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Photo-files
Hindhead Tunnel
The 30-year campaign to divert traffic away from the sensitive wildlife habitats of the Devil's Punchbowl came to fruition in 2007. The Hindhead Tunnel that will be bored 213 feet (65m) beneath Gibbet Hill is now in the early stages of construction and here we explore the construction site of this £371 million project to divert the daily traffic of 21,000 vehicles travelling the A3 between London and Portsmouth.
(September 2007)
Foxenden Air Raid Shelter
A mass underground shelter was dug deep into the chalk in a disused quarry in the centre of Guildford when the bombing during WWII was at its height. Able to accommodate 1,000 people the shelter remains in good condition today and has many of its original fittings still in place.
(September 2007)
Withy Beds
In the days when local people relied on their own skills for basket weaving, withy beds were a common sight all along the River Wey. Today willow pollards are still cultivated by a handful of professional and enthusiast weavers.
(February 2007)
Galleries
The Wey Photographers Gallery - Guildford photographer Martin Finnis
Martin's
superb work covers everything from landscapes and wildlife to the nature of being human.
(September 2007)
The Wey Artists Gallery - Godalming artist Kevin Gorton
Prolific local artist Kevin Gorton specialises in miniatures of the landscape and historic buildings of Godalming and environs. We feature many of his artworks on the site.
(August 2007)
The Wey Photographers Gallery - Aerial Photography
Adding a new visual dimension to the valley see local landmarks through the eyes of the aerial cameras fixed beneath radio controlled aircraft.
(February 2007)
The Wey Artists Gallery - Godalming artist Stephen Goddard
We've updated the gallery with new pieces from our Wey artists and welcome Godalming artist Stephen Goddard with his superb pictures including humorous sketches.
(January 2007)
Features
Ale & Windlass
A little diversion provided by the adventurous narrowboat owner Bones who lives aboard her craft full-time and here demonstrates the art of balancing a pint of beer atop an upended windlass. They're a talented lot these boaters!
(April 2007)
Birdsong Links to RSPB Audio Archive
The Wey Valley has a rich variety of birdlife and to enhance the section on our feathered friends we've activated links to the RSPB audio archives on birdsong. Well worth a listen.
(March 2007)
Historic Photographs from The Francis Frith Collection
Founded in 1860 The Frith Archive contains 365,000 photographs covering 7,000 towns and villages throughout Britain. This private collection features historic photographs of the Wey Valley and courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection we have added images throughout the site.
(March 2007)
Articles
Yvonne Arnaud to lose Arts Council Funding
The acclaimed Guildford theatre, that has nestled on the banks of the River Wey since 1965, is facing an uncertain future with the announcement by the Arts Council of England that it is withdrawing its annual grant
of £448,000
(December 2007)
Newlands Corner
The popular beauty spot off the A25 near Guildford affords some breathtaking views across the Surrey Hills and also played a part in a real-life mystery triggered by the crime writer Agatha Christie in the 1920s.
(December 2007)
Boost to Barbel Population
The Environment Agency has released 100 young barbel into the River Wey near Godalming in a bid to help boost the declining population of this long-living and important species.
(December 2007)
Grayshott and the Temperance Movement
At the end of the 19th century villagers led by the vicar won a campaign to prevent a brewery from opening a pub in the village, and instead opened their own Refreshment House based on temperance principles. The Fox and Pelican, the only pub in the village, remained in temperance hands until well into the 1950s.
(October 2007)
Local Protection for Agricultural Land Abolished
The government has refused to allow a farmland protection law that is applied locally to protect agricultural land from development to stand. It insists that national laws offer adequate protection, although local groups have expressed concern.
(October 2007)
Whitmoor Common Regeneration
The latest project on Whitmoor Common, a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the urban fringe of Guildford, has been the restoration of the popular Britten's Pond. The £65,000 revamp has removed a silt build-up, cleaned up pollution and improved access.
