Issue 1 of The Sutton Storyteller

United we stand

Pioneering people

The spin doctor

125 years of Sutton United

The Sutton scientists saving lives

Vinyl heaven at Union

Autumn 2023

Issue 1

SPACE ODYSSEY Co-working and community at Oru Sutton

FREE AND OPEN TO ALL Tuesday - Sunday and Bank Holidays 10am to 5pm museumofthehome.org.uk

NEWS | 3

Welcome to issue one 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.

So, what are we all about? The Sutton Storyteller is a free paper that will cover the whole of the local area.

It will be published four times a year – in the spring, summer, autumn and winter. If you don’t receive a copy through your letterbox, you will be able to find copies in local places in the town centre.

Community is at the heart of what we do and we believe that local publications should truly reflect the areas they represent. The paper will be a celebration of the people and places that make this part of south London special. We would 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.

In this first edition, we look at three long-established institutions serving the people of Sutton and beyond.

For 25 years, the Sutton branch of M Manze has provided locals with delicious pies and mashed potato covered in liquor. Local resident Luke G Williams caught up with the owners as they celebrate their silver anniversary.

Also featured is the Institute of Cancer Research, which together with

its hospital partner Royal Marsden, expanded to a second site in Sutton in the 1950s to begin groundbreaking work in the new field of nuclear medicine.

We also take a look at 125 years of Sutton United FC, who currently play in League Two, the highest division they have participated in during their entire history.

Finally, our cover stars for issue one are recent arrivals Vib Thirukumar and Paul Hepworth Nelmes, the duo behind Oru Space.

They have recently given the old BHS department store in the town centre a new lease of life, with an exciting partnership between Sutton Council, and have created an inclusive co-working and social venue that will offer a wide variety of facilities accessible to local people.

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

We’re now starting work on issue two of the paper. If you run a business or organisation and are interested in advertising with us, please do get in touch. This will be the winter edition, out from early December and will cover Christmas and the new year. As you can see from this edition, you’ll be in great company.

We hope you enjoy the issue!

Bus boost for Sutton with launch of air-friendly fleet The aim of improving air quality on the streets of Sutton has received a significant boost with the news that Transport for London (TfL) has introduced a new fleet of more than 80 zero-emission buses to serve the borough.

The new buses will operate on routes 93, 154, 164, 213 and 80, all of which serve areas of Sutton, and will complement the zeroemission buses that already operate on the 413 route.

TfL is aiming to transition to an entirely zero-emission fleet across London by 2034 at the latest, and now has more than 1,100 zeroemission buses operating in the capital, with all new buses that have joined since 2021 being zero emission.

The new buses are equipped with a wide range of features, including larger buggy and wheelchair areas, LED display screens on both the lower and upper decks and USB phone-charging points.

Louise Cheeseman, director of buses for TfL, said: “We’re very pleased to add more than 80 new zero-emission buses to our fleet in Sutton. Buses remain the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to shift trips made by cars to public transport. Thanks to the

Mark McGinlay and Kate White

THE SUTTON STORYTELLER Editors Mark McGinlay, Kate White

Designer Tammy Kerr

Features editor Luke G Williams

Contributors Lawrence Diamond, Miranda Knox, Caitlin Otway, Peter Rhodes

Subeditor Jack Aston Photographer Julia Hawkins

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

AUTUMN 2023

@suttonstory

@sutton_story

LOUISE CHEESEMAN

Marketing and social media Mark McGinlay

introduction of these new vehicles, half of the bus journeys undertaken in the borough will be zero emission, helping to improve the air quality for those who work and live in the area.”

The arrival of the new buses has also been welcomed by environmental campaigners.

Tim Dexter, the clean air lead for Asthma + Lung UK, said: “[The] cleaning up of Sutton’s bus fleet, and moving away from petrol and diesel cars towards cleaner forms of transport like walking, cycling and public transport is critical to cleaning up the air we breathe. Air pollution is a public health emergency that impacts us all, and even more so for the estimated 585,000 people with a lung condition living in London. Every year toxic air shortens the lives of 4,000 people in London alone.”

As well as the new zero-emission buses, further improvements to Sutton’s bus network are also planned from early 2024, including numerous extensions to existing routes and the creation of a brand new route, the S2. In total, updates to Sutton’s bus network are expected to add an estimated 400,000km per annum of services to the borough.

4 | NEWS

£20,000 reward offered in search for missing teen Thirty-five years on from the disappearance in Sutton of Lee Boxell, a £20,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the recovery of his remains.

Fifteen-year-old Lee disappeared on Saturday 10 September 1988. On that fateful day he left his house to go shopping with a friend, with whom he parted company at 1pm. Lee – an avid football and Sutton United fan – told his friend that he might go and watch a match at the Crystal Palace ground, Selhurst Park, but there is no evidence that he attended the game. There was just one further confirmed sighting of Lee on Sutton High Street at around 2.20pm.

When Lee was last seen he was wearing black jeans, a white Flintstones T-shirt and brown suede shoes. In 1993 Lee’s photograph appeared in the music video for Soul Asylum’s Runaway Train, a song about missing children and in 2019 he was featured in a missing person campaign promoted by the Italian football club AS Roma.

However, what happened to Lee remains an unsolved mystery.

Lee’s parents Peter and Christine Boxell are hoping that the renewed focus on Lee’s disappearance and the reward being offered

by Crimestoppers might finally provide them with some measure of closure after 35 years of agony. Lee’s father Peter said: “We have not seen or heard from our dear son Lee since he went to Sutton, 35 years ago on 10 September 1988.

“We fear that Lee may have been murdered. We are still hoping that someone will come forward to help find his remains, so that my wife and I can say goodbye to our beloved son before it’s too late for us – we are in our late 70s. If you can help us and his sister finally know what happened and have some closure, please, do what’s right.”

Detective chief inspector Kate Blackburn said: “While we don’t have conclusive evidence that Lee came to harm, with no sightings or credible information in 35 years we sadly believe that Lee is no longer alive.

“Over the years we have interviewed a number of people who we believe were involved in, or know about Lee’s disappearance. When arrested, those people gave a number of conflicting accounts. One 80-year-old man, who is now deceased, claimed that he had ‘helped Lee to get away’ and that he was now living away from his family under an assumed name. This version of events was investigated and was found not to have been credible.

