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SURREY DID YOU KNOW

The Royal Connection

It is said that at the end of his reign, Henry VIII owned over 50 palaces and none of them were used by Airbnb. Seriously it may seem a lot but he also had a staff of over 1,000 people. Many of his palaces were scattered around England as Henry liked to travel and, when he did, he needed somewhere grand to stay. However, his favourite palace was Hampton Court in Surrey.

Originally the palace was built for Thomas Wolsey who was Henry's chief adviser. After a while Wolsey fell out of favour and, trying to get back in the King's good books, he gifted him the palace. This didn't work and Wolsey was removed from office. He travelled to York but was arrested and ordered back to London. He would almost certainly have been beheaded but, luckily for him, died at Leicester on the way back.

Along with St James's Palace, Hampton Court Palace is the only other remaining palace of the 50 or so that Henry owned. It is well worth a visit but please don't get lost in the maze. I'm not coming looking for you.

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Surrey Eats

These nice little cakes are known as Maids of Honour Tarts and as they are also known as Richmond Maids of Honour and Richmond is in Surrey, this is where they belong. There is a story that King Henry VIII, while staying at Hampton Court Palace, also in Surrey, saw some of the Queen's maids of honour eating some cakes and he demanded to taste one. He found them absolutely delicious and named them after the maids. As his future wife, Anne Boleyn, was a maid of honour he might have been trying to impress her.

There is, so I found out, a tea room in Kew, also in Surrey, called " The Original Maids of Honour" which was set up specifically to sell these tarts way back in the 18th century.

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Surrey VIPs

Seven random people who were born in Surrey in the last 100 years:-
Warwick Davis (Actor/Presenter), Julie Andrews (Actor), Tim Vine (Comedian), Michaela Strachan (TV Presenter), James Cracknell (Olympic Gold Medalist ‐Rowing), Delia Smith (Cook/TV Presenter), Joanna Rowsell (Olympic Gold Medalist ‐ Cycling).

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Richard Remembers

I'm afraid my memories here are going to be very brief. Surrey is not on the coast, not part of my previous journeys and my only memories are of playing rugby and cricket there in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Rugby was not my favourite sport but at school I found it preferable to rowing (I couldn't then swim) or cross country running which seemed pointless. So I played rugby for five years and then, after I left, played for the old boys for a season. During these six years I suffered delayed concussion after one game, dislocated a shoulder in another, tore all the ligaments and broke a bone in a ankle in a seven-a-side game and suffered temporary paralysis after being squashed in a scrum where I shouldn't have been playing (I liked being on the wing ‐ it was quieter). Our opening fixture was usually at Reigate in Surrey or against St John's School in Leatherhead, also luckily in Surrey. Don't remember them at all.

Cricket was different. I only broke four fingers in an eight year career and I do remember playing cricket, again for the old boys of my school, at a beautiful ground in Oxshott in Surrey. Lovely setting and very nice people. Sorry, but that's it.

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Owlbut's Birdwatch

The nightingale is best known for its song which often consists of a series of quick high and low notes that are rich in quality. Very few birds can match them. They are slightly larger than robins and have a fairly plain brown and white appearance. They have pink legs and have a thin brown and yellow beak. They eat insects.

Nightingales arrive in April and will sing until early June. They leave again in early August. In England they are mainly found in the south east. They are quite shy and often hide in bushes or grassland.

Nightingales are about 16 cms in length, have a wingspan of about 25 cms and weigh between 17 and 24 grams. There was a very famous song during WWII called "A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square". Go on, YouTube it.

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Two extra sections, "It Happened Here" and "Now That's Weird", will appear on 7 October 2024