The Planet Reigate Podcast
59: Redhill’s tower block plans denied, spooky local Halloween stories… and more
Fri, 25 Oct 2024
Episode 59 – Redhill’s tower block plans denied, spooky local Halloween stories… and moreFor Saturday 26th October 2024This Halloween episode - with local stories scattered throughout the show - features spooky sounds, sudden surprises, and of course, content about death. Some listeners may find it unsettling.This is how we’re reflecting and celebrating our love of life around here this week:TIMECODE - 00:00 - What’s in this episode 06:55 - Planet Reigate area news. Including reaction to the refusal of the application to redevelop Redhill train station in our special report. 31:00 – Planet Reigate Stars: this week thanking local heroes in Reigate.32:30 - Planet Reigate area sports 35:50 - The Good Time Guide: Local events for this week, with lots of Halloween, fireworks and half-term events. 1:00:00 – The Sixty-second Soundscape. This week from Reigate Heath. 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. A list of ‘the best of the guests’, and a link to hear each one, is on this Facebook post: https://tinyurl.com/prpbest*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: 136304431Listen: https://linktr.ee/PlanetReigatePodcastWeb: www.ThePlanetReigatePodcast.comFacebook: www.Facebook.com/ThePlanetReigatePodcastInsta: theplanetreigatepodcastX (Twitter): https://twitter.com/PlanetReigateEmail: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This Halloween episode features spooky sounds, sudden surprises, and of course, content about death. Some listeners may find it unsettling.
This is the Planet Reigate Podcast.
Or more specifically, your Planet Reigate Podcast. Hello, this is Peter Stewart. Welcome to episode 59. And this is how we're reflecting and celebrating our love of life around here this week. Well, our special Halloween edition of the show. Stand by for a few spooky surprises, some supernatural interruptions, plus a full listing of our haul of Halloween events and a few fireworks too.
In the news, the result of decisions on whether to build a high-rise building or two in Redhill Town Centre. We got full reaction after Wednesday night's council meeting. Nylon line traps have been found on paths at Priory Park. I'll give you the full story and what the police told me when I approached them.
West Street Rygate works there have all but finished, but there are more to come on the A25 all the way through to Dorking. I'll tell you about a women's only self-defence course locally, which is being set up. A local pizza place, which closed earlier on this year, has now reopened. Repairs to a local footpath that seemed to be flooded all year round will keep our fingers crossed for this winter.
Huge success for a local charity and their fundraising campaign. I'll give you the fantastic details. Why a local school wants your old clothes. Did Hitler ever live in Reigate?
details on a novel which suggests what could have happened if he had in sport we've got the date for the 2025 priory park cyclocross event winter training starts for a local cricket club i'll give you details 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 natural sounds from a place you know this week from reigate heath
This is the Planet Reigate podcast with Peter Stewart. Music The Belfry Shopping Centre, Redhill. Ditch the click for hassle-free local shopping in a welcoming environment. See, touch, smell and try before you buy and speak to real people who can advise you. The Belfry Shopping Centre, Redhill. Music
Thank you for the loan of your ears this week. Yes, so plenty still to come, including, as I mentioned at the top of the show, that big decision. If you haven't heard it yet, we got reaction to that big decision about the high-rise flats and that planning application at Redhill Station. That's been rumbling on for months and months and months, hasn't it?
And a lot of people, understandably, quite concerned about what it might mean for the roads in the area and the facilities, and also trying to get from one side of Redhill... one side of the railway, to the other side of the railway station, and of course Carrington School and so on. So, as I say, more on that on the way, and of course a few spooky surprises as well. On Reigate High Street.
You may remember when Nando's was Tony Tobin's dining room restaurant. That closed down in 2017, but when it was open, a waiter noticed something strange about the bar area. Tony invited TV psychic Sally Morgan to take part in a seance with fellow psychic Debbie Davis.
During the visit, which was broadcast live on Facebook, the pair claimed they spoke to the spirits of a woman called Nora and a mysterious man. Electromagnetic field meters apparently indicated a possible spirit being, and the team saw orbs of light flying around the room. along with a shadow in the corner that they believe to be Billy, the spirit of a boy from the Reigate workhouse.
And Louise has been saying that congratulations, your podcast this week was great. Thank you so much for the coverage. I listened to it with my mum in the car. She's downloading Spotify to listen to more. Thanks again, Peter. Louise, thanks very much indeed for that. Also got another message in. Planet Reigate podcast has got a mention in this month's Sandcross School newsletter to parents.
And there are 627 pupils, so it's reached a lot of people. So if you're one of the new listeners... then thank you very much indeed, particularly if you came via the Sandcross Scroll newsletter. Russell got in touch with me after I mentioned last week.
In fact, we did quite a big kind of personal piece on it on the 40th anniversary of the launch of Radio Mercury, which was where I started my career. And Russell said it's such a lovely and surprisingly moving tribute from Planet Reigate. And then he came back to me and said, I live in West Sussex, but your show keeps me updated on the area where most of my close relatives are from.
So, Russell, hello to you. And if you are one of Russell's relatives as well. Russell, I hope you've persuaded some of your relatives or all of your relatives in the Reigate, Redhill, Merston, Buckland, Betchworth, Brockham area. to tune in to the Planet Reigate podcast. Jack said, you're such a star. We are immensely grateful for the support you've given to our pickleball events.
