Issue 2 of The Sutton Storyteller

Wild about West

A taste of Sutton soup

The Stones in Sutton

Tyler West’s remarkable rise

Raising money for good causes

The legendary band’s local links

Winter 2023

Issue 2

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NEWS | 3

Welcome to issue two of the Sutton Storyteller Thank you for picking up a copy of

the Sutton Storyteller, a new local newspaper for Sutton.

The paper has been created by the team behind four south London newspapers, including the awardwinning Peckham Peculiar, which was named community newspaper of the year at the 2023 Newspaper Awards.

In our second issue, we talk to local resident Peter Struik, chair of the brilliant initiative Sutton Soup.

Billed as “a fun and different evening out”, the organisation’s idea is simple but effective and by attending one of its events, you can really make a difference to the local community.

Each attendee pays £5 to come along, and in return receives a meal consisting of homemade soup and bread. The audience then hears pitches from local groups who need funding for a project that benefits the Sutton community, before voting for the cause they like best.

The winner of the vote gets to keep all the money taken on the door that night, which is generally between £800 and £1,500.

Also featured are the Rolling Stones. Since their formation in 1962, the Stones have morphed from a youthful covers band into a worldwide sensation. Luke G Williams discovers the band’s vital and formative connections with Sutton on page 16.

We also look at Tyler West. Best known for his successful stint on Strictly Come Dancing and regular afternoon drivetime slot on the radio station Kiss, Sutton-born Tyler has fast

become one of the most recognisable and in-demand figures on the British showbiz scene.

However, red carpets and media parties are a far cry from Tyler’s upbringing on the St Helier estate, where he was raised singlehandedly by his mother Debbie. Read his inspiring story on page eight.

Finally, our cover star for issue two is Aaron Abbott, general manager of the Shinner and Sudtone on Sutton High Street. Aaron explains to our writer Lawrence Diamond what he loves about the pub – and Sutton – on page 19.

We’d like to say a big thank you to our talented team who made the latest issue happen, including designer Tammy Kerr, photographer Julia Hawkins, features editor Luke G Williams and all our other contributors who are listed below.

We’re now starting work on the next edition of the paper. We’d love to hear your story ideas so please drop us a line at suttonstoryteller@gmail.com if there’s someone or somewhere that you would like us to feature.

If you run a business or organisation and are interested in advertising with us, please do also get in touch.

This will be the spring edition, which comes out in March so will include Easter. As you can see from this edition, you’ll be in great company.

We hope you enjoy the issue and wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Mark McGinlay and Kate White

THE SUTTON STORYTELLER Editors Mark McGinlay, Kate White

Designer Tammy Kerr

Features editor Luke G Williams

Contributors Robin Bevan, Lawrence Diamond, Miranda Knox, Peter Rhodes

Subeditor Jack Aston

Marketing and social media Mark McGinlay

Photographer Julia Hawkins

For editorial and advertising enquiries, please email suttonstoryteller@gmail.com @sutton_story

WINTER 2023

@suttonstory

@sutton_story

Safe spaces in Sutton Sutton Council is establishing a series of Be Well organisations as part of a wider scheme aimed at tackling mental health issues.

The organisations will include libraries, leisure centres and faith groups and are safe spaces that local people can turn to when they feel their mental health is suffering.

Sutton is the latest London borough to introduce them as part of the South London Listens programme, which was developed in response to the pandemic and aims to channel the power of community organising and resources to combat mental health issues. South London Listens sees the NHS work with local authorities and communities across south London in partnership with Citizens UK. Local councillor Bobby Dean, who also serves as the borough’s mental health champion, has been a key figure and advocate for the establishment of the Be Well organisations.

“Mental health is something I’ve always been passionate about and quite open about talking about,” Bobby said. “I’m very keen to destigmatise mental health issues and ensure everyone has access to the support that they need. Some of that we can do at a local level, some of it won’t be fixed until we get proper funding at a national level.

“The organisations are a great example of what we can do locally. Really, they are about tapping into the power we already have within our community.”

Bobby, who has been selected as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Carshalton and Wallington at the next general election, added: “It’s very much a ground-up approach. We’ve got all sorts of brilliant community organisations and charity groups who already do so much, now it’s about training people within them. It’s about going into the community, finding charity groups, faith groups, schools, libraries and other places that people already go to and recruiting what we call champions.

“Those champions will receive training from the NHS and Citizens UK so they can be well-versed in signposting people to the support they can get and in building relationships with other organisations, which will make our community networks of referrals that much stronger.”

The Be Well organisations scheme was officially launched this autumn at a lunch hosted by Citizens UK and South London Listens at the Greyhound pub.

Reflecting on developments since the launch, Bobby added: “There’s been a fantastic response. Twenty organisations attended the launch and since then 15 have already attended training.

“We’ve got three fully trained up and ready to go in Sutton library and in two leisure centres, so we have three key Sutton stakeholders already signed up. The rest are due to complete their training in the new year, so we’ve moved quite quickly.”

4 | NEWS

Yule not regret going Impromptu – Sutton’s multi-award winning ladies’ choir – will perform a Christmas concert on 9 December at 7.30pm in the striking surrounds of Christ Church, Christchurch Park.

Titled Wolcum Yule, the concert will feature a mixture of Christmas songs “ancient and modern”, including Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, the British composer’s ever popular 1942 festive composition.

The choir will be conducted as always by Impromptu’s accomplished musical director Natalie Vesty, who is singing development lead for young people across the borough through her role with Sutton Music Service.

Impromptu’s regular accompanist Phil Aslangul will also feature, while internationally acclaimed harpist Tomos Xerri will play during the A Ceremony of Carols section of the concert. The audience will be invited to join in with the singing of several traditional carols too.

The concert will feature a Christmas hamper raffle and a retiring collection in aid of local homelessness charity Sutton Night Watch and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Founded in 1992, Impromptu has won a host of awards throughout its 31-year history, including the Manchester Amateur Choral Competition in 2010 and the Bournemouth Choir of the Year in 2019. Last month it

added two further awards to its mantelpiece, triumphing in Sutton Music Festival’s open class and sacred class for choral singing.