(September 2007)
The Surrey County Show
First staged in
1954 as a showcase of the work of Surrey farmers, the Guildford show has grown to be the largest single day agricultural show held annually in the UK and attracts 40,000 visitors.
(September 2007)
Disturbed Surrey
The Campaign to Protect Rural England has released maps showing just how severe the threat of building encroachment and from noise and sight intrusion has become in Surrey.
(September 2007)
St Mary's Church - the oldest building in Guildford
There has been a church on the site of St Mary's since the 7th century AD although the original wooden structure was replaced in 1050 by the stone building much of which survives today. Lewis Carroll often preached here as a Deacon and his funerla was conducted in the church.
(September 2007)
Brooklands 1940 Air Raid
A devastating air raid, that marked the start of a campaign by the Luftwaffe to attack aircraft factories in England, resulted in high casualties at the Weybridge site where Wellington bombers and Hurricane fighter aircraft were being assembled.
(September 2007)
Frustrations in reporting Poisonous Ragwort
Highly poisonous ragwort, which grows profusely in the wild and can be fatal to animals if eaten, is a registered injurious plant under the weeds Act 1959. However members of the public reporting the presence of ragwort to the authorities don't have an easy ride.
(September 2007)
New Air Quality Monitoring Grant
Waverley Borough Council has been awarded additional funding for its air quality monitoring responsibilities in response to discovering high levels of poisonous nitrogen oxide in Farnham, Godalming and Hindhead.
(September 2007)
Wey Valley excluded from New South Downs National Park
Key areas of the Wey Valley including Woolmer Forest and Black Down, the source of the southern branch of the River Wey, have been withdrawn from the original South Downs National Park proposal by the government inspector.
(September 2007)
Gibbet Hill, Hindhead and the Devil's Punchbowl
Hindhead is in the news as the construction of the long-awaited tunnel to be bored under Gibbet Hill does ahead - after a 30-year campaign to divert the busy A3 away from the environmentally sensitive Punch Bowl. Here we explore the heathland and the history of the area, and take a look at the early start for the road construction.
(September 2007)
Guildford Greenbelt Under Threat
The new government supported regional housing plan for the county of Surrey provides for 10,000 new homes to be built annually until 2026, and in order to meet this target inspectors have stated that greenbelt areas to the north-east of Guildford should be considered for development.
(August 2007)
Woolmer Forest
Providing important wildlife habitats between the army garrison town of Bordon and Liphook, Woolmer Forest has been protected by military ownership as a training ground for the army since 1863 and boasts a considerable species headcount of both fauna and flora. This cosseted status is now under threat as the army garrison is to be closed by 2011.
(August 2007)
The Army at Bordon
The town of Bordon has accommodated
army garrisons for over 150 years and many thousands of servicemen and women have been trained at the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at the REME barracks. An interesting history covers the training facility and adjoining Longmoor Ranges with a final chapter now being written as a 2007 Defence Training Review has decreed that the facility is to be dramatically downsized.
(August 2007)
Foot and Mouth Outbreak at Guildford Farm
Cattle which had been grazing in a field at Wanborough near Guildford have been culled following tests that showed they were infected with the foot and mouth virus. This is the first outbreak in the UK since the crippling 2001 epidemic which resulted in the culling of 6.5m animals and a cost of £8bn.
(August 2007)
Foxenden Quarry Air Raid Shelter
As the Luftwaffe's bombing campaigns over southern England began to intensify in WWII a series of tunnels were excavated deep into the chalk walls of a disused quarry in the centre of Guildford. The tunnels provided emergency shelter for 1,000 people and were furnished with bunks, sanitation and first aid posts.
(August 2007)
The Old Ram Ciderhouse, Farncombe
Once the haunt of cider lovers who enjoyed a choice from 30 different keg and cask ciders and roving folk musicians, this popular pub finally closed its doors in 1999. The 450 year old building is now a private residence.
(August 2007)
Death-knoll for Grant Scheme?
Local government has launched a review into the funding of community and voluntary organisation projects and in so doing has suspended the grant for 2008/09.
