Contacts

The Teddington Society
21 Teddington Park
Teddington TW11 8BD

Contact by e-mail:
secretary@teddingtonsociety.org.uk

The Autumn 2007 issue of Tidings includes the following:

• Letter from the Chair
• From the Editor
• Reports from the Groups
• Teddington in Flower
• Police Matters
• Community Awards
• Teddington Bowling Club
• Christmas Festivities 2007
• Early one morning...
• The Cedars celebrates its 50th anniversary
• Tea with the Stars
• Diary and Events

Letter from the Chair
Teddington in Flower was a great success this year with a record turn-out despite the humid weather and the unavailability of the Library garden. I went round with the Mayor, Cllr Marc Cranfield-Adams, who conscientiously visited every garden, spoke to the owners and sampled the refreshments.

We were both enormously impressed by the beauty of the gardens, many of which were new this year. We collected over £1,000 for a local charity.

The River Festival was held on a blustery day in an unsettled week so there were fewer people attending to buy our books, cards and mugs. However there was a cheerful and lively atmosphere and lots of happy family groups.

The weather this summer has been extraordinary. In the last edition of Tidings I mentioned the exceptional heat of April and in late July we had a monsoon cloudburst. I was in Tesco’s when water poured through the ceiling and burst up through the drains - flooding the store so that it closed and we were turned out into the car park, already 3 inches under water, and the surrounding streets, which had become rushing rivers. Climate change is certainly springing some surprises!

Jenny Hilton

From the Editor
At time of going to print, nobody has come forward to take over the role of editor of Tidings when I give up the job at the beginning of next year!

To anyone who feels they might be interested in the role but is worried that they do not have enough experience, I can offer reassurance that there is a team of people on hand to give help and advice - including George Foster, our designer, who is unfailingly generous with support. I would also be happy to work alongside a new editor, at least for the first few issues.

Please, if you think you could do this important job – if only for a limited time, and maybe as a ‘job share’ with one or two others – get in touch with me urgently. We can’t allow our Society to fade away and I fear, without the Newsletter, that is just what will happen! For very many of our members, the Newsletter is the Teddington Society – keeping them in touch with what is happening in our community and what the Society is doing on their behalf.

Margaret Chan

Police Matters
The Teddington Police Liaison Group met on June 27th at Elleray Hall under the Chairmanship of Martyn Kingsford who also chaired the meeting in January about the Teddington Cell Block proposals. Sgt Pat Denholm and members of her Safe Neighbourhood Team attended, together with 20 residents and two local councillors.

Martyn reported that the Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) had now written to Mrs Wendy Kyrle-Pope, Chair of the Borough’s Police Consultative Group, stating that the Teddington Police Station is “clearly unsuitable for a large scale custody unit of the type envisaged but some upgrading of the site has not been ruled out.”The focus is now firmly on identifying alternative locations for improved custody suites in both the Kingston and Richmond Boroughs,as the present arrangements are most unsatisfactory.This news was greeted with much satisfaction but all felt that any future proposals, particularly for Teddington, would need close scrutiny.

Several local matters were raised and discussed, including disturbances at two local public houses and the police response, incidents of yobbish behaviour and problems at a local playground. It was a useful and at times lively meeting, with Sgt Denholm promising to follow up as appropriate. The next meeting of the Liaison Group is scheduled for 7.00pm on Wednesday, 24th October at Elleray Hall – when any member of the public can attend to listen or to raise matters of concern.

The next meetings of the Borough Police Consultative Group – now called the Borough Community and Police Partnership (CPP) – will take place at 7.00pm at York House on 25th September and 27th November. Questions from the public are dealt with by the Borough Commander – the recently appointed Detective Chief Superintendent Rich Turner – at these meetings which are open to all members of the public.

John Demont
(CPP Representative)

Tea with the Stars
If only Betty and Tony Mansell had kept a visitors book, they’d have a valuable collection of signatures by now.

For more than 40 years, Betty and Tony hosted lunches and teas at Peg Woffington’s tea rooms in the High Street – and because of the nearness of the television studios, a steady and willing flow of celebrities often sought refreshment over the years. Anna Neagle, Alistair McGowan, Fay Compton, Arthur Lowe,David Jason, Rosemary Leach... just some of the names who came to sample perfectly brewed tea and Betty’s unmissable home-made sponges.

It was two years ago that Betty and Tony decided to hang up their aprons and retire – “Well,we’d been running the business since 1962, and to be honest, it was all getting a bit too much for us,” explained Tony. “We always did our own shopping twice a week, and the loads were really quite heavy. Added to which, restrictions and rules governing small businesses were getting tiresome.”

Then there was the menu. “Everything was home-made,” recalled Betty,“and although our customers loved our pies, it was always important to ring the changes with other fare. Choosing something different, and cooking it perfectly every time, could sometimes be a pressure.” Betty and Tony are now in their hale and hearty eighties, so to say they’ve earned their retirement is something of an understatement. These days, the clattering of crockery is replaced by the slow, rhythmic ticktock of a handsome old wall clock.

Peace prevails. But even so, the couple can’t quite give up the trade... which is why they invited the Society to have its occasional coffee mornings there. “Purely a charity event,” said Tony, “because we like to help. No commercial interest at all – that stopped when we retired.” (In other words, please don’t knock at the door or you’ll be disappointed!) To go through the front door of Peg Woffington Cottage is to enter a glorious bygone age. The tables and chairs are still in place, and the walls are adorned with theatrical memorabilia – an old 1930s London Palladium poster, some signed photographs, stills from Peg of Old Drury (the Anna Neagle film about Peg Woffington, directed by her husband Herbert Wilcox), a selection of theatre bills, and a splendid poster advertising the arrival of No, No, Nanette at Teddington’s old Savoy cinema (seats 9d to 2/4d, but 6d to 1/3d if you’d care to attend the matinee).

“We’ve always loved the theatre,” explained Tony,“and we still go regularly. There was a time when we put on a musical show here, just for our friends and best customers. We’d do songs from Showboat, Cabaret, Gigi... that sort of thing. Just for entertainment, and even our waitresses took part! Everyone seemed to appreciate it.” They did indeed, because those little soirées ran for 12 years.

Then, of course, there’s the long association with Peg Woffington. Betty and Tony are sure that the famous actress never lived at the cottage, but she certainly lived in Teddington – if only to be near David Garrick, with whom she had a tempestuous affair. Renowned for her sharp wit, she was also Garrick’s leading lady in London and Dublin for six years and was celebrated wherever she went. She died in her 40s after suffering a stroke on stage, and is buried at St Mary’s Church.

But that was then and this is now. Today, the charming owners of the cottage bearing the actress’s name are greatly enjoying their retirement, and are as busy as bees. You can spot them at the Landmark, where they like to help out on the catering side whenever there’s a big event – and you’ll also see them in the audience at the Teddington Theatre Club, which they adore. Old customers are now friends, so they have an active social life – and if ever they have a spare moment, there’s also the colourful garden, complete with fountain, to attend to. And keeping a beady eye, all the while, is Suki, their venerable cat who’s been with them for 11 of her 13 years, and who undoubtedly knows a thing or two about theatre, sponge cakes and the meaning of life.

Peter Denton