Clive Smitheram, Councillor for West Ewell, passed away on April 25th aged 76. Clive’s health had been deteriorating in the last few months and last week was taken to Epsom Hospital for tests and was diagnosed with Sepsis.

Clive was a central figure in West Ewell having lived there for over 30 years with his wife Gill and family and although a proud Cornishman, Clive was someone who knew everyone locally and if he didn’t know someone, he knew someone who did! Clive was a former police officer, having served 31 years in the service and was a retired
community safety officer. As an active resident, it led to Clive being elected as a Resident Association Councillor for West Ewell serving for over 20 years, Clive was a former Mayor of Epsom and Ewell in 2010- 2011.

Clive was always happy supporting and providing advice to the residents of West Ewell and had a very proactive approach to getting things done. Clive always believed that central politics should have no place in local issues and that councillors should be “local people dealing with local issues”. He believed this common-sense approach best served the community and its residents.

Clive served on many different committees during his time as a councillor, having been Chairman of Crime and Disorder, Licencing and Scrutiny, as well as an active member of the Planning Committee. Clive provided a wealth of experience and support to all colleagues and was a great mentor and listener, with a positive approach to problem-solving. Clive was an active member of All Saints Church in West Ewell and became a member of Epsom Rotary Club in 2011, becoming President in 2014. Clive was voted an honorary member in October 2020. In addition, Clive was a founder member of the town’s twinning association with Chantilly in Northern France and this year marks the 25th anniversary.

Lastly, we have lost a special person and good friend and our thoughts are with his wife Gill, his children Chris and Claire and his four grandchildren.

This obituary was written by Councillors Barry Nash and Monica Coleman, both representing West Ewell.

For more news on the council, please click here.

Surrey Police are appealing for witnesses after an assault on Waterloo Road in Epsom on Sunday, 8 May. 

The assault took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, at about 12:30am, near to the junction with Station Approach. During the assault, the victim was knocked unconscious and sustained a number of injuries, including a broken leg, and a cut to the back of the head. 

Surrey Police would like to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time and who may have seen anything that could help with their enquiries. 

As part of their investigation, Surrey Police would like to speak to a couple seen in the area at the time. The man is described as being in his 20s, around 5ft 4 tall and of a slim build. He was seen wearing a white t-shirt and dark blue jeans. The woman is described as being of a slim build, around 5ft 2 tall, with dark shoulder-length hair. She was seen wearing a grey and white top. 

If you have any information that may be able to help, please contact Surrey Police quoting PR/ 45220048617 via:

• Webchat on their website https://www.surrey.police.uk/
• Online https://www.surrey.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/
• Calling them on 101

 If you do not wish to leave your name, please call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council were due to a debate on a CPO (Compulsory purchase order) regarding Horton Cemetery 5th May 2022. This CPO was formally requested by the charity Friends of Horton Cemetery, as the land has fallen into rough shape since being sold by the Department of Health 1983 to a private property company. Marked as 4th on the agenda for the Strategy and Resources Committee of the Council on 5th May 2022, the item was declared withdrawn by Chairman Cllr Colin Keane. We understand that the Council will revisit the matter later in the year.

This is not the first time that Horton Cemetery has been on the council’s agenda, at its 9 September 2021 meeting, the Council’s Licensing and Planning Policy Committee agreed to the Local Listing of Horton Cemetery, including the boundary railings and a war memorial built in 2004 outside the railings and facing onto Horton Lane.

The local charitable organisation, The Friends of Horton Cemetery (“the FHC”), are very active in preserving it’s historic and cultural significance. Their stated goal is to:

“Bring dignity and respect to the thousands of mental health patients, including war heroes, who died within the Epsom Cluster of asylums and are buried, forgotten and unmarked on a neglected piece of land in Surrey, England.Our ambitious plans include reclaiming the derelict site and transforming it into a beautiful, calming garden-arboretum, with a lasting memorial and ‘book of the dead’ containing the names and details of all known burials.”

