, isn't it?
And I didn't realise that DOV volunteers did that kind of work. But anyway, he goes on. There was a grave there that didn't show up on our paperwork. This does happen sometimes and they're often Ministry of Defence graves and don't come under our care. This should hopefully be changing soon. So he said, I contacted our area coordinator to find out if she knew.
And she told me it wasn't an MOD grave either and that it's probably a private grave. So we're in the process now of trying to get it brought under our care, which is a really good thing to do, isn't it? He was quite a man, as brave as they come. Four years on the frontline trenches involved in every major battle. He says, read his story.
He's a proper hero, and he's been laid to rest in the very heart of Red Hill. So, you know what? I clicked through to the link, and I read a little bit more, and I thought, as it's the anniversary of both his birth and his death, you would like to know a little bit more about Jack Harvey.
Jack Harvey was born on the 24th of August 1891 in Peckham in London and he died on the 15th of August 1940 right here in Red Hill. In November 1914, he enlisted as a private in the London Regiment in Camberwell. He served on the Western Front and saw action at most of the major battles at Ypres, Vasson and Passchendaele.
It was in the latter stages of the war that Jack would perform the action which would lead to the award of the Victoria Cross. On 2nd September 1918, north of Perron in France, when the advance of his company was held up by machine gun fire, Private Harvey dashed forward a distance of 50 yards alone through the English barrage and in the face of heavy enemy fire.
He rushed a machine gun post, shooting two of the team and bayoneting another. He then destroyed the gun and continued his way along the enemy trench. He single-handedly rushed an enemy dugout which contained 37 Germans and compelled them to surrender. These acts of gallantry saved the company heavy casualties and materially assisted in the success of the operation.
He was gazetted for the VC, the Victoria Cross, on 12 November 1918, and attended his investiture at Buckingham Palace on 8 March 1919, where he was presented with his VC by King George V. Also at his investiture was another Camberwell native, George Cartwright VC. Jack was promoted to corporal following his VC action and was demobbed in 1919.
He returned to civilian life and died at the tragically young age of just 48 on 15 August 1940 in Redhill. He was buried in Red Hill Cemetery with full military honours. His medals, including VC, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-20 and Victory Medal 1914-1919, were bought privately in 2001 by Michael Ashcroft and are displayed in the Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum in London.
Jack Harvey's citation on being awarded the VC said, "...throughout the entire operation he showed the most magnificent courage and determination, and by the splendid example which he set to all ranks, materially assisted in the success of the operation." There's the short story of Jack Harvey.
And if you would like to pay your respects to Jack, you will find the site of his burial at Redstone Cemetery in Redhill, of course, Section C, Grave 2359. And if you'd like any more information...
on Jack and maybe you're after a picture of his gravestone so you can see what it is that you're looking for then contact me at the Planet Rygate podcast and I'll make sure that you get that so again that's the story of Jack Harvey 1891 to the 15th of August 1940
And I just thought that in the month of the anniversary of both his birth and his death, and because that grave and the story behind it has only recently been uncovered, so to speak, you'd like to hear about it on the Planet Rygate podcast. MUSIC PLAYS
The 60-second soundscape. Local natural sounds uninterrupted.
Before we go, at the end of the show, natural sounds from a place you know. This week, Reigate and the Priory Park fountain.
The Planet Reigate podcast was produced and presented by Peter Stewart.