Been mentioning those a couple of times recently. I've given the episode in your account a shout out on our Instagram. Jack, we really appreciate that. We also mentioned last week, bags of fun. which is a local business which has been set up with all sorts of slightly unusual Halloween treats and gifts and so on.
And they say, we at Bags of Fun were delighted to be featured in this week's Planet Reigate podcast. Thank you for the shout out about how we're here to help parents with our offer of educational craft-led and mainly sugar-free Halloween activity bags today. for kids to enjoy. Thanks to the Planet Rygate podcast for all you do in connecting our wonderful community.
A, it is a wonderful community, and B, it's even more wonderful with you as part of it, whether you're a listener or whether you're a local business or a charity or a group or a school or whatever it happens to be. And if you want to get in touch with Bags of Fun, you'll find Bags of Fun on Facebook.
Planet Reigate podcast for Reigate and Redhill and Merstham and Buckland, Betchworth and Brockham and down to Hawley and Lye and Outwood as well. RH123 and a little bit of RH62. I'm Peter Stewart. So it turns out that a high-rise building development in Redhill Town Centre will not go ahead, at least not for now.
Solum Regeneration was stopped from building two 255-home tower blocks on the car park next to the train station yesterday. at a council meeting on Wednesday evening. So, the application received around 2,000 letters of objection, with the residents' group calling the development a monstrosity. Solon Regeneration said the plans would make Redhill Railway Station more accessible with...
new shops and passenger areas while also providing homes. So one of the blocks would have ranged from 10 to 15 stories and the other between 7 and 14 stories. Nearly half of the planned homes would have been one-bedroom apartments with a further 18 studio apartments. But the developer said it wasn't viable to provide any affordable housing.
Campaigners said the towers were too high, they would increase traffic, especially going onto the bridge to a new drop-off point up Redstone Hill.
So imagine all of those people underneath the railway arch, some people going to the school, some people going then up round that corner, couple of sets of traffic lights, just past the Toby and then right, drop people off and then back down and back underneath that railway bridge again.
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council's planning committee agreed and turned down the application Wednesday night. And afterwards, I spoke with East Redhill Residents Association's Fiona Scott and Jan Sharman.
Speechless, absolutely feeling fantastic. You're speechless. It's wonderful, wonderful. Amazing. I don't know what to say, really. It's just a shock. It's really lovely to see a consideration, the practical considerations. We've been trying to work with the developers. We've tried to communicate with them. We've pounded doors. We've wrote loads of letters.
We've kept the same message, the consistency of the message, and we've never shifted from that. And what was amazing was seeing our voted, elected members listening to us and listening to over 2,000 people who wrote letters of objection. 2,000, that's massive.
You say that you were speaking to the developers over the course of several months, presumably.
Well, we had two presentations with them, yeah.
I should say that I've spoken to them tonight and I asked them, to record an interview but they've declined that. They're going to send me a statement instead. How welcoming were the developers in talking to you and perhaps coming to some kind of compromise over the months?
There wasn't a compromise. We don't remember seeing a compromise.
I think the only compromise was the reduction from 19 floors to 15 floors. I think we all felt that 15 floors is too high. I think in the context of Princess Way it's too high. Marketfield Way is a separate area and Princess Way is historically lower and so we thought it was wrong.
A lot of talk was made tonight about the character of Redhill, and you mentioned the height of those potential developments, which have now been turned down, at least for the moment. Of course, they could come back with some more alterations and so on. What is the character of Redhill?
Redhill is a traditional railway Victorian town. We were built on the railway, we were built around the railway. It's been a wonderful place. I mean, I've been living here, like I said, nearly 40 years now, It's a typical commuter town as well. We work hard.
And it's only really in the last seven or eight years that they've started building or converting offices to flats, which, OK, we need the housing, which is fine, but that doesn't give a licence for someone to come in and say, we're going to do 15 storeys. Not just that, there were two. One was 14 storeys, one was 15. Two massive buildings.
And that was part of the problem, wasn't it, Fiona, that actually being on a station development, it kind of made it obvious that that was a place where homes could be built for easy access to the station. But it also caused a problem, that train line going through the town.
You accept that obviously a brownfield site is an ideal place to build houses. but I don't think it was an appropriate style. It wasn't right for the rest of the town because the height, and also it wasn't really, I think, respecting sort of the more traditional nature of the town. We felt that it was changing the character to something which was more impersonal.
I think being in the middle of Redhill is, you know, it's a small, low-rise area,
But it is a brownfield site, and surely it makes sense, doesn't it, to build on an area like that, which is already concreted over and has tarmac and so on, rather than some of those green fields and hills that we heard about earlier?
We agree that building on a brownfield site is a good thing to do.
And there's something you can do with that site.
That site is a premium site. It could be designed better. and provide the homes that are needed.
There's always going to be that problem, isn't there, Jan, with getting traffic from one side of that railway line to the other side, and that didn't kind of seem sensible to drive all that traffic under the railway bridge where you've already got a school. You've already got a couple of sets of traffic lights.
You've already got a very difficult bend up the hill around the corner, up Redstone Hill.
In a way, that was almost as equally as a reason as what we were fighting for as much as the actual towers themselves, because it just didn't make any sense. Why move everybody around? The taxi drivers would be out of business. There's no main station anywhere that you have taxis. The main taxi queue at the back of the station, people come out and want a taxi.
Moving everything round would have just been, I think some of the councillors said, it's a punishment for the residents.
So it seems to be the height, it seems to be that problem with the development of both the sides of the railway line, but also the affordable housing as well. That was really something which a lot of the speakers tonight mentioned as well.