Carleen Gibbs, who has been a member of the choir for four years, said that Impromptu is always open to accepting new members via its audition process.

“We sing a wide variety of songs, from Gershwin and Duke Ellington to Mozart and Britten and we learn them from heart,” she said. “It’s a challenging but fun choir to be a part of. If you’re a potential new member we ask you to come along for three or four weeks to see if you like it before doing an

informal audition around the piano as part of a quartet.”

Membership fees for Impromptu are £30 per month – contact membership secretary Claire Smith via impromptu.org.uk. Tickets for Wolcum Yule are £15 for adults and £5 for under-16s and are available on the website.

NEWS | 5

Orla’s odyssey Christ on a Bike – the third novel from fast rising novelist and Sutton resident Orla Owen – will be published on 25 January having already been enticingly described

by Nina Pottell, the books editor for Prima magazine, as “Black Mirror meets Tales of the Unexpected with shades of Shirley Jackson”.

Like Orla’s previous two novels, Christ on a Bike defies straightforward categorisation.

“My writing doesn’t fit neatly into one genre,” she told the Sutton Storyteller. “It’s quite dark, although Christ on a Bike is maybe a bit less dark and a bit quirkier than my previous two novels.

“I often look at family life and what goes on behind closed doors rather than what you see on the surface. I like to examine people and their psyche. I like to have fun and free my imagination.”

Orla also explained the basic premise of the plot. “The book is about a character called Cerys who gets an unexpected inheritance and through that moves to west Wales. There are certain rules attached to the inheritance that she has to follow in order to keep it. She also has to contend with the jealousy of her sister and living on her own in west Wales, as she starts to get a little paranoid. It all builds from there!”

A former actor and drama practitioner who trained at Bretton Hall College of the Arts, Orla turned to writing after giving up acting to work a 9 to 5 job and raise a family. “It’s very hard to be an actor when

you have kids,” she said. “The writing started because I missed storytelling. I was watching something really rubbish on television one night, some reality show or something and I thought: if I’m watching this then I can’t ever say I didn’t have time to do anything. So I started writing.”

In 2016, Orla was selected to be mentored

by Sarah Savitt of Virago Press, and her first novel, The Lost Thumb, was published three years later. In 2020 she came second in the Sandstone Short Fiction competition and her second novel, PAH, was published in 2021.

On 1 February, shortly after it is released, Christ on a Bike – which is published by Bluemoose Books – will have its official launch at the prestigious branch of Waterstones in Trafalgar Square. Orla is also keen to let local book groups and book stores know that she is always keen to participate in talks and signings, online or in person.

As for what’s next, Orla’s fourth novel is already completed and with readers at various publishing houses, while she is also hard at work on a sequel to Christ on a Bike. “It’s really ripe for a sequel,” she enthused. “I have so many strong ideas for it.”

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NEWS | 7

Success for Sutton Two of Sutton’s most longstanding family businesses – jewellers Warrenders and glass packaging specialist Croxsons – have been rewarded for their excellence with prestigious awards wins.

Warrenders, which was established in 1947, won the award for retail team of the year at the recent Retail Jeweller UK Jewellery Awards at the Hilton London Metropole, while Croxsons was crowned company of the year at the Surrey Business Awards hosted at G Live in Guildford.

The current owners of Warrenders – Richard and Simon Warrender – are the third generation of the family to oversee the business, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. Reflecting on the award win, John Kitchener, who has been the store manager at Warrenders for 10 years, told the Sutton Storyteller: “As a team we’re immensely proud. It’s quite an accolade.

“There were about 1,000 people at the awards event from the UK jewellery industry, all dressed up. We were finalists about five years ago and you sometimes wonder whether you’re there to make up the numbers. We’ve done a lot over the past 18 months since coming out of Covid,

the business has been doing well, so it was absolutely great to hear our name read out. Then there was the march up to the stage, the award, photos – it was a bit of a whirlwind, but a real buzz as we head towards Christmas.”

John said the family ethos of Warrenders – which specialises in precious gemstones, as well as diamond and vintage jewellery – is key to its success. “It’s a family-run business and the ethos of working together is very important. A lot of the staff have previously worked for large companies and large corporations and now really value the experience of working together to do everything ourselves. There’s no head office to send things down to us. We’ve accumulated many years of experience between us and above all we love selling jewellery and interacting with our customers.”

Croxsons has also been in the same family for generations – five to be precise, during its long 150-year history – with the company of the year award being secured despite stiff competition from other Surrey-based businesses across a range of sectors.

Tim Croxson, CEO of Croxsons, said: “This accolade is a monumental recognition of our

hard work. Overseeing a legacy that spans five generations, I know it’s the collective efforts of our team that drive our success.

I’m honoured to lead such a remarkable group. This award speaks volumes for their commitment.”

History at Honeywood

Christmas crackers for Us Sutton United head into a crucial run of Christmas and new year fixtures knowing that an upturn in form and fortune is needed if they are to put themselves in a position to preserve their hard-earned football league status.

The Us began the 2023-24 season with a swagger, demolishing Notts County 5-1 in their opening League Two fixture, but after winning just two of their following 17 games they were – at the time of writing – rooted to the bottom of the table.

Despite Sutton’s poor run of results, spirits at Gander Green Lane remain strong, as evidenced by their November fixtures against fellow strugglers Colchester United and Tranmere Rovers.

In both matches, Matt Gray’s side trailed late on before rescuing a 1-1 draw on each occasion courtesy of late equalisers from Omar Sowunmi (95 minutes, versus Colchester) and Louis John (88 minutes, against Tranmere).

Gray – who led Sutton into the football league in 2021 after 123 years as a nonleague outfit – is certainly staying upbeat about the side’s survival prospects. “We’ve had a few late ones go against us that we haven’t deserved, like at Wrexham,” he said after the 1-1 draw at Colchester.

WINTER 2023

“[The team] have shown great character, hunger and togetherness and a really good performance again on the road. It’s our first point on the road and there’s been many games where we’ve deserved something. It’s very easy to keep the spirits up. It’s not too hard at all, because they’re a great bunch of lads we’ve got in there.”