The FHC were instrumental in securing the Local Listing. They have also tried repeatedly, without success, to engage with the private owner to seek a sale of the site to the Charity.

At a meeting of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s Strategy and Resources Committee on Thursday 5^th May 2022 Councillors voted for a controversial new £186,000 per annum tree maintenance contract with regular supplier Advanced Tree Services Ltd (ATS).

ATS is a family-owned and run Woking-based business employing in the region of 50 workers. The sole director is Daron Mitchell who has run the company since 1997. Profit and Loss accounts have not been filed with Companies House.

The Council is responsible for trees on its land and an Officer’s report to Councillors stated that there are approximately 32,000 trees within the Borough. The Report is not clear if that is the number of trees on Council land or the Borough as a whole.

The Council is liable to persons injured by trees on its land if trees have not been inspected and maintained. The Council put a three-year contract for the Borough’s tree maintenance out to tender and received four bids.

ATS will undertake the full range of tree inspections and maintenance works. The works are to be performed on trees located within the borough on the Council’s land and co-managed sites – Nonsuch Park and the Downs. The contracted works include a tree inspections programme, tree planting and aftercare, tree maintenance, emergency callouts and Oak Processionary Moth control.

The annual cost of the previous tree contract was £81,000 plus a budget of £5,000 to address Oak Processionary Moth. The cost of the new contract is £185,000 per annum, an increase of £104,000.

Of this £104,000 increase, £59,500 can be linked to industry inflation as the contract has not been re-tendered for a number of years. The remaining £44,500 increase is due to new service requirements

The £185,000 cost of the new contract exceeds the Council’s existing budget by £99,000. Officers proposed that the £59,500 increase due to industry inflation can be funded by the Council’s “budgeted contingency for contract inflation”. However, the unbudgeted £39,500 increase attributable to service enhancements will need to be found within the tree maintenance service’s existing “budget envelope”, or from “alternative service areas”.

Not all Councillors were convinced that this shortfall of £39,500 could be found and questioned the wisdom of proceeding with the contract. Officers appeared “stumped” as to where the money will come from.

The motion was passed with 8 votes for and 1 against.

Read more of our council coverage here

When raising money for charity, some people do bake sales, others go on a sponsored run or maybe organise a benefit concert, but one Epsom resident is doing something a little different.

If you’re in the town centre today, look out for Rob Carin who has popped himself on an exercise bike to cycle the whole distance from Epsom to Ukraine, in order to raise money for the Ukrainian people. Rob Carin is a volunteer for SSWU (Surrey Stands with Ukraine), a wonderful charity we’ve spoken about before, they’re set up in the Ashley Centre, taking donations for much needed medical supplies to send to Ukraine, along with other essentials. SSWU has done amazing work, uniting local people and inspiring charitable spirit for a country in crisis.

Rob tells me that the volunteers take it turns on the bike, and that they average 100KM a day. Collectively, they’re going to cycle the full distance of 2504KM from Epsom to Independence Square in Ukraine.

Go along and donate to him if you can, and support the fantastic work that he and SSWU are doing during this crisis.

To donate to Surrey Stands With Ukraine, please follow the link below:

surreystandswithukraine.org

Read more of our community and volunteer-based coverage here.

We have a blast from the past for today’s chess puzzle on Epsom & Ewell Times!

This game was played in 1909 between Russian-Austrian player Savielly Tartakower and Austrian player Rudolf Spielman.

Spielman defeated Toartakower using his trademark initiative and went on to finish 3rd in the tournament, which was held in St. Petersburg.

Both players were and still are held in very high regard by contemporary scholars and players.

We hope you enjoy today’s puzzles.

If you have any thoughts, ideas or queries on this puzzle or others, please get in contact via email at admin@epsomandewelltimes.com, or contact us on Twitter @EpsomandET

Check out today’s chess puzzle!

The Queen’s racehorse Reach For The Moon has been pulled out of the Classic after failing to recover from an injury in time. The horse was injured late last year.