“This man and his associates also claimed that they had seen Lee a year later. However, members of the public called police anonymously with information stating that he had bragged that he had buried Lee in the churchyard at St Dunstan’s church in Cheam. That information led us to conduct the largest ever archaeological dig undertaken by the Met at St Dunstan’s churchyard.

“Sadly, that search did not find Lee and his parents continue in their desperate hope to find him.

“Lee was a boy with a very happy family life. He was a good student who loved football. The story that he had run away, started a new life and was living under an assumed name was absolutely not viable.”

To be eligible for the £20,000 reward offered by Crimestoppers for information that leads to the recovery of Lee’s remains, information needs to be provided to the charity directly and not via police. The police team investigating Lee’s disappearance can be contacted on 020 8721 4005. The number for Crimestoppers is 0800 555 111.

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NEWS | 5

Plea for U-turn on Ulez Paul Scully, the MP for Sutton and Cheam, is leading calls for an ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) camera outside the Royal Marsden hospital on Downs Road in Sutton to be permanently removed.

The cancer treatment facility is located just inside the boundary of the controversially extended Ulez zone. The camera has already been disabled once by anti-Ulez campaigners, but it was promptly reinstated.

Scully first wrote to London mayor Sadiq Khan on 21 August arguing for the camera’s removal and penned a further letter on 4 September, a copy of which he also posted on his Facebook page.

“My constituents and I in Sutton are appalled that this camera is still operational with the express intention of catching motorists venturing little more than a hundred metres into the Ulez to visit their loved ones, receive treatment or attend their place of work,” Scully wrote.

The MP, who is also minister for London, went on to urge the mayor to “reconsider [his] stance on this particular camera”, which he argued is serving as a “prominent lightning rod towards those who are willing to take the law into their own hands”, adding that “its removal is the best outcome for all concerned”.

When asked to comment further by the Sutton Storyteller, Scully elaborated on his objections. “I’ve received lots of

correspondence from those living near to and outside of the Ulez boundary who are rightly appalled at the positioning of this camera,” he said.

“It’s completely unfair that people driving from all around the country to this worldrenowned hospital are being charged £12.50 for the last 170 yards of their journey.

“If the mayor is serious about listening to people concerned about Ulez then he can make a good start by moving the camera facing the entrance to the Royal Marsden a matter of yards along Downs Road away from the hospital junction, or better still removing it altogether.”

When approached by the Sutton Storyteller, a spokesperson for the mayor said: “The mayor has been clear that the decision to expand the ultra-low emission zone London-wide was not an easy one, but necessary to tackle toxic air pollution and the climate crisis.

“Around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely each year due to air pollution, children are growing up with stunted lungs and thousands of people in our city are developing life-changing illnesses, such as cancer, lung disease, dementia and asthma.

“Nine out of 10 cars seen driving in outer London on an average day are already Ulez compliant and their drivers will not have to pay the charge. The mayor is doing all he can to support Londoners with the switch to cleaner vehicles, and has expanded the

scrappage scheme so that every Londoner with a non-compliant car is eligible to apply for a £2,000 grant.”

The mayor’s office has also pointed out that the Royal Marsden is registered under the NHS patient reimbursement scheme, which allows some patients to claim back Ulez charges if they are considered to be too unwell to travel on public transport and then attend an appointment in a non-Ulezcompliant vehicle.

The reimbursement scheme applies to patients regardless of whether they are London residents or not.

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6 | PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Talking Heads, Living Histories A “Then, Now Next”’ Project, part of Sutton STEAMs Ahead 2023

A new video project brings Sutton’s history alive through video interviews, archival imagery, and artificial intelligence.

‘Talking Heads, Living Histories’ is a new video project that has captured the memories and imagination of the London Borough of Sutton and its residents.

The video series “Then”, “Now” and “Next.” and the public projection display fuses together interviews of residents of Sutton with related images, text and sounds.

This innovative production is commissioned by London Borough of Sutton’s Sutton STEAMs Ahead, a project funded by a Cultural Impact Award as part of the Mayor of London’s London Borough of Culture programme and The National Heritage Lottery Fund.

It has been filmed over the summer at locations all across the borough and will be projected in Sutton High Street at an open-air premiere supported by Enjoy Sutton BID and Sid & Sudstone on Trinity Square, High St, Sutton, between 5PM-8PM, in late October.

For the films “Then” and “Now”, BTV Productions Sutton brings local history alive by combining interviews with archival footage of the people, places and events that have marked Sutton’s past and present. The archives from local libraries are then merged with the filmed interviews and modern-day shots of the same places.

“Next” is the film about the future

of Sutton and is the most innovative part of this project. It uses Artificial Intelligence software to fabricate the future as told through the imagination of local residents.

This is very much a community project, and the narrative within the films is led by the public, and tells a more personal and relatable story of the borough.

The interview footage was filmed through a series of open filming days at public events between May and August, which gave an opportunity to those who don’t usually engage with the arts to share their stories.

The three films illuminate the interviewees’ past, present and future, bringing their stories to life for all generations to see.

The use of AI technology brings contemporary uses of science to the project, while also exploring what future impact this will have on creative fields.

The uses and applications of this brand-new technology will be opened up to new audiences through the public screening.

These films as well as all the interviews and transcriptions will become part of Sutton Council’s central library archives, supporting the national need for boosting contemporary collections as a visual record and a legacy for the future.

Discover more about this project: Find out more about “Talking Heads, Living Histories” on Instagram: @talkingheadslivinghistories Find out more about ‘Then Now Next’: steamsahead.sutton.gov.uk

AUTUMN 2023

NEWS | 7

Park life An array of artwork from this year’s Sutton Parks Landscape Artist of the Year competition will be exhibited at a local library in November, before the winners are chosen across three separate categories: three to 10 years, 11 to 16 years and adults.

The competition – inspired by Sky Arts’ popular Landscape Artist of the Year television programme, which aired its eighth series earlier this year – was inaugurated in 2022 and seems set to become an annual fixture.

Organised by Sutton Park Friends and supported by funding from Arts Network Sutton, the competition challenges entrants to “capture the stories and scenery that [Sutton] parks offer”.

Doug Shaw, Arts Network Sutton project manager, told the Sutton Storyteller: “Arts Network Sutton is delighted to support this year’s Sutton Parks Landscape Artist of the Year. We believe this project creates great links across the borough and provides an accessible opportunity for the community to participate in making art alongside each other and in nature.

“The additional element of the exhibition is a great way of profiling everyone’s

achievements and encouraging participants to come together to celebrate.”