Sutton will need every inch of that togetherness over the customarily exacting Christmas and new year period, during which they will face home fixtures against high flying Mansfield Town (23 December) and fellow strugglers Newport County (1 January), as well as trips to current top-10 residing team AFC Wimbledon (26 December) and Gillingham (29 December).

The Boxing Day showdown with local rivals Wimbledon is particularly enticing – the two clubs met in August at Gander Green Lane when the Dons humbled the hosts 3-0 in front of Sutton’s highest attendance of the season so far: 4,719.

This was a match that showcased the main problem that has plagued Sutton thus far this season – namely their defence, which at the time of writing is the leakiest in the whole of League Two.

A fascinating exhibition about mills on the River Wandle is coming to the Honeywood Museum in Carshalton.

The exhibition, written and compiled by local historian John Phillips, runs until 11 January. “The River Wandle was a really important industrial river, partly because it has a very steep gradient, falling about 100 feet between Carshalton and the Thames,” John said. “From the middle of the 17th century it was lined with all sorts of water mills, which were involved with everything from grinding flour to gunpowder and copper.

“The exhibition is about these mills and looks at some of these early industries. It also looks at John Smeaton, a very famous engineer in the 18th century who designed several mills on the Wandle, including in Carshalton. The exhibition also tells the story of how the mills were ultimately overtaken by steam power and went into a long, slow decline.”

John has studied the history of the Wandle and the local area for years, having moved to Sutton in 1974 after being brought up in York.

“It’s important for people to understand how the area they live in came to be,” he said.

The Honeywood Museum plays an important role in this process. Housed in a Grade-II listed building next to Carshalton Ponds, the museum offers local history exhibits and events, as well as permanent features such as its beautifully restored Edwardian billiards room, drawing room and bathroom, and a collection of Edwardian toys in its ever popular childhood room.

Among other January events at the museum is an illustrated talk on 17 January titled The End of the Roman Empire in the Upper Wandle Valley, and a textile printing drop-in event on 27 January.

For details of upcoming events at the Honeywood Museum and other events across Sutton, visit events.sutton.gov.uk

8 | SUTTON PEOPLE

Go West!

Sutton’s Tyler West overcame a tough upbringing to forge a successful career in showbiz, from presenting on Kiss FM to dancing on Strictly

BY LUKE G WILLIAMS With a successful stint on Strictly Come Dancing on his ever-expanding CV and a regular afternoon drivetime slot on radio station Kiss, Sutton-born Tyler West has fast become one of the most recognisable and in-demand figures populating the British media landscape.

However, the world of showbiz and red carpets is a far cry from Tyler’s tough upbringing on the St Helier estate, where he was raised by his mother Debbie after his father walked out on him and his older brother Lewis when they were young.

Born on 1 April 1996, Tyler’s determination to stay in touch with his roots is one of his most refreshing and laudable qualities. He has also spoken movingly of how he successfully avoided the temptations of a life of crime while growing up thanks to his mother’s guidance and love.

Indeed, Tyler has often said that the major motivation behind his career has been his mission to earn enough money to buy his mother a house “where she doesn’t need three locks on the door... a place of her own”.

Reflecting on his upbringing in an interview with the Daily Mail last year, Tyler admitted: “Where I grew up you got used to bad things happening around you. Racist remarks, police sirens, drug raids. I was a very shy kid who hid behind his big brother. My mum was a single mum, doing shifts as a nurse. So we always helped out a lot at home and we were always taught to be very careful.

“There were two years in my life when my future could have been very different. I could have ended up a mess, unable to do anything and because of where I grew up there was always the option of drugs, crime and gangs, which was the way a lot of kids I knew went.”

The most formative experience of Tyler’s teenage years came when, aged 14, he witnessed a fatal knife attack outside his home.

Determined to do the right thing, Tyler gave evidence for the prosecution at the Old Bailey, where two men faced charges of murder.

“It was horrendous,” he said. “I was 14. The second man’s barrister kept telling me I wasn’t a reliable witness, that there were trees in front of my window, that I hadn’t seen what I said I’d seen.

“I felt helpless, all I wanted to do was tell the truth, do the right thing, say exactly what I saw but I was torn to pieces and exposed. A lot of what I was saying was dismissed as if I didn’t really know what I was talking about.

“This [witnessing the attack] was the worst thing that had happened to me. I relived it every day and the nightmare was that I could remember every single second. I’d spent the months afterwards so anxious and traumatised that I was unable to go to school, unable to sleep. I couldn’t open the blind in my bedroom.”

Gradually, Tyler rebuilt his life and his confidence. A keen student and accomplished sportsman at Carshalton Boys Sports College, by the age of 17 he was representing the British handball team.

In a positive twist of fate, his skill at the sport enabled him to smoothly segue into a burgeoning media career when children’s channel CBBC was preparing an item on handball and enlisted Tyler to explain the sport to its young viewers.

Producers were won over by the south Londoner’s natural charisma in front of the camera and various appearances on the channel followed, on programmes such as Match of the Day Kickabout and Blue Peter.

In 2017 Tyler was hired to host MTV News and not long after he became host of Kickabout+ back on CBBC. After various other presenting jobs, and a spell hosting a popular podcast titled Every Day Hustle, Tyler joined Kiss FM in 2019, and his talent as a DJ and presenter soon became clear.

After six months at the station he was offered Kiss’s prestigious drivetime slot every weekday from 4-7pm, which he has hosted ever since. In this role Tyler’s engaging, personable style, as well as his sure-handed musical choices and frequently endearing stories and anecdotes, have won him many admirers. Furthermore, the gentle south London inflection to his voice, coupled with his ability to put callers at ease and create a relaxed, unforced vibe, has attracted many thousands more listeners to Kiss.

Although DJing is Tyler’s metier, it was his stint on Strictly Come Dancing last year that saw him attract wider mainstream attention. Paired with professional dancer Dianne Buswell, Tyler admitted that a major motivation for agreeing to appear in Strictly was his family’s love of the programme.

“My mum, aunt and nan have always watched Strictly Come Dancing religiously and it’s the thing my family

When I told my mum, aunt and nan I was coming on Strictly Come Dancing, it all got a bit emotional.

