Letter from the editor – May 2026

Aston Martin, Sevenoaks - “Our ethos at Jardine Motors is to be the best motor retailer as judged by you”.

The Caterham and District Independent recently visited the Aston Martin showroom in Sevenoaks who, along with Cambridge are one of only two Aston Martin dealerships within Jardine Motors Group. The team always strive to provide the ultimate customer experience when visiting either of our showrooms. It showcases stunning Aston Martin models such as the DBS Superleggera, DB11 and Vantage, all of which are available to test drive by appointment along with a fantastic range of used cars.

It will soon be also hosting the most anticipated new Aston Martin DBX which is powered by a fantastic turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine and can accelerate to 62mph in just 4.5 seconds. These incredible vehicles are of course built in Britain as you would come to expect from Aston Martin.

We spoke with the General Manager Anna Houldsworth, their Sales Manager, Nick Simmons and their After Sales Manager, Aaron Thompson who collectively form the management team.

The Caterham and District Independent team were very excited when our News Desk was contacted by a local resident who explained that she was the friend of a talented artist living in the area, who had been painting insects and flowers onto pebbles! To date the artist has painted over 100 pebbles during lockdown and left them across Caterham in natural places for residents to find; she tells us that 90 have already been found and picked up. The talented artist has requested to remain anonymous to the community, but her tiny works of amazing art painted onto pebbles have brought joy to many.

We met with the artist who, when asked why she preferred to remain anonymous explained that she enjoys the connection and communication which the pebbles offer her to members of the community during this time when people have been forced to be distanced from one another, alluding to an almost virtual dialogue with those walking through the same areas as her. She hopes too, that during recent months, it has brought delight to both adults and children and perhaps encouraged or inspired others to pick up a paintbrush. She told us that she is happy to continue making and leaving her mark across the community.

We are hoping that maybe, in a few months time, she may decide to reveal her identity and we could then feature more of her outstanding artwork.

If you are a local resident and you have found one of these or perhaps another painted pebble on your travels, please do contact us as we would love to hear from you. Send us a photo and let us know where you found it so that we can showcase the diversity of Caterham's art and crafting community that mirrors the diversity of our natural wildlife.

Please contact us at newsdesk@caterhamindependent.com and we will send you one of our fabulous mugs!

Welcome to the July edition of ‘The Caterham & District Independent’.

It’s hard to believe but we are now over halfway through the year. The enforced lifestyle changes we’ve made due to Covid-19 make it feel as if 2020 has never really got started but we are now slowly adapting to our ‘new normal’. Despite the difficulties we have faced, we have really pulled together as a community, helping each other to cope with ill health, travel restrictions, difficulties finding essential supplies and a myriad of other issues.

Lockdown has been incredibly hard for many people and we don’t yet have a full understanding of the enormous toll it has taken on the nation’s mental health. Hopefully, the recent easing of some restrictions will have helped to counteract some of the more negative aspects, and will have brought back welcomed benefits, such as being able to meet up with friends, albeit still outside and socially distancing, in the most part.

(Lockdown has definitely been too much for my household appliances: both my washing machine, hoover and television all stopped working last month. I think they’re complaining of being overworked!)

We are now starting to see the welcome return of many local shops and businesses, which is great for the borough. The end of June saw the new Couglans Bakery open in Old Coulsdon. They’re an artisan eatery, crafting delicious treats and I’m thinking a Caterham & District Independent review might be in order soon!

It’s East Surrey Museum’s  40th birthday!! A museum serving the East Surrey area had been proposed since the early 1970’s – but it was not until 1977 that serious discussions started with Tandridge District Council.  With the support of many volunteers, The Bourne Society and Tandridge District Council,  East Surrey Museum finally opened on 10th May 1980 in a Victorian cottage at 1, Stafford Road where it remains to this day. Right from the start the Museum proved very popular with a wide mix of displays, exhibitions and activities, both in the Museum and in the community.  Since then the Museum has gone from strength to strength, and although currently closed due to Coronavirus,  is marking its birthday throughout June by posting pictures from the past 40 years on Facebook and Instagram, followed by an exciting competition!!  The Museum hopes to  reopen soon, welcoming visitors old and new with a major exhibition to mark 100 years of St Lawrence’s Hospital.

A 94-year old WWII veteran, who has lived in Coulsdon since he was four, was given a standing ovation on VE Day. Ken Raffield’s carer, Sue Peterson, posted on a local Facebook group that he would be walking down Caterham Drive, wearing his medals, on 8th May, and a group of over 100 local residents came out to applaud him.

