On Derby Day in 1913, Emily Wilding Davison stepped out from behind the railings at Tattenham Corner into the path of Anmer, one of the king's horses as part of the campaign for "Votes for Women". She died four days later from her injuries. Davison was the only suffragette to die in pursuit of the campaign.
Shockingly the Epsom racecourse has no memorial to Emily Davison - no plaque or statue, nothing to identify the place where she stepped out in front of the galloping horses. Her selfless act of protest, and one of the most significant acts of protest in recent British history, is forgotten by the race horsing community, the racecourse owners or even Epsom council. and yet there are statues of horses that won the Derby (including one who won the race as recently as 1991 and whose statue was erected in 1995).
I used to live near Tattenham Corner and find it shocking that so much money was pumped into the tiny, under-used rail station (because the Queen uses it once a year) and not a single penny was put towards anything to mark the 1913 protest.
Surely it's time for a monument at Tattenham Corner? A blue plaque perhaps? Something to mark one of the most heroic acts of campaigning for civil rights this country has ever seen.
Next year is the centenary of Davison's death, the lack of appropriate recognition is something that needs to be addressed in time for that anniversary.
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