Famous People in Ashtead

Dear Editor,

1. Mr GOULD of "The Brain's Trust", a popular wartime radio programme.
2. Mr DAVIS, who invented the Davis Escape Apparatus for underwater rescue.
3. Dame Sybil THORNDIKE, the well-known actress, after whom the Thorndike Theatre was named,
4. Beverley NICHOLS, a popular writer of gardening novels, who lived at Merry Hall in Agates Lane in the '40s and '50s,
5. Mr McCURDY who lived in Oakfield Lane, translated Leonardo da Vinci's diaries out of their original mediaeval Italian mirror writing. In recognition of this he was made a member of the exclusive Athenaeum Club.

I myself have lived in Ashtead for 57 years, having come here in 1939 at the start of World War II. My father was Dr William Edwards, who practiced at Penlee, Oakfield Road from 1939 until 1958.

Yours sincerely (Miss) Jean M Edwards

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