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More About
Farnham, Surrey

Farnham is an old market town on the River Wey with narrow streets lined with some of the finest Georgian architecture to be seen in the south of England. Situated midway between London and the influential Church diocese of Winchester ensured that the town benefited from becoming an important staging post under the control of powerful Bishops for 800 years.

From the Stone Age
to the Roman Occupation

There is evidence of stone age activity, and mammoth tusks have been found in the gravel ridge above the modern town of Farnham. An established settlement by Mesolithic pit dwellers c6000BC encouraged continuous settlement thereafter through the Bronze and Iron Ages and on to Roman times. Under Roman rule Farnham became an important pottery centre, the local clay providing a particularly good quality for firing. Excavations have revealed a Roman villa and bath in the vicinity of the Mesolithic pits. An Iron Age Fort just north of Farnham has the misnomer of Caesar’s Camp, especially as it predates the arrival of the Romans by 600 years.

Its Saxon name ‘Fearnhamme’, referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, comes from reference to the plentiful ferns (‘fearn’) and bracken found in the area and ‘hamme’ referring to the water meadows that were at its centre. The West Saxon king Caedwalla gifted Farnham to the Bishop of Winchester in 688, with a later Saxon king recorded as giving lands to Saint Swithins (QV). The town has always been close to the church, with bishops having been in residence within the town’s walls for over 800 years. There was a battle on the edge of the Saxon settlement when King Alfred’s son, Edward the Elder, routed Danish forces during their attempted invasion in the ninth century.

It is interesting to note that the minster of Farnham in the 7th century was at the centre of the emergence of English as a common language which, combined with the increasing trend to centralise the administration of the church at that time, led to the basis of English place-naming. Along with Chertsey Abbey, Farnham's ecclesiastical charter and boundary list established a whole set of typical Old English place-name elements. These included -ingas (-ing); -ham (-ham); -hyth (-hythe); -brycg (-bridge); -burh (-bury); -eg (-ey); -ford (-ford); -leah (-ley) and -feld (-field), with the modern English equivalent italicised in brackets.
5.251006

West Street 1899
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection

"Here we see how potent has been the effect of the introduction of a single tree, nothing whatever else having been done, with the exception that the land had been enclosed so that cattle could not enter. But how important an enclosure is, I plainly saw in Farnham, in Surrey. Here there are extensive heaths, with a few clumps of old Scotch firs on the distant hill tops: within the last ten years large spaces have been enclosed, and self-sown first are now springing up in multitudes, so close together that all cannot live." Charles Darwin The Origin of Species 1859

Religious Domination

The Domesday Book records that the Bishop of Winchester held Farnham. Bishop William de Raleigh granted Farnham a Charter in 1249 that elevated the town to municipal status. The last remaining burgess (QV) in 1789 was a William Shotter who succeeded in losing the later charter of 1566 to Bishop Brownlow North for failing in his duty of keeping the two bridges at Tylford Bridge (now Tilford) in good repair.

The various Bishops of Winchester, the second most important diocese in England, undertook a great many journeys to and from London, and Farnham was a favoured stopping-off point.

Henry de Blois (1101-1171) who was Bishop from 1129 until his death, and was King Stephen’s brother and grandson of William I, commenced the building of the castle and a palace at Farnham in 1138. The castle therefore became an important hostelry to a host of monarchs and important churchmen. These included Cardinal Wolsey; the architect of Winchester William of Wykeham; William Wayneflete the Lord Chancellor and founder of Magdalene; and Cardinal Beaufort who was a witness to the burning of Joan of Arc.

Royal visits were plentiful and the halls and bedchambers of the castle resounded to the voices of Henry VIII, James I, and George III. Mary Tudor stopped off on her way to marry Philip of Spain at Winchester. Elizabeth I was a regular guest, and on one such visit reputedly warned the Duke of Norfolk to ‘beware upon what pillow you lay your head’ when she heard he was planning to marry Mary Queen of Scots. He ignored the veiled threat and subsequently lost his head. Queen Victoria made a visit specifically to see the Bible on which she had taken her Coronation Oath, as it was in safekeeping at the castle.

Downing Street 1904
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection

The Dauphin of France captured Farnham castle, along with those in Guildford and Reigate, in his attempt to defeat King John I. His occupation lasted for 10 months before he was made to retreat to France.

During the Civil War in the 17th century Sir William Waller ordered that the Castle Keep be blown up so that it could never again be used as a fortress. The walls proved to be too resilient to the gunpowder used and only a small breach was made, which is marked by the steps that run up the mound. Oliver Cromwell had the task completed in 1648 when much of the castle was dismantled, and so it was never used as a military garrison again.

Farnham Castle Keep has been cared for by English Heritage since 1984, the building having been placed in the guardianship of the State in 1922 and declared a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is open to the public. The remaining buildings of Farnham Castle which made up the Bishop's Palace consist of a mixture of Grade I and Grade II structures, and are thought to be one of the oldest continually inhabitated buildings in southern England.

After its foundation in 1138 Farnham Castle underwent numerous extensions and renovations. The original building started by Henry de Blois was extended in 1180 to include the Great Hall and Norman Chapel to provide more spacious accommodation for the many important visitors. In the 13th century a drawing room and gatehouse was added and the Curtain Wall was built in the mid 14th century. Around this time a brick tower gateway was constructed.

The steps leading down from the castle are known as The Blind Bishop's Steps as they were built to be easily climbed by Bishop Richard Fox (1500 - 1528), also Henry VIII's godfather, who was incapicitated by blindness.

The last Bishop to live in the Bishop’s Palace left in 1956.

Farnham Castle has been leased by a commercial organisation specialising in international business training since 1962, and a recent grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund has enabled restorative repairs to be undertaken. Guided tours of the Bishops Palace are available, limited to two hour long tours on Wednesday afternoons throughout the year and a single tour on Friday afternoons between April and August. On the hill behind the castle there is a large park where the bishops kept their deer and arranged hunts for visiting royalty during the 800 years they inhabited the palace. MORE ON FARNHAM PARK HERE

click on image to go to photographer's website

A relatively obscure fact relating to Farnham Castle is that of the wedding of Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, currently (2007) president of South Africa. The ANC (1) activist, then dedicated to the overthrow of apartheid, held a traditional African blessing ceremony and wedding reception at the castle on 23rd November 1974. The wedding had been previously conducted in a London registry office. His bride Zanele used the castle for the exchange of vows, which African ritual states is held at the home of the bride, and where she was staying with her sister Edith. Her sister was married to Wilfred Grenville-Grey who ran a training centre at the castle for foreign service diplomats.

The following is an edited extract from Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred (Mark Gevisser : Jonathan Ball 2007) recounting the attendance of two friends, Veronica Linklater and Ann Page, at the ceremony.

The women arrived late, and as they entered the ancient stone castle they heard the incongruous melody, Lady Linklater recalls, of “wonderful African song”. They followed the sound until they came upon the castle’s vaulted chapel, where there was “a sort of African blessing ceremony going on. There was a minister, and he was singing, and then the congregation was taking up responses. It was absolutely fantastic, so beautiful but also so bizarre, like a film set really, in this ancient English castle.” After a formal dinner, the party proceeded into one of the castle’s great halls, where Lady Linklater remembers “an old man with a stick singing a Zulu praise song, getting more and more carried away until, by the end of it, he threw his stick away and only had the back of a sofa to cling to”.

At the much smaller Farnham Castle gathering, the guests, like the rituals, were a concoction only someone like Mbeki could conjure: Home Counties gentry meets Third World revolutionary, with a smattering of Sussex Lefty thrown in. Filling the bijou chapel’s pews were African communists just flown in from the Southern African front line, unkempt (and not entirely approving) academics and artists from Mbeki’s university set, and titled personages no less than the Duchess and Earl of Richmond, Grenville-Grey’s sister and brother-in-law.

(1) African National Congress was founded in 1912 in South Africa to campaign to improve the rights of the black population. From the 1950s the organisation actively opposed apartheid and developed a military arm. Today the ANC is the ruling party in South Africa.