Three parks across the borough took part in the competition, with artists challenged to produce a landscape painting during a threehour window of time on three dates in July and August. Participating parks were Poulter Park, Manor Park and Beddington Park.

The winners of the three categories from each of these competitions will now be hoping to be named one of the three overall winners of the contest. The winning entries from each heat will be exhibited from 3-12 November at Sutton Central Library, with the overall winners expected to be announced around the same time.

As well as the winners in each category receiving prizes – art equipment for the younger participants and £20 art vouchers for the older groups – the three overall victors will also receive £50 art vouchers thanks to LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Last year’s prizes were awarded by the then mayor, councillor Trish Fivey. The winner of the 11 to 16 category was Aryan, a pupil from Wilson’s school in Wallington, for his watercolour rendition of the landscape of Rose Hill Park.

Hope springs eternal

Sound ideas The Sound Lounge in Sutton is a grassroots music venue and community hub with multiple USPs. The brainchild of singer-songwriter Hannah White and her musician husband Keiron Marshall, it opened almost three years ago. During the day, the space is a cafe, bar and plant-based kitchen, while at night it is a live music venue with an eclectic and arresting programme ranging from blues, folk and roots to Americana.

Remarkably, it is also the UK’s first certified carbon-neutral music venue.

Longtime Sutton resident and music writer Paul Sexton, initially a customer and now part of the Sound Lounge team, said: “More than any other music venue I’ve been to in my working life as a music fan or journalist, the Sound Lounge has a family and community feel pretty much as soon as you go through the door.”

Upcoming events this autumn and winter include The Jasmine Minks on 25

AUTUMN 2023

November and old-school New Orleans R&B act Tim Penn & the Second Line on 8 December.

“The programme is very broad,” Paul said. “There really is something for everyone. It’s exciting because Sutton hasn’t had a venue showcasing new music for such a long time. But it’s also more than just a music venue – it’s also a real community space. I think it’s a really big deal for Sutton to have somewhere which encourages musical and social interaction.”

A not-for-profit social enterprise, the Sound Lounge runs various workshops, events and training programmes for families, young people and some of the borough’s most vulnerable residents.

Among its varied community programme is an accredited barista and soundengineering training course, a song and percussion session for preschool children and a free hot drink and stay session for people suffering from social isolation.

The Hope pub on West Street in Carshalton has been named Greater London pub of the year by Camra (the Campaign for Real Ale) for the sixth time in 12 years.

The award comes hot on the heels of the beloved community pub also being named Sutton borough pub of the year in June by the Croydon and Sutton branch of Camra.

The Hope has a remarkable backstory.

Threatened with closure and possible redevelopment into a restaurant in 2010, a group of loyal patrons banded together, formed a company called 48 West Limited, bought the lease from landlords Punch Taverns and took over the running of the pub.

In 2015, the 46 shareholders who comprise 48 West bought the freehold outright and now own the pub in its entirety.

The Hope has undergone extensive renovation and improvements over the past five years. It is renowned for the range and excellence of its drinks offering, which comprises seven ale pumps, three real ciders,

eight keg fonts with craft beers, more than 20 different can beers, 11 wines, 14 whiskies, 12 gins and 12 rums. The pub also serves a range of home-cooked food and hosts regular Beer Fest weekends, with the next scheduled for 26-27 October followed by a Dark Beer Fest from 30 November to 1 December.

Another USP is the no television, no radio and no music policy, designed to foster the best environment for conversation. “We occasionally have jam sessions in the pub,” said Mark Cotton, who co-manages the pub with Nick Williams. “But there’s no piped music, no fruit machines, no TVs.” Mark puts the success of the Hope down to “a lot of hard work” to make it an integral part of the community. “We can buy from whoever we want to, we’re not beholden to a big company and we only buy from independent breweries,” he said. “We’ve got many loyal customers including some who’ve moved away but still come back, particularly for our festival events.”

8 | SCIENCE

Combating cancer Sutton scientists are carrying out pioneering research into cancer, developing new drugs and saving lives. We find out more

BY CAITLIN OTWAY The Institute of Cancer Research has been carrying out pioneering investigations into the causes and treatment of cancer for more than 100 years.

The organisation currently employs over 700 researchers specialising in areas such as cancer genetics, radiotherapy, drug discovery, immunotherapy, artificial intelligence and clinical trials.

In the 1950s, together with its hospital partner, the Royal Marsden, the ICR expanded to a second site in Sutton to begin groundbreaking work in the new field of nuclear medicine.

Since then, world-class research and education carried out at the site in Sutton have led to huge advances in our understanding of cancer and have paved the way for a new generation of treatments and cures.

The ICR now discovers more new drugs to treat cancer than any other academic centre and many of the treatments pioneered in Sutton are down to the hard work of scientists such as Professor Rob van Montfort, whose team studies target-directed cancer drug discovery.

“The site here in Sutton has everything you need for modern drug discovery,” Prof van Montfort tells me. “The aim of the ICR is to help understand and defeat cancer. Well, we’re working on every element of that, from looking at the mechanisms that cause cancer, to the reasons why cancer becomes resistant to a drug and what we need to do about it.”

In the 1960s, ICR researchers provided the first conclusive evidence that DNA damage is the fundamental cause of cancer and showed the vital role of the thymus in our immune systems – a discovery

that helped pave the way to modern immunotherapy. They also carried out some of the earliest work to develop chemotherapy treatments, which are still used to treat cancer today and have made major contributions to the field of radiotherapy, allowing doctors to increase the effectiveness of the treatment while reducing its side-effects.

Prof van Montfort talks with pride about the pioneering work of his small, international team and their colleagues. “We have developed 21 drug candidates and one drug which has been approved for use. We’re so proud of what we do here in Sutton.”

The drug to which he refers is called abiraterone. After years of research, a clinical trial coordinated by the ICR in 2008 found that treatment of prostate cancer with abiraterone led to a 35% reduction in the risk of death in men with the disease.

Abiraterone was approved for use on the NHS in June 2012 and is now used as a standard treatment for prostate cancer here in the UK and across the globe. The drug is significantly prolonging survival rates and improving the quality of life of thousands of patients.

“Miracle solutions don’t exist but the ICR has made a significant mark on cancer,” Prof van Montfort says.

The aim of the ICR is to help understand and defeat cancer. Well, we’re working on every element of that, from looking at the mechanisms that cause cancer to why cancer becomes resistant to drugs and what we can do about it

He compares his work developing the latest cancer drugs to solving a Rubik’s cube. “You’re solving multiple problems at the same time. There are sometimes compromises to drug development [such as side-effects for patients]. But it is such a rewarding experience to see drugs make it to clinical trials. And we are trying to discover new drugs that have minimal side-effects.”