(August 2007)
210 Home Village for Milford Hospital Land
Waverley Borough Council appear to be supporting the building of a large new village on redundant land released from Milford Hospital in 2000.
(August 2007)
Godalming Healthcheck
Godalming Town Council have supported the initiative being set by the town joining in on the Countryside Agency's Market Town Healthcheck which stimulates local residents to focus on what can be done to improve the town.
(July 2007)
Wartime Secrets of Wanborough Manor
British Special Agents were trained by the secretive Special Operations Executive at Wanborough Manor during the Second World War with many losing their lives whilst working behind enemy lines with the French Resistance.
(July 2007)
Dunsfold Park Leads in Alternative Energy
Guildford-based TMO Renewables is about to start construction on a testing-plant at Dunsfold Park where an innovative new technique for manufacturing bio-ethanol will be developed. The company is hoping that this will establish them as world-leaders in alternative energy production.
(July 2007)
Freiburg - Guildford's Environmentally Friendly Twin
Guildford has been twinned with the German city of Freiburg since 1979 and today members of the Guildford-Freiburg Association feel that the English town could
learn a great deal from the twin's approach to the environment.
(July 2007)
Guilfest - 'Glastonbury in the City'
The vision of a Guildford businessman has turned a relatively unknown music festival launched 16 years ago into a popular event hosted in Guildford's Stoke Park attended by 20,000 people each day of the three-day run.
(July 2007)
Slyfield & Normandy Eco-friendly Homes Awards
New homes built by local housing associations in Slyfield in Guildford and in the nearby village of Normandy have received awards for their high standards of eco-friendliness.
(July 2007)
RHS The Glasshouse at Wisley
The Queen opened the RHS' most ambitious project, that of displaying 5,000 tender plants in a massive glasshouse at their Wisley gardens providing three linked climate zones. The £7.7m structure incorporates a 16ft (5m) waterfall and uses state-of-the-art computer controlled environmental technology.
(June 2007)
Ripley Underground Gas Storage Debate
A 24 million
cubic foot (679 billion cubic metres) natural gas reservoir is planned to be accessed from a field near Send Prison at Ripley. If it proceeds the facility will be linked into the national grid to form part of a new government strategy for the UK's energy supply.
(June 2007)
Wey Valley Wild Plant Haven
The wild plant charity Plantlife has published details of a survey showing that Surrey and the Wey Valley rank third in England for the density of rare and threatened arable plants.
(June 2007)
Alton Abbey
The monastery at Alton Abbey was described by The Times as 'the best-kept secret in the Church of England' and was founded in 1895 by Father Hopkins to care in part for merchant seaman who had fallen on hard times.
(June 2007)
Black Lake
The author of Peter Pan, JM Barrie, used Black Lake Cottage near Tilford as a bolthole, and it is said that his writing of The Boy Castaways set on and around the lake inspired the idea of Peter Pan.
(June 2007)
The Guildford Spike
One of only two 'casual wards' that have been restored and opened to the public in Britain, the Guildford Spike is a reminder of the harsh regimes imposed on the homeless in Victorian and Edwardian times. The building still has intact the grills through which inmates had to pass stones they had broken up for road repair, the grills ensuring that the stones were of the right size.
(May 2007)
Great Tangley Manor
The 11th century moated manor house in Wonersh near Guildford, once used as a hunting lodge by King John, has undergone extensive restoration. In private ownership the house has benefited from modernisation under the guidance of English Heritage.
(May 2007)
Large Moths in Decline
The charity Butterfly Conservation have launched a four-year campaign to try and save species of large British moths that are threatened with extinction. The plight of the larger species of moths is especially evident in southern England.
(May 2007)
Tyting Farm's Saviours
A derelict farm outside Guildford has been restored and brought back into production by the Surrey Wildlife Trust who is working in conjunction with a charity that supports young people with special needs, and a local farmer. The Trust will also be undertaking conservation work on the farm.