Source:
The Sunday Times (Johannesburg, South Africa) 11th November 2007

In the 21st century Farnham Castle, providing accomodation as commercial offices, has provided some challenges to modern technology. With modern emphasis on fast communication and reliance on the digital age IT engineers have had to overcome restraints on networking computers imposed by English Heritage and the 10ft (3m) thick walls of much of this 900 year old building. Effective networking has relied on a state-of-the-art self-regulating wireless network to serve offices, 15 meeting rooms and 32 guest rooms in the Great Hall.

Source:
computerweekly.com 30th January 2008

Population Explosion

In 1848 the railway arrived in Farnham which quickly acted as the catalyst for change. Six years later nearby Aldershot became the Army Garrison town, and another camp was developed in Bordon six miles away. Both events provided Farnham with an attraction as an ideal location for London businessmen and army officers to live. Since the Second World War Farnham’s population has almost doubled.

Castle Street 1906
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection

Architectural Variety

Castle Street is an extremely wide and picturesque example of Medieval planning. Ample space was left in the street to provide for a large bustling market which generated an income in taxes for the Church. Andrew Windsor, who is commemorated in St George’s Chapel within the church, paid for the building of the Almshouses in Castle Street in 1619 to house ‘eight poor honest impotent old persons’. These houses are still occupied today, although their modern residents now have to pay rent.

The Borough 1895
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection

Farnham Museum ((GR: SU837466) in West Street was opened in 1961 and is located in Willmer House, a Grade 1 listed Georgian building dating from 1718, has won many awards and was commended in the prestigious European Museum of the Year. The museum became (2006) the first in Surrey to be awarded national Museum Accreditation status. The museum includes a room dedicated to the art and architecture of Farnham, information related to Farnham's contribution to the 19th century fledgling motor industry through John Henry Knight and a Countryside Room where the works of William Cobbett are displayed.

MP Jeremy Hunt officially opened (November 2008) a new exhibition hall built in the grounds of the museum which was funded by a variety of donations including a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Willmer House was once owned by artist Stephen Elmer (c1715-1796) and some of his works are also displayed here. Elmer was the son of a Farnham maltster and worked in the family business throughout his painting career establishing a considerable reputation for his works depicting animals, birds, still life and rural scenes. He was a member of the Society of Artists and an Associate Member of the Royal Academy. A large walled garden is open to the public behind the building adjacent to the public library.

Wey water meadows facing St Andrews Church
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection

The Church of St Andrews (GR: SU838466) is one of the largest churches in Surrey. The original church on the site dates back to the 6th century although it is believed that religious activity has been present on the site since 600 AD. The building was rebuilt in the mid-12th century and in the ensuing centuries was considerably expanded upon. The central tower, nave and the north and south transepts date to the 12th century, although the nave was destroyed by fire in the 14th century and had to be rebuilt. The south aisle was added about this time. The church has in its safekeeping a rare and extremely valuable copy of the Basketful of Errors Bible presented in 1739 by Arthur Onslow, speaker of the House of Commons. The bible was printed by John Baskett in Oxford in 1717 and twelve copies were produced that contained a misprint referring to the ‘Parable of the Vineyard’ as ‘Parable of the Vinegar’. The tomb of William Cobbett is just outside the North Entrance

King Charles I had an overnight stay in the house of Henry Vernon who lived in West Street. The house is now occupied by the library (GR: SU837467). The Reverend John Wigmore, an incumbent at the church has a tablet commemorating his contribution to the parish with the inscription: ‘had a heart overflowing with the milk of human kindness’. Augustus Toplady (1740-1778), born in West Street and baptised in church 1740 wrote the hymn Rock of Ages and published bitter writings against Calvinism.

Augustus Toplady
Picture in public domain
released via the Project Gutenberg archives

There are some good examples of mathematical tiling to be found on buildings in Farnham. In numbers 1 and 2 in the ironstone cobbled Lower Church Lane (GR: SU839467) the smart fashionable Georgian facades have been created using mathematical tiles, which being carefully designed to imitate bricks provided an extremely cheap alternative to brick, and also neatly side-stepped the brick tax of 1784.

Lion & Lamb Yard 1929
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection

Just east of the Lion & Lamb Yard there were ‘rope-walks’ (GR: SU839469) used by the rope-makers who walked backwards along the long alleyways as the strands were twisted. The length of Long Garden Walk south from Castle Street to the White Hart was the right distance for ropes of a standard length to be made, although it is not known for certain that this was a site for rope-making. A popular view is that in the three years from 1392 Master Carpenter Hugh Herland directed a team of Farnham carpenters to make the 26 huge hammer-beam trusses that were used in the roof of Westminster Hall in the reign of Richard II. These timbers, felled in the Alice Holt forest, were believed to have been fashioned in a timber yard (GR: SU837468) near The Borough, although local historians are trying to source definitive evidence that will pinpoint the yard and confirm manufacture.
(7.021106)

click on image to go to photographer's website

The 17-bedroom Bishops Table Hotel at 27 West Street is a Georgian building, originally the private residence of the Marquis of Lothian, and is set in two acres of land, primarily to the rear of the property. In ensuing centuries it changed use to a training school for the clergy (Bishops' Hostel) and a guesthouse before being converted for hotel use.

Little of the town’s character changed much over many long centuries until the time of the turnpikes when coaching inns and wheelwrights sprang up everywhere. The oldest of these inns to survive is part of the 17th century Bush Hotel which was mentioned in novels by both W M Thackeray (The Virginians 1857) and I J Hussey, the former inspiring the name of the hotel's restaurant. Another of the coaching inns was on the site of the cobbled The Lion and Lamb Courtyard which used to house the brewers Thomas Mathews and Co who won two medals at the 1890 Brewer’s Exhibition in London. Farnham was well positioned to develop an important market for farmers and merchants, and wheat, then wool, cloth and hops were traded here. The town was a natural centre for brewing being a particularly suitable location due to the proximity of hop growing and the hard nature of the local water. Farnham hops were renowned as being among the best in the country.

MORE ABOUT FARNHAM BREWING INDUSTRY

The market and brewing had lost much of its significance by the middle of the 19th century.

Farnham Park

One of the largest countryside sites in the Wey Valley, Farnham Park, which was purchased by Farnham Town Council in 1930, covers 320 acres and is steeped in a rich cultural history.

The park was a medieval deer park that became an integral part of Farnham Castle after it was established in the early 12th century. It was one of two deer parks established by the Bishops of Winchester in Farnham. In 1376 it was known as the Little or New Park and was used by the bishop to entertain royal guests with hunting expeditions. On the slope to the south of the Avenue there is evidence of ridge and furrow cultivation dating back to medieval times, and the site of a tile kiln from the 13th century was excavated in 1982 in an area with evidence of dells from where chalk and clay were extracted. Green glazed Farnham pottery was popular throughout medieval England.

Parliamentary forces opposed to Charles I during the English Civil War, which started in 1642, were billeted in the park as part of the force deployed to defend the castle which had fallen into Parliamentary hands. An attack by the Royalists was documented in 1643 when 8,000 soldiers attacked under the cover of heavy mist. Cannon and cavalry successfully routed the invaders. After the Civil War, when parts of the castle were dismantled under Cromwell's orders, the park began to fall into disuse as squatters moved onto the land and killed the deer and dismantled park fences.

In 1660, after the restoration of the monarchy, the bishops returned to the town, and Bishop Morley undertook repairs to the castle. The Old Park was sold to provide funds and part of these were used to renew the New Park fencing and repopulate the park with deer. The bishop also planted a kilometre long avenue of elm trees which stretched the entire width of the park. The avenue was sadly devastated by an outbreak of Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s and was replaced by lime and beech trees. In the 18th century the park was landscaped with specimen trees including Cedars of Lebanon.

click on image to go to photographer's website

During the Second World War the park was turned over to potatoes, wheat and other crops under the hand of the Women's Land Army. Defences including pill boxes and anti-glider posts were erected and a spigot mortar post was erected by the Home Guard in the park near Bear Lane. Prior to this in the 1930s much of the park was turned over to a golf course.