Ken learnt semaphore as a young boy in the Cubs, and Morse code in the Scouts. He continued using these skills with the 285 Squadron Air Cadets, before joining the RAF at 17 as a Communications Engineer, a role which involved sending Morse code landing instructions to arriving planes. His first post was to Tangier in Morocco, before moving to Leghorn (Livorno) in North Italy, where he coincidentally met up with his brother on the frontline.

Ken recalls his time in the military with fondness. He retains remarkably vivid memories of his past, including his Morse code expertise: something he can still use fluently to this day!

Claire Coutinho MP commented: “As the lockdown begins to ease, my priority is helping to get our businesses back on their feet. I am speaking to Tandridge District Council and Surrey County Council, the LEP, and local business groups to make plans to restore our thriving high streets and small business sector. I know many Caterham businesses have benefited from the unprecedented business support packages, but many will now need help to adapt and also support from residents to buy local. A huge amount of work is happening within Government to create guidance for different sectors to operate within social distancing rules. I will continue to work to keep you updated. Please do contact me if there are businesses you would like me to promote or help. Our local economy thrives because of the hard graft and dynamism of our small businesses – that’s why I’m here to support them as best I can.”

Another act of kindness from within the community was shown when owners of the Caterham Fish Bar High Street surprised NHS staff from Caterham Dene hospital by not charging them for their lunchtime order recently. Upon arrival to collect their food, Marisa and Ozzie (who have owned the small business in the High Street for the past 10 years) told the staff member that their wouldn’t be a charge for their large order in return for all the hospitals hard work during the past few months. The shop were thanked and their generosity was appreciated greatly.

20 High St, Caterham, Surrey, CR3 5UA / 01883 342345

Spring 2020 has officially been recorded as the sunniest on record! The sunshine together with the lockdown has given a lot of us the opportunity to spend more time in our gardens than ever before. Gardening can sometimes feel like the chore that needs to be completed before you can relax, but I hope you have been able to stop and enjoy the nature around us and here are a few tips to make the gardening easier so there is more time for the sitting back and relaxing!

We’ve had hardly any rain in the last 3 months. Water in the morning or evenings and only water the plants that really need it: veggies, pots and newly planted plants. Lawns and established plants shouldn’t need watering (unless we have a drought) so focus your time on the ones that do. Veggies and pots might need watering everyday but new plants should be ‘drenched’ a couple of times a week rather than given ‘a splash’ every day; this encourages root growth downwards into the soil.

Many people have been using lockdown as a time to declutter their homes or catch up with some much needed DIY on their houses and in their gardens. It’s also a great time to consider your home security, something locksmiths RLM Locksmiths are experts in.

We spoke to Dan, who told us that many people are unaware that their door locks may not offer the best protection.
“Many front doors have only cheap, basic locks that aren’t the right size for the door and which can be easily broken or bypassed. Upgrading to a higher-security lock, costing just £50-£60 provides a much better level of security.”

RLM Locksmiths are a mobile service for domestic and commercial properties. They offer 24 hour emergency call outs, as well as burglary repairs, lock replacements and door safety checks. You can find them at www.rlmlocksmiths.co.uk or on social media: Instagram(@rlmlocks) and Facebook (@rlmlocksmiths).

From Monday 15 June the remaining non-essential retailers in the UK will be able to reopen their doors after 12 weeks since the UK went into lockdown.

Outlets selling clothes, furniture, electronics, auction houses, indoor markets, and the like are allowed to welcome back in store trading while following the government's COVID-19 guidelines.

Director of Caterham Valley’s property agents Martin & Co, Lucie Allan, said: “It'll be great for Caterham once the shops are able to open again.
“We need that sense of normality and for people to have confidence in making purchases and trying to get life back on track as best they can.”
Although the family-run firm never stopped working, Allan said they appreciate being able to return to their offices.
However, the way we shop for our shoes, food, and homes will become part of a new kind of normal to preserve the efforts made during the quarantine period and suppress a potential second wave spread of the coronavirus.

Grants donated from SES Water as part of their "Every Drop Counts" campaign and from The Caterham Rotary group were used to purchase planters and these have now been put in place in Caterham on the Hill, High Street. The planters have a reservoir which helps reduce the amount of watering that they need.

They have been very well received and fellow shop keepers have also expressed an interest in having some. If you are a local businesses or individuals who would like to sponsor or donate funds so that many more troughs to be placed in the High Street on the Hill please contact the Horticultural Society via their website caterhamdistricthorticulturalsoc.weebly.com/contact-us.html

If the society are able to raise the necessary funding they are also planning to make a formal entry into the RHS Bloom competition when it reopens in 2021.