Yes, and I think we all recognise the need for affordable housing, and we need to be able to accommodate that for people in Redhill, and that's obviously a very important point. It didn't provide that. So I think anything in the future needs to consider that.
What happens now, do you reckon, Jan?
What we'd love is for the council to come to us and work with us and say, OK, how do we make this wonderful? And actually look at the future, look at the next 50 years, listening to the residents. Now, what is going to happen is they will no doubt appeal. And that's another story. We'll see where we come and talk to you then. I've lived in Redhill for a good number of years.
I think there's a great community spirit. It has been amazing to see how many people have been so passionate about this and how many people in Redhill have very definite views about how they would like to see Redhill. They all want a better town. They like the people around them. They want to make the town successful and I think inspirational for the future.
And was that shown with the turnout tonight and the support you were getting?
There were a lot of people watching online, lots and lots of them.
What were your feelings tonight, finally, just to sum up?
Really, really relieved because the thought of it would have just ruined this town forever. It would have been an absolute catastrophe. We were already thinking what we would do. We'd have to raise money, maybe do a judicial review, all sorts of things. We've worked for like two years now. And it's been a wonderful journey. Ecstatic is the word, really.
Absolutely relieved, fantastically pleased, delighted with our councillors for seeing reason.
Well, Solon Regeneration had previously said they had used feedback from residents to redesign the scheme. And in a statement to the Planet Reigate podcast on Thursday said, quote, we are obviously disappointed with the decision made by the planning committee.
The proposals would have transformed the station and surrounding landscape, including making it more accessible and providing new shops and passenger areas. The scheme provides a level of investment in the station that has not been seen for over 40 years, alongside creating much-needed homes on this sustainable brownfield site.
And they continued, in the coming weeks, we will be reviewing the decision and considering our next steps. This is what some more residents of the meeting told me on Wednesday night.
I'm very pleased, but the point about the community infrastructure, about hospitals, doctors, dentists, etc., really must be considered, and it just seems to be a clause that is not considered as part of the council, which is just ridiculous.
fabulous it's rejected for the right reasons what the whole area there needs is stepping back thinking hard about how to make the whole thing better not just putting something that doesn't work in a small part of the site there's the station area there's the bus station there's the harlequin which will probably have to go with rack some imagination some investment something good can be done so it's not that there shouldn't be
We need development. We need it improved. But it needs a step back and some intelligent thinking.
It's absolutely amazing. I mean, when we heard the planning report was recommending approval, we were all very worried about that. What we particularly liked today was hearing the members who were representing our views. We really felt we'd been listened to.
Over 2,000 people said that they didn't want the scheme from the local area and actually hearing the councillors saying that they'd listened to us, talking about safety issues getting to the Carrington School, the height of the buildings, the fact it was the wrong thing in the wrong area. We felt that our views had been listened to and they were able to really articulate them so well.
So we're over the moon with the result.
It's been two years of just misery, thinking about what these towers might mean for the community and for the traffic and congestion, and just utter relief. And restoration of faith, really, in common sense. I think it was 11 councillors supported refusal and only one did not support the reasons for refusal, which suggests that what we feel as people who live here in Redhill is...
It's understood. Yeah, just immensely grateful for that. And I just hope that that's the end of it for us and we can just move on. And if something else comes forward, it's taken all of our concerns into account. So, yes, a good evening and the right decision was made.
It was good, yeah. I'm happy with it not being here.
What were your main concerns?
Well, the traffic. It would take me like an hour to get to school. That's just ridiculous.
You were probably the youngest person there in the council chamber. Yes, by several decades, I should imagine.
What made you come along today? Well, I've been here quite a couple of times, so, like, volunteer cleaning up. Like, I've done little picking with my guide group. And I've also spoken to the mayor here before. Like, I've been here, like, four or five times. Just thought it would be interesting, like, just going and seeing how it actually is.
So you weren't daunted at all by coming into the town hall?
No, not really, no.
And what did you make of it? It went on for nearly three hours, didn't it?
Yeah, yeah, it was all right.
And you're pleased with the final decision, yeah?
Yeah, I'm happy that it's not there because it means that traffic won't get worse, people like Redhill won't get massively overpopulated. So it's good, yeah.
It was. Members of the public and protesters, many of them with the East Redhill Residents Association, at that town hall planning meeting on Wednesday night. Now, that meeting was a little delayed in starting because of the broken level crossing gates at the bottom building.
of Reigate Hill so the left-hand gate towards the town centre developed a fault at around 5.30 on Wednesday afternoon which stopped it going up and that meant that all the gates had to be lowered for safety reasons. Tailbacks went all the way back to the top of Reigate Hill up to the M25 junction
where another vehicle had broken down at the top of Ray Lane causing even more problems and of course Pebble Hill has been closed as well. Vehicles as you can understand were using back roads to make their way across town and that included lorries. As we stood outside the town hall waiting for that planning meeting to start, an HGV came towards us the wrong way on that one-way system.
So past Eshaw on the corner and then towards us on Castlefield Road. Several members of the protest group, several residents there rushed to stop the traffic that was going the correct way. and then helped guide the driver of that Arctic who took several minutes driving into the Town Hall car park and then reversing back to face the right way to continue its journey.
We can only surmise that that lorry must have come from the Red Hill direction and then have taken the right-hand lane at those traffic lights past that corner of East Surrey College and then towards us, as I say, past East Shore and then up that slight slope and then down towards the town hall. Fortunately, it was stopped before there was a collision. So back to the gates.
