A historic racing restaurant closed its doors for the final time this week after nearly 30 years.
South Hatch restaurant, in Burgh Heath Road, Epsom, dished up its final meals on Sunday, November 24, after owner Wendy Pitt decided to retire earlier this year.
The 47-year-old helped her mother, Heather Pitt, run the restaurant since it opened in 1985 when she and her horserace trainer father Arthur Pitt bought the building as a residential home and horse training establishment.
Miss Pitt was the restaurant’s sole manager since her mother died seven years ago, although her partner Julian Taylor, 57, whom she met when he was a guest at the restaurant, had helped her for the last 18 years.
Speaking before the closure, she said: "I decided I don’t want to get any aches and pains and want to be able to enjoy my retirement.
"I’m hoping to do some travelling and spend more time with family and friends.
"A lot of people are emotional at the moment. It’s very sad but I want to go out on a high."
South Hatch also sported a bar and lounge area for visitors, meeting rooms for conferences and a museum of racing memorabilia also displayed throughout the rest of the house.
A Victorian house built in 1901, it has always been in the racing industry and was once visited by the Queen Mother.
Epsom trainer Walter Nightingall was its first owner, who sold it on to Scobie Breasley, an Australian jockey. It was then bought by the Pitts who converted it into a restaurant, but kept the equestrian spirit alive.
One striking piece of memorabilia displayed in the restaurant was a photo of Winston Churchill with the racehorses he kept at the house between 1949 and 1964.
Miss Pitt has put South Hatch on the market for £1.7million and said she does not know what will become of it.
She added: "It could become anything, residential or commercial, I don’t know."
The items of racing memorabilia, which were displayed throughout the restaurant, were collected by Miss Pitt’s mother over the years and some of them will now be auctioned.
Wendy Pitt in South Hatch restaurant
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