Prof van Montfort tells me that there is an urgent need to continue to discover and develop new cancer treatments that target the specific molecular structures of tumours, as well as anticipate and deal with their ability to develop drug resistance.

“Scientists have developed effective new targeted treatments, only to find cancers developing resistance against them,” he says.

Most of his team have personal experiences dealing with the disease.

“Everyone is touched by cancer, including everyone who works here.

And while treatments are improving, there is a long way to go. The more we learn, the more we realise that cancer is a very complex disease.”

Prof van Montfort says that the groundbreaking work done in Sutton depends on effective collaboration between many teams. “There are computational chemists, medicinal

AUTUMN 2023

SCIENCE | 9 chemists and biologists, all working to make the drugs needed to combat cancer. It’s such a team effort, it’s team science and it’s all done here in Sutton.”

The pioneering work carried out by teams such as Prof van Montfort’s takes place at the new London Cancer Hub on the ICR Sutton site.

The campus is also home to Harris Academy Sutton, a new science, technology, engineering and maths specialist secondary school.

Councillor Ruth Dombey, leader of Sutton Council, tells me: “I’m so proud that Sutton is already a hub for worldleading cancer care and research. Our partners at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden, and the companies at the Innovation Gateway on-site, do incredible work treating cancer, discovering new drugs and saving lives.”

Over the next 20 years, the hub, which has been delivered by the ICR, Sutton Council, the Royal Marsden and Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals, will be developed to include more state-of-the-art provision including research buildings and hospital facilities. Cllr Dombey says that the council is starting to prepare the site for expansion. “This includes clearing the derelict old Sutton Hospital buildings, so people will see real change in the coming months.”

The teams behind the hub’s expansion expect to attract the

world’s best cancer scientists and clinicians as well as private companies working in cancer research to Sutton.

The expansion will increase the number of new drugs the ICR can discover and boost the chances of each new drug being successfully developed to treat cancer patients.

Sutton Council says the new London Cancer Hub is also set to create 13,000 new jobs and contribute about £1.2 billion to the UK’s economy annually. The plans are projected to give a £12 million uplift in business rates, which will help keep council tax down for Sutton residents.

There are also plans to increase transport links to the area to aid travel to the site. Train services will double from two to four trains an hour, with additional direct services between Belmont and central London. Belmont Station will be improved with stepfree access, better signage for visitors and new walking and cycling routes to the London Cancer Hub. Cllr Dombey says that “together with the council’s ambitious plans to transform nearby Sutton town centre, the London Cancer Hub will put Sutton firmly on the map as a great place to live, work, spend time and do business. I can’t wait to see the vision become a reality,” she says.

Looking back over the past 70 years, cancer survival rates have increased and many life-changing discoveries have been made. But

It’s such a team effort, it’s team science and it’s all done here in Sutton

despite pioneering work carried out by teams including those in Sutton, cancer remains the leading cause of death globally with about 14 million new cases each year.

However, Prof van Montfort is optimistic about the future. “The ICR has been at the site in Sutton since

the 1950s. We have made a lot of headway in treating cancer since then.

There is so much effort going into cancer treatment, so much research and we are learning by the day. I am hopeful that we will be able to treat more cancers in the future, particularly those which are not easily treatable.”

An enchanting clothbound fable from the author of The Fox and the Star

‘A nother triumph!’

Yuval Zommer author of The Big Book of the Blue

‘Exquisite, moving and hopeful’ Lucy Jones author of Losing Eden

10 | COMMUNITY

A space for all Oru Sutton is an ambitious new space offering a combination of co-working, wellbeing and hospitality. Co-founder Vibushan Thirukumar tells us how community is at its core

BY MIRANDA KNOX The old BHS department store in Sutton town centre has been given a new lease of life, with an exciting partnership between Sutton Council and Oru Space creating an inclusive co-working and social venue that will offer a wide variety of facilities to local people.

The ambitious project – situated above H&M and named Oru Sutton – is one part of the council’s plans to spend more than £20 million upgrading buildings on the high street, focusing on four sites.

After buying the derelict building in the heart of the town centre in 2019, the council won £2.2 million from the mayor of London’s Good Growth fund and the Business Innovation & Growth South London programme to create a modern workspace. Oru was awarded the right to design and operate the space.

Over the course of the next 18 months, the company – headed up by co-founder and CEO Vibushan

Thirukumar, 38, known to everyone as Vib, and Paul Hepworth Nelmes – has worked tirelessly to transform the upper floors of the former store and create a space for co-working, wellbeing and hospitality.

Spread across four floors, Oru Sutton – which launched in September – offers 500 desk spaces, private offices and places to eat and drink.

Two wellbeing studios with a focus on mental and physical health will soon be open to the public and members and there are plans for retail incubator space, a rooftop bar with panoramic city views, a “wild sanctuary” garden and later down the line, a spa.

Branding and marketing executive Alexandra Murray-Reynolds, 24, has worked at Oru for 18 months and is based in Sydenham. She says: “There’s an amazing rooftop space which wasn’t used at all before, so we’re repurposing it and developing it into some amazing garden spaces, with a wild area to help biodiversity.

“The main thing that we’re focusing on at the moment is fundraising for

There’s an amazing rooftop space that wasn’t used before, so we’re turning it into a garden with a wild area to help biodiversity

Right: Paul Hepworth Nelmes and Vibushan Thirukumar PHOTO BY JULIA HAWKINS

our rooftop extension – this will be a hospitality, restaurant and bar venue and a spa.

“There will be lots of different treatments on offer so we’re really excited to bring something new to Sutton and boost the offering on the high street to attract people from neighbouring areas.”

Oru means “at one” in Tamil and according to its mission statement, community is at the heart of everything it does. More of the building will be public than private, to ensure the local community will benefit from what it has to offer.

Vib says: “Co-working will take up about 50% of the building. We’re offering a combination of co-working and wellbeing, plus hospitality and we’ll also have a nursery and a public garden. In time there will be a spa and rooftop restaurant too, with no membership required.”

As well as the opportunity to work with the council, part of what attracted Vib to the space was the opportunity to transform

a pre-existing site. He says: “Oru is really passionate about taking buildings that are unused and repurposing them and bringing life back into them.

