editor's letter

November already – where do the months go?! In fact, where do the years go? My team and I are gearing up to celebrate the three-year anniversary of our first edition of the new-look Caterham and District Independent, in December 2019. My small team was thrown in at the deep end and we quickly discovered how challenging producing your favourite free monthly paper is…Since then, we’ve learned plenty of new skills, met lots of fabulous people, changed our name and expanded our reach to cover the whole of Tandridge District. It’s been hectic, but we’ve loved (almost) every minute of it! Front page Our front page story this month concerns the proposed development of 140 houses at Godstone Quarry. Local residents have expressed concerns about the impact on traffic, pollution, school places and the area’s wildlife. We put these to the developers responsible for the plan. And the rest.. National Tree Week takes place at the end of the month: our article is illustrated by the beautiful old oak tree that the children of Hurst Green Infant School and Nursery are lucky enough to have in their grounds. As usual, we also have lots of stories about fantastic people doing amazing things in our community. Former soldier Steven Davies now spends his own time and money cleaning and restoring military graves: we find out about his recent work at St Mary’s Church in Caterham. We also feature the founder of charity The Lily Foundation, who has just received an MBE for her dedication to helping people suffering with mitochondrial disease, plus the pupils of Essendene Lodge School, who invited the Salvation Army to their Harvest Festival celebrations. On to our columnists: Chantal Baker, from Champ Consultants, talks us through how to find the right accountant, Hever Castle’s head gardener Neil […]