Epsom and Ewell residents are being invited to delve into family albums and memories as the borough prepares to celebrate its 90th anniversary next year.
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council is asking people to contribute photographs, personal recollections and stories spanning the nine decades since the borough was created in 1937.
The anniversary comes at a particularly significant moment in local history. The celebrations will coincide with the final year of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council before local government reorganisation sees its functions pass to the new East Surrey Council.
The Council says it is developing a programme of events and activities intended to celebrate the borough’s heritage, achievements and community spirit. Residents’ contributions will help build a record of local people, places, events and everyday life through the decades. 90th
Council Leader Cllr Hannah Dalton (RA Stoneleigh) said the authority wanted to celebrate “the people, places and moments that have shaped Epsom and Ewell over the last 90 years”, adding that family photographs, memories of community events and accounts of how the borough has changed could all help tell its story.
Contributions to the Council can be sent to ninety@epsom-ewell.gov.uk.
The Epsom and Ewell Times would also be delighted to hear from readers who have photographs, recollections or stories they would like to share with the wider community.
This is intended to complement, rather than duplicate, the Council’s anniversary project. Material sent to Epsom and Ewell Times may, where suitable and with the contributor’s agreement, form the basis of articles or features during the anniversary year.
There is an additional reason why readers may wish to share their memories with the Times. Each weekly edition of the Epsom and Ewell Times is legally required to be deposited with the British Library, creating a permanent historical record of the newspaper and the local life it reports.
That means a photograph, recollection or family story published by Epsom and Ewell Times would not only be shared with today’s readers, but become part of an archived record available to future generations.
We would particularly welcome memories which capture ordinary life as well as major events: schools and workplaces, shops that have disappeared, sporting clubs, neighbourhood celebrations, wartime and post-war memories, changing streets and buildings, local characters, community organisations and photographs showing how familiar parts of Epsom and Ewell once looked.
Readers are encouraged to contribute to the Council’s own 90th anniversary collection. Those who would also like Epsom and Ewell Times to consider their material for publication can send it to admin@epsomandewelltimes.com, ideally with names, dates and locations where known, together with a few words explaining the story behind any photograph.
As the borough enters its 90th year — and the final chapter of the Borough Council itself — there may never be a better moment to gather these memories while those who can tell their stories are still able to do so.
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council has applied to the UK Government to create a body of “Charter Trustees” which would continue the mayoral and other civic traditions of the Borough beyond April 2027. The Charter Trustees would be the Councillors elected in the Epsom and Ewell districts to the new East Surrey Council.