The horse, trained by father-son duo John and Thady Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, was the 3rd favourite.

The colt was tipped as one of the favourites to win on June 4th after finishing first at the Solario Stakes at Sandown Park last August. He later sustained an injury that was not thought serious enough to rule him out of the Epsom Derby, this was apparently not the case.

John Gosden told the Racing Post he would not contest the Classic at Epsom.

“Following a setback last autumn, Reach For The Moon has been given all the time and care he requires in his training programme,” said Gosden.

“We had planned to run him in the Dante Stakes at York next week. However, in the best interests of the horse, we have decided that this race is coming too soon for him.“

“Consequently, he will not run in the Derby and will be pointed towards Royal Ascot.”

Reporter: Richard Langley, Photos by Gemma Jarman

Report Source: eefconline.co.uk

A poor start leads to a premature season’s end

After three very tight meetings between ourselves and Midhurst & Easebourne this season, this Playoff Semi-Final always threatened to follow a similar path and over the ninety minutes we witnessed another even contest. Unfortunately, a poor opening twenty minutes left us 2-0 down and we were never able to recover, eventually losing by the same score as we had just four days previously in the Division One Cup Final. Both teams appeared to be at full strength for this match, although for us that meant once again that Player/Manager Jamie Byatt was unable to take the field. At the back, Gideon Acheampong was able to start and upfront Mario Qurassaca made his first start. As a result, Jerry Antwi and Mo Cisse started on the bench, although both would enter the playing arena later.

For those who noted my gladiatorial reference to an arena here, it is largely because of the way these two teams squared up following the conclusion of the aforementioned Cup Final, and if I’m honest I expected more fireworks here. However, Referee Paul Saunders was totally on top of this match and ensured that hardly any extra-curricular activity took place this time. We had an early free-kick from which Ricardo Fernandes gave Josh Bird some early catching practice, but were behind in the sixth minute when Lewis Hamilton drove through our static defence and slotted the ball past Sheikh Ceesay from close range.

This was an awful start and it got worse in the 22nd minute when a deep ball in was met by a looping header towards goal, but somehow Liam Dreckmann was able to reach it first to force the ball in from close range. We didn’t know it for certain at the time, but the damage was already done, although we fought back well from this point and made it a much more even contest for the remainder of the afternoon. A corner was flicked onto the far post where Tyreke Leslie struck at goal from a narrow angle, but Bird was equal to the shot and turned it around the post. Next to try was Mike Hill with a long-range strike that Bird clawed away from under pressure from Qurassaca, although our striker was flagged offside, so it wouldn’t have counted as he was definitely in Bird’s line of sight. Then in the 39th minute, we pulled a goal back and it was a bit of a strange one really as a ball over the top fell kindly for Qurassaca who then failed to control it, but as a result of this, Bird came out of goal only to then realise that he wasn’t going to get there in time and Qurassaca then nodded the ball over him and it bounced over the line and up into the roof of the net from eighteen yards. He had a half-chance to score another as a deep cross was headed over at full stretch, but as the halftime whistle went, it looked like we had finally got going and there was still plenty of time to go to salvage this.

An early Hill header in the opening minute was covered easily by Bird but the majority of this half would be spent in midfield as the home side kept us largely subdued. In the Cup match they had negated our threat on the wings by putting two men on them; a trick Roffey had also used against us back in March, but in this second half both Luke Miller and Athan Smith-Joseph seemed to play deeper, which meant that our service to Qurassaca was extremely limited and he too then dropped further back leaving us with no one upfront. Midhurst then cut us apart on the hour with a deep ball over on the left that was volleyed across goal but fortunately with no one there to meet it.