As a kid growing up, I never once imagined I would be doing any of this

all bond over,” he admitted. “So when I told them I was coming on the show it all got a bit emotional. It’s a great platform and for me personally, as a kid growing up, I never once imagined I would be doing any of this.

“Hopefully the fact that people see me dancing a rumba on Saturdaynight telly will motivate others that look like me or sound like me to think, if he can do it, I can do it.”

On the Strictly dancefloor Tyler frequently dazzled, topping the leaderboard in week three with 38 points out of 40. He somehow found the energy to run the London Marathon the day after his week two appearance, completing the course in five hours, 25 minutes to raise money for a national youth work charity.

Tyler was finally eliminated in week nine, after a dance-off against Molly Rainford, who he was later romantically linked with, although the duo only confirmed their off-screen relationship in June this year.

He may be one half of a celebrity couple, but perhaps the most endearing thing of all about Tyler West is that he remains devoid of showbiz airs and graces and retains the down-to-earth style and charm of the young Sutton schoolboy he once was.

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Practical in-home support provided by trained Age UK Sutton professional staff

What we offer:

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COMMUNITY | 11

A souper idea Sutton Soup gets people together for food, fun and friendship while raising money for good causes. Its chair, Peter Struik, tells us more

BY MIRANDA KNOX If you’re looking for a sociable way to raise money for good causes that won’t break the bank, then come along to an evening with Sutton Soup.

Billed as a “fun and different evening out”, the organisation’s idea is incredibly simple but effective – and by just attending you can really make a difference to the local community.

Each attendee pays £5 and in return receives a meal of homemade soup and bread. There’s a bar to buy extra refreshments such as a glass of wine, and then the crowd of up to 120 people hears four pitches from local groups who need funding for a project that benefits the Sutton community, before voting for the cause they like best. The winner keeps all the money taken on the door that night, which is generally between £800 and £1,500.

It’s an idea that originated in the US, and in Sutton there are four events a year held every three months, with local sponsors covering the costs of the night and volunteers giving their time for free to run it.

By coming together, each £5 donation turns into hundreds of pounds for the winner and has a priceless impact on the community.

WINTER 2023

Sutton Soup chair Peter Struik, 70, has lived in the area his whole life and spent the majority of his career working at Kingston hospital as a blood transfusion specialist, before retiring in 2013. He went on to donate his new-found time to local causes, and has been at the helm of Sutton Soup since just before lockdown.

He says: “When you’re working, you live somewhere but you go to work, do your shopping and come home. You never have time to see what’s on your doorstep. When I retired I discovered the amazing range of community projects going on and got involved.

I’ve never really looked back.”

The latest Sutton Soup event in October raised more than £800 for the RWW Foundation. Run by a husband and wife duo, it has provided Christmas presents to about 24,000 children through local hospitals and organisations. Peter says: “The winners really exemplified what Sutton Soup is all about, raising money and buying toys and gifts for underprivileged children and children in hospital at Christmas. It’s just them, and they raise money in various ways. They’re amazing, and so unassuming. They’re not a big organisation, they just want to do something and they’re doing it.”

Each event is run with a team of about 10 to 15 volunteers who ensure the night goes smoothly. Peter adds: “We really try to make it a quality event. We had a local potter make the mugs we use. The soup is made by a professional chef who donates their spare time, and Sainsbury’s donates the ingredients. A local baker bakes the bread too – Samuel’s bakery.

“The evening then relies entirely on volunteers – there’s a bar serving refreshments, people are serving the soup, then there’s up to 120 mugs to wash up at the end.

“It’s held at a church but we’re not a religious organisation – again it’s community involvement, and they very kindly let us use their building.

“We also have the London Music Duo – a piano and guitar player who come along and provide background music. They provide their time for nothing too, which is really lovely.

“Our sponsors are local businesses so it’s really very local and it’s a lovely feeling to bring people together.”

Peter attended his first event in 2016, when the project was just starting. He says: “I saw an advert for it and thought I’d just pop along. I’m a keen photographer so I took some pictures and offered them to them.

I then went to the AGM and was invited on to the committee.

“I really like the fact that we don’t take a penny and it all goes to charity.

It’s also a very social night. People walk around and chat and there’s a real buzz of conversation.”

Any community group that is not for profit and benefits the people of Sutton can apply to pitch via the

I really like the fact that we don’t take a penny and it all goes to charity.

It’s also a very social night. People walk around and chat and there’s a real buzz of conversation

Sutton Soup website, and groups can return after a two-year gap. However, perhaps surprisingly, one of the main challenges is convincing people to apply. Peter says: “People are nervous of public speaking sometimes, but whenever they’ve done it they’re always really pleased. It’s people who come along and bare their heart who are often the people who win. You hear people struggling to know who to vote for – it’s really difficult.”

Recent winners include Age UK Sutton, Wallington Animal Rescue and Sutton Women’s Centre, but there are benefits beyond money for the organisations who attend. Peter says: “We’ve got a newsletter and have a Facebook page, so we advertise each charity and they come and network. A few events ago there were four charities who pitched and they realised they could help each other.

Someone did art classes for children, and we also had someone from the Royal Marsden pitching, so they asked if they could do art classes with some of their children.”

Those who attend also get to see how they’ve helped. Peter says: “While the vote is being counted and people are eating their soup, the previous winners come back and tell people what they’ve done. It shows the audience that the effort they’ve made to come out – even in the rain – has made a difference. The audience are lovely, and it’s such a supportive and encouraging environment.”

The next event is on 18 January, 7.30pm at St Nicholas Church, Sutton.

For details, visit suttonsoup.org.uk

12 | SUTTON SNAPSHOTS

WINTER 2023

SUTTON SNAPSHOTS | 13

Park life PHOTOS BY JULIA HAWKINS Manor Park was created just before the start of the First World War and its grounds include the Sutton War Memorial, which was added seven years later.

The park occupies the former grounds of four large houses – three on Carshalton Road and one on Manor Park Road.

The park was officially opened by the district council in May 1914. It expanded in size during the 1920s and 30s following the acquisition of further houses.

The park’s iconic water fountain was installed in the mid-1920s, when it was donated by councillor Charles Yates.

