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WEY HACKER "It really surprises me," Milton told Inside Out. "It's the speed, the size of the device and the ease with which it was attached to my computer." pcpro.co.uk 26th March 2007 WEY WALKER WEY AFRICAN WEY BLOGGER WEY LEGAL WEY ENVIRONMENTAL WEY CARNAGE WEY GIG " It was a good stage to play on (despite the sweltering hot lights making us ultra sweaty!) – and with a packed room you could have an awesome gig there." The Rebs 2nd June 2007 WEY DAMP WEY GREEN WEY SAFE WEY BOOKISH The bookshop referred to was probably the cavernous Thomas Thorp store at the top of the High Street. The shop closed its doors in 2003. Ed WEY RICH WEY GOLIGHTLY "I've had my share of rocket disasters," said Green. "We avoided a fire today but I've set cornfields alight before now. Another time I was at a wrap party in Ayrshire, Scotland, and I put on a display for the cast and crew. I didn't properly test the rockets for wind direction so they were flying about all over the place. The scene was complete mayhem. I was yelling, “Run for your lives!” and there were people screaming, "We're all going to die!” It was a firework display with edge. " Green's obsession with rocketry goes back to a childhood ambition to become an astronaut, although his part in the drama Rocket Man probably reignited his hobby. Source: dailymail.co.uk 30th June 2007 WEY QUINTESSENTIAL WEY REDUNDANT "Initially, they were just souvenirs from different pubs I visited," said eccentric collector Nick Stapleton. "I always asked for permission and offered to put money into the pubs' charity boxes. It's like a pension fund for me. I'll just sit on this little lot and get richer and richer.' He could well be right, as china pub ashtrays made by Minton can fetch £60. Source: metro.co.uk 24th June 2007 WEY DAMP "Here in Guildford this weekend the washing has been sitting on the line for over 36 hours and has become measurably wetter. WEY TOP TABLE WEY CANINE WEY SNAPSHOT Mean Temp : 15.2c Source: Phil Layton19th August 2007 layton.me.uk/meteo.htm WEY TAGGED WEY WARTIME "We had air raid shelters erected in everyone’s back gardens 6 ft deep. They were dry in summer but they had 2ft of water in them all winter then they were unusable. "We used to stand in our back gardens and watch the dog-fights between the fighters and bombers, not aware of the danger of falling shrapnel and bullets, until my mums neighbor felt something warm running down her arm, and saw blood she’d been hit with a piece of shrapnel, we never went out to watch again. "After the air raids, all the kids would collect all the shrapnel in their gardens and see who had the most. We had a copse at the bottom of our garden, my mum woke me up one morning in summer and said” come and look” out of the back window the trees were covered in strips of silver foil, glistening in the sunlight it was like Christmas decorations although it was summer. The Germans dropped these to break the radar screen at a nearby radar station." Betty Ford, Guildford resident. Source: WW2 People's War BBC WEY HEROIC WEY FLAMING WEY UNLEADED WEY GHOSTLY "A further search, however, was ordered and the results were chilling. For, just twenty yards from the supposed "crash scene," police found the wreckage of a car containing the remains of a man, buried in twisted undergrowth. Its lights were off - the battery had long since died - and the body was little more than a skeleton. Surrey Police later revealed that the crash had in fact happened in July 2002, and that the vehicle had lain undiscovered for close on five months. "The motorists who had originally alerted the police were, therefore, left to ponder the eerie possibility that what they had seen was a ghostly re-enactment of the original accident."Source: haunted-britain.com WEY DISORDERLY WEY QUAKE WEY LARK WEY THREAT VISIT THE TOWN & PEOPLE OF GUILDFORD MORE ABOUT GUILDFORD ALONG THE WEY
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Rare Bird Habitats under English Nature has released a plan (July 2006) to try and defuse a deadlock between Guildford Borough Council, new housing developers and the Government who are threatening to withdraw funds for affordable housing if their deadline is not met. The plan looks at ways of new housing being able to be built within the 5km planning exclusion zone protecting the six Special Protection Areas (SPA) in place in the borough. The SPAs are there to protect rare birds including the Dartford warbler, woodlark and nightjar. MORE HERE Pewley Down At the close of the First World War the now defunct Friary Brewery was a significant landowner in the area, and as well as owning key sites in Guildford where their brewery functions were carried out, the brewery in 1920 bought a substantial part of Pewley Down (GR: SU980485) near the town. The brewery decided to gift Pewley to the town as a war memorial and today the hillside is a popular destination for local people wanting to enjoy the views over the Weald Basin and Surrey Hills.
Pewley Down today is an important conservation site and covers 8.5 hectares of chalk downland forming part of the North Downs. The main habitats here include grassland and woodland which have been protected by designation as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. It has also been listed as a potential Site of Special Scientific Interest and in June 2006 process for establishing Pewley Down as a Nature Reserve was also started.