Unfortunately, we were then forced into a couple of substitutions as Hill departed, but also Brad Peters who appeared to suffer a recurrence of the injury he picked up at Mile Oak seven days previously. They were replaced by Cisse and Antwi respectively. Miller’s shot was then blocked by a defender before Bird clawed away another deep delivery. We had a little incident when Dreckmann squared up to Ceesay who pushed back and I thought that the award of a yellow card for both was a little harsh on our keeper. Ceesay then made an important save after our defender missed a ball in from the left, but our man was out quickly to smother the ball which squirted out for a corner, which was then headed over by Marcus Bedford. Josh Uzun entered the fray with five minutes left as we made an attacking substitution, but five minutes from time Acheampong then dragged Bedford back as he threatened to get through and picked up a yellow card that could have been red, had he committed the offence a little closer to goal instead of back on the halfway line.

As time ran out we had a bit of good pressure and Fernandes’ low shot from outside the penalty area was powerful enough, but wide, and Smith-Joseph had the last meaningful attempt on goal in the fourth of seven minutes of injury time, but Bird was able to make the easy save.

And this summed up the match and to a certain extent the season. We were never really able to hurt our opponents enough in this match and you just felt that a fully fit Byatt would have been the difference in many of these matches this season. As I look back at the stats I can see that he scored thirty-one goals in twenty-eight appearances, of which we lost just six, but the unseen statistic here is that he was unable to take the field in thirteen matches and we lost six of those too. Without him, we just weren’t the same and at the age of forty, it will be interesting to see whether he retains the tag of Player/Manager next season or whether we have seen the last of him as a player.

So Midhurst & Easebourne progress to a playoff final at home to Shoreham, who defeated Seaford Town 2-0 on their own pitch, while we now face another season in Sussex at Step Six, our fifth season at that level. There are worse places to play football without a doubt, but it feels somewhat underwhelming that a team this good has fallen away so badly this season, finishing with four straight losses. For sure it has been a horrible end to the season if you are an Epsom fan and no, there is no time left to bounce back.

Epsom & Ewell: Sheikh Ceesay, Gideon Acheampong, Louis Chin, Brad Peters (c), Steve Springett, Luke Miller, Athan Smith-Joseph, Ricardo Fernandes, Mario Qurassaca, Mike Hill, Tyreke Leslie

Subs: Mo Cisse for Hill (64), Jerry Antwi for Peters (64), Josh Uzun for Chin (85)

Pictured above provided by The Jockey Club

Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations are coming up in early June, commemorating 70 years on the throne for her majesty. Events, celebrations and street parties will be held up and down the country in honour of the Queen’s long reign.

Are you at a loss for what to do during this time? Curious about what’s going on here in Epsom? Well look no further, we’ve curated a list of events, parties and celebrations going on right here in Epsom. Read on!…

The Derby Festival – Epsom Downs Racecourse

The Royal world will converge on Epsom Downs as the Queen attends Epsom Derby. A life-long lover of horses and racing, the Queen will be present in the royal box on June 4th as she has been for almost every year since 1946, cheering on her horse. No monarch-owned horse has won the Derby since 1909 when King Edward VII’s horse Minoru took first place. A victory for her majesty would be a wonderful cherry on top of her celebrations.

A world-famous event, undoubtedly the highlight of the jubilee, it’s not one to miss.

Hat Making Workshop – Epsom Square

One for the kids! In celebration of the world’s most famous hat-wearer, “Make Your Jubilee Hat Day” will be held on May 14th in the Atrium, next to Epsom Library at Epsom Square. Kids will be welcome to come along and make their own hats inspired by Her Majesty’s sense of style, to wear around the town at any of the Jubilee events.

The event will be run from 11 am to 3 pm on Saturday 14th of May. Free for all.

NHS Staff Benefit jubilee Concert – Epsom Playhouse

Epsom Music presents The Saleri Quartet for a very special Jubilee performance at Epsom Playhouse. The performance is in honour of NHS key workers who work so hard on our behalf.

Free tickets will be allocated for Epsom Hospital staff, all proceeds from other tickets will go to a local NHS staff benevolent fund.