“By taking an old, disused building and repurposing it, we’re able to inject life back into the area, encourage people to stay local and bring that community life back into the high street.

“Previously, department stores behaved quite differently. Now, the majority are used for selling, whereas previously stock moved quite slowly so two-thirds of the building was actually used to just hold stock, so there’s a lot of exposed brickwork.

“The carcass of the building is really nice, but it required a lot of redesign and a lot of work to activate it. We had to add two lifts so there’s been a lot of very expensive work to make it fit for purpose.”

Sutton seemed an obvious choice for Oru’s second venture, with a sister location already well-established in East Dulwich. Vib also grew up not far

COMMUNITY | 11

By taking an old, disused building and repurposing it, we’re able to inject life back into the area, encourage people to stay local and bring that community life back into the high street

AUTUMN 2023

from Sutton, so he was particularly interested in bringing something new to the area. He says: “Sutton is a really big commuter town and has great transport links to central London so a lot of people [who live here] typically work and commute, as well as work from home a lot more now, so there’s a big need for co-working in the area.

“Central London dominating the landscape for office workers isn’t a good thing either because it’s overpriced, requires a huge commute and doesn’t suit all people’s lifestyles, so there are lots of reasons why it doesn’t make sense.”

There’s no denying that high streets across the country have had a hard time in recent years, with a combination of rising online sales and the pandemic proving to be the final nail in the coffin for many retailers.

Vib says: “The high street became over reliant on big retail and became less and less community-orientated and less about small traders. A lot has obviously changed with a lot going online so we’re finding ourselves in a tough time for high streets. They’re becoming less useful for everyday life, so the regeneration idea is trying to prevent that from happening.

“We’re providing something that doesn’t exist on the high street so it will bring in different people, potentially with higher disposable income, and then we’re trying to create a desirable hospitality space to attract people who want to see positive change.”

In terms of what you can expect when walking in, on the first floor there’s the 150-seat Trinco restaurant and a large events space. On the floor above there’s a co-working space for almost 500 people, yoga studios and a nursery.

Vib says: “We’ve been very involved in every aspect and designed the buildings alongside architects.

We then took the build contract on ourselves and operate it solely ourselves, minus the nursery.

“I’m most interested in the food and hospitality element of the space.

A lot of the food inspiration comes from my family and heritage, which is Tamil Sri Lankan. We’re also fully vegan and vegetarian, which is very much sustainability-led.

“The second most important thing for me is the biodiversity and nature element, so we’re trying to keep the outdoor areas as biodiverse and nature-friendly as possible. We have quite big plans around all of that.”

Each week at the Dulwich site, Oru hosts two free 30-minute community meditation classes that are accessible to all, and aims to provide similar in Sutton. Vib adds: “Almost 250 people a day come to East Dulwich for classes and that mixture of all kinds of classes for all accessibility levels attracts a broad range of people.

“We have free classes too, like chair yoga for elderly and disabled people and community meditation twice a week – and we have even bigger studios in Sutton.”

12 | SUTTON SNAPSHOTS

AUTUMN 2023

SUTTON SNAPSHOTS | 13

Shoppers of Sutton PHOTOS BY JULIA HAWKINS Sutton High Street began as a shopping street in the Victorian era and in 2014 it was named London’s sixth most important retail centre, attracting shoppers from a wide area.

It is pedestrianised for most of its length, and a conservation area runs down a 300-yard section. In 2017 Sutton was granted Heritage Action Zone status by Historic England, a scheme that aimed to restore and enhance its historic architecture and character.

AUTUMN 2023

14 | SUTTON SNAPSHOTS

AUTUMN 2023

Hot Desks + Fixed Desks + Private Offices

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With Oru meaning 'For One' in Tamil, community and connection is at the heart of what we do. Whether you're a freelancer, remote worker or established organisation, our flexible coworking space and private offices are built to support your business journey. Oru’s Wellbeing Quarter offering a range of wellness classes and treatments is set to open in Oct 2023.

Visit us in Times Square Shopping Centre or visit www.oruspace.co to find out more.

16 | SPORT

Glory and giant-killing As Sutton United celebrate their 125th anniversary this year, we take a look at the highs and lows of the club’s long history, from the ‘giant-killing’ FA Cup victory against Coventry City to winning a place in the professional football league

BY LUKE G WILLIAMS Sutton United FC began their third campaign as a professional football league club in August with a thumping 5-1 victory against Notts County. It was a win that served as the perfect metaphor for how far the once modest non-league side have come during their rollercoaster 125-year history.

Sutton United came into existence on 5 March 1898 when two junior clubs – Sutton Guild Rovers and Sutton Association – agreed to a merger. In their early years, Sutton were a junior side, but in 1910 they adopted senior status, joining the Southern Suburban League and, not long after, settling in the Gander Green Lane ground that is still their home today.

In 1921, Sutton joined the Athenian League, a prestigious amateur competition for clubs in and around London, winning their first championship in 1928. A second

Athenian League title followed in 1946, a vintage season in which the Us also reached the FA Cup first round for the first time and won the Surrey Senior Cup for the first but certainly not the last time – their 15 triumphs in the competition having only been bettered by Dulwich Hamlet.

The jewel in Sutton’s crown during that glorious 1945-46 campaign was Charlie Vaughan, a Bermondseyborn striker of quite astonishing goalscoring potency. Vaughan blasted 68 goals in all competitions, including the winner against Woking in the Surrey Senior Cup final.

His performances won rave reviews, with the News Chronicle declaring: “Vaughan’s combination of speed, opportunism, footcraft, headwork and what even might be called ‘intellectual’ football makes him, in my view, the greatest amateur playing today.”

In all, Vaughan would notch up an astonishing 248 goals in 147 games

for Sutton before signing professional terms with Charlton Athletic.

Without Vaughan’s goals, Sutton entered a barren period, although crucial innovations, including becoming a limited company in 1953 and the construction of a new stand at Gander Green Lane, marked them out as impressively ambitious for a non-league football club.

Many of these off-the-field innovations were masterminded by Andrew Letts, the club’s first chairman who would go on to serve on the club board for six decades, many of them as president, up until his death in 2008 aged 93.

Letts knew the value of good coaching and, in 1956, he helped facilitate the arrival as manager of the astute George Smith. Under Smith’s leadership Sutton were soon on the up again with 1957-58 his “annus mirabilis”, as Sutton not only secured their third and final Athenian title, but also their first London Senior Cup.

