| London residents line up outside a butcher shop to purchase horse flesh at 546-548 London Road, North Cheam, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom. This shop closed by October 1942 and the site was occupied by Wilson Brothers Timber Limited, which supplied lumber and Air Raid Precautions materials. This building is still extant as of June 2024. The Sutton and Cheam Advertiser, May 14, 1942: “Do People Eat Horseflesh? Worcester Park People Say They Do. 130 people at Worcester Park want to buy horseflesh for human consumption. At a meeting of the Sutton and Cheam Food Control Committee on Thursday it was stated that this number of people had signed a petition urging the sale of horse-flesh for human consumption at Worcester Park. It was stated that a number of the people who had signed the petition had been interviewed, and they had confirmed that they wanted to buy the horse-flesh for their own consumption. The application was granted. 2 other matters of particular importance were, raised at the meeting. The decision of the Ministry of Health to issue children’s ration books in future up to the age of 5 instead of 6 was strongly criticised. It was pointed out that children over 5 would no longer be entitled to priority supplies of oranges, milk and cod liver oil. Alderman John G. Kipling (January 3, 1869 – April 1956), Deputy Mayor, Conservative Party. who presided, said that children of 5 or 6 particularly needed these items. “It is a most wicked thing to exclude them from these supplies,” he said. The committee decided to send a strong protest to the Ministry of Food urging at the same time that children’s ration books should be issued up to the age of 7. The soap rationing scheme also came in for criticism. Alderman Kipling pointed out that mothers of babies up to 12 months of age were permitted to buy an extra weekly ration of soap, and described it as an impossible allowance. It appeared that the requirements of these mothers and of invalids and old people had not been adequately considered. The committee decided to urge the Ministry of Food to increase the soap allowance in these cases.” Sutton resident Robin Glover (born 1931), 11 years old in 1942, who lived 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) at 98 Brighton Road, recalled in 2004 that “The Declaration of War triggered off a flurry of Civil Defense projects including the construction of a large public air raid shelter on the corner of Ventnor Road, opposite Devonshire Avenue…At the same time [Air Raid Precautions] ARP Wardens were being recruited and their first post was set up in the nearby Sutton Hard Courts Tennis Club. A short time later an ARP control post was built underground on the island at the road junction by the Club and Downsway.” Maison Jehne was a local hairdresser. Girls were recruited straight out of middle school to apprentice there. That building is still extant as of June 2024. Burgon’s was a radio and bicycle shop. In the 1950s they added televisions. That building was torn down after World War II. The Granada Theatre in North Cheam opened on September 22, 1937, with Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) and Ginger Rogers (July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) in “Shall We Dance?” and Roscoe Karns (September 7, 1891 – February 6, 1970) in “Clarence.” The Wurlitzer Thee Manual/8 Rank organ was opened by Granada circuit and church organist Lloyd “Donald” Thomas (June 21, 1901 – June 26, 1961). The proscenium was 52 feet wide, and the fully equipped stage was 12 feet deep. The cinema had a large cafe located over the entrance and large car park which had a capacity for over 200 cars. Architect James Morrison (April 5, 1905 – December 14, 1937) designed the Granada, but he left the project early into its construction and later committed suicide, and the project was taken over by David Evelyn Nye (August 4, 1906 – February 18, 1986). The interior was by Russian designer Theodore Komisarjevsky (May 23, 1882 – April 17, 1954) and was considered the finest example of his “standard” Granada Theatres. The Granada was closed on October 18, 1969, with the last film screened “Mayerling,” with Omar Sharif (April 10, 1932 – July 18, 2015). It was demolished and a Sainsbury’s supermarket and offices were built on the site. In July 1995, a pub in the J.D. Wetherspoon chain named The Nonsuch Inn opened at this address and was still operating as of June 2024. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1828.jpg |
| Image Size | 610.96 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 3000 x 2262 |
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| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 16, 1942 |
| Location | North Cheam |
| City | Surrey |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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