The concert will take place on May 27th at 12noon

Tickets available at www.epsommusic.org

Street Parties

Street parties and royalty go hand in hand, from coronations, marriages, births and jubilees, the British public love an excuse to eat sandwichs on a big union-jack patterned table in the middle of the road. So what better way is there to celebrate Her Majesty’s jubilee then attending or organising a party for your street?

Organising a street party for residents in Epsom is easy, with no need for council permissions or licenses. However, all public health guidance must be followed. If you wish to close your road temporarily you must make an application to Epsom & Ewell Council. Council’s guidance on this can be read here.

Epsom Jazz Club Jubilee Night

Fancy some Jazz and a cheeky jubilee drink? Epsom Jazz Club will be hosting a very special Jubilee themed evening of music, drinks and much more!

Nigel Price and Vasilis Xenopoulos will be performing at Epsom Jazz Club in the Oaks Room of the Conservative Club. Come and celebrate our Queen’s long reign with some tantalising jazz from some of Jazz’s most accomplished musicians.

Tickets £10 (£12 on the door), available from epsomjazzclub.com

READ MORE: Emily Elizabeth Campbell – Horton Cemetery Stories

On Tuesday afternoon, a serious collision took place in Epsom General Hospital’s car park. At 3:07 PM, the driver of a red Kia is believed to have lost control of their vehicle and driven into a passing pedestrian. The pedestrian, who is male, is currently receiving medical attention for his injuries.

The police are appealing for information following the incident. If you have a dashcam or a helmet cam that may have captured what happened, or if you were in the area from 3:00 pm – 3:10 pm, the police urge you to get in contact.

Get in touch with Surrey Police quoting PR/45220046682 via their live webchat or on their online reporting tool.

If you don’t wish to speak with the police, you can call independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

READ MORE: Idling drivers in Epsom & Ewell face £40 fines

Read more of our news coverage here

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council has vowed to fine drivers who leave their engines running while stationary. Engine idling produces air pollution and increases the amount of toxic air that we breathe. The act enforces Rule 123 of the Highway Code, which states: “You must not leave a vehicle’s engine running unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationary on a public road”

Numerous studies have established that long-term exposure to air pollution reduces
life expectancy, due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and lung cancer. Even short-term exposure affects lung function, exacerbates asthma and results in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions. Every minute, an idling car produces enough exhaust emissions to fill 150 balloons with harmful chemicals, including cyanide, nitrogen oxide and tiny particles of poison.

The Royal College of Physicians believes that 40,000 people a year die early because of air pollution, with car idling being a contributing factor. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable. An idling engine burns fuel less efficiently than when the vehicle is moving and so produces more emissions. Because toxic gases from idling are emitted in the same place, localised air pollution is much worse, especially near schools. Research shows that exposing children to high levels of air pollution can stunt lung growth and cause behavioural and mental health problems.

Engine idling has been an offence since 1988 and Epsom and Ewell Borough Council is now taking action. Enforcement officers will ask drivers who are caught idling to switch off their engines. Refusal to do so will result in a Fixed Penalty Notice of £20, rising to £40 if not paid within 28 days. Councillor Neil Dallan, Chair of the Environment and Safe Communities Committee said “Idling is sometimes unavoidable but there are instances, such as waiting for a takeaway or when collecting children from school, when idling is not necessary. We don’t want to issue fixed penalty notices, and it will be the last resort, but we do want to enforce anti-idling regulations effectively to improve air quality”.

More Council news:

Reporter: Richard Langley, Photos by Gemma Jarman

Report Source: eefconline.co.uk

Salts fall in the final seconds

After two very even contests already this season, it was no surprise that this third meeting at the neutral venue of Alfold FC produced another close encounter. Unfortunately for our boys, a 96th-minute goal from James Liddiard came too late to reply to and we had to accept defeat by two goals to one.

