Effingham Eye: Treasured Village Mementos Retrieved

Published on: 13 Mar, 2018
Updated on: 14 Mar, 2018

Chris Dick‘s roundup of Effingham News

The discovery of a silver cup,  donated in memory of Effingham resident Ronald Tyrell, and missing for sixty years, brought tears to the eyes of his surviving sister Elizabeth this month.

Elizabeth said: “I cried when I heard the news. We had given up hope of ever seeing the cup again. We know the old rector at St Lawrence [Church] had put the cup in a safe place back in 1956. But, for whatever reason, we think he never passed on where the cup was to his successor.”

Elizabeth Wheeler with the cup

The ‘880 yards Flat Race Tyrrell Cup’ was presented to the organisers of the Effingham Village Annual Fête by Gerald Sanders who had employed Ron Tyrrell locally after Ron had left the Royal Air Force until his untimely death by natural causes at the age of 27.

The cup was one of two that came to light during a clear out of the Diocesan House in Quarry Street, Guildford. The cups were found at the back of a cupboard along with other paraphernalia.

The two cups found after 60 years

Blackened with age they were thought to be worthless and were about to throw away when Reverend Sarah Hutton, a Diocesan House staff member and former teacher at Manor House, Little Bookham, recognised the faint outline of the word Effingham. On closer examination, the Effingham connection was confirmed.

The mystery still remains as to why the cups had not been found at some point over the intervening years in spite of Elizabeth’s brothers’ unsuccessful efforts to trace Ron’s cup.

Now back in Effingham, the cups will make a welcome return to this year’s St Lawrence Church Fête thanks to Rev’d Mandy MacVean.

Ronald “Ron” Tyrell

The Tyrrell Cup commissioned and donated by Gerald Sanders in memory of Ronald ‘Ron’ George Tyrrell. To commemorate Ron’s untimely and sad death in 1948 at the age of 27. Ron had been a former member of the Royal Air Force and stationed in India. His then-employer Gerald Sanders commissioned the larger of the two cups.

Ron is buried in St Lawrence Church as the family had close associations with it. Ron’s father was the verger and his sister Mrs Wheeler (pictured above) married Ray Wheeler there.

Plans for St Lawrence Church Fete get underway

Now might be a good time to give a plug for this year’s St Lawrence Church Summer Fete. Preparations are well underway for a traditional sort of Midsummer Murders village fete, hopefully minus the crime. [After some of your articles Chris, there’s no guarantee – Ed]

The fete will take place on Saturday, June 2, 2018, and be centred around the church. The organisers are in the process of arranging for parts of the access roads to be closed. Residents in the immediate area will be informed so as to minimise any potential inconvenience.

The 12th century St Lawrence Church, Effingham

Fete organiser Sarah Montgomery told The Guildford Dragon NEWS: “Several stalls are already booked but we have enough room for a few more. We’ve organised; the bar, barbecue, cream tea & cakes and a bouncy castle. At £10 a stall the spaces will soon be taken so if any local residents would like to have their stall up please contact me on 07877 359724.”

Sarah added: “Our local butcher Bevans has been particularly generous in offering to supply the barbecue meat. And The Haig pub manager has also kindly agreed to do the cooking.

“We really want to thank Effingham Parish Council who were able to provide some essential seedcorn funding to help us close the streets and buy a couple of large gazebos through their community fund. And of course, the gazebos can be used by other village groups on request after the fete.”

The theme of this year’s fete will be to commemorate the WW2 Dambuster Raid Anniversary that took place 75 years ago.

The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Flight have been asked to honour Sir Barnes Wallis with a flypast.

And the evening before, Friday, June 1, the 617 Squadron History Society has kindly offered to provide an Illustrated Talk about the raid and show ‘never before seen footage’ of the raid.

Entrance to St Lawrence Church will be free of charge although there will be the opportunity to make a voluntary donation and hopefully have a cup of tea or coffee afterwards. The collections are all going towards the new lighting for the church.

Drift Golf Club planning approved

Followers of earlier articles on the planning application for The Drift Golf Club, The Drift, East Horsley will wish to know that the application SCC Ref 2014/0150 was approved.

This means there will be significant lorry movements through the area as 55,000m³ (almost 88,000 tonnes) of inert waste materials are placed on 3.5 hectares of land within the existing golf course facility.

The aims of the project are to remodel the existing practice ground outfield and to construct a new 11,000m³ irrigation storage lake as part of a strategy to provide sustainable rainwater harvesting scheme.

It will create a new outdoor short game practice and teaching facility including a putting and chipping green. It will also provide a new 769m² building with 30 covered practice bays and associated storage, ablution, lavatory, teaching and administrative facilities.

The work will take place over a nine-month period and involve about 6,000 HGV trips on a one-way circular route with a maximum of 33 HGV trips (66 HGV movements) per day, with temporary passing bays and traffic management measures along The Drift.

Effingham’s parish council and residents association had objected to the plans.

Talk on C S Lewis “Surprised by Joy”

Poster from The Chronicles of Narnia

Many of us will remember the much-loved characters from The Chronicles of Narnia. But few will be aware that C S Lewis spent some of his most formative teenage years living just a stone’s throw from Effingham?

This talk will look at how Lewis grew into one of Britain’s most popular writers of fantasy and science fiction whilst at the same time, in his day job, he was one of Oxbridge’s most scholarly academics.

His personal journey from atheism to Christianity was central to his life, and an unlooked-for romantic experience of extreme emotional intensity gave him powerful insights, as many will remember from Richard Attenborough’s film Shadowlands.

Toddlers’ playground tower funded by the Effingham Parish Council Community Fund and Effingham Village Recreational Trust

Toddlers play area in King George V recreation grounds

Several volunteers have been raising money for the second phase of improvements to the toddlers’ playground on the King George V recreation grounds in Effingham.

Entirely funded by voluntary donations and a grant from Surrey County Council they have raised nearly £5,000. Their target is £18,000.

A spokesperson for the small group of fundraisers said: “We started raising money in December with plans to enlarge the play area and introduce some new equipment after the Effingham Village Recreational Trust had agreed to replace the tower (Phase 1) – which they have just had completed.

Footpath crossing school playing fields

“Footpath 75” – Update

The Howard of Effingham School has been carrying out an informal consultation with local groups with a view to closing a footpath that runs through their playing fields. Their plan is to close the path during school hours.

The path, which is a public right of way, runs north/ south between Lower Road and the King George V recreation grounds. However, it runs across the main and lower school playing fields.

The school has been concerned for a number of years about the safety of students and the inconvenience and potential risk of non-school people using the path and walking their dogs.

Both Bookham and Effingham Residents Association have said that they would prefer the school to fence the path, and install a gate for access. And it is understood that Effingham Parish Council holds similar views.

However, as one resident told The Dragon: “If the school were to fence both sides of the path, across the access to the lower field, it would have the effect of corralling students with no way to escape in the event of an incident.

“It would be completely impractical to keep opening and closing gates as both fields are in constant use throughout the school day.”

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