A number of rare species are established here including the nationally scarce bastard toadflax (Thesium humifusum), pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis), man orchids (Orchis anthropophora) and autumn ladies tresses (Spiranthes spiralis). Pewley Down is also an important site for butterflies, with almost half of all British butterfly species to be found here. The most notable are the small blue (Cupido minimus), a threatened species in Surrey, the chalkhill blue (Polyommatus coridon), the dingy skipper (Erynnis tages) and the grizzled skipper (Pyrgus malvae). The down is also home to a weevil that is only known to Surrey, glow-worms and the only location in Surrey for the pointed snail.
The Pewley Downs Conservation Volunteers (PDCV) actively assist the council's wardens in the protection and upkeep of the down. An important prehistoric trackway ran through Pewley Down which formed part of a route running from the Kent coast. The Roman's adapted the route and in the 19th century it appeared on Ordnance Survey maps as the Pilgrim's Way, although this has been dropped from modern maps in favour of the name North Down's Way as this romantic notion practically suggested that the pilgrims made famous by Chaucer would have to make a 30 mile diversion from their most direct route to Canterbury in order to use it. Currently (2006/7) objectors are fighting a long-running campaign by a mobile phone network provider to erect a telecommunications mast and ancillary equipment on the highest point of the downs. At the edge of Pewley Down along the Hog's Back outside Guildford a military post was built in 1896 becoming one of thirteen positions to the south of London intended to provide defence for the capital against any assault by the French. Henley Fort (GR: SU982489) today is a Grade II Listed Building and provides an historical education facility and outdoor learning and development centre. In 2005 the centre secured funding from the lottery and Guildford Borough Council to introduce primary school children to wartime experiences from WWII. The fort was converted into a command post of the Home Guard during the war. The children have the opportunity to experience roles undertaken by the Home Guard and the Air Raid Precaution service, and enables them to take part in activities such as air raids, bayonet charges, blackouts and roadblocks. The fort uses genuine wartime equipment including an air raid siren, helmets and decomissioned rifles. The Henley Fort Young People's Enactment Society, which is aided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, provides renactments of the activities of the West Surrey Regiment Volunteers dating to 1900. The fort located at the end of The Mount, overlooks 22 acres of open space for camping, has two bunk houses sleeping 20 people, a dining hall for 80, a Home Guard hut, air raid shelter and powder rooms. Garden Grabbing The change to planning laws introduced by the Tory government a decade or so ago to make building on gardens easier by redesignating them as brownfield instead of greenfield sites continues to create havoc to the urban landscape. Garden developments have escalated wildly with 25% of all new houses in the UK between 2003 and 2006 being built on former residential land. Guildford has not escaped this blight with developers frantic to secure back gardens as the following story recounted by a local resident highlights. Celia Johnson lives on the outskirts of the town and enjoys the facility of a large garden. She has received more than two dozen letters, some of which reportedly take a bullying approach.
The latest offer was for £800,000 with the developers planning to construct four houses on her land. It seems that this problem is not going to go away despite a growing concern over the extent of garden loss, which has also led to an increased fear of flooding as open land in urban areas reduces the runoff area for heavy rainfall. The government has committed to ever increasing targets for new housing, with much of this pressure falling on southern counties. Source: MORE ABOUT GARDEN GRABBING HERE In 1388 the Cistercian monks from Waverley Abbey near Farnham built a great barn in which to store the annual harvest from Wanborough manor which the order controlled. Wanborough Manor was operated as a grange, a farming community run separately from the Abbey.