With a very important playoff match coming up against the same opposition on Saturday, I wondered how the teams would line up, but both went as strong as they could. Brad Peters was good to go at the back after limping off on Saturday at Mile Oak, while Mike Hill was back in the starting line up as was Mo Cisse. Kofi Quartey and Josh Uzun found themselves on the bench alongside the fit-again Gideon Acheampong.

And we got off to a flyer. Athan Smith-Joseph broke through the middle and had time to steady himself before slotting the ball low to the right of Midhurst keeper Josh Bird to open the scoring in the fourth minute.

The opposition sent a dangerous free-kick through our six-yard area and out the other side, but this was to be a game of few actual chances. Midhurst nearly got back on level terms after a low ball in from the left was well blocked and then kicked away by Sheikh Ceesay just before the half-hour mark before Hill and Liam Dreckmann picked up a yellow card each for an episode of handbags. This was typical of much of the first half as a niggly match was played out, aided and abetted by a referee who wanted to stop play every few minutes, although he also missed Hill getting clattered on the side of the head. Then when Hill was kicked up in the air by Harry Giles he received a lecture, but no card.

It was apparent though that our opponents were beginning to gain the upper hand in the match and they deservedly drew level in the 39th minute with an acrobatic overhead kick from Marcus Bedford from close range that gave Ceesay no chance.

At the half, Hill was replaced by Acheampong with Louis Chin moving into midfield and despite the loss of our gifted playmaker, our team began to tick a little better as a result. Ricardo Fernandes made a good run on the left only for his cross to be palmed away by Bird just ahead of Tyreke Leslie before Luke Miller tried his luck in the 69th minute with a powerful strike from a very narrow-angle, but he was also off target.

We had a flashpoint in the 71st minute when Bird was out quickly to clear a through ball just ahead of Fernandes and on his way back to goal he patted our man on the head, which Fernandes clearly didn’t like and his reaction earned him a yellow card after the obligatory ten-man scuffle had settled down. Meanwhile, Bird wasn’t even spoken to!

In the 76th minute Mario Qurassaca made his debut, coming on for Leslie as we began to threaten a little more. Cisse struck well from 25 yards and was inches wide of the post with Bird unsure and scrambling, although at the other end we were then caught our by a deep ball from the right, only for substitute Will Essai to blaze over from a decent position about twelve yards out.

Then in the 89th minute we had a golden opportunity as a Peters pass rebounded kindly for Qurassaca who was through on goal as a result, but after riding a challenge he then dragged his shot just beyond Bird’s right hand post from twelve yards with the other side of the goal looking like the better option.

Uzun came on for Cisse as we approached injury time, presumably ahead of what was looking like a sure-fire penalty shootout, but Midhurst had one more card to play and a low near post strike was kept out by Ceesay, but only for a corner. From the delivery James Liddiard rose highest to meet the ball, glancing it in from close range in the sixth minute of injury time. Ceesay was appealing for a foul and it did appear that he may well have been held back, but the offence wasn’t spotted and seconds after the restart the match was over.

Having spoken to a number of people after the match, no one could work out exactly why we played as much as six minutes extra time, but this was almost forgotten as upon the final whistle there was a big scuffle between the players which seemed to go on for quite a while and when the smoke cleared and everyone had calmed down Jerry Antwi had received a red card. I don’t believe this will keep him out of Saturday’s rematch in Midhurst, but it would definitely rule him out of any playoff Final should we get there.

Did we deserve to lose this cup final? No, we didn’t, but equally, it could be argued that we didn’t do enough to win it either, although we did improve in the second half. It was a tight match that just didn’t go our way. Maybe on Saturday, the positions will be reversed, but one thing appears certain. It should be another close match!

Epsom & Ewell: Sheikh Ceesay, Louis Chin, Jerry Antwi, Brad Peters (c), Steve Springett, Mo Cisse, Athan Smith-Joseph, Ricardo Fernandes, Tyreke Leslie, Mike Hill, Luke Miller

Subs: Gideon Acheampong for Hill (HT), Mario Qurassaca for Leslie (76), Josh Uzun for Cisse (89)