A cafe of straw bale construction was launched in 2010 and was London’s first environmentally friendly building to use this method. Erected using straw bales and natural sustainable materials, the building has a potential lifespan of 200 years or more.

WINTER 2023

14 | PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Wellbeing Quarter

At Oru, we place a big emphasis on maintaining a healthy mind and body

Classes Our wellbeing quarter is a destination to find sanctuary in the midst of your busy day, with a full timetable of wellness classes and workshops across two spacious studios to energise, restore and relax.

Expect classes such as yoga, pilates, barre and sound baths with adapted classes so all can

enjoy no matter your experience or ability. You will have the ability to book in classes to suit you on an individual basis or select one of our memberships or class packs to suit your wellbeing needs. We also offer virtual classes and a variety of wellbeing workshops each month.

Book classes on our website www.oruspace.co/ sutton/yoga-classes or via the Momence app

Treatments Situated alongside our studios, find our treatment rooms offering a range of therapies, from acupuncture and massage to physiotherapy and psychotherapy.

Rooms are currently available for renting on a monthly and hourly basis.

Contact dom@oruspace.co to find out more.

Circle Psychology Partners Psychological Therapy, Counselling and Psychotherapy

We are a group of highly skilled Doctors of Clinical and Counselling Psychology, Counsellors and Psychotherapists. We provide rapid access to compassionate and evidence-based private psychological therapy and counselling. We provide specialised therapy for children, adolescents, adults, couples and families.

Our approaches include: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion focused Therapy (CFT), Mindfulness, EMDR, Family Therapy, Psychotherapy, Play Therapy and Person Centered Counselling.

We are also offering an eight-week online Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) group starting January 2024.

All of our clinicians at Oru Space Sutton are able to offer face to face or online appointments.

To make an appointment, reserve a place on the MBCT group or for any other enquiries please complete our Referral Form on our website: circlepsychologypartners.co.uk or call us on 020 8935 5068 or email us at info@circlepsychologypartners.co.uk

Three Streams Practice We are a group of qualified and experienced multidisciplinary practitioners across the field of physical, psychological and spiritual well-being. Our practitioners include medical doctors, clinical psychologists, individual and couple psychotherapists, reiki masters and yoga thai massage therapists.

We offer Face to Face therapy in our practice in Sutton within Oru Space. Our practitioners have specialist training and extensive years of experience in their field of practice and also work for various reputable

organisations and the NHS. Three Streams Practice was founded by Dr Sabah Khan, a Clinical Psychologist and Couple Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist with almost 20 years experience of working in the NHS, lecturing in universities at doctoral level, supervising at Psychotherapy organisations, and creating and leading couple projects at the renowned Tavistock Relationships. threestreamspractice.com

WINTER 2023

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE | 15

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WINTER 2023

16 | MUSIC

Sutton and the Stones Sutton played a key role in the evolution of the Rolling Stones. Sutton man Paul Sexton, an expert on the rock megastars, tells us more

BY LUKE G WILLIAMS Since their formation in 1962, the Rolling Stones have morphed from a precocious covers band into a genuine worldwide phenomenon – yet few people know of the band’s vital and formative connections with Sutton.

For the full story of Sutton and the Stones, we have to travel back to the band’s early pre-Decca Records days.

Their first live performance, for which they were billed as the Rollin’ Stones’ – the “g” was added later – took place at the Marquee Club, Soho on 12 July 1962. For that gig, the line-up consisted of guitarists Brian Jones and Keith Richards, singer Mick Jagger, pianist Ian Stewart and bassist Dick Taylor, while debate still surrounds whether it was Tony Chapman or Mick Avory on drums.

This early incarnation of the Stones focused – as did most unestablished

bands in those days – on performing cover versions, with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley numbers among the rhythm-and-blues obsessed Stones’ specialities.

It was with this early line-up that the Stones first hit the Sutton music scene in the closing months of 1962, primarily when they played a series of gigs at the Red Lion, a pub and music venue on Sutton High Street.

According to Sutton born-andbred Rolling Stones expert and music journalist Paul Sexton – author of drummer Charlie Watts’ authorised biography – the Red Lion played a crucial role in the Stones’ early evolution.

“Most of the time the place that’s referred to as the birthplace of the Stones is the Station Hotel in Richmond,” Paul says. “And while that clearly was a very important place in the history of the Stones, the Red Lion

goes even further back into the band’s timeline.

“It really was one of the building blocks in the band’s history. It’s one of the places where they paid their dues, honed their craft and began to get noticed. Sutton deserves a lot of credit for its role in the Stones’ early days.”

According to the invaluable music database Setlist.fm, the Stones’ first gig at the Red Lion was on 23 November and they returned for two further gigs on 7 and 21 December, playing setlists that read like a who’s who of American R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and soul, including numbers by the aforementioned Berry and Diddley as well as Muddy Waters, Wilson Pickett and Jimmy Reed.

However, Paul points out that the Stones played an even earlier gig at another local venue, the Woodstock Hotel, which was located in north Cheam and where the Stones’ 5 October 1962 appearance pre-dated their apparent Red Lion debut by a month or so. “The Woodstock is long gone, although I remember it from when I was a kid,“ Paul says. “It was on the corner of Sutton Common Road where I first lived. I think there might be an Asda there now.”

The Stones were clearly a success in Sutton. A Red Lion flyer from

The Red Lion in Sutton was one of the places where the Stones paid their dues, honed their craft and began to get noticed.

Sutton deserves a lot of credit for its role in the band’s early days

January 1963 gave them top billing among the pub’s acts for the month, urging fans: “Don’t be misled! Hear the real authentic rhythm and blues sound! The Rolling Stones!” The band continued to regularly play at the Red Lion throughout January, February and March, with their final gig at the venue – according to Setlist.fm – taking place on 3 April 1963.

These were vital and formative gigs for the band, as their original line-up gradually evolved into the quintet who would win worldwide fame – with bassist Bill Wyman replacing Dick Taylor, drummer Charlie Watts supplanting Tony Chapman and Ian Stewart eventually moving into the role of road manager and pianist on recordings only.

