Guildford has again (2008) been pronounced the safest place in Britain in Endsleigh Insurance' annual survey of household burglaries. MORE
The ten most expensive roads based on house prices in the Guildford area are:
White Lane, Guildford
Woodhill Lane, Shamley Green
Fort Road, Guildford
Guildown Avenue, Guildford
Guildford Road, Sutton Green
Hoe Lane, Peaslake
Church Lane, Worplesdon
Abbotswood, Guildford
The Ridgeway, Guildford
Fairway, Guildford
And the ten cheapest are:
Old School Close, Guildford
Francis Court, Guildford
The Friary, Guildford
Hallowes Close, Guildford
Tarragon Drive, Guildford
Cedars Court, Guildford
Bellfields Court, Guildford
Power Close, Guildford
Poplar Road, Shalford
Hornbeam Road, Guildford
Source: ourproperty.co.uk, November 2006
In 1919 the average price of a house in Guildford was recorded
as being £713 (£19,084 today's values) by Clarke Gammon estate agents. Today (2007) Land Registry records show the average to be well over £300,000.
House prices in West Surrey covering Guildford increased by 11% (August 2006 - July 2007) with the average cost of property reaching £309,000, against a national average of £184,131. Source: Nationwide Building Society
At a time (2008) when property prices are now beginning to take a fall elsewhere in the UK, Guildford appears to be holding its own:
“Guildford is a strong commuter zone with a market which is fed by London but also supported by strong local and international demand,” says Lucian Cook, a director of Savills research. “While applicant numbers fell heavily in some other areas, those in Guildford in November, December and January remained at just under 97 per cent of the level for the same three months a year earlier.” Source: timesonline.co.uk 7th March 2008
"Heritage, history and hi-tech business combine to make Guildford a place of exciting and dynamic contrasts. Home to a first-class university, groundbreaking knowledge-based industries, award-winning retail facilities and some of the most beautiful heritage and countryside in the South East, it’s a destination with some clear natural assets." Guildford Borough Council job ad for 'tourism and business partnership manager' 24th May 2007
Some key contemporary architectural milestones for Guildford include:
- 1933 : Guildford Lido opens. The recently refurbished Olympic-sized pool remains popular today.
- 1936 : construction starts on Guildford Cathedral. Interrupted by the war the cathedral was not consecrated until 1961.
- 1939 : Guildford Technical College (now Guildford College) moves to new buildings in Stoke Park.
- 1962 : Guildford Civic Hall opens and becomes a popular venue with top bands. It has been closed since 2004.
- 1963 : Guildford's first multi-storey car park opened in Sydenham Road.
- 1965 : the purpose-built theatre at Millbrook opened as the Yvonne Arnaud.
- 1966 : work was begun on the University of Surrey.
- 1967 : the building now housing Debenhams was built for Plummers Department Store. Debenhams took over in 1972.
- 1973 : the old Town Bridge was closed and Guildford High Street was pedestrianised for much of the working day.
- 1980 : the new Royal Surrey Hospital in Egerton Road opened by the Queen.
- 1993 : after a delayed opening Guildford welcomed the Spectrum leisure centre, now home to The Flames ice hockey team.
- 1996 : converted from an old generating station the Electric Theatre opens.
Women live longer in Guildford than most other parts of the country according to new Government statistics (August 2007). The longevity table puts the town in the top ten with an average female lifespan to be enjoyed of 83.6 years. The national average is 81 years with the top scoring location being Kensington and Chelsea in London at 86.2 years. Source: Office for National Statistics August 2007
“What used to impress me whilst growing up in them days was the friendships that were built up over a long time between struggling but caring families. Neighbours were always in your house, other families crossing over roads to talk over fences and walls. When someone was poorly, every one would help out since you couldn’t afford to go to a doctor or into hospital. You relied on home-made remedies that were tried and tested.” Guildford resident 1930s. Guildford Memories. Michael Green
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One of the very earliest references to the game of cricket was made circa 1550 for a match played in Guildford at the Royal Grammar School. MORE HERE
The primary character from Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, Ford Prefect, claimed to be from Guildford, though in fact he was born near Betelgeuse.
“You know,” Ford draws out, swinging his arms so they brush Arthur every so often,” it doesn’t snow where I come from.”
“It doesn’t snow in Guildford?” Arthur asked. That doesn’t sound quite right, but Arthur’s never actually been to Guildford so he’s not going to argue. Ford just brushes some snow from his friend’s shoulder and smiles. “But I know this one place where it snows red. Kind of like blood, I suppose. So it might make you queasy.”
“What?” Arthur laughed. He let Ford lean companionably onto him. “Did you have a few extra drinks while I was in the restroom?”
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams 1978
All along the Wey you will encounter coppiced trees. Coppicing is where trees and shrubs are cut to stumps, and where new growth results in long straight branches that are later cut for poles. These poles were used in everything from making hoops for barrels to walking sticks. Coppicing also encourages growth of other plants on the woodland floor, and attracts other wildlife.
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Channel Four TV awarded Guildford with the accolade of 9th Best Place to Live in its 2005 show The Best & Worst Places to Live in The UK. A survey carried out by Eve Prime Retail afforded the town with being the most attractive and safe shopping destination two years running from 2004 - 2005.
The Business Crime Reduction Group launched their Guildsafe campaign in the town in 2005. The scheme provides for sophisticated CCTV systems linked with radio communication between store security and the police to detect shoplifters by monitoring activity and instantly communicating alerts to all the stores in the scheme. The campaign has seen crime rates drop in the town with would-be shoplifters perhaps deterred by life-size cut-outs of the town centre's PC Neil Smith strategically placed near store entrances. In 2008 a total of 80 shops, pubs and other businesses were sharing security information.
“The purpose of these look-alike policemen is to act as a reminder to most and a warning to a few about the steps GuildSafe is taking to deter, detect and detain shoplifters in the town," said Mel Jones, Guildsafe's Business Crime Manager. "Our members have radios which put them in touch with each other and CCTV in the police station. We also share intelligence and photos on offenders".
Surrey Police made 2,230 arrests in 2007 following offence detection and evidence collection through CCTV cameras installed in Guildford, an increase of nearly 500 on the previous year. In 2008 there are a total of 60 council-owned cameras in and around the town, with seven mobile cameras and 10 in the High Street. As there is no legislation covering the installation of CCTV no official figures exist on how many privately-operated cameras are in the town.