The jewel in Sutton’s crown during the glorious 1945-46 campaign was Charlie Vaughan, a Bermondseyborn striker of astonishing goalscoring potency

Smith’s exploits won the attention of Crystal Palace, who lured him away in June 1958. It was a huge blow, although there was no bitterness on Sutton’s part, with Letts admitting: “He [Smith] is worthy of a position far higher than we could offer.”

Sutton’s next prolonged period of success came under the aegis of Sid Cann, who joined as manager in 1962. A year later the club reached their first FA Amateur Cup final at Wembley, losing 4-2 to Wimbledon after conceding two goals in the final four minutes. Despite their defeat, Sutton’s approach and style of football won much praise, with the Sunday Mirror praising their “imaginative” and “clever” football.

Consolation for Cup final defeat came in the form of an invitation to join the Isthmian League – a step up from the Athenian – and at the end of the 1966-67 season Sutton were champions. A further trip to the FA Amateur Cup final followed in 1969,

PHOTO © PAUL LOUGHLIN/SUTTON UNITED FC

SPORT | 17

but again ended in heartbreak, with Sutton losing 2-1 to an 85th-minute North Shields winner after leading early on.

The Us would never get their hands on the FA Amateur Cup, which was wound up in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. However, they did enjoy the first of several high-profile FA Cup runs in 1969-70, when they were paired with league champions Leeds United in the fourth round. In a match that was featured on the BBC’s Match of the Day, Leeds won 6-0 in front of a Sutton club record attendance of 14,000.

After an inconsistent period in the mid-1970s, the glory days returned to Sutton in 1979, when manager Keith Blunt led the team to glory in the Anglo-Italian Cup, winning the semi-pro event 2-1 in the final against Chieti. Sutton reached the final of the competition again in 1980 and 1982 but lost on both occasions.

The 1980s were a memorable period – the decade began with defeat in the FA Trophy final at Wembley against Bishop’s Stortford, but with Paul McKinnon banging in goals with regularity during several spells with the club the remainder of the decade was trophy-laden: the Isthmian

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League was won in 1985 and 1986, the Isthmian League Cup in 1983, 1984 and 1986, the London Senior Cup in 1983 and the Surrey Senior Cup seven times in nine seasons between 1979-80 and 1987-88.

Promoted to the GM Vauxhall Conference in 1986, Sutton were by now powerhouses of the non-league game and ready to grab the national limelight. A run to the fourth round of the FA Cup in 1987-88 saw them repel league opposition in the form of Aldershot and Peterborough, with the Us only knocked out after a thirdround replay at Middlesbrough went to extra time.

The following season, Sutton carved their name even deeper into FA Cup folklore when they disposed of topflight Coventry City 2-1 in round three in front of a jubilant home crowd in what was one of the greatest shocks in FA Cup history. The victory made headlines up and down the country, with “giant-killing” goalscorers Tony Rains and Matt Hanlan even appearing on Terry Wogan’s primetime BBC One chat show to discuss the epic match.

Hanlan’s bricklaying trade provided Fleet Street with plenty of opportunities for puns and wordplay, and reports of the match won space on front and back pages

of newspapers across the country.

“Demolition! Brickie Matt brings the house down!” screamed one headline, while several other journalists quipped that his goal had “cemented” the club’s status in FA Cup history.

The glory era of the 1980s, however, was drawing to a close. In 1991 Sutton were relegated from the Conference and were not to return for eight years, while in 1993 goalscoring ace McKinnon finally called it a day after achieving a staggering 279 goals for the club – a tally that remains unsurpassed to this day.

A fourth Isthmian league title was clinched in 1999, but Sutton’s return to Conference football lasted just one season. As part of the restructuring of non-league football, Sutton entered the Conference South in 2004, but fell back into the Isthmian Premier Division in 2008.

Thankfully, the arrival of Paul Doswell as manager heralded the start of a decade of recovery. Sutton won the Isthmian League for the fifth time in 2011 and then the National League South in 2016 to return to the fifth tier of English football, formerly known as the Conference but since rebranded as the National League.

Doswell also oversaw another memorable FA Cup run in

Sutton player Matt Hanlan’s trade as a bricklayer provided Fleet Street with many opportunities for wordplay, with several journalists quipping that he had ‘cemented’ the club’s status in FA Cup history

2016-17, with Sutton beating Championship side Leeds United 1-0 en route to the fifth round, their best ever performance in the competition, before losing 2-0 at home to mighty Arsenal.

Doswell left the club after 11 successful seasons and the managerial baton passed to Matt Gray, who in May 2021 led the team to National League championship glory and the promised land of a place in the professional football league for the first time in Sutton’s history.

It was by any metric an incredible achievement. “Words can’t really describe how I am feeling right now,” was Gray’s reaction after a win against Hartlepool at a jubilant Gander Green Lane clinched promotion.

“There are so many good teams and managers in the division and you look at the size of the clubs and for us to come out on top is an unbelievable achievement. I am so lucky to be at this club. Everyone pulls in the same direction and we have an unbelievable group of players and an unbelievable group of staff.”

It is that family spirit and team ethos that has sustained Sutton United over the past 125 years – here’s hoping for more glory and giant-killing in the next 125 too.

18 | MUSIC

A happy union Singer, songwriter and musician Danny George Wilson discusses Sutton’s burgeoning music scene and why he started his own vinyl venture

BY LAWRENCE DIAMOND After five minutes in the company of Danny George Wilson, I’m already beginning to wonder how I will fit his story into a mere 1,200 words.

Ostensibly we have got together to talk about the Union Music Store that he co-owns, which opened in the Sound Lounge on Sutton High Street some three years back. But, although we start there (and as Danny is a born and raised Sutton native, that feels rather apt), we are soon walking on the streets of Paris preparing to play shows with Texan music legends, or huddled in an attic studio in Chicago with a Grammy-winning rock star recording guitar solos.

Indeed, as our chat goes on I can’t help but think that this gentleman and stalwart of the UK Americana scene would need a book to chart the incredible arc of his career.

But let’s start with Union. With 20 albums’ worth of material under his belt, with bands including Grand Drive, Danny and the Champions of the World and as a solo artist, where

does Danny place owning a record store selling new and preloved vinyl in his list of achievements? For him it’s a natural evolution, and clearly part of his deep and enduring love of music.

“I’m such a huge nerdy fan of records,” he says. “They were the thing that inspired what I wanted to do as a kid, be that write songs like Dan Penn, play in a band like Booker T & the MGs, or do live shows like Bruce Springsteen. So running a record shop, I view it equally to the other stuff. It gives me equal joy. I totally love it.”