“It was a little while before their sound was fully formed,” Paul points out. “They drew heavily on R&B and their blues heroes. But if you’d heard them back then you would have been struck by their incredible energy – that was always pretty unique.”

According to Wyman, his audition for the Stones took place on 7 December 1962 in Chelsea – a night that Setlist.fm claims the Stones played the Red Lion. If that is accurate, then perhaps Taylor’s Stones bow came on 4 December when they are listed as having played a gig at

WINTER 2023

MUSIC | 17

Ealing Jazz Club. Most Stones experts date Watts’ debut for the Stones as also being at Ealing Jazz Club on 12 January 1963.

Whatever the truth – and accounts of rock ‘n’ roll history, dependent as they often are on fading, drink and drug-ravaged memories, are notoriously unreliable – it was certainly the case that Wyman and Watts were playing for the Stones in their Sutton gigs from January 1963 onwards and that their successful appearances at the Red Lion helped solidify their roles and the band’s fast evolving musical swagger.

“Charlie was a jazz aficionado and came from a slightly different musical background to the other Stones,” Paul explains. “I think it took him a few gigs to adapt, but once he did he and Bill became a rock-solid rhythm section.

Many people thought they wouldn’t last but they were still there decades later.”

The Red Lion was also where most Stones historians claim the band were first spotted by a key figure in their early rise: Giorgio Gomelsky, a Georgian emigre and impresario who was so impressed with one of their February performances – by which time Wyman and Watts were firmly installed – that he became their manager and subsequently booked them for a residency at the club he ran, the Crawdaddy at the Station Hotel in Richmond.

By June, with Andrew Loog Oldham and Eric Easton now their managers, the Stones had been signed by Decca

WINTER 2023

During the gig at Wallington Public Hall, several girls fainted and many were in semihysterics

and released their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s Come On, which rocketed to number 21 in the charts in the days when breaking the top 40 with a debut single was a notable achievement.

The rest, as they say, is history.

By 1964, when the Stones returned to Sutton for a 30 April gig at Wallington Public Hall, they were a sensation. About 600 or 700 fans somehow crammed their way into the 400-capacity venue for this gig – prompting an investigation by the council’s premises committee.

One local newspaper reported that the gig caused such a frenzy that

“several girls fainted, one was slightly injured by a falling spotlight, and many were in semi-hysterics” during the show, for which the band had a police escort on arrival and departure.

While Wallington Public Hall closed its doors in 2015 and was demolished in 2020, the Red Lion is still there on Sutton High Street – albeit with a new name (the Winning Post). It’s also among 170 significant buildings and landmarks that have been added to the council’s “local list”, ensuring it will be preserved for generations of Stones fans to visit in the future.

The Stones themselves still view the Red Lion as crucial to their story.

In a neat postscript to their Sutton connection, when the band played a much-acclaimed 60th anniversary gig at Hyde Park in 2022, they had a backstage recreation of the Red Lion built where their family and friends could eat and drink.

“As someone from Sutton it was quite surreal to see that Red Lion pub sign backstage,” laughs Paul, who was in attendance. “I remember thinking: good old Sutton, punching above its weight again!”

Charlie’s Good Tonight, the authorised biography of Charlie Watts by Paul Sexton, is published by Mudlark

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PUBS | 19

Shinner takes it all With its warm welcome, historic interiors, popular pub quiz and tasty food and drink, Shinner & Sudtone is truly a local gem

BY LAWRENCE DIAMOND The phrase “good old-fashioned boozer” brings to mind images of a good crowd of regulars, friendly and welcoming staff, great cask ales, supping options for all, a warm welcome on a cold winter’s night and some hearty scran. Well, all of those elements are present and correct at Portobello Brewing Co’s Sutton boozer Shinner & Sudtone, which has a rich history to boot.

As the general manager, Aaron Abbott, explains to me, the pub’s historic interior, discovered under “piles of concrete” during a refurb in 2015, is all original flooring and walled tiling from a 1920s Sainsbury’s. One of the finest examples of this kind of fit-out (along with the Store in Croydon and the Wildwood restaurant in Cheam), it gives a unique flavour to the interior of the pub.

The unusual name, Shinner & Sudtone, has an interesting backstory too. “Where Waterstones is, there used to be a big department store called Shinners,” Aaron says. The historic store, which was opened in 1935 by Ernest Shinner, also inspired the haberdashery-themed decor of the pub, which has an amazing array of nicknacks peppering the furniture and walls.

The second part of the pub’s name, Sudtone, alludes to the original name of Sutton that was first recorded in AD675 and “was apparently mentioned in the Doomsday book”, Aaron tells me.

Fast forward to the present day and having emerged from the Covid pandemic bruised but intact – and having moved from the Antic pub group to Portobello Brewing – Aaron and his team have continued on with what they do best: providing a range of interesting beers that you might not find elsewhere around SM1, hand in hand with a variety of fresh food and a warm and friendly welcome.

“We’ve always sort of prided ourselves on the fact that we are a little bit different to all the other offerings around here,” Aaron says.

“There is a ton of competition on this high street and we see ourselves as a little oasis among it.

“I always tell the staff that anyone is welcome in here. There’s no dress code, we don’t judge anybody. We

WINTER 2023

just want that homely sort of feel so you can come here and relax, and escape the hustle and bustle of the high street.”

So what of the beers on offer? “I don’t really want to be known as a craft beer snob, but I guess I’m in that category,” Aaron says with a laugh.

“I love all the weird and wonderful beers.” The pub maintains a wellstocked fridge of local and foreign beers, and a keg that is regularly rotated to keep things fresh – though generally with a London-based brew “to make sure we’re supporting the great local brewers”, Aaron says.

Aaron’s current favourite brewers and casks include Portobello Brewing’s new pale ale, the Vespa, which he describes as “nice and hazy”, Beavertown, Brixton Brewery and Siren, which is, he says, “a personal favourite”.

Increasingly these choices are being paired with the lovely pub grub that is all prepared on site by Aaron’s kitchen team. Whether that’s for those on first dates (“we get a lot of people on first dates!”), casual drinkers or the whole extended family for the compulsory Sunday roast – as Aaron says, “bring the kids, bring the dog, bring the in-laws, they’re all welcome” – there are lots of reasons to take a seat among the beautiful green and white tiles and make yourself at home.