It took engineers there five hours to find the fault and then get a new part. Those gates were all repaired in the early hours of Thursday morning. So it saved a knock-on effect for Thursday morning rush hour commuters.
The former Knights Department Store on Bell Street in Reigate is a listed building and it's been a landmark in the town for more than a hundred years and has had its own share of ghost hunters. The building used to be a hotel of ill repute. In 2008, a medium and members of the Sussex Paranormal Society held a seance where a little boy called Tommy was said to have made an appearance.
Tommy was allegedly murdered there. The son of one of the prostitutes and killed by the man in charge. Also during the seance, a former employee of the store, Ernest Bagnall, apparently dropped in on the group in a spooky visitation. And we'll carry on with our new sequence with news about this worrying development of what's happened in Priory Park.
Someone's deliberately set a series of blue fishing line traps on paths in the woods there. So they were set at different levels. One man tripped over a knee level one and then fell forward onto a chest level one, which then resulted in him hurting his neck. Visible marks that drew blood, apparently. and on his elbow and his leg. His dog also ran into one, which made her fall as well.
A post on social media says how he spent 20 minutes gathering 20 metre by 2 metre kind of criss-cross web and another approximately 10 metres by 3 metres web. It was called a very proficient job with staking and knots well laid. So no apparent accident. So I contacted Surrey Police and that prompted them to release this statement. They said an investigation is underway.
Our Safer Neighbourhood team will also be conducting patrols at Priory Park over the coming days. Rygate and Banstead Borough Council have also been made aware and their Green Spaces team will monitor the area for more traps and The incident has the potential to cause serious injuries, say Surrey Police, and we'd like to identify those involved as soon as possible.
So if you've got any information that could help the police investigation, could be photographs of that or indeed any other traps found in Priory Park or elsewhere, please DM Surrey Police, quoting, well, it's a big long number, but I will read it out under the circs, PR slash 452-401-20564.
sorry police say if you do come across a trap yourself please don't touch it I guess there could be evidence on that about how it's been constructed and so on but immediately report it to the police and or the council and they say we can then advise you on what steps to take next certainly it's very worrying if you were running down there and it caught you at chest level or tripped you over it could be really nasty couldn't it what if you were cycling what if there was a little kiddie on a bike and it got them maybe oh
heavens I mean you know chest level or maybe even slightly higher and threw them off a bike it is almost unimaginable isn't it horrific anyway you have been advised you have been made aware just keep your eyes and ears open in that neck of the woods quite literally
The new cycle lanes have gone in at West Street and Reigate, and if the new zebra crossings aren't there by the time you hear this, because obviously it takes time for me to prepare it and record it and publish it and for you to hear it, if they're not there now, they will be soon. So there's going to be a zebra crossing near Evesham Road and the other near the Black Horse.
Work that has been done includes wider cycle lanes with upright wands and resurfacing as well. Now, as we've said before, the West Street scheme is itself part of a wider A25 improvement project. The Road Safety Foundation says that that road from Reigate to Dorking is one of the worst A routes measured by deaths and injuries per vehicle kilometre travelled in the whole of the country.
So you can hear more about that. The changes, which include new speed limits and cameras, reworked junctions, more road chevrons and lane markings, new pedestrian islands, curbs and railings, all the way from the Blackhorse Rygate to the Cockrell roundabout, and then left up Deep Dean Avenue, up the hill there, and right down the A24 to Ashcombe.
You can hear all of that in a mile-by-mile run-through in episode 50 of the Planet Rygate podcast. Women only self-defense course has been set up. Yeah, you can take charge of your own safety, empower yourself and boost your self-confidence. It's every Saturday from the 2nd of November through until the 7th of December at the Red Hill Amateur Boxing Club.
1.30 to 2.30, Saturday lunchtimes, £35 or £5 a session. That's really good value, isn't it? More details, 07918 929398. Also in Redhill, Papa John's is back open. You remember we reported that it closed earlier on in the year. Now it's back, same place, High Street, Redhill. It's just there if you're coming under the railway bridge from Earlswood, common direction, down the hill.
Halford's on the right and so on, under the bridge. If you went straight on at that roundabout, it's just up there on the right-hand side. Looks like a really good repair to the footpath between the two lakes at Watercolour. I've been there several times over the last few years. And I was there with my partner, what, last winter. And it was so wet.
It was going over our boots and we just got too far that we just thought it's going to get better. And it didn't. It was very awkward. It was very wet. My walking boots have never properly recovered. The excess water now apparently flows under the path instead of...
washing it away that is progress hopefully keep our fingers crossed as i said earlier for this winter that path down to core mongers lane still badly flooded but i understand a fix there is on the way as well congratulations if you have been helping out the lucy rainer foundation recently particularly at their havana nights gala dinner 2024 which sounds a whole heap of fun they had some amazing sponsors as well the headline sponsor was independent growth finance red hill
Heads and Tails sponsor, Chemex Kitchen Appliances, also the Private Office Real Estate, Reveries, all sorts of other companies as well. PSS International Removal, Santander Consumer Finance, Red Hill, Silvermere Golf Club, Kingswood Golf Club and Advance Online. So I've mentioned all of those because...
£75,951.
Thank you. You get nothing for a pair, not in this game. This amount will allow them to continue offering our vital services for the rest of the year and into 2025. They say thank you so much to everyone who joined us for this year's gala. We hope you had a great evening. Didn't they do well, though?
