LV PAST

Taken over one hundred years ago and a view which has changed very little. The road was not made up and the horse crossing was not there but this view is easily recognisable as the approach to our village from Ashtead. This postcard was posted in November 1905 so the photo must have been taken prior to that date.

This picture shows The Warren and Warrener's Cottage. The house shown on the left is believed to be the house which burnt down about 1914 and which was later demolished about 1920. On old maps there appears to be yet another, much larger bulding set further back - perhaps this was the original hunting lodge of Charles II or it may have been stabling.

This old postcard shows the Old Well which was situated at The Warren. Epsom was well known as a Spa Town with the opening of the original Spa on Epsom Common in the 17th century. The Spa at The Warren was never so popular as the one on Epsom Common - perhaps the owner of The Warren was just trying to cash in on the success of the original one. The sign states " WELL HOUSE FOUNDED 1666 BY KING CHARLES II. DEPTH 480 FEET".

This photo of the Old Well was taken in the early part of the 20th century and certainly pre-dates 1907.

This photo is of what we know today as Downs House Racing Stables which, in the 19th century was known as Sherwood's Cottage when it was occupied by the Sherwood family. In 1881 Ralph Sherwood, a Yorkshire man, was the trainer here, aged 78. This picture dates from sometime before 1895. My sincere thanks to "Bill" for allowing me use his photograph.

This engraving shows the first Grand Stand which was built in 1829 and first used in 1830. It also shows the temporary stands that were erected for the meeting. The 1830 Derby Stakes was won by "Priam" a horse that had walked from Newmarket to Epsom with his owner and trainer, William Chifney. He was ridden by Sam Day. This Grand Stand was also the childhood home of the writer of "Book of Household Management", Mrs. Isabella Beeton.

The crowds still gather on Epsom Downs today just as they did over 100 years ago to view The Derby. This picture is believed to be the 1895 Derby and was certainly before 1905.

This engraving is of a painting by Henry Alken and is of a Derby Start sometime before 1851. In the distance can be seen the road to Headley (Langley Vale Road).

This early 20th century photo shows the crowds amassed on The Hill on Derby Day

This picture of the start of the Derby was taken sometime before 1904 and is believed to be the start of the 1895 Derby. Langley Vale Road can just be seen in the distance.

This picture shows David Smith aged 19 on his donkey and cart and was taken behind the Smith home in Rosebery Road in 1901. In the background of the photo can be seen the scrub and the downland behind the houses that existed at that time.

In 2008 David Smith's last remaining child stated that the Smith family lived at Myrtle Cottage although a Smith marriage certificate dated 1904 suggests the house was then known by the name of Myrtle Villa. It is not known if the Smith property was the same property that is still known as Myrtle Cottage (formerly a stables).

My sincere thanks to David's grandson for allowing the use of this photo.

Not much has changed except the garage, and, of course, the cottages have gone.

This photo of Langley Vale Road shows the 1927 Grandstand which was demolished in 2007.

This picture of Langley Vale Road was taken 1950's/early 1960s. The Grandstand, which was built in 1927, was demolished in 2007.

This photo was taken prior to the building of the new Queen's Stand and the old grandstand can be been in the on the left hand side of the picture. The main Grandstand can be seen adjacent to it. This picture was taken from where the horse crossing now stands.

Our car parked outside number 71, Grosvenor Road. This bungalow had previously been owned by Freddie Laker of Laker Airways and was where his cheauffeur lived. Freddie Laker also owned the Woodcote Stud in Wilmerhatch Lane.

A street party was held for the children of Langley Vale to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The tables were set up outside the shops in Grosvenor Road and the kids had a wonderful time. It spilled over into the evening too, for the adults. Nothing was planned but after impromptu dancing and music in the street we opened up the Village Hall and continued our party there until late in the evening, well after the children had gone to bed. A great day for all involved and one of the memorable days in the history of the village.

My two daughters at the village street party held to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.

This was the view from my old house in the early 1980s.

This was the view from my old house in the 1970s.

If you look hard you can see the icicles hanging down from the eaves down the sideway. They measured about about 18 inches long and the temperature outside reached minus 14 degrees. And yes, thats a boat in the front garden! Locally, we were always known as "the people with the boat in the garden". Infact, at one time we had two, the other one being parked where the white car is standing in this photo.

One of the many school productions performed by the children of the village. At that time all the children who attended the school came from the within the village and from a few outlying properties, which made it a "real" village school. It has only been since the new Vale School opened that children from outside the village have attened. Most of the children would have known each other from The Langley Vale Play Group which was then run by Mrs. Collins and assistants Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Lyons. This photo was taken about 1980/1981.

In 1981 around thirty young girls from the village formed a troup of Majorettes. Olive Pyett, who used to live in Beaconsfield Road, organised the training of the girls and Murial Meadows designed and made their uniforms. They were later assisted by Diane Pritchard, also from Beaconsfield Road. The girls would meet for rehearsals after Sunday School and often practiced on the front lawn of Fir Tree Cottage in Grosvenor Road. Performances included the joint Church and Village Hall Association fetes held in the Paddock, a fete held in the grounds of West Park Hospital, the Epsom Carnival and the Banstead Carnival. This photo was taken in 1984 at one of the fetes held in the Paddock.

Some of the children who have been identified : Belinda Banks, Joanne May, Simon Wills, Guy Mitchell, Grant Spicer, Maja Essom, Vanessa Heather, Vicky Newton, Karen Pittman & Julie Walters.

"Tarka" was built between 1916-1920 and was once the last house on the right hand side of Grosvenor Road going towards the Downs. It was formally the home of Mr. Topper during the 1940s and still had the remains of an Anderson shelter in the garden in 1983. It was later renamed "Fir Tree Cottage". Although enlarged in the early 1990s it is one of the few remaining houses to retain its original large garden.

This view was taken in 1983 before the five new houses were built in Rosebery Road. If my memory serves me right, they were built on the site of a house and a bungalow with a large garden and greenhouses. The house can just be seen in the distance.

The village in winter. In the distance can be seen the five new houses that were built in Rosebery Road. They now occupy the plot where there was once stood a bungalow and a house

There had been a public house named the Rubbing House on the site of the present day public house for many years which unfortunately burnt down on the 3rd June 1857. The building that we see today replaced the burnt out building and was built in the 1860s. When it was rebuilt it was named the the Downs Hotel. It has since been renamed back to its original name, The Rubbing House.

This old postcard dated from before 1907 shows children walking on the road leading up to the Downs from Epsom. Epsom Downs Station can clearly be seen on the far right of the picture. In the background can be seen the merry-go round run by Mr Sparks, the stationmaster at Epsom Downs Station 1900-1914. Mr Sparks rented 500 acres from the Epsom Grand Stand Association and hired a fair to entertain children on Sunday school outings. It was also his job to raise the royal standard on Derby Day.

Langley Vale Road - circa bef. 1904