Alongside the food and drink, there’s plenty of entertainment on

offer too, including the very popular quiz night on Tuesdays. With the prize rolling over each week, the loot that’s up for grabs can get pretty tasty. “It’s £353 this week, but we’ve got up to £1,600 before – so yeah, well worth winning,” Aaron says.

There are also plans to reanimate the pub’s popular games night that fell by the wayside during the pandemic.

Add to that the free comedy night that’s held in the loft space on the last Wednesday of every month and you’ve got a pub that’s building a strong community feel right here on the high street.

Indeed, that loft space is something Aaron is keen for people in the area to take more advantage of. “For any parties or events, come and see us,” he says. “Charities too. We’ve worked with baby groups, the Royal Marsden and Age UK. So if you are a charity and you need a space for anything, do pop in and see us – it’s free to hire so we want the community making use of it.”

And although I have managed to grab Aaron for an interview in the midst of a particularly busy time – we catch up just before the England v South Africa Rugby World Cup semi-final – he will, by the time this issue hits the streets, be busy again preparing for the Christmas rush.

“Winter is the time when we really come into our own,” Aaron says.

“We’re great for those cosy, dark

We’ve always prided ourselves on the fact that we are a little bit different to all the other offerings around here

Above: Aaron Abbott, general manager of the Shinner & Sudtone PHOTO BY JULIA HAWKINS

nights. The heating’s on, the lights are down, the candles are out. I say to people, just come in, relax and enjoy yourself.”

So for a unique ambience in a pub with deep historical connections, Shinner & Sudtone has got the patrons of Sutton more than covered.

But what does Sutton mean to Aaron and his team – and how has the pub evolved as part of the increasingly diverse and welcoming offering on the high street?

“I’ve grown up around this area – be it Carshalton or Wallington – and moved back to Sutton directly after the pandemic,” Aaron says.

“Sutton has got a completely varied demographic of people. You’ve got the working people, the young couples, the retired people, and it’s a really, really good mix.

“Providing a place for them and providing good service for all those demographics, that’s just what we want to do here at the pub. That’s the foundation to what we do.”

It’s clear that with the ethos of its service built on the traditions of welcoming one and all for a drink and some food, and a physical space that incorporates some unique craftsmanship and shop fittings from the 20th century – not to mention the thoroughly modern selection of ales and beers – Shinner & Sudtone is well worth a visit this festive season and beyond.

20 | HISTORY

The prince and the boxer Sutton gained prominence in the late 18th century as a key stopping point on the route from London to Brighton.

We look at how two men – the future king and a champion boxer – played a crucial role in its history

BY ROBIN BEVAN The development of Sutton from a small, rural village during the years leading up to the arrival of the railways in the 1840s was linked to the evolution of the town of Brighton, some 45 miles away. Sutton was on one of the two major routes taken by stagecoaches travelling between central London and Brighton and vice versa (the other route went via Croydon).

Until the mid-18th century, the state of much of Britain’s road system was appalling. This problem was partially addressed by the extensive introduction of turnpike trusts, which assumed responsibility for the maintenance of specific roads.

The trusts recouped their outlay by charging for the use of the roads via toll houses and toll gates.

Brighton (known at the time as Brighthelmstone) was a small market town with a modest fishing fleet.

By the middle of the 18th century,

sea-bathing had come to be regarded as good for the health and Brighton became a popular place to visit to “take the cure”. Many of the gentry and moneyed people of the day began to visit the town, with the result that Brighton thrived and expanded.

This change in the fortunes of Brighton soon rubbed off on Sutton, through which numerous coaches would pass and stop. The town and its inns catered for the needs of the travellers, providing food, drink and fresh horses (which would have needed to be changed several times during the journey to and from the south coast). The Cock Hotel must have done good business, situated as it was at the junction of two major turnpike roads – one that led from London to Brighton and the other from Carshalton to Ewell. The Cock was the scheduled 9am stop for coaches on the main London to Brighton route.

There were two characters who can be connected to Sutton’s development, both of whom in their

Sutton and its inns catered for the needs of travellers, providing food, drink and fresh horses

different ways had celebrity status.

The first was the Prince Regent, formerly the Prince of Wales and subsequently George IV. Born in 1762, he was one of the most unpopular British monarchs. Vain and gluttonous, he was a gambler, spendthrift and serial womaniser and was regarded as a complete wastrel. That was the public’s perception of him, as shown in the vicious portrayals by the cartoonists of the era.

On the plus side, he was responsible for the development of buildings including Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. He was said to have been good-natured and generous to his servants and was the first British monarch in more than 200 years to carry out official royal visits in Scotland and Ireland.

George started to visit Brighton for health reasons in his 20s, greatly popularising the resort as the smart place to go. He even commissioned the building of a palace in Brighton, the Royal Pavilion, where he lived on

and off as Prince of Wales and then as regent. He succeeded his father, George III, as monarch in 1820 and died 10 years later in 1830.

The second was a very different character. “Gentleman” John Jackson (so-called because of his middle class background) became the bare-knuckle boxing champion of England in 1795.

Boxing in Jackson’s day was far less controlled and much more brutal than it is today. There was no limit to the number of rounds fought, and bouts of 40 or 50 rounds were not uncommon, with each round continuing until one of the contestants was knocked to the ground. The action wasn’t confined to the use of bare fists alone either (there were no gloves in those days) and kicking and grappling were all permitted.

In 1795, Jackson was matched against the then English champion, Daniel Mendoza. Towards the end of the fourth round, Jackson backed Mendoza into a corner. Grasping his long hair with one hand, he proceeded

WINTER 2023

HISTORY | 21

Travelling by stagecoach at this time was not for the faint-hearted

This page, from top: the Cock Hotel; the business card of the Cock’s previous landlord James Fuller; a caricature of Prince George

by James Gillray (1792).

Opposite, from left: Prince George and John Jackson

to batter him with his other bare fist, bludgeoning him until he fell to the ground (all within the rules of the time, such as they were). Amazingly, Mendoza rallied after this punishment and fought on until he collapsed, totally exhausted, in the ninth round.