In the summer months cattle graze in the park and these help maintain the biodiversity of the grassland by preventing invasion by brambles and scrub. Following recommendation by the Surrey Wildlife Trust a small area of chalk grassland has been excluded from its regular cut and over the last few years has seen the return of important plant species including the rare Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia).

Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)
Picture by Chilepine
released into public domain by photographer

The park had a good stock of veteran oak trees, many of which were felled during the 1950s. A programme of new tree planting is ongoing in order to build up the stock to its original stock levels. The park's ponds, fed by the Nadder Stream, support an important population of Great Crested Newts and three new ponds are planned (2006-2007) to help increase this habitat and also provide some educational use for local schools. The stream gets its name from the old English word 'nadder' meaning 'winding one'. There are other seasonal streams and several swallow holes where these disappear underground when they flow over the clay into the more porous chalk beneath.

Hawthorn and Dog Rose flower in the park in summer and the woodland and grassland provides an important habitat for wildlife. Birds including Warblers, the Whitethroat, Redwing, Kestrel and Fieldfare frequent the trees and bushes, and wild Roe deer still live in the park. Small mammals including mice, voles and shrews are in evidence alonmg with 25 species of butterfly.

An archaelogical discovery was made (2006) at the main entrance to the park when excavations were made at the Farnham Cricket Club. A substantial sawpit, which it is believed was used during renovations to the nearby Farnham Castle after the English Civil War, was unearthed and is quite unusual in its complexity with brick and stone lining. Funding is being sought to lift the structure and relocate it to the Rural Life Museum at Tilford in order to preserve it.

A full-time Ranger is based in the park working from the bungalow at the park's main entrance where an office and educational facilities are located. The old Ranger's House today is a private residence. The upkeep of the park is greatly assisted by the Friends of Farnham Park and conservation volunteers.

Waverley Borough Council have announced (October 2007) that the historic views between Farnham Castle and its park will be restored by a programme of tree felling and shrub clearance. The Forestry Commission has issued a felling licence with full support from English Heritage and Farnham Castle. Once the work has been undertaken the views will be maintained by scrub clearance on a five year rotation. The aim is to provide a clear view from the car park and from within the park itself.

Waverley Borough Council has announced (July 2008) the implementation of a new management plan for Farnham Park which includes the development of an onsite ranger office. Part of the park has also been identified as a Suitable Accessible Natural Greenspace (SANGS) (1) linked to the nearby Thames Basins Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA).

(1) SANGS were devised to provide alternative space to attract residents and visitors in areas of high housing density in order to relieve pressure from Special Protection Areas. The classification provides funding to enhance the designated area.

PHOTO-FILE ON FARNHAM PARK

VIEW FARNHAM TOWN COUNCIL VIDEO

Farnham Hospital

A controversial development on the land adjoining Farnham Hospital freed up by the building of the more compact new hospital complex has finally been given the go ahead by the council (March 2007). 134 dwellings are to be built on the southern part of the site after initial proposals were rejected following the granting of the original planning permission in 2004.

The new hospital, a small-scale PFI (1) initiative costing £17m was completed in 2003 and was built on part of the original site in Guildford Road on the NE edge of Farnham. The opening of the hospital to patients was delayed by almost a year due to a need to finalise 'legal processes'. The NHS lay claim to the fact that the new facility which provides 84 inpatient beds "makes the Hospital and Centre for Health one of the first comprehensive centres of its kind in the country." The original hospital had 150 beds.

The NHS had originally muted the complete closure of the facility but finally backed down in 2003 after a concerted public campaign to prevent closure. The hospital provides specialist care for stroke victims.

The Farnham Society (2) have deemed the architecture of the new hospital warranting a Certificate of High Commendation.

" Like all new hospitals this is contemporary in style, appropriate for a modern technological establishment; it has a crisp geometry, with pale buff brickwork and contrasting white features. The fact that it is of only two storeys makes it a friendly addition to the surrounding residential area. The top-lit entrance atrium is impressive and, as architecture should, lifts the spirits of visitors. It acts as a communal core with a pharmacy, snack bar and informal seating, while the same user-friendly impression applies to the areas which are all easily accessed from this central point.

"Not apparent from an external viewing are two landscaped courtyards which give a pleasant prospect from the wards but, more importantly, are designed to function as physiotherapy areas. It is considered that the Hospital and Health Care Centre is of a design worthy of recognition and a welcome addition to the amenities of Farnham." Farnham Society Amenity Awards 2004

The original hospital was known as the Farnham Union Infirmary before becoming the Farnham County Hospital in 1929. The new hospital is the Farnham Hospital and Centre for Health, to give it its full name.

(1) PFI: Private Finance Initiative was launched in 1992 by the government to provide the ability for private sector involvement in the provision of public services. Simply put the private sector developer retains ownership of the buildings and site and the NHS Trust pays for using it and any maintenance required.

(2) The Farnham Society was formed in 1947 and is an independent charitable organisation established to champion conservation and amenity causes in the borough.

Crooksbury Common

An extensive sandy heathland sits to the east of the town towards the North Downs. Crooksbury Hill (GR: SU876460) is the highest point of the common quite distinctive with a ragged silhouette of pine trees.

Crooksbury as a name is of Celtic origin , with 'cruc' or 'crug' referring to burial mounds usually on a hill-top, provides the clue to the fact there are earthworks on the flank of the hill one of which is called Soldier's Ring. The hill is close to a lost royal centre at Bintungom (the name surviving today as Binton Farm (GR: SU885468) in Seale). There is documentary evidence that Bintungom was transferred into Farnham Minster by royal charter to become a centre within a Farnham Hundred.

It was here that Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist (1903) was called upon to solve a case involving Miss Violet Smith. Sotheby's auctioned (2004) the original manuscript consisting of two handwritten exercise books for $344,000 (£183,276) in New York, despite the fact that the manuscript was incomplete with the last two pages missing. Conan Doyle wrote the story whilst living at Undershaw in nearby Hindhead.

Sherlock Holmes
Artist: Sidney Edward Paget. Picture in public domain

Charles Darwin, who often used to stay at Farnham's Moor Park in ill-health, used to frequent the common for exercise.

"I cannot walk far & get to a kind of Barometer which I have here, namely Crooksbury Hill, when I can get to top of that all is splendid but half-way beats me as yet." Charles Darwin 1859 letter to his son.

Famous Farnhamian, William Cobbett (see below), also often referred to Crooksbury Hill, this hinting at his involvement in dealing with what were considerable pests at the time.

" A line is hardly more straight than is the road from Headley to Thursley; and a prettier ride I never had in the course of my life. It was not the less interesting from the circumstance of its giving me all the way a full view of Crooksbury Hill, the grand scene of my exploits when I was a taker of the nests of crows and magpies. " William Cobbett, Rural Rides 1830

Farnham Heath

The RSPB (1) owns and manages a nature reserve at Farnham Heath (GR: SU859433) just outside Farnham on the B3001 near Tilford. Comprising of a mixture of heath and woodland the reserve attracts a healthy variety of bird species including woodlarks, tree pipits, crossbills, nightjars and woodcocks.

The RSPB since acquiring the heath in 2002 has successfully established a programme of heath and woodland regeneration. The reserve is open to the public and three nature trails have been marked out in the reserve including a short route that is manageable for wheelchair users with a helper. There are full facilities at the adjoining Rural Life Centre.

(1) RSPB - Royal Society for Protection of Birdswas founded in 1889 and is a UK charity whose primary aim is to secure a healthy environment for birds. With a million members it is Europe's largest wildlife conservation charity.

MORE ABOUT FARNHAM HEATH & BIRD SPECIES

Influential Citizens

It was at Moor Park on the banks of the River Wey that in 1704 Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745), the author of Gulliver’s Travels, wrote The Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books whilst working as secretary to Sir William Temple.