Oldswood School say we'd love donations of real-life items like shirts, hats, waistcoats and jackets. No costumes, they just want everyday clothing to inspire imaginative play. And they say thank you in advance for your support. So get in touch with Earlswood Schools. I've got the link if you don't know how to contact them. And they would love to take some old clothes off your hands.
I'm thinking maybe some brollies, maybe some hats and different things like that. Maybe some really flowery or loud jackets or dresses or waistcoats or something like that. That would be fantastic, wouldn't it? Kind of dressing up and pretending games, those kinds of things. John Hughes got in touch with me in the week. This is an unusual one.
John says after seven years in print, my novel Follow My Leader will be going out of print soon. So I'm letting everyone know via the Planet Rygate podcast in case they would like to snap up a copy before they do. The book is a black comedy set in and around Reigate in the early 1950s.
And it's the story of an elderly German refugee who comes to live in the town and starts making some extraordinary claims as to his true identity. Long story short, he says he's Adolf Hitler. So is he or isn't he? That's the whole kind of basis of the plot, which includes murder and mayhem.
in reigate it's available on amazon as a paperback and kindle as well it's called follow my leader so check it out there and thanks very much indeed to john for getting in touch holy trinity church carlton road red hill bit of advance notice for them saturday the 9th of november at three o'clock in the church there's going to be a memorial service for all those who died whether recently or in the past so a chance to maybe say goodbye which maybe you couldn't do properly during covid
Saturday 9th November at 3pm in the church. The church, the Holy Trinity. Carlton Road in 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 372797. Planet Reigate Stars, thanking local heroes who are out of this world.
And don't forget, if you'd like to boost coverage and attendance at your event, whether it be a club, society, could be an art show, could be a music event, could be something for charity, something for your business, then talk to us about our Media Partnership Package. Now to this week's Planet Rygate Star Award.
Elisa says, Thank you to the lady jogging in Holmesdale Road this morning who stopped and told me, My dress was lovely and I looked fab in it. Women boosting women is such a joy. You made my day. You're a queen. Were you that mystery jogger? How fantastic. We're going to give you a Planet Rygate Star Award.
Another tale of the unexpected is the story that marching troops slowly pass through the area of Thunderfield Castle and Haraldsley Drive in Hawley. A phantom bell is said to begin to toll as the sun sets, slowly growing louder until midnight comes and the small army of men pass through the area. The castle is said to have been a resting place for King Harold's men as they marched to Hastings.
And in sports on the Planet Rygate podcast this week, we're pleased to announce the dates for the 2025 Cyclocross Rygate event. So it's going to be apparently bigger and better than ever. If you didn't catch it this last August, please go back to episode 46 of the show and you'll be able to hear more about it.
It was fantastic weather and I was so pleased to have been able to speak to Sean Lambert today.
and the guys down there who put it all on an awful lot of work and effort had gone into it hundreds of cyclists including i would say probably the youngest was probably about 10 barely double figures and the oldest probably into their 60s 70s as well men and women boys and girls some of them were first timers some of them were really experienced bikers up
there through the woods at Priory Park several laps some really steep bits some tight bends some slippery bits maybe on some of the some of the fallen leaves some almost kind of log jumps and so on some bits were really really steep So if you are interested to hear more about that, episode 56, excuse me, episode 46 of the Planet Rygo. Go back and listen to episode 56 as well.
But 46 is where you'll find all about the cyclocross event for this year. Next year, the date has been set for Saturday, the 9th of August. which is going to be great. More races and more partying, says Sean on a social media post this past week. Also in our sports news bulletin, I can tell you this week, we're going to be talking briefly about some cricket because...
Merstham Cricket Club have been in touch. Two of their sections started winter training this week. Ever-growing Magics section of children and adults with disabilities train on Wednesday evenings 6.15 to 7.15 at Lime Tree School. They say no experience is needed. They say...
disabilities but quote we like to think of them as various abilities which is really good we've also got our newest section only in the second year of walking cricket they say is for adults over the age of 50 they start at the donnings leisure centre thursdays 12 to 1 so you can go along there and give it a try as well it's open to men and women more information you can contact rich
on chairman at merstamcc.co.uk. And if you want to hear more about Merstam Cricket Club, I had a really good evening down there for about an hour or more than an hour because I said to Rich, I'll come down. I said, can you organise a couple of people who I can talk with down there? I turned up, there were seven, which was absolutely fantastic.
And what I got was, and as you will be able to hear in episode 33 of the podcast, is is a great array of different voices, male, female, young, older, all sorts of different people, various aspects of the club. Their outreach projects, the different teams and groups they have, more experienced players, youngsters who come up, the family atmosphere of it all, all sorts of things going on.
So I would encourage you to go back and listen to episode 33 of the Planet Reigate podcast.
The Good Time Guide. Things to do and places to go on the Planet Reigate podcast.
All sorts of events to get involved with over the next seven days across the Planet Reigate area of Reigate, Redhill and Merstham, Buckland, Betchworth and Brockham. And a lot of these are Halloween related events and also fireworks as well. We've got a few more too. Of course, don't forget, half-term events are likely to be mentioned too.
So, prick up your ears, here we go with Saturday the 26th of October and there's a fixed bike fun bike at Timperley on Saturday, 2 till 4 in the playground on Greenway. You can get a free bike MOT, check the saddle height and get advice about helmets as well. Mentioned this last week, and it's the Halloween extravaganza at Red Hill FC.