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“I moved to Guildford during the post-war period and stayed with my gran in a two-up and two-down mid terrace at the back of what was a then a small dairy. In the morning I would look out of the old grimy glass of the sash window and see the cart-horses setting off. When I first moved there I did not sleep well due to the noise, especially in the winter months when it was pitch black and all I could hear was noisy glass bottles going into the crates, the shifting about of the metal containers and then the horses themselves trotting off. But I got used to it.” Margaret Turner – Guildford resident. Surrey Memories and Families at War. Michael Green
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The Angel is the oldest inn in Guildford and is in the cobbled high street close to the castle to which a tunnel was said to have been excavated. A priest hole existed in a front bedroom and a bullet was found in an old beam here. Room 3 has residing there what has been described as “something that carries with it a deep feeling of depression and fear.” Room 1 had a lady occupant in 1969 that was so shocked with fear that she couldn’t speak except to point repeatedly at a mirror. In 1970 a guest and his wife saw in the same mirror a gentleman sporting a bold moustache and dressed in old fashioned military uniform. Could this have been The Prince Imperial, heir apparent in the French Empire of Napoleon, who stayed here in 1876 occupying a large double front room which has been named after him? Who knows?
"I was thrown out of my first student digs in Guildford just before Christmas 1984 because my landlord who was a milkman was sick of meeting me on the stairs coming in from a night of debauchery when he was going out to work. He pushed a note under my door saying: "This is not a halfway house. Make sure you and your things are out of here by the time I get back from work today." I did. Blogger Lloyd Davis 23rd December 2006.
Guildford's Friary Shopping Centre was used as a location for filming the Warlord episode's sequence of the massacre on an escalator in the 1970s cult BBC TV series Blake's 7.
“To make Possets”
Worplesdon (Guildford) recipe 1779
“Take a Pint of Cream, Boil it and let it Stand to be Cold, and the Night before you make them Peel a Lemon and let it stand all night in half a Pint of Mountain Wine* then Strain your cream into a Pot then sweeten your Wine. Put in the Juice of a Lemon, then mix it all together, take the froth as it rises, and put into glasses.” Old Surrey Receipts & Food for Thought. Daphne Grimm
*Mountain is a variety of Malaga Wine
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The recently opened (2006) Boileroom provides a new venue for live entertainment in Guildford, and all credit to the owners they're not just sticking to the old faithfuls of live music and comedy. Their first Poetry Night (November 2006) didn't however go totally to plan, as this blogger recounts.
"The place was decked out in candles and it looked pretty intimate and beatish. Nigel was there with his Salvador Dali Moustache, trying to flog his surrealist, subconscious designs to the venue...and he was a poet. It turned out the barman was a singer songwriter as well so within a few minutes there were three of us wordsmiths willing to enthral the throngs with our wit and rhymes.
"By 9.00 however no one had turned up. In fact one person had turned up. She fell through the door wanted to know what the place was about and said she'd be only interested in coming if they played punk. On hearing it was a poetry night she said she hated poetry and told us it would make her want to kill herself. To this old Salvador Dali decided to regale her with some of his rhyming couplets. She didn't stay long.
"But as many have said, you've got to make the most of what you have and the three of us, like true crusaders battled on heads to the wind taking it in turns to read to our invisible audience. And slowly, as rats scurrying from the sewers to the Pied Piper's sounds they appeared. The Sylvia Path types; the severe Russian intellectual; the beautiful, dreamer telling her monologues.
"
This was bohemia. Guildford had bohemia and I sat back on my stall and blew smoke to the ceiling as if I was in some kind of Parisian cafe. The candles flicked like branches in the wind; the crowd clapped; inhibitions were lost and it felt like maybe, we might have been doing something different or important or special or bizarre or mad... but at least we were doing something.
"Sadly, the designated host of the evening ended up consuming more than the sensible amount of Carlsberg and by 10.30 was a more offensive, unscrublious and brutally honest host than he was at the beginning of the evening. Oh well. Mental note- do not drink more than four pints at future poetry readings...." Blogger: Greg : myspace.com. 30th November 2006
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Cheryl Tweedy, the Girls Aloud singer, was arrested for alleged assault and racial abuse of a toilet attendant in Guildford's The Drink nightclub in 2003.
Amelle Berrabah, a member of the girl group Sugababes, was arrested in April 2007 for allegedly fighting with an unamed 18-year old girl during which it was reported that she pulled out her hair extensions. The arrest was made in Bar Med in Guildford.
"Listening to this album it's clear that the power that swept off the stage and in to the unsuspecting audience in the gloom of Guildford's Civic Hall remains undiminished and nothing short of astonishing. If you were there that night then you were very lucky indeed....." Album review - 'King Crimson Live in Guildford, November 13 1972'. Blog: The Sky Moves Sideways 3rd February 2007
MORE ON CIVIC HALL HERE
In Merrow, on the northern outskirts of Guildford, a local highwayman James Potter worked at the White Hart Inn and managed to rob many of the passing gentry. He was eventually convicted of stealing 11 guineas and a watch, and was sentenced to death with two other local villains Christopher Ellis and Frederick William Gregg. In 1776 the three were hanged on Ganghill Common. A spectral highwayman was often seen on many occasions on the common before the area became developed over with residential housing
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“Guildford Manchets”
Guildford 19th century recipe
“Get 1 or 2 pounds of dough in the morning, then butter & lard as you use in puff pastry, and work similar. Be sure and sprinkle salt. Use dough the same morning, prove well before and after being on tin, keep out of draught, work through centre only. Before baking was over lightly brush with egg or milk.” Old Surrey Receipts & Food for Thought. Daphne Grimm
Lewis Carroll wrote one of his 'Nonsense Poems' whilst visiting his sister in Guildford who was sitting in vigil alongside the rest of the family for Carroll's nephew who was suffering from tuberculosis and was sadly to die. Carroll wrote this account of The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits in Alice on Stage published in The Theatre magazine 1887.
"I was walking on a hillside, alone, one bright summer day, when suddenly there came into my head one line of verse - one solitary line - "For the Snark was a Boojum, you see." I knew not what it meant, then: I know not what it means, now; but I wrote it down: and, some time afterwards, the rest of the stanza occurred to me, that being its last line: and so by degrees, at odd moments during the next year or two, the rest of the poem pieced itself together, that being its last stanza."
