Surrey weekly round-up: 3 August

A museum in Farnham is hoping to raise £150,000 by the end of October to protect its legacy and avoid closure.

The Rural Life Living Museum has launched an appeal for the public’s help to raise the funds following a rise in its operational costs.

In a Facebook post it said: “We didn’t ever want to get to this point and we have found asking for help really difficult – but here we are.”

The collection was started by Madge and Henry Jackson in 1968 and they opened their back garden to the public in 1973.

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A water expert has warned people to stay out of a river in Surrey after recording high levels of pollution.

Dr Jess Neumann, an expert in flooding and hydrology at the University of Reading, said recent readings at the River Mole were concerning.

She said the levels of phosphates were “off the scale” and it was “really not a very good place to be hanging around and swimming in”.

Thames Water said although all storm discharges were “unacceptable”, the sewage system was historically designed to work in this way, to prevent sewage backing up into people’s homes.

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A family in Surrey is getting a special delivery from a man who travelled thousands of miles to hand deliver postcards from the Galapagos Islands.

Jonny Beardmore decided to deliver 50 postcards that had been left by travellers in the remote Ecuadorian islands to their recipients around the world, raising money along the way for motor neurone disease (MND) charities.

So far his travels have taken him as far afield as Iceland and America as he has clocked up more than 32,000 miles en route to the 24th delivery in Godalming.

Mr Beardmore said: “Through this project, I aim to reconnect people through the written word, emphasising the personal touch that letters provide.”

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The Arts Council has agreed to fund a £399,000 “culture hub” in Surrey.

The grant has been given to a new partnership including Surrey County Council (SCC), Spelthorne Borough Council (SBC), Ashford Youth Club, and Artswork.

The two-year project aims to bridge the gap between creative education and employment in Staines and create a change in how young people interact with culture.

SCC’s deputy leader Denise Turner-Stewart says it is hoped the money will “expose young people to the possibility of skills and employment within this sector”.

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A service has taken place in Surrey to mark the 80th anniversary of the death of a nurse who helped to save the lives of 75 wounded men in World War Two, before she lost her own.

Sister Dorothy Anyta Field, from Lower Kingswood, died alongside Sister Mollie Evershed, from Soham, Cambridgeshire, when the hospital ship they were on struck a mine off the French coast on 7 August 1944.

A wreath-laying ceremony took place at St Andrew’s Church, Kingswood, in memory of Sister Field, who was known as Anyta, on Wednesday.

Surrey military historian and RAF veteran Tim Richardson said: “They both had the chance to save themselves but they didn’t.”

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