Pumpkin competition hunt, prizes for the best Halloween fancy dress. Adults as well, they say. Free Halloween gift for those under 16 in fancy dress. Free entry, a drink and a snack free for all under 16s. And a free glass of mulled wine for the over 18s. Doors open 12.30. Activities start at 1 o'clock. To Sunday at Gatton, they've got a Halloween Wicked Witches and the Wizard of Oz event.
They say, dare to join us for Halloween activities and a spooky trail around the grounds. Ideal for younger children. This year, follow the yellow brick road for Wizard of Oz inspired fun. And don't forget the bone to pick trick or treat spinometer at the end of the trail. Adult £6, £3 for children if you book online. Reigate Manor has a kids Halloween disco Sunday 3 till 6.
Fancy dress contests, prizes, wicked tunes, spooky games and activities. Halloween treats and sweets. I'm loving this. This is what their buffet is. Vampire steaks and oozing dips. Which is actually vegetable sticks and dips. Boiling blood and bubbling pus slices. Fantastic.
it's pizza crusted blood bites cauldron dunks with a murky pool dip witches brew and zombies lair for the walking dead which is tea coffee and biscuits for the adults the bar is open as well uh reichate manor 01737 24125 15 pound a child five pounds for adults if you want to get involved with that Car boot sale Sunday, Westvale Park Primary Academy, 10 till 12. Sellers arrive from 9 o'clock.
£6 a pitch. Monday, the 28th of October, we're into half-term and the holiday clubs. Dover's Green School in Reigate, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. It's going to be a combination of circus skills and spooky fun. Harry Potter, Quidditch, wand-making and potions. Camp...
fire crafts and pumpkin catapults trick or treat day and nerf events as well so you can book there and as i say it's all going to be happening organized by the outdoors project so you can go to the outdoorsproject.co.uk and it's happening at dover's green school in reigate so much kind of halloween stuff which is happening
At Bechworth Castle, legend has it that a prisoner held captive in the fortified manor house escaped, and the castle owner, Lord Hope, gave chase. Spying a running figure in the shadows, the Lord ran him through with his sword. But tragically, it was somebody else. The victim? Lord Hope's own son. The ghost prowling around is not the slain son, but Lord Hope wringing his hands in despair.
Half term Halloween fun for ghouls, ghosts and goblins. October the 28th to October the 31st. It's happening all day at Reigate Parish Church Primary School. More information info.holiday at theholidayclubs.com. Ray Common School have got Camp Glide there with a holiday club. October half-term, Monday through till Friday. 7.30 in the morning till 6 at night.
Pumpkin fun, dance, team building, parachute archery, swimming arts and crafts, sport drama, bouncy castle as well. More details, campglide.co.uk for more information on that one. More Halloween stuff, courtesy of Step In Time Theatre School. Zombies go to Monster High. They're going to be performing that 28th of October to the 1st of November. The rehearsals 8am till 3pm and ages 4 to 12.
Now all schools are available to go along to this particular event. And it's all happening at Lime Tree Primary School in Merstham. Halloween Slime, Talent Show, Arts and Crafts, Trick or Treat Hunt and Halloween Rice Krispie Cakes. And then finally a show day as well. More information 07403 564 536.
Tuesday at the Archway Theatre in Hawley, they've got a new production underway, October 29th through to November 2nd, and then November 6th to the 9th, and it's a dramatisation of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole, 1911 to 1912. It's all drawn from the journals and letters found on Scott's frozen body. So the action moves backwards and forwards in time between Antarctica and England.
It shows not only the extraordinary courage and fortitude of the team battling against the conditions... but also the very human emotions and motivations which drove them forward. So we're really pleased to say that the Planet Reigate podcast is proud to be official media partner with the Archway Theatre in Hawley.
For more information and booking details, go to archwaytheatre.com or phone 0333 666 3366. It's the time of year to have a phone number that has... 666 in it, isn't it? Art Sparks have a half-term art club, Flying Dreams, 29th October, 9.30 to 2.30, for ages 6 to 11's, Watercolour Community Place, Thorntonside, £35. Contact Kim to book kimventer, V-E-N-T-E-R, at gmail.com.
There's a Reigate menopause cafe Tuesday, 7.30 till 9.30 at 124 Carlton Road in Reigate. Guest speaker, Joanne Lovbarka, who is a registered nutritional therapist for an inspiring talk on the transformative power of nutrition, how simple dietary changes can boost energy, lift brain fog and improve digestion. For more information, get in touch with me. I'll put you in touch with them.
Wednesday the 30th of October and this is really interesting from Rachel who runs Eco Earlswood and it's the launch of the Bell Street Vintage Market in Reigate. Furniture, plants, vintage decor and jewellery as well. Free entry with a free glass of fizz at their very first market and that is Wednesday 30th October between 6pm at night and 8.30pm.
Also going to be open Thursday 28th November and Thursday 19th December. So 29 Bell Street, it's that furniture shop opposite Oliver Bonas, isn't it? 6 till 9. So congratulations to Rachel. Another initiative. How does she find the time? Bell Street Vintage Market. It's all going on. And as I say, Wednesday, the 30th of October between 6 and 8.30.
More information, 29bellstreet.com for more on that one. The Messy Makers Club have a spooktacular Halloween messy play event. Eight activities, music, decorations and a gift to take home. Wednesday the 30th, 10am to 11am. Book via, well, it's another of those really awkward links, but essentially bookwhen.com slash Messy Makers Club. Actually, it's not too difficult at all, is it?