(May 2007)
All Change with IWAAC
Although not directly responsible for the Wey Navigations as these are privately owned by the National Trust, the formation of a new waterways advisory group following an Act of Parliament will have a direct influence 2,200 (3,540km) on the publicly owned waterways through British Waterways.
(April 2007)
Tongham Wood Restored
The woodland wedged between Tongham near Farnham and the busy Blackwater Road has been returned to its former glory after four years of hard work undertaken by a group of local volunteers.
(April 2007)
Historic Banking at Brooklands Deteriorating
Following damage created to the Byfleet banking of the historic Edwardian racing track at Brooklands
by a utilities company local residents are trying to encourage sponsorship to prevent complete deterioration. The Byfleet banking part of the track, which runs alongside the Wey near Weybridge, is suffering from the lack of an identifiable legal owner.
(April 2007)
Mobile Phones Threaten Loss of Bees
The ever increasing radiation being emitted during transmission of mobile phone communications is being blamed on a new phenomenon dubbed 'Colony Collapse Disorder' with bee hives mysteriously being abandoned. If proven, the implications for the countryside are alarming.
(April 2007)
The Looting of Wanborough Temple
The RomanoBritish temple located near the village of Wanborough became the centre of a legal battle to prosecute wholesale looting of the site which stalled due to the weaknesses inherent in the ancient law of 'treasure trove'. The law was changed as a result.
(April 2007)
Wanborough Great Barn
The huge 14th century barn built by Cistercian monks originally stored the annual harvests produced by Wanborough Manor. Well preserved, the oak framed barn is open to the public during visitor days in the summer.
(April 2007)
Are Asian Hornets Heading to Britain?
The giant Asian hornet which can reach almost two inches in length and specialises in destroying bee colonies has been established in France since 2004 and entymologists are concerned that it may soon reach Britain.
(April 2007)
The RAF at Merrow Downs
The Elementary Flying Training School during WWII used a field on Merrow Downs near Guildford for pilot training which included forced landings. Not surprisingly a number of crashes were recorded.
(April 2007)
Witley, the Underwater Billiards Room, and the Cyanide Capsule
The village of Witley near Godalming once had one of the most lavish 19th century estates in the world. Witley Park, with its 32 bedroomed mansion and lakes complete with an underwater billiard room, was shortlived after its high profile owner took a cyanide capsule.
(April 2007)
Wey Valley SSSIs at risk from EU New Legislation
Several important wildlife habitats are threatened by loopholes in a new EU Directive that is being implemented in 2007
(April 2007)
Henley Fort, Guildford
A Victorian military post built as part of a defence line for London became a Home Guard command post in WWII. Today the fort provides an outdoor learning centre for children and enables them to experience the activities undertaken by the Home Guard.
(April 2007)
Witley and the Mobile Farm
In 1954 a Yorkshire farmer moved his farm, lock, stock and barrel by hiring a freight train and unloaded his 11 truckloads of farm implements at Witley station before decamping to his new farm at nearby Brook. A spectacle that drew national attention.
(April 2007)
Dartford Warbler saves Wisley from Incinerator
The endangered bird species has scuppered Surrey County Council plans to include the old airfield at Wisley for a mass rubbish burning incinerator.
(April 2007)
Red-barbed Ant Rescue Mission
The last remaining nest for the critically rare red-barbed ant on the UK mainland on Chobham Common has become the focus for trying to save the species from extinction. A new nest site has been identified on Wisley Common and with the help of the Surrey Wildlife and the Zoological Society it is hoped to be able to bring the species back from extinction.
(April 2007)
Guildford Gospel
A specially commissioned song entitled Guildford Gospel was performed at the closing performance of the Guildford International Music Festival by the country's leading gospel choir. The song immortalises a collection of oral histories about the town.
(April 2007)
The Valley's ANGSt
A study undertaken by the Forestry Commission has revealed that the Wey Valley falls within an area that provides a higher level of access to green space than other counties in the region.