He likes being part of Sound Lounge and what is fast becoming the ground zero of an emerging and growing Sutton music scene, and gives a lot of credit to the venue’s creators, Hannah White and Keiron Marshall, who are songwriters and musicians themselves.

“They’re great, great people,” he says. “What they’ve done here is quite remarkable. There’s always been great places to go in Sutton but this place, in terms of live music, or building that kind of a community… it’s just opened a lot of doors for people. Without exaggerating, it’s quite mind-blowing.”

Perhaps even more mind-blowing is that Danny’s performance at Folk in the Park festival, organised by Hannah and Keiron in Manor Park last August, was his first ever show with Danny and the Champions of the World in SM1. How could that be possible?

Danny chuckles as he says: “The whole idea when we were in our late teens or 20s and starting Grand Drive [Danny’s initial musical project that he began with his brother Julian in the mid-90s] was to not be a local band.

We were more ambitious in the way we wanted to be viewed. But, and this might be age-related, I was so proud to play in Sutton for that show. It felt really good.”

As well as finally getting a chance to wow his hometown fans at Folk in the Park, last summer Danny also played in Paris with Americana legend and star of The Wire, Steve Earle. The tale behind the show at Cafe de la Danse shows how Danny himself fits firmly into that fabled troubadour tradition of “have guitar, will travel”.

“When you’re opening for someone you’re on such a budget and it was quite late in the day when I knew for sure I was going to do the show. So to make it happen I got the coach from Victoria to Paris at 11pm on Thursday, arrived in Paris at 10am on the Friday, met an old friend, went for lunch, went to some record shops, had a beer, did sound check and then turned up at my dressing room to find out I was sharing with Steve himself. He was such a presence, but really he

There have always been great places to go in Sutton but Sound Lounge, in terms of live music, or building that kind of community... without exaggerating, it’s quite mind-blowing

Above: Danny George Wilson, co-owner of Sutton’s Union Music Store PHOTO BY JULIA HAWKINS

couldn’t have been kinder. Then the show went like a dream. Afterwards I watched two hours of Steve playing just the best music you could hope for, had another beer and then went straight to get the coach at 1am. I was back in Victoria at 10am on the Saturday.”

It’s not the only brush with true legends of his genre that Danny’s had these last few years. For the beautiful track We’ve Got a Lot to Learn from his brilliant 2021 record Another Place, Danny managed to get Jeff Tweedy of Wilco to play a guitar solo. How did Chicago’s great alt-rock songsmith end up providing his sweet guitar tones to Sutton’s finest?

“Grand Drive toured with Uncle Tupelo [the precursor to Jeff’s main band Wilco] on their only UK tour back in the 90s, so I’d met Jeff a few times. Hamish Benjamin, who produced Another Place, also knows Jeff and he said: ‘We should ask Jeff to play on this track.’ I said: ‘Sure, but I’d be surprised if you even get an answer.’ Anyway Hamish sent it over and literally two days later we get this recording of Jeff doing the most incredible guitar solo. It was irreverent and fun, but also really moving.”

The song and record itself wears the influence of artists such as Wilco, Tortoise and Dan Penn proudly but lightly, while creating something unique. If you’re looking for a record to take you into a beautiful but cold British autumn I recommend it heartily.

With his own band Danny and the Champions of the World back touring after the pandemic, a new record out with one of his side projects, Bennett Wilson Poole (voted UK artist of the year at the 2019 UK Americana Awards) and the record store to keep on top of, I wonder how Danny keeps all those career plates spinning.

“I know this sounds silly, but I haven’t really paid attention to it as a career,” he says. “The idea was always just to make music with friends and then if you’re privileged enough to go and do some gigs, then that’s just amazing. I never think, ‘What’s my next step’, or ‘What would the journalists enjoy?’ I just do the stuff I love.”

It’s a path that’s seen him set fair till now, and I sense, as I hear him discuss the pleasure he still gets from working with different musicians – be they world famous or local talents – that there is plenty more to come.

So as we return to talk of Sutton and that oasis of music and friendship that is the Union Music Store, I ask a man who has toured quite literally all around the world what it is that makes Sutton and its surroundings so special to him?

“Opening the record store and being part of everything at the Sound Lounge has been brilliant and that’s because you realise that you live among really clever, really cool, really artistic people and really genuine and nice people,” he says. “I think that’s what Sutton is to me.”

A sentiment we can all agree with, and a fact that Danny himself might have had more than a small hand in helping make true.

AUTUMN 2023

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20 | FOOD AND DRINK

Silver celebrations in Sutton As Manze’s marks 25 years on the high street, Rick Poole tells us how his grandad grew the family’s pie and mash empire

BY LUKE G WILLIAMS For 25 years, the Sutton High Street branch of M Manze has provided locals with a traditional and muchloved taste of Victorian London, with its mouthwatering savoury pies, soft, creamy mashed potato covered in flavoursome parsley sauce (aka liquor) and perhaps some jellied or stewed eels on the side.

Although associated with Sutton for the last quarter of a century, Manze is a name that has been redolent of working-class cuisine in the capital for far longer. Rick Poole, director of Manze’s and grandson of the founder, Michele Manze, explained to the Sutton Storyteller the background to one of the most beloved set of eateries south of the river.

“The story starts back with my grandfather who came over from Italy in the 1870s,” Rick tells me over the telephone, his south London roots still evident in his earthy vocal tones.

“Michele and his parents were ice merchants and then sold ice cream

at number 85 Tower Bridge Road in Southwark.

“Then he married [Ada Poole] the daughter of Robert Cooke whose pie and mash shop was based next door at 87 Tower Bridge Road. Michele took the shop over in 1902 under the Manze’s name and I’m talking to you from the very same premises right now!”

Michele was of Italian origin, born in Ravello, a picturesque village located in the hills above the Amalfi coast in southern Italy. When he arrived in Britain in 1878 with his family he was just three years old.

His pie and mash business was such a success that he soon opened a second shop on Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey in 1908. Two further outlets followed in Poplar and then – in 1927 – a store was established at 105 Peckham High Street.

The Peckham Manze’s is still in business today, alongside the Sutton premises and the original Tower Bridge Road shop, which is the oldest surviving eel and pie shop in the UK.