Art Sparks have a half-term painting workshop Wednesday, ages 11 to 16, and The Times, 11 to 2 p.m. Watercolour Community Place, Thornton Side. Contact Kim to book on that one. We've mentioned Kim before, didn't we? Let's give her phone number this time, 07590 210 178. Got some more Halloween fun to tell you about. And it's happening at the Halloween at Priory Farm event.
So they say enjoying enchanting Halloween trails, magical pumpkin picking, terrifying tractor rides and lots more for a family adventure that will create memories to last a lifetime. That happens on Thursday the 31st.
the market stores doesn't want to miss out either they've got a halloween night party with live performances from billy fox and the band 31st of october yes it is the day of days isn't it actually this coming thursday from 8 p.m till the close at sea at the market stores on the high street in reigate of course aqua sports get your ghoul on at their halloween paddle and swim
On October the 31st, they've got a swim session, 4.30 to 5.30, and a paddle session, 5.30 to 7.30. All that is going on on the 31st. Merstham Village Hall, Station Road North in Merstham. They have got a Redhill Beer Festival. Yeah, the Redhill Beer Festival is back. A showcase event.
And highlight of the branch's calendar, the festival runs for three days at the end of October, early November, every year at Merston Village Hall. They aim to have around 65 real ales and 10 ciders on offer, along with hot food. So this is the dealio. Thursday and Friday, 12 till, that's lunchtime, 12 till half past 10, £4. No advance booking required, just pay on the door.
Cash and cards accepted. Saturday, midday, 3 till 6. Or they say, while stocks last, and it's going to be free. Friday the 1st of November, there's a volunteer morning. Everyone is welcome. A Battlebridge spinny for snowberry removal. So you meet outside the Lime Tree School, a Battlebridge spinny. Did I know it was called Battlebridge spinny?
I'm not sure I did, but you know where the Lime Tree School is. So... This is what's happening there. They've been clearing snowberry, which I must admit I've never heard of before, from that spinny for some years. They're about 80% there now.
Snowberry apparently can form a really dense thicket, and the problem with that is that it stops the other native species actually coming through, and it grows like wildfire, apparently. And the problem is that snowberry berries, it's got a lovely name, hasn't it? Snowberry. Doesn't it sound nice? But the berries are in fact poisonous to humans.
It can cause dizziness and vomiting and even slight sedation in children. So they're going to be clearing all that from the undergrowth while they're there. Obviously, they're going to be clearing the woods of litter as well. Free refreshments at halftime, they say. even if you can only come down for half an hour or an hour, please do. So this is Friday coming from 10 till 1.
Meet outside the Lime Tree School, 07913 148821 for more information on that. Halloween Disco, ages 3 to 11. I'd love to see a 3-year-old at a Halloween Disco. That sounds cute, doesn't it? Price £14, includes a disco, a DJ workshop, mocktails, snacks and hot dogs, fancy dress welcome, face painting available on the night. You've got a pre-book. Bookwhen.com slash communitycentres.
Adult supervision is required. And did I say the times? It's 4.30 till 6.30 at the Woodhatch Centre. So we go from Halloween to fireworks, don't we? Because let me tell you about what's happening Friday the 1st of November and a big fireworks event which is happening locally because... Choir music drifting from a church may not seem like a very unusual occurrence.
But if the church is empty and locked this unexplained phenomenon is enough to send a chill down your spine. And yet that is what has been reported at St Mary's Church in Reigate. It's also common there to see a little girl dressed in a 19th century pinafore skipping up the path through the graveyard before disappearing into thin air
In 1975, a woman was walking along Chart Lane, next to the church, when she saw someone making their way along the path towards the building. As the pedestrian drew nearer, she could see the figure was that of a woman wearing a white dress. But as she got to within a few feet of the figure, it too faded away. On Friday the 1st of November, there's a fireworks display.
Gates open at 6, fireworks at 7.30, food, drinks, music and rides. Tickets, family £20, adults £7.50, children £5 and parking £5 on the gate for charity. They say when we're full, we are full.
where's it all happening oldrigationrfc.com for more information on that one family fireworks show at the red lion betchworth on friday the first gates open at six fireworks show at eight live entertainment throughout hot food served throughout as well tickets 12 pounds and six pounds includes the show and the hot food as well that's the family fireworks show at the red lion at betchworth
We always mention the next Saturday as well, which takes us through to Saturday the 2nd of November. It's Diwali and the big event happening at the Belfry as it did certainly last year, I think previous years as well. Saturday the 2nd of November, noon to three o'clock, free entry as you might expect.
and there's going to be lights and Bollywood music, dance performances, Indian handicrafts, Indian food stalls, henna painting, face painting, lots of fun activities. So if you're interested in that, you want to learn a bit more about Diwali, I'll be down there as well, doing a few interviews and learning a bit more.
So if maybe you've got a bit of Indian heritage in you, or you're interested in the Indian culture... Or you're just going to go along and do some shopping and have a little nose and see what else is on. That's at the Belfry, Saturday the 2nd between noon and 3 o'clock. Hawley Lions have their bonfire and fireworks fundraising spectacular.
Saturday the 2nd of November at the Hawley Rec, 5.30 till 9 o'clock. £6.95 for adults. St Nicholas Church in Charlwood have a churchyard clear-up. At 9.30 in the morning, in readiness for Remembrance Sunday, they say, help spruce up the churchyard and the war memorial area of the many leaves that would have fallen by then. Come along armed with brooms, shovels and wheelbarrows.
