Eric Wilson Barker (1905–1973), poet, spent his childhood in the village, attended the old church school in Church Walk, then his family emigrated to California for health reasons. Barker became a celebrate and was offered the laureateship of California, which he declined. He revisited his birthplace in 1959 and wrote to a friend: 'I visited an ancient pub, The Old Harrow near Weston Green. I always remember the lines on the signboard of that inn when I was a kid... There it was too and the old weatherworn sign with the letters a bit dim but still legible!' Barker wrote a poem "IN THAMES DITTON" under "Looking for Water", published 1964: "In Thames Ditton I remembered a clock..."