Farnham played an important role in the development of the early motor industry. John Henry Knight (1847 - 1917) built a road steam vehicle in 1868 at his works in West Street. Knight had trained as an engineer and developed an early enthusiasm for finding ways of harnessing steam for power road-going transport. Although his vehicle proved to be inefficient and prone to disaster it stimulated others to investigate ways of propelling vehicles without the use of horses or pedal power and so the industry locally was born. Knight had a lot more success with his petrol engine, the Trusty, and he evolved a three wheeled road vehicle with tiller steering that was powered by the engine. His car was the fourth British vehicle to be built and is believed to be the first petrol driven vehicle ever to be driven on British roads. The 1895 vehicle had a single cylinder with a capacity of 1565cc and a maximum speed of 8 mph. Knight was fined five shillings in the same year for not having a traction engine licence, nor a man walking in front with the obligatory red flag. His four-wheeled version today is preserved in the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu.

The following is a letter held at Farnham Museum and written in 1895 by his engineer. It was sent to Knight whilst he was recuperating from an accident recounting the road tests he had undertaken whilst his boss was away..

12, Mount Pleasant,
Farnham
28/7/1895

Dear Mr Knight

I was very sorry to hear of your accident but I hope you will soon be all right again. I was out nearly every morning last week with the new motor car and it works well now. I could not get engine to fire every time at first. She would fire twice and misfire twice regularly. So I tried to get it right by adjusting the air and the gas by using short and long tube and by placing a small air valve to ventilate the firing tube, but I could not get it right that way. Then I thought of raising the compression, so I put a quarter inch plate between the brasses and the connecting rod and she fired every time at once. I ran then with a fast speed rope on and went the level quite 10 miles an hour, that is with myself on it.

I went out again the next morning, with Ford and myself on the machine, to Willey Mill both riding there and back and came home after changing water at Willey in 15 minutes. The next morning, we went to Willey again, myself only riding, Ford riding a tricycle, and came home from Willey in 9 minutes. She goes up the rises by Cox Bridge and past Cox Bridge on the Alton Road with slow speed at about 3 to 4 miles per hour, governors missing sometimes.

The horses I met on the road take no notice of it. They are mainly heavy horses. The exhaust is noisier than it ought to be, but I think it is that paint tin. It sounds like a drum. It is so very thin that I think it would be better if it was lined inside with asbestos mill board. It would deaden the sound.

I think that leather bands would be better than ropes and I have added up the weights of levers, brackets, rollers and find that by fitting leather belts, we should gain 30 pounds in weight, which means a lot off the machine. I have been nearly half way up Beavers Hill in slow and I find that the ropes are wearing the V in the pulleys, quite rounding them already. The water in the tank gets very hot going from the shop in Willey, but I find the engine works better after the water gets warm.

We met Mr Neal out the other morning, so I let him have a ride on it a little way; so I see he has a small piece in the Surrey and Hants which I have cut out for you to see. I think that is all, Sir, this time and I hope we shall soon have you home with us, quite recovered from your accident, but it is very bad just now to have your arm broken.

I remain yours obediently, Geo. Parfitt

Mike Hawthorn (1929 – 1959) the motor racing ace also lived in Farnham. Instantly recognisable by his 6’2” frame, blond hair, broad grin and bow tie Hawthorn burst on to the motor racing scene at Goodwood in 1952 to win the British Grand Prix driving a Cooper-Bristol. He went on to race for Ferrari at Formula One always wearing his trademark bow tie.

Europe's leading vehicle auctioneer has announced (February 2008) that after a twenty-five year absence from the town it is returning to new premises less than half a mile away from where it was originally established in the 1950s. British Car Auctions, which started life as Southern Counties Car Auctions, moved from its West Street headquarters in 1983 to an old Edwardian Hotel, Expedier House, in Hindhead. The business, which now processes vehicle sales of over £3 billion each year, is moving into 'state-of-the-art' facilities in Crosby Street. Headway House will accommodate their staff of 150 as well as providing highly specialised computer systems to handle 1.3 million vehicles at their 21 UK and 24 European vehicle auction centres.

Farnham's Most Famous Son

William Cobbett (1763 - 1835) is one of Farnham’s most famous sons, and the pub in the town in which he lived is named in his honour. Cobbett began work as a young lad as a bird scarer in the fields as his father was a farmer, later a publican, but became one of the country’s most dedicated social commentators risking his life and health in the process.

William Cobbett
Picture in public domain

Having joined the army at the age of 21 he quickly found the corruption and ill-treatment rife in the senior ranks to be so shocking that he tried to expose the issues, only to be turned upon and charged to appear before a court martial.

Fearing for his life Cobbett fled to America in 1791 where the corruption of the political system there again irked him so much that he started publishing his views earning him the nickname Peter Porcupine. A harsh libel judgement in 1800 forced him to return to England in severe financial difficulty, but he was now so fired up about social injustices that this was to take over his life.

Two years later he founded the radical The Political Register which campaigned for social and political reform. Concerned also that accounts of debates in the house were being deliberately misreported, Cobbett founded his journal Parliamentary Debate which was later to become known as The Hansard after his assistant who continued to develop the journal, and which is still published today.

Continually hounded by powerful figures, Cobbett continually ran the gauntlet of imprisonment and heavy fines but finally achieved his ambition of taking a seat in the House three years before his death.

He is best remembered today for his detailed accounts of his travels around Surrey and in highlighting the plight of the poor living there. Extracts from Cobbett’s 1830 Rural Lives are featured in this web site. A framed copy of The Political register hangs in the William Cobbett pub.

Where are The Bones of Tom Paine?

Farnham born William Cobbett (see above) was renowned for being outspoken and opinionated. A target for his disdain was the English revolutionary and radical intellectual Thomas Paine (1737-1809). Paine had emigrated to the American colonies and he had encountered Cobbett there during one of Cobbett's self-imposed exiles.

Thomas Paine
Picture in public domain

Cobbett had written a hostile biography of the intellectual in response to some of his widely publicised views, one of which advocated independence from Great Britain, but some years later it would appear that he had a change of heart in his opinion of Paine. So started an unsolved mystery that was to become a public obsession for much of the 19th century, with the Times and other journals of the time trying to get to the bottom of it.

It would appear that in his guilt Cobbett hatched a plan that would fund the building of a monument to Paine which would effectively be his apology for the way he had treated Paine during his lifetime. Cobbett was renowned for his odd schemes, and this must surely rank as one of his oddest, for according to research carried out by Paul Collins for his book The Trouble With Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine (2005) Cobbett dug up Paine's remains and brought them back to England with him. His grand idea was that he could use Paine's bones as a political fundraiser and so get him the recognition and support for his monument. Not surprisingly Cobbett found that human remains do not make a good fundraising gimmick and so poor Paine's bones lay in Cobbett's attic and were eventually forgotten and lost when Cobbett's estate was sold after his death in 1835.

Decades of debate followed as the Victorians enquired as to where Paine's remains had gone. The debate was fuelled by Paine's high profile during both the American Revolution, which in 1776 resulted in the creation of a new nation, and the French Revolution (1780-1799). Letters in a magazine of the time claimed that the bones had been tracked down to a grain merchant residing in nearby Guildford, although this turned out to be erroneous. Other claims became more bizarre and included stories of Paine's bones being used to make commemorative coat buttons. The author managed eventually to follow a trail which involved a succession of radical reformers involved in everything from abolitionism and birth control to medical reform and voting rights, with the remains of Tom Paine appearing and disappearing with records of death and bankruptcy. Tantalisingly their final whereabouts are still unknown.

This account of William Cobbett and Thomas Paine does however serve to throw a little light on to the colourful character of one of the Wey Valley's most famous sons . . .

Source:
Campaign for the American Reader. 9th January 2007

Castle Street 1924
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.  