The Cistercian system of recruiting lay brothers, who were men lacking the education to become fully fledged monks but who wanted the discipline of religious life, enabled large farming operations to be run efficiently and dependably for the order under the supervision of a bailiff. The Great Barn was constructed from huge oak timbers, much of which is still in place today. The original external covering was made of vertical boarding although today this has been replaced with weatherboarding. The building has been extended in relatively recent times with work undertaken in 1705 and the early 19th century. Alongside the barn is a granary which was built at the end of the 18th century, although its original position was in the front of the manor house. The granary has been converted to provide toilet and kitchen facilities to the barn which can be hired for special functions. In the picture above, the Great Barn is at bottom right with the courtyard before it, and the manor house is directly above partly obscured by trees. Now in the care of Guildford Borough Council the barn is opened to the public periodically throughout the summer with open days coordinated by the Puttenham and Wanborough History Society. Access details are available from Guildford Museum (01483 444751). Wartime Secrets The Special Operations Executive (SOE), which was responsible for undertaking sensitive operations in the UK and abroad to support the war effort, requisitioned Wanborough Manor and used it as a base for training British secret agents. The manor was identified as Special Training School 5 (there were six in the country during the Second World War) and was used extensively for secret and intensive selection and training programmes. Local historian Patrick Yarnold has undertaken considerable research into the SOE's activities at Wanborough during the war, and his findings formed the basis of a public exhibition at the nearby Great Barn (July 2007). The first training operations started at the manor in February 1941 and continued until summer 1943 when new selection procedures were established at Winterfold near Cranleigh. British agent Peter Churchill provides a fascinating insight into life at the manor during the war in his book Of Their Own Choice (1). Churchill was on a three-part course run by the French section that began on June 10th 1941 and was subjected to training that included using firearms, working with explosives, undertaking sabotage, map reading and communicating with Morse Code. Only five of the students in Churchill's group were deemed good enough to be deployed to France and all were eventually captured by the Germans. Churchill survived the war after capture in a concentration camp. Two of his fellow students survived Colditz but another was killed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Of a total of about 400 British agents sent to France 130 were trained at Wanborough, and of these 50 failed to return including 12 women. There is a plaque in Wanborough Church commemorating those that lost their lives. One Wanborough-trained agent, Diana Rowden who operated in France under the codename Paulette was captured and executed in 1943 after four months undercover. She was only 29. There is a memorial to her at Tilford Church. Evidence of the secret training sessions remain today with a wall spattered with bullet holes, a tree with large staples still embedded in the trunk, scars in a beech tree from which a glider fuselage had been suspended, and a blasting hole for explosives training. The manor is a private residence and is not open to the public. (1) Peter Churchill was an intelligence officer working with the Special Operations Executive and spent much of the war on active service in France. Churchill was successfully involved in activating British support for the french resistance and helped establish undercover networks. Churchill was captured by the Germans who had infiltrated the Resistance and after being tortured by the Gestapo was sent to a concentration camp. He was freed by the Allies at the end of the war. His book Of Their Own Choice was published in 1952. Sources: The Looting of Wanborough Temple In the 1980s the quiet and picturesque village of Wanborough became the centre of a legal storm that had national consequences. In 1983 metal detector users exploring the site of the RomanoBritish temple just outside the village unearthed a number of coins. Following archaelogical protocol the finders reported their find to the local museum. However during a coroner's inquest, which is used to determine ownership under 'treasure trove' cases, the location of the site was given out publicly in open court. This led to largescale looting of the site before the Surrey Archaelogical Society could undertake an emergency excavation. There were reports at the time of 30 to 40 looters digging the site at night with estimates that over £2m worth of coins were lost to looting. In 1986 a series of criminal trials were attended by a number of individuals who were accused of looting at the site. Of five cases reported three resulted in convictions. The long term legal implications were considerable. The treasure trove law was the oldest law actively in use in Britain having been introduced in the 12th century. The law was simple in that all findings had to be reported to a coroner who would decide whether the objects had been deposited with intention of recovery. If that was the case and the rightful owners could not be found, then the objects were determined to be treasure and the property of the crown. However if the coroner deemed that the objects had been lost accidentally or buried without intention of recovery, then ownership passed to the landowner. The legal problems that confronted this particular case related to the nature of the site and became quite complex. Widely deemed to have been a temple, confirmed by findings of sceptres and chain headdresses, the coins deposited there were determined to be votive offerings which would mean that the people who deposited them had no intention of recovering them and were not treasure trove. However it was argued during the trial that the objects of gold and silver were unlikely to be votive and were meant to be recovered by their owners given their high value, and this being the case ownership would go to the crown. Without ownership through treasure trove no theft from the crown could be demonstrated. The many impasses at the trials revealed an inherent weakness in the ancient law and resulted in treasure trove being replaced by the Treasure Act in 1996. Sadly further instances of 'nighthawking' at Wanborough, most notably in 1997 and 2005, have been discovered although the perpetuators remain unknown. The impressive red brick building that was built by George John Browne, the Third Marquis of Sligo (1820 - 1896) in 1890 is today the headquarters of Surrey Police who have operated from here since 1949 having secured ownership of the estate in 1947. The family lived here for 50 years. The building located in Sandy Lane, Artington near Guildford (GR: SU988479) has been expanded considerably since then with a four-storey extension having been added in 1969 and another extension in 1975. A further 13 acres of land were added to the estate in 1984 to accommodate the Dog Training School, and in 1998 the facilities at Mount Browne were substantially upgraded to provide state-of-the-art scientific support for criminal investigations. The HQ now sits in 50 acres of parkland and has a staff of 900 people covering 24 hour shifts. The Browne family is of Irish origin with one of the earliest recorded ancestors having been a colonel in the army of James II. John Browne (1660? - 1712) was a legal expert of the time and was party to the Treaty of Limerick in 1691 which ended the war in Ireland between the Jacobites and supporters of William of Orange. Later members of the family continued to attain high ranks in both military and civilian society. The Sligo eagle and initial 'S', both part of the family crest, can be seen above the front door at Mount Browne. The house was originally built with 28 bedrooms and was intended to be a substantial home for the family, although it was just one of many with others in Ireland, London and Brighton. Periodically Mount Browne was let out to provide an income for the family. When Mount Browne and its original 37 acres of gardens and woodland was purchased by the police authority in 1947 for £17,500, the building had extensive alterations to accommodate the needs of its new owners on which £12,000 was spent.