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The South East in Bloom competition 2006 saw Guildford voted Best in Category in the Large Town section and was presented with a Silver Gilt award.
A 17th century House of Correction was sited on what is now 50-54 Guildford High Street and in modern times occupied by various retail businesses.
Ghost Club (1) in 2004 undertook a paranormal investigation to determine strange goings-on that had been reported on the premises. These included a 1995 police report detailing officers attending alarms ringing in the middle of the night. At police request the manager turned out bringing with him his young son. Whilst the manager toured the building he left his son with a WPC who reported that the young boy had proceeded to hold a conversation on the stairs with a 'nice old man' who was not visible to the police officer. Stickers the boy had left on the stairs before leaving were found arranged in a neat circle inside the window.
Retail staff had also over a number of years reported being tapped on the shoulder and feeling a presence in the room. The lift would also travel on its own accord and a kettle in the staff room would turn itself on. Other reports include that of a night security guard being pushed over and decorators being handled, all by unseen hands.
The Ghost Club team, who stayed on the premises all night using scientific equipment, recorded a number of unexplained events but sadly without conclusion.
(1) Ghost Club was formed in 1862 to undertake psychical research and specialises in investigating paranormal phenomenon of ghosts and hauntings.
Guildford pioneered the Surrey Street Standards in 2002 which led the way for other towns to adopt the successful scheme. Street Standards is a highly effective, low tolerance approach to tackling antisocial behaviour. A first offence results in a football-style yellow card and a warning, with a second offence red card leading to prosecution. The police also have a specially designed 'Water Bus' equipped with a water jet and brushes. Anyone caught urinating in the street gets a yellow card warning and is made to clean up their own mess. Refusal to cooperate results in arrest.
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“It’s Friday the 24th and all that can be seen are overjoyed African students going to attend their graduation after years of hard work. Of course there were British students, Indians and others but one could not ignore the statistics showing the ever-increasing number of African graduates at this ceremony at Surrey University in Guildford.
"The nursing students though, who are also celebrating this weekend, face major hurdles ahead as the British government has stopped employing most of the foreign graduates saying the hospitals should first prove they cannot get local talent. 'It is sad really that we are happy today but most of our colleagues have not been employed because the Home Office is saying they should not be given work permits – some of us are already illegal immigrants because our students Visas have run out,' said Stella Marizani.
"Some hospitals have been employing the overseas students who were paid over £600 each monthly by the British government during their three-year studies but the Home Office has been refusing to process their permits. Hospitals from Australia and New Zealand have been recruiting the Zimbabwean graduates and their hard-working African colleagues from Surrey since the British government announced its new policy to shut out the people it trained." zimbabwejournalists.com November 2006
“Yesterday I went to Guildford where I visited the Farmers' Market. I stocked up on delicious smoked bacon from a stall that sells the best British bacon I 've come across." Blogger Karin 'Living Faith' December 2006
Four companies listed in the Financial Times' 2006 list of Top 500 Global Companies have a significant presence in Guildford.
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"My wife is one of those people who prefers knowing what she's getting for Christmas to surprises. Last year I took her shopping in Guildford so she could choose her Christmas presents. There really are some great shops in this city. I would recommend arriving in the dark at this time of year. As you enter the city centre you'll be struck by the pretty Christmas lights twinkling in the cold night air. When we visited last year there were plenty of stalls on the main drag, so if you fancy some roasted chestnuts, mulled wine or maybe even a nice hotdog to warm you up, you'll be OK here." Robert North. Enjoy England. December 2006
Adam Curry, a World Wide Web entrepreneur and one of the first celebrities to create and administer a web site, was instrumental in pioneering podcasting in the early 2000s. Dubbed a 'podfather' Curry sends out his influential podcasts from 'Curry Cottage' in Guildford.
“We got to sing with Guildford, a boys school. They were nicer and better-looking than the boys from Christchurch, who were wimps, and Hale, who were pimply-faced jocks (according to all the girls). It was all rather civilised and involved a lot of preparation which was very exciting. I remember aproaching Guildford and pulling into a driveway with an old (new by world standards) limestone church on the left and a huge green lawn spiked with huge Norfolk pine trees. Very dreamy and wintry to alight off the bus and walk in the drizzling rain to the church rehearsal space and have to warm up the vocal chords before launching into the dramatic opening of Kyrie.
Blogger Lovey C 17th December 2006
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Despite having a university and a cathedral, considered prerequisites, Guildford has never been successful in its applications to have the status of 'city' bestowed on it.
Guildford Castle, which was also at one time the site of the town's gaol, has its share of hauntings. All that remains of the castle today is the stone keep where a ghostly woman has been seen at the top of the stairs periodically. Another woman, said to be wearing long Victorian period dress, strolls through the castle grounds. Perhaps most distressing of all was the sighting by a young boy a decade ago of 'a man hanging by chains attached to the wall'.
"Went into this pub in Guildford earlier -'The Guildford Tup' - and someone asked if they could put the football on the TV at the bar. The woman at the bar said 'Football. No, Never…..this is a Rugby pub'. Now regardless of whatever people's opinions may be to the game of football, you know - there's too much money in it - it's full of ****** - that is typical of a jumped up pub in Guildford." Blogger Elsantirey 23rd December 2006
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Two MPs agreed a friendly wager on the outcome of a basketball cup final clash (2007). Local team Guildford Heat were up against the Scottish Rocks for their BBL Cup Final in Birmingham. Guildford MP, Anne Milton, offered up a hamper from the Hogs Back Brewery to her counterpart Jim Sheridan, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North. For his part of the wager, Mr Sheridan pledged a bottle from the Diageo distillery in Scotland.
"Jim Sheridan better be very afraid," warned Ms Milton.
Guildford Heat was only formed in July 2005, but the team are currently top of the British Basketball League. They have won both league matches against Scottish Rocks so far this season. But Mr Sheridan was confident of a turnaround in fortunes in the cup final.
"You can rest assured that the Heat will get a roasting," he declared. "I think the Rocks will stand tall and this will be a great event."
And the outcome? Jim Sheridan was parted from his bottle of Scotch - final score 81 - 78 to Guildford Heat as they lifted the British Basketball League trophy.