Quarry Threat in Weybourne

Surrey County Council's (SCC) draft minerals plan has outlined a new site for the extraction of minerals at Weybourne in Farnham. Monkton Lane (GR: SU857486) bordering Green Lane Farm has been identified by SCC as a source of aggregate which will help fulfil the council's government imposed targets for contributing to national extraction needs.

Another site in the Wey Valley at Eashing Farm (GR: SU947449) near Godalming is similarly targeted.

Local MP Jeremy Hunt has been fighting the plans for both sites and supports local objectors which include the borough councils and conservation groups. The MP met (September 2006) with English Nature on the two sites to assess the ecological impact the quarries will impose.

"English Nature has informed me that they do have some key concerns over these two sites in the draft minerals plan," said Hunt. "I am delighted that their conservation officer Nick Radford has agreed to visit the site with me as I hope he and I will be able to work closely together to get the council to rule out Monkton Lane and Eashing."

SCC has announced a timetable for the quarries that will centre on a stakeholder workshop in October 2006 that will then lead to the final draft of the minerals plan which will be submitted to the government in June 2006. A consultation period will follow allowing the public to put forward objections. A final public examination will take place in early 2008 before the plan is finally approved.

Source:
Farnham Herald 22nd September 2006

MORE ABOUT THE QUARRIES

'Garden Grabbing' Concerns

Wey Valley residents in Godalming, Haslemere and Farnham have joined forces to protest against what they see as the 'garden grabbing' activities of property developers in the area.

MORE ABOUT 'GARDEN GRABBING'

Redgrave Theatre
and the East Street Development

The Waverley Borough Council are under increasing pressure to reject plans to demolish the former Redgrave Theatre to make way for a major new commercial development in the centre of the town.

The theatre, which was named after actor Sir Michael Regrave, was built in response to the fact that The Castle Theatre had outgrown its facilities, and opened in 1973. Sir Michael buried a time capsule beneath the theatre's foundations as it was being built, and it was his voice that was the first to be publicly heard from the stage at the opening. The theatre was opened by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowden with a Royal Gala performance of Romeo and Juliet.

The Castle Theatre was the earliest and smallest of Surrey's main post-war repertory theatres and was officially opened in 1941 by the Farnham Repertory Company.

The Redgrave, which was publicly funded in its construction, incorporated an innovative new auditorium design, with an orchestra pit for ten musicians, to ensure that every spectator had a clear view of the stage, and was used to test its suitability for the design that was to be used in London's Barbican Theatre. After a decade of financial struggles the theatre, which had been leased to the Farnham Repertory Theatre, was forced to close its doors in 1988.

The theatre comprises of a single tier auditorium seating 356, entered from the top of the rake and designed to give excellent sightlines. It has a distinctive and unusual concrete roof structure, with beam ends forming eaves, overhanging the brick walls of the auditorium. Redgrave is spelt out with a single letter in each deep recess. It has no fly tower and the stage is open-end of 12m width with a thrust effect in the middle; with a large workshop behind. A rehearsal room/studio is situated under the steps of the auditorium, the large foyer serving both. Source: The Theatres Trust 14th October 2008

The New Farnham Repertory Company, which was launched in 1999 to try to convince the council to keep the theatre open, had failed despite high profile campaigns and even resorting to making a point by producing three seasons of outdoor plays both in the open air and in a marquee outside the building. The Farnham Theatre Association, which was formed at the end of 2005 to combat the development plans, is however still hopeful and they have been supported in their campaign to halt demolition by actresses Kika Mirylees (Bad Girls), Susan Jameson (Heartbeat) and Abigail McKern (Rumpole of the Bailey).

The 356-seat theatre which had been designed by Frank Rutter was finally boarded up in 1999 after a long struggle to keep it open. The developers want to retain the adjacent Grade II listed Brightwell House which was built in 1790, and which had served as the theatre's restaurant, offices and dressing rooms, and to convert the building into a cafe-bar and restaurant. Brightwell House had been acquired by the local council in 1920.

Brightwells in 1927
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection

The £100m 750,000 sq ft (67,500sq m) development is around the East Street area and will include shops, restaurants, bars, apartments and an eight-screen cinema. Affordable housing and underground parking have also been incorporated into the plans. Public consultation closed at the end of November (2006). There is considerable local concern over the plans.

“The people of Farnham are absolutely fed up with these plans. They’re outraged by the size and scale of the buildings that will be there," said Anne Cooper of the Association. "I have been absolutely inundated with people queuing up to sign our letters of objection to the planning applications. I always knew there was support for the theatre but it has been overwhelming. We will be taking well over 1,000 to the council next week.”

However it appears that the protests may fall on deaf ears as the council, who own the site, haven't been able to identify any investors for retaining the theatre.

"Members discussed at length the two previous attempts supported by Waverley to relaunch live theatre at the Redgrave building, which had resulted in several hundred thousand pounds of revenue and capital investment by Waverley which had not been able to provide a sustainable theatre. Essentially, members felt that people in the Farnham community were not prepared in sufficient numbers to support live theatre to enable it to sustain itself." Minutes of the Environment & Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee May 2006

The council would appear to be hanging their hopes for providing a home for live theatre at the Farnham Maltings, a popular arts and music venue near the centre of town.

“Waverley’s cultural strategy for drama is focused on The Maltings, which is developing its capacity for a range of live performance,” said spokesman Chris Mansell. “The Maltings has been a great success and Waverley’s very considerable investment is bearing fruit. Furthermore there will be a multi-screen cinema in the new development for which there has been extremely well-evidenced demand.”

Sources:
thestage.co.uk 20th December 2005; 14th November 2006 / Waverley Borough Council web site 14th November 2006

It looks increasingly likely (December 2006) that the developers, Crest Nicholson, will be granted planning permission for the new development. The Grade-II listed Brightwells House is to be refurbished but the Redgrave Theatre itself will be demolished.

Over 10,000 local people have registered their objection to the plans and an increasingly agitated group of actors continue to voice their anger. Judi Dench, Geraldine James, Alistair McGowan and Gemma Jones are amongst many who have joined the Redgrave family in protest.

"It's such an excellent theatre and such a wicked waste to leave it empty and then pull it down. Actors like us know a good theatre when we work in one and the Redgrave is a great theatre. Once it goes dark it's quite easy for developers to go sniffing around." James Bolan

"My family were thrilled to be part of it. I would be very sad to see it go. Nearly half of the (£255,000) funding came from donations from local people - and yet they were not consulted when the theatre was closed." Jemma Regrave, who cut the ribbon at the theatre's opening when she was six years old.

"It's the people of Farnham against the absolutely enormous developers. I don't feel like I'm living in a democratic country. The developers have been saying it’s just a few theatre people who want to save it but that’s rubbish - there have been over 9,000 letters and people are absolutely furious about having the theatre taken away from them. It’s not democratic, they are not listening to what people are saying.” Abigail McKern, Rumpole of The Bailey actress.

Proponents of the scheme however see the development as crucial in breathing life back into this part of the town.

"They (opponents of the scheme) are very unhappy about change in particular. But there is no doubt that that part of town needs attention," said Gillian Ferguson, leader of Waverley Borough Council. "There will be a town square and we will preserve the existing green space. There will be housing in the town centre - rather than adding to the edges of the town - with 88 affordable housing units, shopping, retail and cinema."

"You can't stem re-generation for a bunch of people who want to save their theatre. If someone came to me with the dough then I would consider providing a theatre in the scheme," said Paul Callcutt, Crest Nicholson director. "I have people ripping this scheme to shreds and wrecking a whole load of social goods. I feel quite deeply that we have a great development here. It hits every sustainable development button that you can imagine."

However the developers have said they would be open to suggestions on re-opening the theatre if funding could be found.

“The applicant (Crest Nicholson) has said if anyone has the financial support to make [the theatre] work they’d be very happy to talk to them, but the position so far is no one has brought forward a package that would work financially," said Stephen Thwaites, Waverley Borough Council director of planning and development. "Certainly the council has been involved in financially supporting the theatre in the past but, after a couple of failed attempts to relaunch it, the council withdrew its support.”