(April 2007)
RSPB Birdwatch Survey Results
The results of the 2007 winter survey of feathered visitors to gardens in the valley
has provided some comfort that the decline in some species has slowed.
(April 2007)
Home Farm Barn
An historic listed barn in Puttenham just off the Hog's Back has been renovated to provide simple overnight accommodation for travelers to the area.
The sympathetic restoration utilises rainwater harvesting, solar electricity and solar hot water.
(March 2007)
Henry Wye, Lockkeeper
We have published a photograph of Henry Wye who was lockkeeper at Papercourt Lock near Send in the 19th century. His great-great granddaughter Lesley Watson has also provided family reminiscences of life along the river at the time.
(March 2007)
Farnham Hospital
The history of Farnham Hospital is dogged by wrangles over cost savings in the NHS and the best use of the land freed up by the building of a more compact facility in 2003.
(March 2007)
Juniper in Need of Tonic
The aromatic juniper bush is rapidly disappearing from the Valley and throughout the country. Changing land-use and a decline in the use of the plant is to blame.
(March 2007)
Godalming's Lost Hospitals
During WWII St Thomas' Hospital in London evacuated a number of key departments to the Godalming area, this including a 360 bed facility at Hydestile. This was constructed in the grounds of the King George V Sanatorium which had provided a specialist centre for the treatment and rehabilitation of tuberculosis sufferers for much of the 20th century. Both hospitals were closed in the 1960s to be domolished soon after.
(March 2007)
The Fall and Rise of the Woodlark
The heathland-loving woodlark once numbered in its many hundreds along the valley but the coming of urbanisation and forestry encroachment devastated much of the heathland in the area and saw the near disappearance of the species. Now conservation efforts, including those by the RSPB at Farnham Heath, are having miraculous effects.
(March 2007)
The York Column and Monument Green
In the 19th century a memorial was erected to commemorate a famous Weybridge resident, the Duchess of York. The column erected was originally that built in London in 1694 at Seven Dials - but what happened to the Dial Stone itself? Monument Green has been designated as a conservation area to protect its special character.
(March 2007)
A Living Landscape for the South East
Wildlife Trusts in the region have joined forces to produce a report highlighting the challenges facing conservation as the effects of climate change and urbanisation deepen.
(February 2007)
Cultivating Your Own Withy Bed
Willow stems grown from coppiced withy beds are used for basket weaving, a skill once widespread throughout the valley. Countryside Ranger Ian Baldwin explains how you can establish your own withy bed to produce the straight and flexible willow canes that are perfect for weaving.
(February 2007)
Churt & The Devil's Jumps
The village of Churt on the Surrey Hampshire border boasts the stark beauty of heathlands all about which include the Devil's Jumps, much featured in local folklore. Churt was also home to the Prime Minister Lloyd George for 20 years, a fact much popularised by the incredibly eccentric Pride of the Valley Hotel
(February 2007)
Godalming Wharf Redevelopment
The area known as The Wharf alongside Flambard Way in Godalming was once a centre of industry that had close connections with the river. Today it is an eyesore targeted for redevelopment and ambitious plans are afoot.
(February 2007)
Merrow POW Camp 57
Guildford not only housed a significant POW Camp for Italian prisoners during WWII there were also Special Operations Executive training schools nearby.
(February 2007)
The River Blackwater
Once a significantly larger river than the one flowing today from Farnham to its confluence with the River Loddon in Hampshire, the Blackwater's headwaters were stolen in times long past by the River Wey in a textbook example of
river capture.
(February 2007)
The Manor House at Farncombe Hill
Now converted into an award winning conference centre this 19th century mansion was once home to wealthy families who provided visitors with rare exotic fruits grown on the large estate. St Thomas' Hospital evacuated part of its medical school here during WWII.
(February 2007)
The Plight of Undershaw
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, built a grand house in the fashionable 'Arts and Crafts' style of the 19th century at Hindhead near to the Devil's Punchbowl. Today Undershaw is in a severe state of disrepair much to the consternation of heritage groups.