"Perhaps opposition teams have underestimated us during the last 12 months and maybe they have been expecting this team to fold," said coach Paul James. "The longer they are of that opinion the better. However, my team doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. We all know how hard we’ve been working for this success and we won’t stop now.” Sources: bbconline 5th January 2007; timesonline 8th January 2007
“Touring around pubs doing Mummers' Plays (1), reciting stories and singing carols and wassail songs on a Saturday night in Guildford is not easy, but I guess Pilgrim Morris are used to it! Somehow the morrismen and their entourage managed to squeeze into the main bar of the Star to perform the usual doctor-raising-Turkish-Knight-from-dead play. This was done with far more panache than other, more ponderous Mummer's Plays we've seen! Great fun. Then someone handed around songsheets and loads of us joined in the singing. Although I didn't know many wassail songs I did by the end of the night! The King's Head was closed, so it missed out on it's lucky chalk crosses for the New Year." Blogger Val Badger 7th January 2007
(1) Mummers' Plays are seasonal folk plays originating in the 18th century performed by troupes of actors in the street and at pubs.
“High-fliers who yearn to move to Surrey are looking beyond the familiar territory of Oxshott, Cobham, Esher and Weybridge. What sets you back £2 million near the Chelsea football club training ground in Cobham, with half an acre and a pool, will cost you a paltry £1.5 million in Haslemere, Dorking or Guildford.
"City types with young families are sacrificing convenience for period homes in generous plots in and around Haslemere and along the A25, which links Guildford and Dorking. Both areas offer well-maintained and pretty villages, traditional shops, as well as good independent and state schools.
"Haslemere, not too far from Hampshire and Sussex, is a favourite for commuters, thanks to its 50-minute direct train service to Waterloo. The satellite villages of Midhurst, Fernhurst, North Chapel and Lodsworth offer a slower pace of life, less traffic, splendid countryside, and pubs with log fires and masses of private space. The perfect antidote to London. Guildford and Dorking and their surrounding villages are one of the least densely populated areas in the county and quality properties are hard to come by." Source: timesonline.co.uk 19th January 2007
“We once went to a performance of Salad Days in Guildford. Never have I seen so many blazers gathered together in one place. That somehow left its mark." Blogger Baralbion 16th January 2007
“The nights were filled with people coming and going below the window and that was because a pub was just on the corner. When the trade stopped on the streets so it revved up behind those pearly windows that always had a fascination for me. They were very decorative then and you couldn’t see in. all you saw was the silhouettes of the people inside, the sound of a piano was always on the go and when it got late there was loud singing even on the street below. You couldn’t complain since it was quite normal and besides, Gran was a regular visitor, going into the snug and sitting there with a half of stout from the money she got from the loan club that day. I used to go down at around ten o’clock at night and ask someone to get my gran out but she would only scold me and bribe me with a glass of lemonade to hang around outside until she emerged. She knew I was afraid of the dark and would not sleep alone in an old house.” Margaret Turner – Guildford resident Surrey Memories and Families at War. Michael Green
“Huuummm from ‘Stamford Bridge to Guildford,’ quite hasn’t got the ring to it that from Stamford Bridge to Wemberleeeeeeee…. has, but Guildford could be the place that Chelsea Football Club may move to should all efforts to redevelop the exisiting site fail.
"I read somewhere that the site would need a minimum of 20 acres to build a decent sized capacity stadium, unfortunately for Chelsea, Stamford Bridge sits on an acreage of only 13. So what do Chelsea do? Well they could move down the road to Earls Court, or further down the way to White City (which in its former glory was the host stadium for the Olympic games), or as reports suggest move thirty miles away into the Surrey countryside to Guildford.
" With the Cobham training complex not too far down the road and the majority of players living in the Surrey stockbroker belt on millionaires row, perhaps Guildford sounds like the place to move to." Offside Chelsea Blogger Andy 12th February 2007
"It is often the case that you don’t appreciate or realise what is on your own doorstep. How many times have I walked past this place (The Angel Hotel, Guildford) on the way up the High Street, concentrating instead on the glitzy modern shops and what I needed to buy.
"The first time I heard it talked about was on Philip Hutchinson’s Ghost Tour of Guildford which we braved one Halloween! Incidentally a brilliant tour with a guide who is also a well known ghost hunter and sits on the council of the Ghost Club (the world’s oldest organisation associated with paranormal research). It was historically interesting and also quite scary to someone like me who has a very active imagination. Apparently Room 1 of the Angel Hotel, the rightmost front window I believe, is haunted by the ghost of a nineteenth century military man with a moustache - the couple who saw him in the wardrobe mirror at 3am were even able to draw him! It is also said that the wood used in the building was brought in from timbers of old ships and that is why sea-faring ghosts can be seen in the mirrors.
"Over the stairs hangs a stunning 17th century Parliamentary Clock which used to inform travellers when their coach was about to depart. I could sense the atmosphere and history all around, it really was like stepping back in time and felt quite surreal to look out the front window to see present day Guildford High Street still buzzing about its business." Blogger: Flibbertigibbet 18th February 2007
"There is also a tattoist and piercing parlour around the corner right next to the GSA (Guildford School of Art) and ACM (Academy of Contemporary Music) - where lots of students hang out with their guitars and the smell of incense is always wafting around . . . " Blogger Jen Munro 20th January 2008
"Today Dan and Emma (her instructor) and Bugsy went to the other side of Guildford to train on a cross country course. I went to the other side of Guildford for a kip in the car. They took off across the field and through the woods, Dan and Bugsy galloping and leaping over log jumps, water jumps and coffin jumps... Emma in hot pursuit on foot, and I, meanwhile, ate my tuna baguette, drank some coffee, then reclined the heated seat and slept for two hours. No wonder I keep so fit!" Blogger Tracy's World 24th February 2007
From blog diary of theatre director for English Touring Theatre's February 2007 production of French Without Tears (Terence Rattigan) at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford.
"So this is what coming out of retirement entails, is it? After a week of run throughs in the rehearsal room all seems set fair for the production week in Guildford. I knew we had a tight schedule (getting to a first show on the Wednesday night, a matinee and evening show on Thursday, press night Friday) so I'd tried to stitch it all together in the rehearsal room. Music and scene changes all in place etc, five run throughs to begin playing it in. Then last Sunday the actor playing Kit goes into hospital and I go into a tailspin.