Sources:
The Independent 29th December 2006 / The Stage 9th January 2007

The redevelopment of the East Street zone has turned into a high-profile political contest (May 2007) in local elections. Infuriated by what they see as wholesale destruction of the Georgian character of the town 18 local residents are standing for election as independent councillors. A political party, Waverley Independent Network (WIN), was formed to provide support to the independent applicants who are standing for 31 seats with some candidates doubling up in town and borough wards. 14 WIN candidates are standing in eight of the nine Farnham wards.

Much of the candidates anger is directed at what they see as the local council's secretive approach to the East Street development.

"The government talks about localism but local councils have no power - we have a contract [for East Street] that was agreed by the Conservatives in 2003 just before they lost to the Liberal Democrats," said Stephen Cochrane, a founding member of WIN. "Due to a commercial confidentiality agreement with the developer Crest Nicholson/Sainsbury's it is being debated in secret and the people that make decisions are based at the borough council in Godalming, 13 miles away."

Source:
Guardian Unlimited 2nd May 2007

Developers Scott Brownrigg have presented their latest plans to Waverley Borough Council for the East Street development. The plans outline the creation of nearly 300 residential buildings alongside bars, cafes, restaurants and a multi-screen cinema on the 12-acre site. The scheme, which was subject in March 2008 to a 28-day public consultation period, would see East Street resurfaced and pedestrianised allowing access to a new town square with the town's ancient copper beech tree at its focal point, although detractors point out that of 105 existing trees the plans will see 93 of these felled. The Listed Brightwells House will be refurbished but the Redgrave Theatre would fall to the demolition team's hammers. The scheme originally also included a new Sainsbury's store on the site but such have been the planning delays the company has since undertaken a multi-million pound refurbishment of its existing outlet.

Ten years after discussions started the council has given approval (October 2008) for the redevelopment of East Street which will provide for restaurants, retail units and 239 homes, of which 30% will be designated as affordable accommodation. The Marlborough Head PH buildings will be preserved for a change of use and Brightwell House, once part of the Redgrave, will be converted into two units for restaurant use. The theatre itself will be demolished. The plan will also see construction of a community centre to replace the existing Gostrey Centre, a multi-screen cinema and car parks. Councillors voted 330 to one in favour of the application.

Pressure to save the Redgrave Theatre from demolition continues to build. The Theatres Trust has urged (October 2008) the secretary of state for Communities and Local Government to step in to save the theatre. The Trust has also written to the Planning Director of the Government Office for South East demanding a public enquiry and highlighting the fact that the plans to demolish the theatre conflict with Surrey County Council's own Cultural Strategy 2002 - 2007 and Waverley's 'A Blueprint for Leisure 2003 - 2008' which identifies a lack of theatrical provision in the area and praised the Redgrave as a 'cultural asset'.

"This development has not addressed the impact of the loss of the Redgrave nor the benefits associated with the economic, social and cultural strengths a theatre brings to the development," said Mhora Samuel, Trust Director. "There are no plans to include a 350 seat theatre or provide financial compensation that could provide local residents with a proper theatre. As Planning Policy Statement 6 (PPS6) states, 'The Government's key objective for town centres is to promote their vitality and viability... and make the town more attractive to local residents, shoppers and visitors'. The loss of the Redgrave does not support this policy." prnewswire 14th October 2008

The East Street development is approaching a new challenge as Crest Nicholson Sainsbury's announced their intention (October 2008) to apply for a three-year extension to allow the developer to tackle the detrimental market conditions currently facing the building industry. This provides an opportunity for opponents to the scheme to pressurise the council to withdraw from the contract, although this could lead to many more years of dereliction for the site.

"Terminating the contract would mean, in effect, starting again at the beginning of the project, seeking an alternative development proposal, and new contract terms,” warned an official council report. "This could entail several years of delay in meeting the council’s regeneration objectives, and would result in greater uncertainty for the people of Farnham.”

The development has already had two previous extensions, the first for one year and the second nine months.

Source:
Farnham Herald 30th October 2008

Waverley Borough Council has agreed (November 2008) to amend its contract with the developers to allow a three-year extension to the contract which will now remain valid until December 2011. They also agreed to a condition that a six-month rolling viability test be applied to determine whether the scheme remains financially viable. The council is also now putting into motion the procedure required to compulsory purchase the last two remaining parcels of land - the site of the former Regal cinema and the Marlborough pub. It is estimated that this procedure will cost £165,000 and requires approval by the Secretary of State for the Environment.

SEE ALSO YVONNE ARNAUD THEATRE, GUILDFORD

Farnham Colleges
Old & New

Farnham Grammar School

For almost four centuries Farnham Grammar School educated thousands of boys from the town and surrounding villages.  The school was founded in 1560 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I with records showing that that was the year an application for a licence to build the school was lodged.

In 1585 there is record of a yeoman (1) in Farnham donating 20 shillings ‘to the maintenance of the school in Farnham’. A 17th century book Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey compiled by John Aubrey (1627 – 1697) does suggest, but without any evidence, that the school actually dates back to 1351 this being the date that a chantry was established at Farnham Castle by the Bishop of Winchester. Henry VII’s son, Arthur, is recorded as having attended the chantry. The school was first referred to as a Grammar School in 1849.

(1) A yeoman was a freeman who cultivated his own land.

The school building was located in West Street from the 17th century until 1906 when it was re-housed in new buildings constructed on six acres of land in Morley Road. The old building was taken over by the Girls’ Grammar School. Both schools were replaced by the newly-formed Farnham College in 1973 following a national overhaul of the education system.

Prior to the introduction of the Education Act in 1944 the school relied on gifts and bequests and pupils were only accepted on payment of fees or by scholarships awarded on merit.

A 1920s prospectus for the school preserved by the Old Farhamians’ Association includes the following entries:

Day boys coming from a distance may dine with the boarders at a charge of 1s. a day.

The main building comprises on the ground floor a Cloak Room and Changing Room, a Dining Hall for 90 boys, a Chemistry Laboratory, and a Physics Laboratory ; on the first floor a School Hall beautifully panelled in oak, and five classrooms, each capable of accommodating 30 boys. The classrooms are all lofty, well ventilated, and heated by hotwater radiators. There is a temporary building which provides three more classrooms ; a well-equipped Workshop for Manual Instruction; a large Gymnasium ; a Bicycle House ; and a covered Miniature Rifle Range.

In the Headmaster’s house are the boarders’ dormitories, very lofty, heated by hot water, and commanding a wonderful view of the countryside. In the senior dormitory is a private sleeping apartment for the Resident Master ; and the junior dormitory is in charge of a Prefect. The Matron’s room adjoins. There are two bathrooms for the use of the boarders, who also have a playroom of their own, apart from the Gymnasium, which is fitted with electric light and makes an excellent indoor recreation place. There is an Infirmary for cases of infectious illness among boarders.

If a boy has been to school before, a certificate of good conduct is required before admission.

The School sets out to train the members of its community so that they shall be fitted both spiritually, mentally and physically to play their part as citizens in the larger world.

The great majority of the boys go into business or commercial life, while some few every year enter the Services, the professions or the universities. With these ends in view, the School has been so organized and graded that each boy, within the limits of his capacity, shall have a complete and graduated course in each subject of the curriculum.

There is a Detention Class from 4.15 to 5.30 p.m. on Fridays, for boys whose work during the week has been unsatisfactory ; and idle or troublesome boys are liable to attend on Saturday mornings.

The Old Farnhamians’ Association is still active today to provide a link between the school’s old boys and provides a history of the school, its boys and masters – although as their website states: “although, with the natural course of events, the OFA membership will decline . . .”.

Farnham becomes
a University Town

Farnham art College, which has its origins in the 19th century, celebrated its new found status as a university in September 2008 with an official opening alongside its sister campuses in Epsom and Kent.

The newly named University for the Creative Arts has a total of five campuses with its largest located in Farnham and formally became the first specialist creative arts university earlier in the year. The university was formed through the merger of the Surrey and Kent Institutes of Art and Design in 2005 and now has over 6,500 students.

