Morning, Surbiton. A world championship finishes on a Berrylands lawn next Sunday and almost nobody here knows — that leads today. Also: the complete Surbiton quiz map, thanks to Sat · today's Fairfield litter pick is the last of its kind · a phone number I got wrong a fortnight ago, put right · and Monday hits 32°C. This one's mostly built from your emails. Here's Saturday.
The Staywell number I printed was wrong. On 27 July I ran an item on Staywell's day centres and gave a phone number of 020 8949 4244. I checked the charity's own website this morning and that number appears nowhere on it. The number to ring is 020 8942 8256. If you tried the old one and got nowhere, that's on me, and I'm sorry — it was aimed at exactly the readers who'd have found the dead end hardest.
Everything else stands, and it's worth having properly. The Bradbury is Staywell's Kingston day centre — small, purpose-built, with an enclosed patio garden — at 37B Grange Road, KT1 2RA, open Monday to Thursday, 10am–2.30pm. A full day, including a freshly made two-course lunch, refreshments on arrival and afternoon tea, is £24. Tuesday mornings there's yoga, 10.30–11.30am, £8, all abilities. And they've just started B's Kitchen, a lunch club on Tuesdays 12–2pm, £12 for a main and dessert. Bookings go through their New Malden office on that number. The charity turns 80 this year — it started in 1946 as one of the local welfare associations set up for older people after the war.
And Isy was right about the fridge. Isy wrote in on Thursday to say the Save The World Club's community fridge runs on Friday nights, not the 10.30am I'd printed. The club's own page says it plainly: it “runs every Friday night, unless otherwise stated”. So it's the evening, and Isy's 10.30pm is the time to work to.
Both checked this morning against staywellservices.org.uk and savetheworldclub.org directly — not a summary of them.
A world championship is about to finish in Berrylands
On Alexandra Drive, about a mile from Surbiton station, there are seven croquet lawns. From Tuesday to Sunday next week, they host the closing stretch of the MacRobertson Shield — listed by Croquet England as the World Association Croquet Team Championship, Tier 1, entry by selection only. It has been running since 24 July across four grounds: Hurlingham, Roehampton, Sussex County and Surbiton. Sunday 9 August is the last day of the whole thing, and it's ours.
A world championship, in KT5, and I'd bet most of Berrylands walks past the gate without knowing. Surbiton is a serious club: it won Croquet England's national inter-club competition last October, its own news page records a member winning the World Championship in November, and it describes its membership as running “from complete novices to world champions” and from nine years old to ninety-plus. There's nothing to book — the Shield is a selected event — so if you want to see it, the answer is to walk down and look over the fence like a civilised person.
And if it gives you ideas: the club runs free taster sessions and six-session beginners' courses at £30, with the fee knocked off your subscription if you join. All you need is flat shoes. coaching@surbitoncroquet.org.uk.
via Croquet England's fixture list and Surbiton Croquet Club's own diary, both read this morning
Today's Fairfield litter pick is the last of its kind
Suzanne wrote in with this and it deserves more than a line. The Great Fairfield Litter Pick is today, 2–3pm, marking Love Parks Week — pickers to borrow, sweet treats for anyone who turns up, all welcome. Fairfield isn't Surbiton, but it's central enough that people come from across the borough, and plenty of you already do.
What makes today different: after years of running it, this is the last one Suzanne and Martin will host. They're handing over to the newly formed Friends of Fairfield, whose first community pick is Saturday 12 September, same 2–3pm slot, and monthly on the second Saturday after that. If you want to stay on the list for it, email team@friendsoffairfield.org.uk. Forty-odd people turned out in May and filled four sacks. A decent send-off would be the right way to say thank you.
sent in by a reader who organises it
Our MP takes the care system to the new PM
Sir Ed Davey, MP for Kingston and Surbiton, spoke to the newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham by phone on Wednesday, and came off the call saying he'd pushed one thing in particular: family carers. “I raised the issue which is close to my heart, of family carers, making sure they are the heart of this whole discussion,” he said, “and to be fair to the Prime Minister, he responded really positively and warmly to that.” He was measured about the rest — “there wasn't much detail on policy”, but “a good start all in all”. Davey has been a carer all his life and cares for his disabled son, who needs 24-hour care.
reported by Tilly O'Brien · via Kingston Nub News
The Script sold out Kingston in under an hour
If you were quick yesterday morning, well done. The Script play Circuit Kingston on Monday 7 December, a Banquet Records show for the new album, staged to feel like an Irish pub session — and every ticket option, CD and LP bundles included, went in under an hour. There's a waiting list on the Banquet site for returns. Consider this your standing reminder that Banquet shows go on sale at 10am and go fast.
reported by Tilly O'Brien · via Kingston Nub News
- Berrylands, this is the last one. The council's list confirms what's behind it: an emergency Thames Water closure of Surbiton Hill Park, 24 hours a day, ending Monday 3 August. Which is why TfL has the K2 back to normal at 8pm Monday. Today and tomorrow it's still diverted both ways — no stops between Pembroke Avenue and Howard Road towards Kingston, none between Berrylands Road and Pembroke Avenue towards Hook Parade. One more weekend of walking it.