"On Monday morning Ben Lambert heroically gets onto a train to Guildford and I start the technical rehearsals with him playing Kit holding a script marked up with the moves. By some mysterious process we get through it, do two dress rehearsals and a first show on the Wednesday as planned. He's terrific in the part, the audience get behind the situation (an announcement is made beforehand) and the result is better than anyone could have expected last Sunday evening. What a business it all is. And people wonder why we're like we are.
"It all looks unbelievably handsome, the music is great, and the play is catnip to a certain generation of the middle-class theatre-going public some of whom excitedly whisper the first big joke before it comes to their neighbour. The play is a period piece and I haven't gone fishing in it for relevance or a new slant. We just tried to find what seemed to be there. Couched in light comedy clothes there is a Chekhovian study of people who try to protect themselves from the emotional hurly burly by adopting artificial stances; it's both moving and very funny when these defences are breached." Blogger: Paul Miller, Director 18th February 2007
"This is Guildford on a Friday night, with an amorous hint of spring in the air, and we're on top of a multi-storey car park in a place called The Thai Terrace. It's heaving. Two women in their 20s are lolling about on one of the armless sofas and there's just enough room for us, but it's going to be cosy.
"It's not that I, like, fancy him - just that he's a really, really, like, nice person," says the one with a Picasso-esque (Cubism phase) tattoo on her right ankle.
"I know and I think he's, like, really good-looking but just not, you know, sexy," says her friend, who's come out in a pair of gold high heels similar to the ones that brought Naomi Campbell crashing down to earth some years ago." Mark Palmer : telegraph.co.uk 24th March 2007
The Royal Surrey's own radio station is over 40 years old this year (2007). Hospital radio was very much in its infancy when Guildford's was launched in 1968 then for the hospitals at St Luke's and Farnham Road. Recognising the beneficial service the pioneering station was providing to patients and staff, the charity Guildford Lions soon raised money to buy more sophisticated equipment, and so Radio Lion was officially born. The station, rightly recognised for its professionalism and popularity, now broadcasts to the Royal Surrey Hospital 24 hours a day and provides a varied listening schedule from music and news to live interviews, comedy and culture.
The average height of the BBL Cup and League 2007 basketball champions Guildford Heat is 6' 6" (1.98m). 25 year old John Nottley, who plays Centre for the Guildford Spectrum based team, is a towering 6' 11" (2.1m) tall.
The meadows by the Wey on Walnut Tree Close, where the Royal Mail sorting office now resides, was the location for eagerly awaited visits by travelling circuses in post-war years until the 1960s. Chipperfield's, Bertram Mills and Billy Smarts Circuses were all regular visitors there. An alternative location included Stoke Recreation Ground.
The animals, performers and equipment were shipped in specially chartered goods trains and walked in procession from the station sidings creating much excitement among local residents at the time.
The first evidence of cricket being played anywhere in the world was recorded in the year 1550, by the pupils of the Royal Grammar School in Guildford. The first instance of a match to be played between counties in England is recorded to be on 29th June in the year 1709. This match was played between Surrey and Kent at Dartford Brent. In 1727 Articles of Agreement were written governing the conduct of matches between the teams of the Duke of Richmond and Mr Brodrick of Peperharow, near Godalming, Surrey.
Street cleaners in Guildford have started (July 2007) lifting discarded chewing gum off the pavements using a new steam-powered gum-busting machine. Guildford presumably now stands to lose its stuck-up image.
A green housing scheme in the Slyfield area of Guildford became (June 2007) one
of only 20 developments in southeastern England to be awarded an 'excellent' eco-homes rating.
"As part of Open University's James May's 20th Century television program, the Top Gear presenter visited Mission Control in Guildford. In the programme James took a journey through the 20th century by "trying out for himself some of the most surprising and influential technological advances of the past hundred years".
"James asked SSTL (who are based on Guildford University's campus) if he could 'borrow' a satellite to take a photograph of the Earth. Well, an area the size of a tennis court to be precise. A BBC production team, with the help of SSTL staff, spread white sheets on land adjacent to the small satellite manufacturer's headquarters in Guildford, carefully designed to represent a "Space Invader" alien when viewed from above. SSTL's operations team then programmed a series of images which did indeed capture the alien." SSTL Space Blog 16th July 2007
"Went for a walk around (Guildford Uni) campus at lunchtime – nice to get out of the office. Sat by the lake and enjoyed gazing at the ducks, the coots and the moorhens, the latter of which had two chicks. Lovely. The ducks also indulged in a display of simultaneous leg stretching. Very talented birds really. And I’m amazed they could balance on one leg at all." Blogger: Anne Brooke 17th July 2007
A groundbreaking
technique for relieving patients from the debilitating symptoms of chronic sinusitis (inflamation of the sinuses which can trigger severe pain) has been pioneered (March 2007) by a Royal Surrey Hospital consultant. Rhinologist Julian Rowe-Jones inserts a small balloon into the sinuses from the nose. Inflated, it displaces the small bone at the sinus junction freeing up the passageway and is then removed.
"When going to town everywhere you went were queues of people mainly women and children. I can remember standing for hours with my mother, sometimes you joined a queue and didn’t know what it was for until you got it passed down the line from the front, or you got to the front of the queue.
"When the air raid warnings were going off all night long, we had many sleepless nights; we used to go to bed fully dressed, with coats and footwear ready to put on quickly and run; twice a month my parents went to my grandmas we’d stay two nights, Saturday and Sunday just to get a decent nights sleep without the wailing of the siren, my gran lived in Salisbury, Wilts.
"I remember D Day, my dad came in from working nights on the railways, I heard him saying to my mum “somethings going on”, he had seen trains going down to Portsmouth loaded with troops ,guns, tanks and army lorries. Also on the by pass in Guildford.lorries loaded with troops tanks and guns. So everyone went to see this sight, off our estate. This was D Day the beginning of the end.
"VE day was super, I was 11 ½ years old and we had a street party, every house made and gave something, sandwiches, cakes, biscuits etc. I’d never seen such food for 6 years, Although still on food rationing, everyone dug deep and gave a day to remember."
Betty Ford, Guildford resident. Source: WW2 People's War BBC
The creation of crop circles in Britain has always stimulated much debate, be they created by natural forces, alien activity or just downright clever creative stunts.