“What this means is for the first time the UK has got a specialist creative arts university,” said the University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Elaine Thomas. “That’s unique and special, because it means that when young people want to study a creative subject they can now go to a university to do it, whereas in the past they went to art colleges.”

The town has been a provider of art education since the 19th century, when the Farnham School of Art was formed in 1866, associating the town with a rich history of decorative and fine arts. Local artist James Hockey’s enterprising undertakings in the town from the 1940s resulted in a small School of Art being founded in West Street. This facility evolved into the West Surrey College of Art in West Street and finally into the Surrey Institute of Art & design absorbing the Guildford School of Art (established 1870).  James Hockey was appointed principal of the Farnham School of Art in 1945.

The Farnham campus provides specialist teaching and research in art, design, cinematics and communications. The university has award winning on-campus accommodation with contemporary ‘living spaces’ for 350 students in the Student Village. Two exhibition facilities, the James Hockey and Foyer Galleries, run public events throughout the year.

The university boasts a long string of successes from students who have achieved awards in national and international competitions including Oscar and BAFTA winners in animation; prize winners for film and video in Kodak, Fuji and Royal Television Society awards; winners in journalism for the National Magazine Academy Award; fine art winners in the national Pfizer Award; and winners in three dimensional design with the Kleinwort Benson Prize.

Loyd Grossman, the television presenter, 'personality chef' and journalist was appointed chairman of the university's board of governors in September 2008.

The independent  Farnham Art Society was formed in 1944 and today (2008) has over 450 members and provides meetings and events for its members including demonstrations, discussions, lectures, workshops and exhibitions. The Society is independent from the university.

A Sketch History of Art in Farnham (pub. Farnham Castle Newspapers) by Robin Radley provides an interesting insight into art in the town until the 1970s.

Tongham Wood Restored

Wedged between the busy A331 Blackwater Valley Road and the urban development of Tongham is Tongham Wood (GR: SU883488), a council owned triangular area covering 4.5 hectares.

Local residents established the Tongham Wood Improvement Group in 2004 to formalise efforts to clean up this important local woodland space volunteers had started in 2002. Their efforts working alongside the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership were celebrated with an official opening held in April 2007.

The work, which included clearing rubbish and rubble left by fly-tippers, clearing and marking paths and erecting interpretation boards, was made possible by grants totalling £5,000 which was topped up by £4,600 raised by the volunteers. Over four trailer loads of rubbish were taken off-site and 200 trees and 900 bulbs have been planted. Two new coppice areas with hornbeam, English oak and sweet chestnut, wild flower banks and mixed hedgerows have been planted.

The Group has applied for Local Nature Reserve status to be bestowed to protect the wood. The Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership manages the land for the council.

Farnham
Local Food Initiative

In February 2008 a new initiative was launched to establish a local food co-operative that will produce 'locally grown healthy food'. The scheme, which takes up the principles of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) (1), was outlined to local residents at a public meeting at the Farnham Maltings at which the organisers reported an attendance of 140 people.

The founder of the Farnham Local Food Initiative, Robert Simpson, envisages a community-based local food co-operative which will manage land resources available to it for common good with the harvest shared among the members of the co-operative. Simpson's vision is that this will be a social enterprise "enabling members to invest money in their local community to the benefit of economic, social and environmental purposes such as food education, health care and wildlife habitat conservation."

The organisers reported that following the meeting over 50 people have committed their time, expertise and in some cases land to the inititiative. The next step is for a series of 'working groups' to be established in order to devise a pilot project.

The following points were highlighted in the leaflet used to launch the scheme:

"What might a Farnham Local Food Co-operative do? An initial pilot scheme could grow fresh vegetables and soft fruit, possibly with some poultry and pig products, on sites within the Farnham Town District for the participating members. Members could work together on deciding the desired crops and products for the coming year.

"How would the co-operative work? The Co-operative would set up, own and manage the business for the benefit of members and the local community. It could rent or acquire land and employ skilled people to produce the desired crops and food products. Members may also like to assist as volunteers!

"What would be the benefits of becoming a member of a local food co-operative? Primary benefits are easy access to good, tasty locally grown food at fair prices: a wider range of crops, seasonal variety and all-year-round freshness. Other benefits would be access to healthy activity; fun through involvement; and reconnection with the land. It requires a commitment to regular purchase, a readiness to share risk and some hard work from the organisers!

"What would be the benefits to the community of a successful local food co-operative? Economic benefits are job creation, with more money kept in the local economy. The social benefits could include farm-to-food education; better nutrition and health care opportunities; more scope for family recreation and community development. Environmental
benefits would include a designed garden farm landscape, as well as habitat conservation, on the urban fringe.

"What principles would guide the development of the co-operative? These could include: to create an equitable and sustainable local food economy; foster a healthy local food culture; and build a strong locally accountable social enterprise.

"What should be the objective of the local food co-operative? To manage successfully a co-operative enterprise that produces good, safe and fairly priced local food for members and residents of Farnham and surrounding district." Source: farnhamfood.com 27th February 2008

The new co-operative would also consider applying for start-up funding available for sustainable food projects similar to those running elsewhere in the country. One such funding source is the Local Food fund which is managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and which received backing to the tune of £50m in 2007 from the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme. The fund provides grants ranging from £2,000 to £500,000 and is available to qualifying not-for-profit community groups and organisations in England. In the long-term it would be the aim of the co-operative to become financially self-funding with members as investors and would operate as a not-for-profit enterprise.

(1) Community Supported Agriculture is a concept originally introduced into the USA from Europe in the 1980s and became extremely popular. There are now over 1,400 CSA schemes in the USA and Canada. CSA encompasses a broad range of partnerships between consumers and producers whereby members of schemes provide their labour and skills to allow farmers to focus on good farming practices whilst still maintaining productive and profitable farms. The Soil Association in Britain is a key campaigner for the launch of CSA into the country and estimates that there are over 100 such schemes in the UK.

In April 2008 the Farnham Local Food Initiative had their inaugural planting and sowing weekend. 45 members of the group with their families spent a Saturday working on the previously ploughed and rotovated field near Crondall digging in the group's first year crops. The day included a propagation workshop providing training on germinating seeds under glass and bringing seedlings to the cold frame. Members, who paid £100 to join, will benefit later in the year by receiving food produce which includes potatoes, onions, shallots, calabrese, carrots, spring onions, beetroot, radish and lettuce in return for their labours. The FLFI also operate on another site in Runfold and are aiming to have the Local Food Initiative fully operational later in the year.

The group has announced (January 2009) that their second site at The Kiln in St George's Road, Badshot Lea is to be launched on the 4th February.

Helping the Environment
in Runfold

A local waste management company is spearheading efforts in the valley to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill. Chambers, a privately owned company founded 25 years ago, occupies the quarry waste site on Guildford Road in Runfold (GR: SU876474) where it is also headquartered.

The quarry originally produced Runfold sand but in more recent years has come to house a complex operation, to which has been added (December 2007) a soil washing plant. There are only three other machines of its type in the UK. In 2008 the company is projecting to recycle 100,00 tonnes of secondary aggregate which would otherwise remain unseparated from soil waste removed from construction sites and building developments and would have otherwise ended up in landfill.

The recycling process involves weighing and inspecting the soil as it arrives at Runfold onboard tipper lorries. The soil is then passed through a dry screening process where any concrete is removed and crushed for use in new building groundworks. The remaining material goes to the soil washing plant which divides the waste out from the soil into soft sand, sharp sand and stones of three different size groupings. The company says that it is now able to recycle all but 2% of building and construction site waste.

The company also runs the recycling centre at Slyfield Green in Guildford where 60% of wood, metal, glass and paper gets recycled. The uncyclable material is taken to landfill at their Homefield site in Runfold.

