The Epsom Protection Society Newsletter 96 - Summer 2003

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The Chairman's Commentary

Geoffrey Stone

John Hampton retired at the AGM after five years in the chair and I think that we all owe him a great debt of gratitude for such dedicated service to members. They have been eventful years during which he organised our highly successful 40th anniversary celebrations and raised the Society's profile. He also positively dealt with development issues like: the Silver Birches, the Ebbisham Centre, the Hospitals cluster - which is ongoing - and, of course, the Assembly Rooms which must be counted amongst the most significant achievements. We are delighted that he is staying on the Committee with a "conservation" remit to continue to bring his knowledge, connections and expertise to bear. Thank you John.

The AGM was followed by an authoritative talk about The Durdans given by Mrs Sue White which was based on careful and detailed research and with splendid illustrations. She provided us with a chronicle of the history of the house and its environs to the present day and threw into focus the importance of the present concern about the future of the stables and the Riding School.

You will know from John's last commentary the basis of the Committee's proposal to change the Society's name. We failed to reach a two thirds majority of members present at the AGM and so the name remains; however our purpose is unchanged. We intend to launch a campaign to widen the membership with an appeal especially to younger residents and are preparing new and hopefully attractive material for that purpose.

Arising from the Committee's decision to stand back and look at our future direction it became clear that we were not active in some of the areas provided by our constitution in our role as a Civic Society. Who can doubt that we have been fully pro-active in relation to trees but could we perhaps be more pro-active in some other areas? In broad terms, should we become more involved with helping to improve the environment for people living, working and relaxing in Epsom, promoting social, physical and economic vitality? To take one example amongst many - should we be seeking solutions to issues like improving the fabric of the town and its shops; addressing the problems of heavy traffic, parking / unloading in the High Street? You may feel that this is a tall order - and it is - alongside all the important work done by members of your Committee like monitoring planning applications. We are a voluntary body with limited resources and we can only take one step at a time. But these are all worthwhile issues and we could perhaps raise our sights.

We are planning to exhibit promotional material to raise the profile and public awareness of the Society - we will be exhibiting again at Epsom Common Day on 27th July. In addition to a programme of external visits it is intended to arrange talks from time to time to which the public is invited.

On a personal note - I would like to see us being involved in enhancing the quality of life for people as well as safeguarding the heritage. I believe that this would be in keeping with modern societal interests and with the aims of a Civic Society. Together with your help and support we will develop the Society's role, as envisaged in the constitution, and tackle the issues that lie ahead.

The annual General Meeting

The Editor

The Chairman welcomed 77 members and three visitors and our speaker, Ms. Sue White. After thanking all committee members for their work, he highlighted the work of Alan Baker on planning matters and made particular mention of Judith Christie for her stint as events organiser. Joy Furness and Brian Gee were introduced as her successors.

A proposal to change the name of the Society to "the Epsom Society" was put to the vote and attracted 39 votes in favour and 33 against; there were 5 abstentions. As the necessary two thirds majority was not obtained, the proposal was defeated.

Planning

Alan Baker

Pantyles and 45 Alexandra Road: The Planning Committee's refusal of the application for flats and two semi-detached houses has been appealed. We have written to the Inspectorate supporting the refusal and a hearing will take place in August.

57 Church Street: The refusal of permission for a bungalow at the rear of this building has also been appealed and we have again written supporting the refusal.

The Cricketers PH, Stamford Green: Following refusal of advertising consent for a LED-effect pole sign, a further application was made for a "fall back beacon" of the same design but in a painted form. We objected again on the grounds that this prominent sign in an important Conservation Area should be a traditional pub sign denoting the name of the pub, not an advertisement for a company logo. Nevertheless it seems that permission was granted and the sign has been erected. This is one of the cases where we think the Planning Department's decision was totally wrong.

Danehurst Court, Alexandra Road: We objected to a proposed two-storey block of four flats in an open area at the rear of this site, and permission has been refused.

Rubbing House, Langley Vale: By 1801 a shelter used by grooms to rub down their horses had become a public house. It was burnt down in 1857 and the present building was erected. It has become very dilapidated and a recent application proposes refurbishment and extension to include a restaurant but maintaining the same style. Your Executive Committee made a site visit and felt we could support the proposal although we made a number of detailed comments. The April Planning Committee granted permission subject to conditions; external lighting and advertising will be decided later.

Heather Lodge, 1 Chalk Lane: An application was made for the demolition of the post-war bungalow adjoining Woodcote Green House and the erection of a pair of two-storey semi-detached houses, to which we objected on grounds of over-development and permission was refused. A revised application has now been submitted for a pair of bungalows, but these are still excessive and we are again objecting. We have also learnt that the existing bungalow incorporates an original Georgian building, which adds point to its retention.

HORTON HOSPITAL, ONE OF EPSOM'S TREASURES

Malcolm Boyd

Horton Hospital has many claims to fame and certain physical aspects are certainly worth preserving for future generations. Not least is the imposing Chapel and the architecturally important Gatehouse. Other important aspects of the history of Horton Hospital are more easily forgotten if they are not periodically brought back into public consciousness. The hospital started life as an asylum for mental patients but importantly it served as a war hospital during both World Wars and only reverted to its original purpose in 1949 after the end of WW2. In July 1916 King George V accompanied by Queen Mary made a memorable visit to nearly 2000 military patients from all parts of the Empire. During WW2 Princess Marina of Kent visited the war casualties at the hospital.