Jackson never fought professionally again and retired, as undefeated champion, the following year. Shortly after his retirement the resourceful Jackson took over as landlord of the Cock Hotel at the top of Sutton High Street (then known as Cock Hill). The exact date of this is unknown, but in the 1798 records of “jury-qualified freeholders and copy holders”, he is shown as living there as the innkeeper.

So, both these characters played a role in contributing to Sutton’s development. Prince George helped to popularise Brighton for health purposes and as a pleasure mecca for his followers (many of whom travelled through Sutton to reach the coast).

Jackson operated an essential service for the benefit of travellers en route to the seaside resort.

Travelling any distance in the prince’s time was not for the fainthearted. Of the two main routes from London to Brighton, George preferred the one that passed through Sutton to the Croydon route. This journey would have taken the royal coach from his residence in Pall Mall, over Westminster Bridge and through to Kennington. From there he would have headed to Sutton via Clapham, Tooting and Mitcham.

This route was shared with many of the stagecoaches operating at

WINTER 2023

the time, which were available to the public at a price. The London to Sutton leg of the journey was only about 12 miles but would have been very uncomfortable, particularly for those travelling on the standard stagecoaches, packed as they were with travellers, some seated on the outside and exposed to the elements.

Speeds averaged less than 10 miles per hour and there would have been many stops to change the four horses.

The stops also allowed passengers some respite from the journey, at the coaching inns that were so necessary at this time.

Passengers were expected to lighten the strain on the teams of horses by getting out and walking up very steep hills. The Rose Hill to Belmont section of the journey must have been particularly challenging. This is especially so of Angel Hill, which descends steeply on its southern side to the bottom end of Sutton. After flattening out for a short distance, it then climbs steadily to the top of what is now the high street. From there it continues uphill until it reaches Belmont before levelling off again.

It was a two-hour trip from leaving London to arriving at Sutton (barring mishaps). There were known to have been three coaching inns in Sutton in the prince’s time. Sadly, these have all been demolished over the years. The Prince Regent (previously known as the Cricketers) survived until 2021. This was located at the bottom of the high street and must have been a welcome sight after climbing and descending Angel Hill. The other two inns were the

Greyhound, about half a mile further along, and the Cock, right at the top of the high street. All these inns must have had considerable space to accommodate the frequent changes of horses needed by each coach on what became a busy route – a rule of thumb was that one horse was needed for each mile of the journey.

It would be foolish to suppose that the prince wouldn’t have been to a large extent shielded from the discomforts affecting users of the public coaches. One could hardly imagine him being asked to disembark from his coach and walk to give the horses a break, and doubtless he had servants to cater to his every whim en route. Nonetheless, it would still have been an uncomfortable journey, as the coach bumped and rattled its way along (no tarmac roads or pneumatic tyres in those days). Furthermore, after reaching Sutton there were another 45 challenging and tedious miles to go to Brighton.

It is known that George sometimes indulged in a glass or two of mulled elderberry wine at the Tangier Inn at Banstead Heath further along on his journey. Given that his coach would have had to pass within yards of the Cock Hotel, is it not likely that he would have also stopped there to call on the landlord and retired boxing champion, John Jackson, and perhaps share a few noggins with him before resuming his journey? Their paths clearly crossed on several occasions and the prince was a great lover of prize fighting, holding Jackson in high regard. We will never know.

22 | SUTTON SELECTION

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ILLUSTRATION BY PETER RHODES

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Sutton United NAME: BRADLEY HUDSON-ODOI

6 ACROSS is a local place.

POSITION: STRIKER

ACROSS

DOWN

6 9 10 11 12 14 16 18 20 21 22 24

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 13 15 17 19 20 23

WORNCAMERA (anagram) (5, 5) Whitened (8) Scant, meagre (6) Go in (5) Physical greeting (9) Hamlet heroine (7) Item of clothing (7) North-east English city (9) Rugby formation (5) Cut loose, undirected (6) Not bending (8) Baffled, confused (10)

Seller of general goods (6) Darling (10) Statute (3) Music writer (8) Cape Town plateau feature (5, 8) Very fast cat (7) Judged too highly (13) Region, zone (4) Careless, remiss (10) Playground jumping game (8) Incensed (7) Hospital room (4) Beer and lemonade drink (6) Not on (3)

BORN: 1988 Born in Ghana, Bradley Hudson-Odoi is the brother of former Chelsea forward Callum Hudson-Odoi. He made his first league appearance for Sutton as a substitute on their opening day defeat of the 2016-17 season to Solihull Moors.

Hudson-Odoi then made his first full appearance and debut in

a 2-0 win over Torquay United. On his third appearance for Sutton, he scored his first league goal for the club in a 1-0 home victory over Dagenham & Redbridge.

That season, Hudson-Odoi appeared in Sutton’s famous run to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time ever, which included a 3-1 victory over local rivals AFC Wimbledon in the third round and a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the fifth round.

In February 2018, he was released

by Sutton and signed for Hampton & Richmond Borough.

Did you know?

The playwright, composer, director, actor and singer Noël Coward once lived in a house on Lenham Road, just north of Manor Park.

He lived there for three years between 1906 and 1909. His first public appearance on stage was in July 1907 at Sutton Public Hall.

Many of his works, such as Hay Fever, Private Lives and Blithe Spirit are still performed regularly today.

Coward won new popularity in several notable films later in his career, such as Around the World in 80 Days, Our Man in Havana and The Italian Job. He passed away just over 50 years ago in March 1973.

WINTER 2023

SOLUTION ACROSS: 6 Carew Manor, 9 Bleached, 10 Sparse, 11 Enter, 12 Handshake, 14 Ophelia, 16 Garment, 18 Newcastle, 20 Scrum, 21 Adrift, 22 Straight, 24 Confounded. DOWN: 1 Grocer, 2 Sweetheart, 3 Law, 4 Composer, 5 Table Mountain, 6 Cheetah, 7 Overestimated, 8 Area, 13 Neglectful, 15 Leapfrog, 17 Enraged, 19 Ward, 20 Shandy, 23 Off.

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