- The 465 — one I missed. I said on Friday that every other local route was running normally. Not quite: the 465 out of Surbiton Station has been diverted at the Leatherhead end since Monday and stays that way until 4pm Sunday 9 August, going via the Leatherhead By-Pass, Epsom Road, Leret Way and Bull Hill, missing the Park Rise and All Saints Church stops. Only bites if you ride past Chessington, but it should have been in there.
- The K3 stays diverted until 8pm Wednesday 5 August for emergency works on Hare Lane, Claygate — missing the stops between Oaken Lane and Claygate Station both ways.
- A clarification on the cycle-route works. The council files Ditton Road, Hollyfield Road and Kingsdowne Road together as one job — signals and closures at the junctions with Ewell Road, running to 25 January 2027. Yvonne, that's a slightly narrower reading than I gave you on Friday, and Hollyfield Road is in it too. Long, either way.
- Next week: two-way signals on Ewell Road near Tolworth Close until 7 August for gully works · three night closures in Kingston — Villiers Road 3–8 Aug, 8pm–5am, Eden Street 4–5 Aug, 7pm–7am, Galsworthy Road 5–6 Aug, 8pm–5am · and Friday, signals on St Mark's Hill outside Wentworth Court.
From TfL live bus status and the council's roadworks list, both read this morning.
Sat sent this over and it's too good to keep in a single week's edition. Every pub quiz he knows of, with the damage and the prize. Print it, pin it, argue about it.
- Monday, 8pm — The Waggon & Horses, Surbiton Hill Rd, KT6 4TW. £2pp, £50 prize.
- Tuesday, 8pm — The Black Lion, Brighton Road, KT6 5PL. Free entry, cash prize.
- Wednesday, 7.30pm — The Victoria, Victoria Road, KT6 4JT. £2.50pp, bar tab or a bottle of wine.
- Last Thursday of the month, 7.30pm — The Coronation Hall, St Mark's Hill, KT6 4LQ. £3pp, cash prize, proceeds to Young Lives vs Cancer.
- Sunday, 7pm — The Elm Tree, Victoria Road, KT6 4NQ. £2.50pp, £50 bar tab.
- Sunday, 7.30pm — The Antelope, Maple Road, KT6 4AW. £50 bar tab.
- Sunday, 7pm — The Grove, Grove Road, KT6 4BX. Free entry, £25 bar tab.
And that settles the Prince of Wales. Christine thought there was a Sunday quiz on Ewell Road but wasn't certain; it isn't on Sat's list either. So: probably not, but if anyone has actually sat in it this year, say so and I'll add it. Meanwhile you have three to choose from on a Sunday night alone.
Reader-supplied, not verified pub by pub — ring ahead if you're making a night of it.
- 10.30am — Repair Café Kingston, community room at Kingston Library, Fairfield Road KT1 2PS. Free. Transition Town Kingston's first-Saturday fixture — bring the lamp, the toaster, the jumper with the hole in it.
- 11am–1pm — cooking class at the Save The World Club, then the place is open to the public 2–6pm. See the block below — it's a bigger operation than you'd guess.
- 2–3pm — the Great Fairfield Litter Pick, the last one under the old crew. Story above.
- 2–4pm — BIG DIVAS bottomless brunch at Bonnie Rogues, 154 Clarence Street. Drag-hosted and unapologetically Beyoncé-heavy.
- 3pm — K-POP All Stars Tribute at the Rose. On their own listing for today, so if you've got teenagers at a loose end, that's the one.
- Tonight — live music at The Surbiton Flyer from 9pm, by the station. Richard, who runs it, tells me they do live music twice a week.
Checked this morning against the council's events list, the Rose's what's-on and Kingston Nub News; the rest reader-supplied.
- 5–9pm — Surbiton Board Game Night at Corners, 75 Maple Road. £2 a head for the run of a library of over a hundred board and card games, with hosts on hand to teach you the rules. Come with people or come alone — they're set up for both.
- 7.30pm — Legend: The Music of Bob Marley at the Rose, direct from the West End.
- Three quizzes — Elm Tree 7pm, Grove 7pm, Antelope 7.30pm. See the map above.
- Also: junior parkrun 9am · free men's football at Fairfield Rec 1pm · Canbury bandstand 3–5pm.
The 10,000 sq ft place on Southsea Road you've never been in
Tariq from the Save The World Club sent over their full weekly programme, and it's a lot more than the fridge. They're in a community warehouse called The Circulatory, 18 Southsea Road, KT1 2EH — volunteer-run, open to the public 12noon–7pm on weekdays and 2–6pm on Saturdays, with a 1,000 sq ft community garden out the back. His own description is “a Tardis and an Aladdin's cave”, which is the most Surbiton sentence I've had all week. Standing fixtures:
- Tuesdays, 1–5pm — Welcome Table Community Café. Cheap refreshments, company, advice, and a way in if you're volunteering.