Source:
chambers-group.co.uk; Surrey Advertiser 16th May 2008

Runfold Loses Jolly Farmer

A popular local since it was built in 1932, the Jolly Farmer (GR: SU870477) on Guildford Road has closed for good as a public house (April 2008) and is being converted into an upmarket Chinese restaurant.

The building with its herringbone brickwork and beamed mock-Tudor gables had established itself as both a local landmark and popular watering hole on the once busy A31 before the road was diverted to meet up with the Blackwater Valley trunk road in 1995.

When the road outside fell quiet and much of its passing trade was lost the pub successfully shifted its trading policy to concentrate on serving food and developed a good reputation in its 110 seater restaurant, so much so that in its heyday 70% of the pub's turnover came from food. The interior was welcoming with fitted oak dressers and exposed brick fireplaces and in the warmer months provided barbecues in its award-winning gardens. In 2006 the Jolly Farmer jointly won the Farnham in Bloom award with the Cherry Tree pub in Rowledge.

Prior to the restaurateur Steve Sung taking over the building from Punch Taverns, estate agents were advertising for offers in the region of £140,000 for the lease. This will be Sung's second restaurant joining Kei's restaurant in Tadley, Hampshire.

The pub was at the centre of a successful apprehension of a burglar by Police Dog Jordy working with Surrey Police C Division in 2007.

"Called to a report of intruders at the Jolly Farmer Public House in Runfold, PC Rob Male and Police Dog Jordy tracked across an adjoining road and into the garden of a bungalow where they located a man dressed in black hiding in the trees. The suspect ignored PC Male’s instructions and came at him with a large screwdriver. When the handler backed off the suspect ran. PD Jordy was released to chase the suspect.  He bit and initially detained the man, but he broke free and got into his vehicle. Both handler and dog struggled with the suspect in the vehicle, and arrested him for burglary.  PD Jordy then searched the garden area and located a large black handled screwdriver." Source: Surrey Police Authority

Tongham Pool Sold for £1

A 16-hectare plot that includes Tongham Pool (GR: SU883492) by Aldershot Park has been sold (July 2008) for £1 to Rushmoor District Council. The land was bought by Surrey County Council in 1968 from which to quarry gravel used in the construction of the adjacent A331 Blackwater Valley Relief Road. The quarry subsequently filled with water after it was closed forming the pool. During quarrying the remains of Iron Age hut circles were found together with an almost intact 'log ladder' at the bottom of a well.

The District Council has outlined a development plan for the site which will include improving pedestrian access with new bridges and footpaths, information boards introducing visitors to wildlife, and a tree-planting scheme to regenerate native species and provide screening from the road. An unnamed conservation group is in discussion with the council to manage the site for the council.

Tongham Pool also provides alternative green space to reduce disturbance to local special protection heathland areas, a policy championed by Natural England to encourage visitors such as dog walkers to avoid habitats for proteced species.

Farnham Transition Town

The global ‘Transition Towns’ movement has launched (September 2008) a local group in Farnham to focus on finding ‘responses to the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil.

The group wants to inform residents about the impact that it sees will be imposed on local people from the challenge of peak oil – where half of the world’s oil reserves have been extracted and with oil as a finite resource how this will directly affect not only energy prices but also all of those items that depend upon oil in their manufacture. These include a wide range of products from plastics and pesticides to medicines and televisions.

The transition town aim is to prepare local communities for the changes that they see coming, and to build ‘resilience’ into local communities to influence the way they lead their lives in everything from travel and work to to shopping habits and leisure pursuits. The term ‘transition’ relates to the move away from an oil-dependent society into a post-oil world.

The UK movement started in 2006 in Totnes in Devon when British environmentalist Rob Hopkins inspired the local community to rise to the challenge of developing sustainability without oil and where the group estimates that up to 15% of the town’s population are now in some way involved with projects. Hopkins describes ‘transition culture’ as ‘an evolving exploration into the head, heart and hands of energy descent’ and has published The Transition Handbook: from oil dependency to low resilience (Green Books 2008 ISBN 978 1 900322 18 8).

More about Transition Farnham HERE.

SEE ALSO: TRANSITION GODALMING

The Largest Inhabited Roundabout
in the Country

“The circling traffic acts like a moat around a castle, isolating what lies inside from the outside world. As a piece of civil engineering, the roundabout itself is extraordinary, said to be the largest in the country and designed to allow traffic to travel at 70 mph. Yet what lies within is also extraordinary, a tiny community with its own pub, houses and even its own postbox, caught in a time warp.” Sue Farrow. The Farnham Society. 2001

The Shepherd and Flock roundabout (GR: SU854474), covering around 10 acres,  provides a connective hub between the busy Guildford to Alton A31, and the towns of Farnham and Aldershot and is usually recognised only for the fact that it has its very own pub, after which it is named, and a company selling sheds advertised with tongue-in-cheek banners incorporating terrible shed-related puns.

However right in the middle of this pretty unique roundabout  lies a community of some seventeen dwellings, a thriving hostelry popular for its real ales and Sunday roasts, busy allotments and a healthy wildlife habitat.  The community was once part of the old Bourne Mill village which straddled Guildford Road and Moor Park Lane and within the confines of the roundabout there is still evidence of the sand and gravel pits that were once active here. A pedestrian underpass dug beneath the three lane road links the community to the town.

The roundabout is a haven for wildlife which is kept under the watchful eye of volunteers from the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership under the guidance of countryside rangers. There are a variety of habitats there attracting fauna and flora which include wildflowers, butterflies and grasshoppers. The BVCP have planted trees and hedges to encourage further biodiversity. When the roundabout was opened in 1973 the Farnham Society leapt to aid the now traffic-beleaguered residents by planting 1,000 trees which provided a leafiness that residents enjoy today.

The Shepherd & Flock allotments were returned to full production in April 2007 having fallen fallow for some 20 years and only to be enjoyed by the occasional grazing horse or donkey. Allotment holders took up their plots which had been ploughed for them and found the soil to be in good condition.

“The plot is located on the Shepherd and Flock roundabout in Farnham, Surrey. It is relatively flat with well a decent, well-draining soil. I would say it tends towards clay (its on the heavy side) but I would not pretend to be any kind of expert here. Presiding just 50-odd feet away from the river Wey and one of its many streams, the site has, I believe, been enriched in previous years by fairly consistent flooding.” Blogger Dave farnhamallotments.co.uk 31st October 2008

Allotment holders have reported regular raids on their plots by deer that are quite partial to the free feasts of vegetables so kindly laid out in rows ready for the taking. The town council appears to be powerless to act so plot holders have resorted to stuffing tights with human hair and liberally hanging these around the site – apparently a successful deterrent. The other alternative is the erection of 10ft high fencing . . .

In the early 1990s the highway authority put forward a proposal to effectively split the roundabout by building an underpass to allow a grade-separated junction. The works would also have resulted in the loss of the land lying between the road and the River Wey which runs a hundred yards away to the south, and which is designated as an Area of Strategic Visual Importance in the Waverley Local Plan. An energetic campaign by Farnham residents to oppose the scheme won the day, strengthened further by the very real danger of increased flooding for homes lying alongside the Snayleslynch (also referred to as Snailslynch) (GR: SU853472) and the nearby Kilns. There was also concern that this high-speed junction would become even more dangerous for motorists.

A resident in selling his 18th-century cottage on the Shepherd and Flock in 2005 attracted the attention of the national press when the estate agent particulars spoke of ‘unique, semi-rural setting’ in the middle of what ‘is believed to be the largest inhabited roundabout in the UK’.

“Being cut off from the outside world, everyone knows each other very well," said the vendor Guy Prince. "It feels very safe and secure. It isn't too much trouble getting on and off the roundabout. To get to the house you have to keep in the inside lane, which takes you onto a little slip road. To get off the roundabout, it depends in which direction you want to travel. If you are going towards Aldershot, either you have to go all the way round the roundabout to get into the outside lane or you have to wait until there is no traffic and then dive across. You get used to it." telegraph.co.uk 19th October 2005

The cottage, which is a weak stone's-throw away from the pub, was on the market for £299,950.

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