When I was a baby and they were short of staff, I’d be lying in the shop in my carry cot while my mum helped out in the kitchen

Right: Much-loved pie and mash shop Manze’s PHOTOS ON OPPOSITE PAGE BY JULIA HAWKINS

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FOOD AND DRINK | 21

Several of Michele’s brothers also joined the pie and mash trade and by 1930 there were 14 pie and mash shops operating under the Manze’s banner. In 1932 Michele died and his son Lionel took over the Manze’s in Tower Bridge Road and Peckham. In turn when Lionel passed away in 1988 the business moved into the care of his sons Graham, Geoff and Rick.

Graham and Geoff retired in 2019, but Rick, now 60, still works three days a week for the business he has lived and breathed since he was a babe in arms. “From birth I’ve been in and around the business,” he says.

“When I was a baby and they were short of staff, I’d be lying in the shop in my carry cot while my mum helped out in the kitchen. I started full time in the shop when I was about 15.”

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Manze’s has faced some significant challenges over the years. In 1985 the Peckham store burned down during local riots and due to a legal battle it did not reopen until 1990. Eight years later, the business expanded to open a third outlet in Sutton.

“We live out Croydon way so we were looking for another site near there,” Rick explains. “We hunted around and Sutton seemed perfect – there are quite a lot of Londoners that live out that way now. Since opening we’ve never looked back.

“The last 25 years have flown by.

When we opened the Sutton shop originally my brothers and I were there working all day long, seven days a week to keep up with demand. It’s quite a small shop but it still does very well. I think the fact we’ve been there

When you eat pie and mash you’re eating the same thing that people were eating 120 years ago.

That’s the appeal

25 years shows we made the right decision to come to Sutton.”

Like all branches of Manze’s, the Sutton shop is decked out in green tiles with traditional fixtures and fittings that recall the business’s Victorian roots.

Rick pinpoints this respect for tradition as the key to Manze’s survival for more than a century.

“Manze’s is about traditional values and traditional recipes,” he stresses.

“Everything is traditional – Victorian tiling, old tables and benches and so on. It’s as traditional as you can get.

The recipes are still the same ones that have been passed down over years and years. We try to keep those values.”

Amid this ethos is a commitment to quality ingredients and a devotion to care and cooking by hand. Manze’s pies are baked fresh every day in stone ovens and use only prime cuts of beef minced on site. The mash is prepared anew every day with the high quality potatoes peeled on site, while the liquor sauce contains an ingredient unchanged – and kept secret – since the days of Michele Manze.

“Pie and mash is a taste from the past, isn’t it?” Rick says. “When you eat pie and mash you’re tasting and eating the same thing that people were eating 120 years ago. That’s the appeal.”

Although defined by tradition, Manze’s also moves with the times.

The business was an early adopter of the online food delivery market, which has meant that for nearly

two decades, customers across the country have been able to enjoy the unique taste of Manze’s from the comfort of their own homes.

“Our thriving online delivery service delivers all over the UK,” Rick says.

“We were one of the first to go online and it has been very successful. We have got a big client base all over the country.”

The online success of Manze’s proves there is a huge market for pie and mash that isn’t always being catered for on British high streets.

Where once upon a time there seemed to be a pie and mash shop on every major shopping street, sadly the three branches of Manze’s are among the handful of pie and mash shops that still remain.

“A lot of pie and mash shops have closed down over the last few years,” Rick admits. “Sometimes it’s been because the people running them have retired and the younger ones in the family haven’t wanted to carry on.”

Manze’s, thankfully, has avoided this fate. “We’ve been very fortunate,” Rick says. “My daughter Emma and her husband Tom are part of the business now as partners and want to carry it on.”

With Manze’s moving into a fourth generation of the immigrant Italian family that arrived in Britain all those years ago, the future of pie and mash looks bright. There are sure to be plenty more chapters still to be written – and countless more plates of steaming hot pie and mash to be served – in the remarkable Manze’s story.

22 | SUTTON SELECTION

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Sutton United NAME: EFAN EKOKU

6 ACROSS is a famous person who was born in Sutton.

POSITION: STRIKER

ACROSS

DOWN

6 9 10 11 13 15 17 19 20 22 23 24

1 2 3 4 5 7 8 12 14 16 18 21 22 23

TELEPHONEPIKE (anagram) (8, 5) Dull colour (4) Fool, idiot (9) Hunt for scraps (8) Crowd, horde (6) Shiny coating (7) Suffer (7) Time of year (6) Plea (8) Famous 1415 battle (9) Natter (4) 19th-century American horror writer (5, 5, 3)

Show gratitude for (10) Merely (4) ________ Steadman, actress (6) Body’s bone structure (8) Slender (4) Spoil, cosset (6) Step in, mediate (9) Disappearing (9) Thrashed out, discussed (10) Easy job (8) Follow-up (6) 16th-century Italian painter (6) So be it (4) Imitate (4)

BORN: 1967 Efan Ekoku is a former professional footballer and sports commentator.

He began his career at Sutton United and scored 12 goals in 57 appearances during the 1989-90 season.

Ekoku moved into league football in 1990 when he signed for AFC Bournemouth, who had just been relegated to the third division.

A £500,000 move to Norwich City in March 1993 took him to the Premier League. He arrived at Carrow Road when the club were in the thick of the title race.

Ekoku scored three goals in 10 games, which helped the Canaries achieve a third-place finish and meant they qualified for the Uefa Cup. As well as Norwich, he also played in the Premier League for Wimbledon and in Switzerland for Grasshoppers.

He was capped six times by Nigeria and featured in the World Cup 94.

Sutton sign This sign was made in 1907 by Hart, Son, Peard and Co. It originally stood on a timber frame outside the Cock Hotel on Sutton High Street.

When the hotel was demolished, the sign moved to its present location on the crossroads of the high street and Carshalton Road. It was later converted into a road sign and in 2018 it was Grade-II listed.

We have incorporated part of its design into the masthead of this newspaper.

AUTUMN 2023

SOLUTION ACROSS: 6 Penelope Keith, 9 Grey, 10 Simpleton, 11 Scavenge, 13 Throng, 15 Varnish, 17 Undergo, 19 Season, 20 Entreaty, 22 Agincourt, 23 Chat, 24 Edgar Allan Poe. DOWN: 1 Appreciate, 2 Only, 3 Alison, 4 Skeleton, 5 Thin, 7 Pamper, 8 Intervene, 12 Vanishing, 14 Negotiated, 16 Sinecure, 18 Sequel, 21 Titian, 22 Amen, 23 Copy.

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