(February 2007)
Wey Valley WWF Sustainable Living Project
The Godalming based World Wildlife Foundation is in the third year of a pilot project involving local groups find a more environmentally friendly life.
(February 2007)
Wey Valley Birdwatch
The RSPB annual count by volunteers of the birds they see in their gardens provides conservationists with valuable data as to the state of different species in the Wey Valley.
(January 2007)
Midsomer Murders Filmed at Loseley
An episode of the popular whodunnit TV drama Midsomer Murders starring John Nettles was filmed at Loseley House near Guildford.
(January 2007)
EU's Official Bird Flu Laboratory in Weybridge
The Veterinary Laboratories Agency in New Haw is the EU's official reference source for the deadly H5N1 avian flu. As the first outbreak in Europe since August 2006 comes to light the EU relies on the acclaimed laboratory to analyse the samples.
(January 2007)
Pewley Down
Although this significant wildlife habitat high on the North Downs above Guildford is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest and application has been made to bestow it with Nature Reserve Status, the local council is actively considering granting permission for a telecommunications mast to be erected here.
(January 2007)
The Curtis Museum
This Alton museum is the second oldest in Surrey and at its original inception as a small exhibition by the local Mechanics Institute so satisfied the Victorians hunger for knowledge that it very quickly outgrew its original premises to become the substantial museum of local history that it remains today.
(January 2007)
Bridge over Wey to Provide Historic Brooklands Link
In this its centenary year Brooklands Museum is planning to build a temporary bridge over the River Wey to reconnect historic parts of the original three and a half miles of racetrack for parades of Brooklands cars and motorcycles.
(January 2007)
Alton's Ancient Fairs
The ancient fairs at Alton contributed to the town's status as a significant commercial centre with accounts of Westbrook Fair and Eastbrook Fair providing a fascinating insight into life at the time.
(January 2007)
Guildford Joins Race for the Moon
Surrey University's Surrey Satellite Technology has announced plans to launch two unmanned missions to explore the possibility of establishing a British moonbase.
(January 2007)
Hedgehogs Affected by Global Warming
Baby hedgehogs in the Valley and across Britain are dying in their hundreds due to the fact that the species, confused by the warmer autumn, have continued to breed instead of hibernate.
(January 2007)
Bird Flu Drug could Devastate Wey Valley Wildlife
As the government continues to stockpile an anti-viral drug intended to protect the British population against any outbreak of Asian flu, scientists reveal fears that the drug once released via the sewage system into our rivers could have terrible effects on the wildlife dependent upon them.
(January 2007)
Where are The Bones of Tom Paine?
One of the Valley's most famous 18th century sons, William Cobbett, in America dug up the remains of a one-time political opponent, and brought them back to his home in Farnham as part of a fundraising stunt. After Cobbett's death the bones disappeared leading to a Victorian mystery worthy of any novel. (January 2007)
Native Valley Wildlife Driven to Extinction by The Tudors
At a time of famine Henry VIII and later Elizabeth I introduced laws to encourage their subjects to kill millions of animals and birds that were at the time felt to be a threat to crops. The effects are still being felt today.
(January 2007)
New Threat to Thursley Nature Reserve
Five months after Thursley Nature Reserve was devastated by fire this important heathland habitat is now under threat from within. However scientific research may yet find a solution.
(January 2007)
The Diggers in Weybridge
During the English Civil War a radical political movement called The New Levellers was formed and based themselves at St George's Hill in Weybridge. Shortlived, the group was defeated by violent opposition and a trial severely weighted against them, but their memory lives on in the valley.
(January 2007)
Wey Valley 60% Likely to Break New Temperature Records This Year
A leading Met Office climate research scientist has confirmed fears that 2007 is likely to be even hotter with severe implications for wildlife and the environment all along the Wey Valley.
(January 2007)
Thursley Nature Reserve Regeneration Update
The newly formed environment agency Natural England who have assumed responsibility for the reserve have provided a regeneration update following the severe fire last year.
(January 2007)
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