- Thursdays, 2–5pm — community gardening and food growing in the Chalice Community Garden.
- Fridays, 4–6pm — free open use of the CONNECT music studio. Bring an instrument or borrow theirs.
- Friday nights — the Kingston Waste Not Want Not community fridge, for surplus food. Bring a cool bag.
- Saturdays, 11am–1pm — cooking classes.
The stated aim is reducing isolation and food waste in the same building, which is a neat trick. If you've got a spare afternoon and no particular plan for it, that's where I'd point you.
details supplied directly by the charity, cross-checked against savetheworldclub.org
If you play, three doors are open
Music is the single biggest thing you ask for that I've been worst at answering — sixteen of you have written in about gigs and bands. So rather than another listing, here are the ways in, all from your own emails and the venues themselves.
- The Farmers' Market balcony. Every month local musicians play the market from the balcony of The French Table, and the market is openly asking for people to fill the slots. Send a link to anywhere they can hear you: hello@surbitonfarmersmarket.co.uk — same address if you'd rather volunteer on the barriers.
- The Surbiton Flyer runs live music twice a week, straight off the station.
- The Lamb — tipped by Pete, a professional musician just over the Kingston border, as hosting a lot of live music. Pete also asked whether he could tell the town about his own gigs. Yes, Pete, obviously — and that goes for every player reading this. Send me dates and they go in.
That's the deal I'd like to make: this newsletter can't scrape gigs, because no listings site round here publishes them properly. But it can print yours the morning after you email me.
- Tue 4 to Sun 9 — the MacRobertson Shield at Surbiton Croquet Club, Alexandra Drive. See the top.
- Mon 3 to Sun 9 — Ministry of Science Live! at the Rose. Explosions, direct from the West End, opens Monday.
- Tue 4, 6.30pm — Men's Walk & Talk, meeting at Surbiton Station's Glenbuck Road entrance. Free, an hour, no agenda. And Mon–Thu, 10am–12, the free athletics camp at the Weir Archer Centre for 11–16s.
- Wed 12 — Active for All Sports Day, 11am at Chessington Sports Centre, free. Same day as the evening solar eclipse.
- Thu 13 to Sun 16 — The Cat in the Hat at the Rose, the one for the little ones. Lunchtime jazz with Teresa Jennings in the Rose Café on the Thursday at noon.
- Sat 15 — Farmers' Market, 9am–1pm, Maple Road. It's third-Saturday, monthly — not weekly, which trips everyone up. The council brings its Local Plan consultation drop-in to the market from 9am; that's the plan setting what gets built here up to 2043.
- Tue 18 and Wed 19, 11am — Bach to Baby at St Mark's Church. Proper classical players, babies welcome to be babies.
- Sat 22–Sun 23 — Kingston Street Art Festival, new artworks going up live across the town centre · Sat 12 September, the Friends of Fairfield's first litter pick · Sat 26 September, Surbiton Festival, Claremont Gardens.
Softer and cloudier than midweek promised — up to about 25°C late afternoon, down to a comfortable 15°C overnight, dry all day. UV moderate-to-high, so hats on for the litter pick.
Then it climbs. Sunday is warmer and breezier at 28°C, and Monday is the peak: 32°C, with a stray chance of drizzle late and a sticky 18°C night behind it. A proper heat day — plan the walking, the dog and anyone elderly around the middle of it. Tuesday drops to 26°C with a real chance of a shower, then the week settles in the high twenties. Croquet week, for what it's worth, looks warm and dry.
The hosepipe ban is still in force across all Thames Water areas — it's the banner on their own homepage this morning. Watering cans only, however hot Monday gets.
The quiz map is Sat's. The litter pick is Suzanne's. The Save The World Club block is Tariq's. The fridge correction is Isy's. The Prince of Wales question is Christine's. The Lamb tip is Pete's. The Flyer is Richard's. That's most of a newspaper, written by seven people who each spent two minutes on an email.
A useful one from Jane. She found us landing in her junk folder, we worked it out, and she's now getting it in her inbox. If that's happening to you: open one issue, mark it “not junk”, and add hello@surbitondaily.co.uk to your contacts. Jane also shared the newsletter to her community WhatsApp group and a good number of neighbours signed up off the back of it — which is, quietly, how this thing grows.
Still owed to you, and I haven't forgotten: brunch recommendations for Sarah in Long Ditton · something on the Blake mosaics at the station for Catherine · what's actually happening with the shops on Victoria Road for Jane · and more for small children for Jennifer and Cheyanne. Coming.
Two asks. If you've been to the Prince of Wales quiz this year, settle it for me. And if you know a gig, a choir, a car boot or a club night — the council only ever lists civic events, so the good half of this town reaches the newsletter only if one of you sends it. Hit reply. It takes a line, and as today shows, it makes the whole issue.
That's Saturday. Get the toaster to the library, do an hour in Fairfield, and next week — find a gap in the hedge on Alexandra Drive. Back tomorrow.
Mike, Surbiton Daily
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