Perhaps the medical legacy of greatest importance was the work carried out at Horton Hospital on malaria. There were several aspects of this work that catapulted the hospital to the forefront of medical science at the time and made it a Mecca for malariologists. Sir Ronald Ross FRS, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering that mosquitoes were the vectors of malaria, was Director for a short time at the Manor Hospital in Epsom. A young man called Percy Shute, then a war invalid, asked if he might help, came to work with him and very quickly became an acknowledged expert in the breeding and dissection of mosquitoes, The work gained in importance and was transferred to Horton Hospital to a laboratory that became known as the Horton Malaria Laboratory. While there, Percy Shute assisted in the important discovery that part of the life cycle of the malaria parasite occurred in the liver of infected individuals. In parallel to this important research, ground breaking clinical work was proceeding. In 1917 Professor Wagner-Jauregg in Austria discovered that treatment with malaria parasites of patients suffering from a very severe mental disease known as General Paralysis of the Insane (GPI) led to a successful outcome. This condition is a tertiary manifestation of syphilis and, if untreated, resulted in a slow and lingering death. In 1922 the Horton Malaria Laboratory became the first laboratory in the United Kingdom, and possibly in the world, to work exclusively with malaria treatment of GPI. This potentially dangerous treatment had by necessity to proceed very cautiously, but the expertise of Percy Shute enabled an extensive screening programme to be undertaken to identify a relatively safe strain of the malaria parasite. This was successfully achieved and some 10,000 patients with GPI were treated by this method at Horton Hospital alone. As the selected malaria strain was distributed very widely across the world many times this number of patients were treated world-wide. The number of patients with GPI fell dramatically in the early 1950s with the advent of penicillin, which became the treatment of choice for the early stages of syphilis.

The Horton Malaria Laboratory, known by this time as the Mott Clinic after Sir Frederick Mott, Pathologist to the LCC Mental Hospitals, now began to play a vitally important role in developing an improved treatment for the vast number of military personnel infected with malaria. World supplies of quinine were seriously compromised due to military action at the start of WW2 and the Mott Clinic was given the task of developing the superior drug mepacrine, which it carried out successfully under conditions of great secrecy. This work was of inestimable value in reducing the devastation in North Africa and Burma caused by malaria infection of the allied forces stationed there.

To commemorate the work done at the Horton Malaria Laboratory, a plaque to the Mott Clinic was unveiled in 1975 by Professor P.C.C.Garnham FRS in the presence of Percy Shute OBE who had become Assistant Director of the Clinic. The words on the plaque read as follows: 'This plaque commemorates the contribution made in this building between 1925 and 1965 towards the relief of suffering. Here the treatment of general paralysis by the use of malaria therapy was developed, the mosquitoes bred and infected were used not only for patients admitted here but were widely distributed on demand for treatment elsewhere in the UK in Europe and in the USA.' The plaque to the Mott Clinic has now been rescued and is currently in a ward of the St Bernard Hospital in Ealing.

I am greatly indebted to Dr Henry R. Rollin, Emeritus Consultant, Horton Hospital, Epsom for much of the detail in this article.

Obituaries

Ishbel Kenward

MR. KEN BRUNDLE
We much regret to record the death of Mr. Ken Brundle. Mr Brundle, who was a member of the Committee from 1981 to 1999, was a former Vice-Chairman and for many years the member of the Committee who dealt with planning matters, monitoring all planning applications in Epsom and vetting the continuing flow of county and borough planning papers.

MISS JUDITH HILARY SENIOR
We much regret to record the death on 29th March 2003 of Miss Judith Hilary Senior. Miss Senior, the daughter of a former Chairman of the Society, had herself been a member of the Committee in the 1970s.

Future Events

Joy Furness

Ian West's Annual Walk, Sunday, 13th July 2003. Meet under the railway bridge at the junction of East Street and the High Street, Epsom at 2.30 p.m. to visit the east end of Epsom.

Buffet and Wine Party. Our annual get together has been arranged for Friday, 10th October at 7 45 p.m. in the large church hall of St. Joseph's Church, Dorking Road. There should be plenty of parking space. Details in the next Newsletter.

Autumn Lecture. As proposed in the AGM, we will hold a lecture/meeting on Thursday, 6th November 2003 in the Myers Studio. Details in the next Newsletter.

50 VIEWS OF EPSOM, OPEN DAY, SATURDAY 19TH JULY 2003 Ewell Tower Preservation Trust is arranging a display of views of Epsom for its open day as part of "Ewell Village Day" in July. The pictures with associated text will be displayed in the Old Church Tower, Church Street, Ewell for one day only. Admission £1 towards the Tower Restoration Fund.

Subscriptions

Many of you have already paid your subscriptions and thank you for that. A reminder for those who have not yet paid - subscriptions are due by the end of June at latest - £2 per individual and £3 per household. Many thanks for the generous donations we have received.

Epsom Protection Society Website: www.epsomprotectionsociety.co.uk

Editor: Paul Fifoot Zebrato, Lynwood Avenue Epsom KT18 7LR

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