Brooms, like a witch's broom, I suppose. Got another bonfire display to tell... The picturesque Shag Brook at Buckland. Local legend states it's home to a monster called the Buckland Shag. The creature is said to be four-footed and covered in a shaggy coat, and it would drag travellers from the nearby coaching road and devour them on the shag stone, a large boulder found in the brook.
According to legend, in 1757, Reverend Willoughby Bertie, the rector of Buckland, had the shag stone removed from the brook and taken to the West Country before it was thrown from a cliff in Devon. And since when, no one locally has experienced the Buckland Shag. Grand bonfire and firework display which is happening at the Bell in Outwood on Saturday.
Gates open at 5.30, bonfire 6.30, fireworks at 7.30. Cash only entry is going to be music and dancing, outside bars, burgers and bangers and raffles and all sorts of other things going on as well. So that is happening, as I say, at the Bell in Outwood on Saturday the 2nd. Also, if fireworks at Halloween aren't your thing, what about a charity quiz night Saturday 2nd, 7pm at Lloyd Hall at Outwood?
07879882707.
And you can join them for a fun night ahead of their epic... 400-kilometre cycle ride through Vietnam and Cambodia, raising funds for Breast Cancer Now. That sounds terrific, doesn't it? All profits from the evening go directly to the amazing charity Breast Cancer Now. Tickets £20. So they're after teams of six to eight or individual couples are welcome as well.
That sounds pretty good fun, doesn't it? Ladies, Debbie, Lynn, Sally and Sharon. Congratulations and best wishes for all you are doing as you cycle 400k through Vietnam and Cambodia. There's a tabletop sale at Lloyd Hall on Saturday the 2nd. It's all going on down there, isn't it? 10.30 to 2.30 on Saturday.
Baby equipment, toys and games, Christmas decks, pictures, plants, seeds and bulbs, collectibles, households. You get the idea, don't you? Christmas cards and gifts, perhaps, I should mention too. Any inquiries, contact jombarber, or hotmail.com, as J-O-M for mother, barber as in haircut, 07-967-157-402. It's a community event led by the Royal British Legion.
Also, join us for the 68th running of Priory Relays on Saturday, 1.30 lunchtime, Rygate Priory Park. It's a batonless relay race over two and a half mile cross-country course in the park. Teams of four men, three women or any combination up to four. £30 a team and more details.
PrioryRelays.com if you want to take part in that, if not just rock up on the day and shout and blow whistles and bang saucepans, that kind of thing. Got advance notice. Now, these are some good time guide events which aren't linked to any particular day. These are things which are just kind of starting up and getting going. Let me first of all tell you about the KSM Music Centre, Rygate.
Music lessons for... Piano, singing, guitar, drums, violin, cello, clarinet, flute, saxophone, oboe and more. My goddaughter is a violinist professionally in the West End, which is absolutely fantastic. I'm so proud of her. Very often go along to various events, various shows and musicals and spectaculars in the West End. It's great fun.
Anyway, includes group lessons for choir and orchestra, KSM Music Centre in Reigate. More information, 01737 830 774. And your first group session is free. If you love to sing, come and learn some Christmas songs with us and experience the magic of four part harmony for free.
Whether you're a seasoned singer or just love to sing in the shower, we welcome you to join us for this festive experience. You know, everyone, I'm now just imagining you in the shower singing. Yeah, we've never even met. Bring your voice, your enthusiasm and the joy of acapella music this Christmas. It's all happening at Manorfield School in Hawley. What do you mean? You're imagining me naked?
No, please don't do that. Well, it's one way to slim, I suppose. St Mary's Church in Reigate. Six weekly evening rehearsals starting Tuesday the 22nd of October. So it's already underway, but you've only missed it by a week. At 7.30, sing with them at their Christmas concert. Do you want some more information on that? Vocaldimension.co.uk for that one. Hip, hop, toddle, pop.
Where little feet discover big moves. That sounds great, doesn't it? Ages 2 to 4 at Hocus Pocus House. I'm sorry, Focus House. It's the whole Halloween thing. It's going to my head. Bell Street in Reigate, Wednesdays, 10.45 to 11.15, £6 class. Join our fun and energetic toddler dance class designed... just for your little ones.
They'll learn basic dance steps and rhythm as they dance and have some music and playing time as well in a lively, supportive environment. And also, I guess they're learning things like balance and motor skills and coordination and beats and things like that. Bring your child for a complimentary session to see if they love it. Sounds as though they will.
Reserve your spot today via thestagestudiorygate.com. And Rygate on Ice is returning to Priory Park, 29th November to 1st January. It's going to be a huge ice rink, festive rides, food stalls and bar, live music and a free firework display on 30th November as well.
And also, I can tell you, advance notice of the YMCA Santa Run, which is happening for, obviously, the YMCA, Sunday 15th December at Priory Park. £12.50 includes a free Santa suit and a medal. I reckon I've got to go down there and do a bit of social media videoing, don't you? Three ghosts cohabit Ray Farm. A man wearing riding boots. An older woman who sits by the fire.
and a little girl with blonde hair.
Email hello at theplanetrygatepodcast.com Find out more at at theplanetrigatepodcast.com Leave a text or voice message on WhatsApp 07917 874572 and leave a review on your favourite podcast app. Support us at buymeacoffee.com slash theplanetrigatepodcast The 60 Second Soundscape. Local natural sounds uninterrupted.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The Planet Reigate podcast was produced and presented by Peter Stewart.