One such formation near Guildford was reported way back in 1880 when a scientist, John Rand Capron, described his sighting: “a field of standing wheat considerably knocked about, not as an entirety, but in patches forming, as viewed from a distance, circular spots. I could not trace locally any circumstances accounting for the peculiar forms of the patches in the field. They were suggestive to me of some cyclonic wind action.” The exact location was not recorded. Source: Life in the Fast Lane 3rd August 2007
Kings College for the Arts and Technology located in Southway was the first privately run state school in the UK. The Guildford college opened its doors to 900 students in 2000 replacing the former Kings' Manor School which had been subject to criticism of failure. Kings College focuses on educating students in at least one technology subject, provides a computer laptop 'buy-in' scheme, and abolished the school bell insisting on a more 'grown-up atmospher'.
Guildford and nearby Woking have been involved in a pioneering initiative to reduce 'doorstep crime'. Instances of so called 'distraction theft', where criminals under the guise of genuine cold-callers target particularly the elderly and either bluff their way into homes or cause a distraction so an accomplice gains entry, have plummeted since the scheme.
The scheme sets up 'No Cold Calling Zones' - one third of Guildford encompassing over 10,000 homes is now covered - which are policed by special constables. In Guildford the number of reported distraction thefts was slashed from 64 in 2005 to only nine in 2006. Rogue traders have also been thwarted.
"The zones were set up following residents’ complaints or police referrals,” said Mr Ruddy of Surrey County Council. "They cover mixed communities with both affluent and poorer estates. Two thirds of the victims are over 70 and most live on their own. Old people are giving away as much as £30,000 to people cold calling at their home to do building work." Source: timesonline 20th August 2007
An ambitious attraction is being billed for Guildford's Queen Elizabeth Park Late Summer Fayre (September 2007).
A dinosaur roadshow will recall the days when Surrey120 million years ago was a tropical jungle of giant ferns, raging rivers and deep swamps where meat-eating dinosaurs ruled unchallenged.
The Guildford House Gallery is planning to stage a recycled exhibition of art and design in 2008. The exhibition will have as its centrepiece a living room fitted out with goods made from recycled materials including furniture and light fittings. There will also be guitars made from plastic bottles and yoghurt pots on display.
Pattie Boyd's 2007 biography Wonderful Tonight talks of her relationship with the acclaimed guitarist Eric Clapton who lived in the Wey Valley.
"Once we met under the clock on the cobbled Guildford high street. He had just come back from Miami and had a pair of bellbottom trousers for me—hence the track "Bell Bottom Blues." He was tanned, gorgeous, and irresistible—but I resisted."
"Despite being in the middle of foot-and-mouth country, Guildford looked fit as butcher's dogs as they gave Warlingham a thorough roasting on Saturday." From a rugby match report between Guildford and Warlingham. Guildford won 27 - 7. Source: Steven Downes. Wimbledon Guardian 28th August 2007
Guildford town centre has 43 fixed CCTV cameras, with an additional six portable cameras covering the town centre and outlying areas (2007).
The cameras are operated from a control room at Guildford police station, which also monitors 14 cameras covering Farnham.
Guildford Borough Council intends to implement a range of new measures to ensure that two thirds of household refuse in Guildford is recycled by 2010. This will include a kerbside collection of leftover food and garden cuttings. The council will also be trialling the collection of discarded household batteries.
The 2007 edition of the UK Millionaires' Map reveals that there are 14,109 millionaires living in the Guildford 'GU' postcode area. This ranks the area in second place behind West London in the league of wealthiest areas in Britain. There are 124 postcode areas in the UK.
The Civic Trust has awarded (2007) Stoke Park and the Sutherland Memorial Park (off Clay Lane in Burpham) with Green Flag Awards celebrating nationally parks and open spaces that are outstanding as welcoming, safe and well-maintained.
Sutherland Memorial Park, which was donated by the Duke of Sutherland in 1954 as a dedicated war memorial to the residents of Burpham killed on active service during WWII, has now won the coveted award four times.
Since 1974 Guildford University students have raised money for charity in the Annual River Sports Day held on the River Wey.
In 2007 the event, which had always previously been run in June was held instead in September to coincide with Freshers Week as a way of welcoming new students. After the university's sub aqua club had spent the previous day clearing the river at Millmead of debris, 150 students took part in a series of events including raft races, tug-of-war competitions and water gladiator jousts, with the entrance fees being donated to the Guildford charity Disability Challengers.
"I recently bought in a charity shop, Guildford Corporation's Official Guide for 1939. It was supposed to include a map, but inside was a typed slip stating that owing to police regulations the map has been withdrawn for the duration of the war. However, upon production of the slip at the municipal offices after the war, the map will be supplied free of charge. If I contact Guildford Borough Council I wonder if they will have any left?" N. Harris. Letters. Surrey Advertiser 11th April 2008
"I just arrived today in lovely Guildford, England, just a 30-minute train ride southwest of London. Better known as the home of Surrey University and Hoof & Mouth (SIC) disease. One of the first things I noticed is the sky. I never get to see clouds in L.A. and I just realized I miss them. Samantha took me straight out for fish and chips. I don’t have Photoshop to fix the color on this photo, but I figure it’s appropriately English to post an image of off-colored food like this. Notice the grease - yum!" Blogger: Susanne 'The Butterfly Net' 14th September 2007
Stoke Cemetery and The Mount Cemetery in Guildford contain between them 8,000 memorials made up primarily of headstones. Under legal obligations policed by the Health & Safety Executive Guildford Borough Council has to inspect all such memorials at least every five years and make safe those that pose a threat to public safety whilst they try to track down the owners responsible for their upkeep (which we assume are the living ones . . . ). Six people, mostly children, have died over the last 12 years from headstone related accidents. Source: About Guildford (GBC publication) September 2007
Guildford library leads the league of forgetful borrowers in Waverley and Mole Valley with books and late fees worth over £60,000 from 5,602 people. Godalming weighs in with £20,000 owed. Source: Surrey Advertiser 5th October
Web developer and Guildford resident John Tabatabai walked out of a London casino (2007) almost £600,000 richer after winning second place in the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe. If he'd come first he'd have won £1m.
The Periodical Publisher's Association chose Guildford as the only UK town to feature in a focus for pioneering new research to determine consumer buying and reading habits. Dubbed 'Magazine Town' panels of magazine readers kept diaries and attended consumer panels over September 2007 in a bid by the association to provide groundbreaking direction for beleaguered publishers. A school in Godalming was selected by the PPA for visits by two high profile editors for career briefings. Source: ppa.co.uk September 2007
The 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment paraded through the town on 20th November 2007. The 600 soldiers from the battalion, also fondly known as the 1st Vikings, have recently returned from a tour of duty in Helmand Province of Afghanistan where they were in action against Taliban forces. Nine Vikings were sadly lost in action in the six-month tour. Although the battalion recruits in East Anglia, Cambridgeshire and Essex it is based in nearby Pirbright.
Surrey Police reported (January 2008) that Guildford has the highest number of non-Surrey criminals committing crime in the town compared to the rest of the county. 51% of the 10,513 crimes committed over the last year were by villains coming into the county, with those travelling down from London being the biggest group (31%).
Guildford leads the country's rankings for having the highest divorce rate (2007) making Guildford County Court one of the busiest in the UK. Legal firms in the town cite added financial pressures at Christmas as being instrumental in many break-ups, with the money orientated profile of many of the town's residents providing extra pressure.
The Wey Valley was hit by heavy rainfalls and high winds in the second week of January 2008 but luckily escaped the extreme flooding being experienced in Oxfordshire and Yorkshire. The Upper Wey and Lower Wey was placed on flood watch with particular concern in the Guildford area.
Two historical re-enactment enthusiasts married (January 2008) at St Mary's Church, Quarry Street in full medieval wedding dress. The ceremony attended by guests also suitable attired was followed by a procession up the High Street to a reception at the Guildhall.
Lifetime cloud-lover Guildford resident Nigel Foster is the latest of 11,000 people to join the Cloud Appreciation Society. Founded by a Briton the society is campaigning to fight the banality of 'blue-sky-thing' . . . SEE HERE
A policeman who lived in Shamley Green in the 1940s became a successful author with his accounts of life on the beat in the local area. Louis Quinain had two books published by Methuen. The first in 1946, Country Beat, is catalogued as being autobiographical and features stories with intriguing titles including the Cowman's Gas Meter; The Case of the Errant Pony; The Case of the Foreman's Spades and The Unfinished Burglary. His second book Policeman On The Green was published in in 1948.
An online petition has been launched on 10 Downing Street's E-Petition site to protest at what the petitioner sees as 'an act of betrayal' against the residents of Guildford. The PM's office established the site in 2006 to gauge public opinion and "offer a modern parallel which is more convenient for the petitioner (than paper-based petitions presented at the PM's door)". The petition is worded thus:
"The plan to create a regional hub in Guildford and increase the population by 25% using 'inward migration' is an attempt to manipulate the political demographics of the area.
"Because the region is an EU creation, 'inward migration' does not mean people from elsewhere in the UK, it means people from elsewhere in Europe, who, grateful for a new life will vote to a man, for whom they see as their benefactor.
"Similar programmes of gerrymandering are taking place elsewhere in the UK. These are not the actions one expects from properly elected democratic representatives, who should be seeking to satisfy the will of their own people, and not forever be seeking ways to thwart it. Gerrymandering is an act of cynical betrayal of the people of Great Britain." Source: petitions.pm.gov.uk February 2008
There is much to satisfy those we mourn the passing of the Guildford-based Friary Meux brewery. Sellers regularly post details of the brewery's products on the online auction site eBay. Current (February 2008) items include a half-pint glass (£4.97); 1960's beer mats (£0.99); a cellar management booklet (£0.99); bitter pump clip (£2.00) and a Friary Meux Hawkwood limited edition first day cover franked 'Godalming 22.01.84' (£9.99) featuring the brewery's historic heraldry. Starting life as The Friary Brewery in 1865 Friary Meux as it became brewed its last pint in 1969.
Guildford Borough Council has decided (February 2008) to withdraw funding from a drop-in centre for old people. The Riverside Cafe in the town, which is run by Age Concern, has had its annual grant of £30,000 stopped. There is now concern that the centre, which also provides a restaurant, a footcare clinic and drop-in computer facilities will have to close. However the council announced (March 2008) that the charity can continue to use the site rent free, although without the grant a fund-raising campaign will be needed to keep the centre running.
A Home Office review of the impact of 24-hour drinking in England and Wales concedes that the controversial policy has failed in many areas to reduce alcohol-fuelled crime. The report (February 2008) shows that violent crime rose in Guildford by 12%. This compares unfavourably with Birmingham (6%), Nottingham (3%), Croydon (-16%) and Blackpool (-11%). Source: independent.co.uk 24th February 2008
In 2003 Surrey County Council were forced to remove a 13ft (4m) high climbing frame they had erected at Henley Fort on the Hog's Back. It transpired that the structure violated the council's own rules in that they had not secured planning permission. The Victorian defensive fort is used as an outdoor education centre. Planning permission now secured (2008) a new and less intrusive structure has been erected in its place.
Guildford police has expressed concern over the growing craze for urban 'free running' or Parkour (1) that has hit the town. Participants use buildings, walls and fences to move from point to point as efficiently and quickly as possible, and in the view of the police are placing themselves and others in danger. One police officer reported that she had seen free-runners swinging across the river using a road bridge and then crossing three lanes of traffic to go down the other side. Common sites in the town include the Friary Centre, flats, bridges, rooftops, subways and car parks. Source: bbc.co.uk 18th March 2008
SEE VIDEO
(1) Parkour or l'art du déplacement is said to have been founded in France in the 1980s and has a worldwide following who regard the activity as an art and a physical philosophy
"Sam invited me and my housemate to go visit her in Guildford. It is so serene with lush greenery all around and all those tudor style shop plots so well-preserved. No wonder Guildford is one of the best place to live in Britain.Blogger: Junie 21st March 2008
In the late 1990s local radio station 96.4 The Eagle introduced the local populace to their new mascot, Talon, a silver body-suited female android. The busty silver-haired 'robot', actually two models Sophie and Gill who took turns wearing the costume, became so popular that she did public appearances.
"Amid snow, gales and mud, 3000 competitors from many countries took part in this four day festival which started with a sprint race at the University of Surrey at Guildford. The sprint race was on a sloping university campus with many buildings, courses of less than 3 km and winning times of 15 minutes or so with lots of controls: something we could easily emulate here (Ireland).
"The two day individual event followed at Leith Hill and Ashdown Forest (of Winnie the Pooh fame), and a relay at Eridge Old Park.
These are some of the best areas in southeast England for such events. Blogger: The Irish Orienteer 29th March 2008
As part of the Territorial Army's centenary celebrations units from Farnham, Redhill, Reigate, Chertsey and Camberley marched from Town Bridge to Holy Trinity Church watched by hundreds of sightseers. The April 2008 march celebrated Surrey's commitment to the part-time volunteer fighting force which has over 33,500 soldiers. The TA was founded in 1907 with full mobilisation in the First World War with units fighting alongside the regular army. 6,900 TA soldiers fought in the Iraqi War and 1,200 personnel actively support regulars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.
For one hour on the evening of Saturday 29th March 2008 Guildford was plunged voluntarily into darkness. Queen Elizabeth Park resident Susie Maguire had campaigned tirelessly to encourage the people and businesses of the town to turn off their lights in solidarity with the now international event Earth Hour (1). The popularity of the event saw Guildford Cathedral in darkness, together with local restaurants that joined in replacing electric light with candles.
(1) Earth Hour was started by the people of Sydney in 2007 to draw attention for the need to cut down on electricity consumption in order to reduce the greenhouse effect for climate change.
On April 3rd 1962 panda crossings
were introduced in the UK for the first time as a safety feature for pedestrians. The light controlled crossing had mixed effects across the country, with traffic chaos reported in Croydon and technical difficulties bringing the scheme launch in Weymouth to a complete halt. The authorities in Guildford however proudly reported a smooth and trouble-free inaugural day. Source: timesonline.co.uk 3rd April 2008
"Police today revealed that a 27 year old English teacher has been beaten by the checkout staff at a supermarket in Guildford, Surrey.
"An eye witness said "It was horrible- the man simply pointed out that the sign reading 'ten items or less' should in fact read 'fewer than ten items' because less means 'not as much' and fewer means 'not as many'."
"Police say that following these comments the checkout staff set upon the man using cash bags and an assortment of frozen foods. Six employees have been arrested." Spoof blogger: Rickie E. Room thespoof.com 4th April 2008
Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian KGB Colonel who became a double agent and defected to Britain in 1985, was taken in November 2007 to the Royal Surrey Hospital from his home near Guildford for treatment of suspected poisoning. The ex-spy claims he was poisoned by the KGB.
MORE HERE
A sand sculptor constructed (April 2008) a scale model of Guildford Cathedral from rotting vegetables to encourage people to make their own compost. Mark Anderson created the 4ft (1.2m) tall replica at Bocketts Farm near Fetcham.
Records held at Companies House show that women in Guildford are among the most enterprising in the country. During 2007 103 new all-female director companies were registered in the town adding to the 2,785 female directors already living in the area.
A 1937 steam locomotive called at Guildford, Woking, Gomshall and other Surrey stations as part of a whistle-stop tour to celebrate its restoration. The Royal Scot carried 200 passengers on its April 2008 nostalgic tour organised by The Railway Touring Company.
The now derelict building that was once The Green Man pub on London Road in Burpham has had all the tiles lifted off the roof to deter squatters from using the site (April 2008). The building, which sits on the site of public houses spanning 400 years, is earmarked for demolition but local residents are campaigning for it to remain land used for a replacement pub.
Formed in 1983, Friary Guildford Brass Band have had a successful history qualifying for national brass band championships and winning a regional first section championship in 2003. In addition to making around 20 public appearances in the town each year, the band undertake high profile engagements elsewhere. These have included playing onboard the QE2, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Cafe Royal, Ascot and Newmarket race days and the British Grand Prix. The band also take up engagements in Europe.
The first recorded full-time brass band in Guildford was the town's Friary Meux Brewery Band in the early 1900s.
Official figures from the Church of England reveal that weekly attendances for nearly all of their 43 dioceses in the period 2001-6 were in decline. Guildford diocese showed a 7% decline. The worst was Sheffield at -15%. Seven showed no change or an increase with London heading the tables at +12%. Source: cofe.anglican.org 12th May 2008
British Telecom (BT) has submitted (May 2008) a list of payphones that it intends to take out of service due to them no longer being financially viable. Citing 99% of homes having a landline and a 85% having a mobile phone as the cause, many of the street phones are the traditional red boxes. The council fearful that the loss of the traditional boxes will have a negative impact on the local heritage has canvassed public opinion before responding to BT.
Phones for removal in Guildford include those in London Road; Southway, Mareschal Road; Clandon Road, Woking Road, Worplesdon Road; Madrid Road, Cunningham Avenue; Wilderness Road and Epsom Road.
The much awaited release (May 2008) of Ministry of Defence classified UFO sightings has revealed how the Wey Valley has not been high on aliens' Must Visit lists. One file details a report of a frisbee shaped object moving across a clear blue sky near Farnham Road Hospital in 1985. The only other files held by the National Archives tell of two police officers, also in 1985, calling in the sighting of a "white light with a tail and no sound or smell" fall 400 metres out of the sky at Horsell Common near Woking. Source: http://ufos.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/ 15th May 2008
FOR MORE ABOUT PLACES AND HISTORY AROUND GUILDFORD
GUILDFORD HAS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ANGSt - IT'S OFFICIAL
MORE ABOUT GUILDFORD ALONG THE WEY
DAPDUNE WHARF - THE CENTRE OF WEY BARGE BUILDING
GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL
PHOTO FILE
ALSO IN AND AROUND GUILDFORD:
MOUNT BROWNE
& SURREY POLICE
PEASMARSH COMMON
SILENT POOL
CLANDON PARK
WEST CLANDON
& THE DRAGON
HATCHLANDS PARK
SHALFORD
STRINGER'S COMMON
ROYAL SURREY HOSPITAL THREATENED WITH CLOSURE
WARTIME GUILDFORD
WARTIME
'BRITISH RESTAURANTS'
THE ARMY IN GUILDFORD
UNIVERSITY OF SURREY LINGUISTS IN BID TO RECORD DYING LANGUAGES
CHITTY'S COMMON REGENERATION
COMMUNITY ON THE HILL TO SAVE GUILDFORD CATHEDRAL
GUILDFORD JOINS THE INTERNATIONAL RACE FOR THE MOON
PEWLEY DOWN