Two bronze memorial tablets are in place each commemorating members of the Force lost during the two wars. Much of the original decor has been preserved in the main building including the highly ornate dining room doors with their detailed wooden inlays, fireplaces and central staircase. An original dovecote with weather vane stands by the preserved garden wall. The house and estate is not freely open to the general public although public meetings and open days are held there. The Surrey Police Museum at Mount Browne is open to visiting groups by prior appointment (01483 482155). The precursor to Surrey Police, the Surrey Constabulary, was formed in 1851 with 70 officers the youngest of whom was 14 years old. By 1899 the number of officers had trebled but the coming of the First World War brought severe manning problems and saw an escalation in the recruitment of women as part-time uniformed officers who served with the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps (WAPC). The first police dog, an Alsation bitch Anna of Avondale, to be formally assigned to Surrey was in 1948 when the Dog Section was effectively formed. Anna was buried at Mount Browne in 1950 and in her honour the annual Anna of Avondale dog trials are held there. Eleven trained civilian scenes of crime officers (SOCOs) were appointed in 1987. There are 1,900 employees working for Surrey Police today with over 1,600 of these being police officers and working within a £173m annual budget (2005/06). These officers are spread across the county in various stations and specialised units. The incoming (January 2007) divisional commander for East Surrey, Chief Superintendant Craig Denholm, has pledged to make neighbourhood policing a priority.
Newlands Corner A popular picnic spot off the A25 near Guildford, the 500ft (170m) chalk ridge at Newlands Corner (GR: TQ043493) on the southern boundary of Merrow Downs provides beautiful views across the Surrey Hills towards Martha's Hill, Albury and Shere. There are 105 hectares (260 acres) of open chalk downland set within extensive mixed woodlands which include birch, oak and yew trees, the latter including specimens many hundreds of years old. Green woodpeckers, nuthatches, tawny owls and roe deer are quite common here.
Historically the grasslands here were grazed but now as a public amenity the area is mown once a year after the plants have set seed to keep the grassland open and prevent scrub from invading. In spring and summer a stunning carpet of wild flowers graces the hillside. A large ancient barrow has been recorded nearby with records of ancient flints having been found there. Flint was quarried here in the early twentieth century and the stone, which was destined for use in road building, was often sifted through by archaeologists, as this account from a local resident recalls.
The popular crime writer Agatha Christie added some mystery of her own when in 1926 her car was found abandoned in a chalk pit by Newlands Corner. Her disappearance sparked a nationwide search which culminated in the author being tracked down to a hotel in Harrogate 230 miles (370km) away. Although her behaviour was played down at the time it was rumoured that on the day she vanished Christie had had an argument with her husband and had checked in to the hotel in the name of his alleged mistress. They were to divorce not long after. Newlands Corner, which falls within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) that was designated in 1958, is privately owned by the Albury Estate but managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust and Surrey County Council. Waymarked paths include an Easy Access Trail on a firm surface. The North Downs Way passes through Newlands Corner. There is a large free car park alongside a cafe and information centre which is open all year. The centre, which was funded by the owner of Albury Estates the Duke of Cumberland, Natural England and Surrey County Council, has interactive wildlife games for children and live webcam coverage to show activity in the Wildlife Trust's bird box and wildlife garden. Facilities for the disabled and public toilets including RADAR facility. A self-drive buggy is available for free hire to disabled visitors most Sundays, although it is recommended that a booking is made to ensure availability on 07968 832506.
The area is popular with walkers and mountain bikers, and at weekends car and motorcycle enthusiasts often congregate in the car park to show off their machines. The annual Guildford Three Peaks 10 kilometre cross-country runs start and finish at Newlands Corner. Peasmarsh Common Peasmarsh Common (GR: SU988463), wedged between the busy Guildford to Godalming (A3100) road and the main London to Portsmouth railway line, covers 12 hectares of protected status. Predominantly consisting of wet woodland the habitat provides a mix of habitats beneath a canopy of high forest to scrub and water features, at the centre of which is a large pond. Tree species are dominated by oak and willow, and much of the site is under water during the winter months. A private property also takes a central part of the site. The common is fully managed with local responsibility falling to Shalford Parish Council who have secured grant funding for an ongoing improvement of this important woodland habitat. The pond has been (September 2006) cleared and reshaped allowing for a new island suitable for wildlife breeding to be created. The banks of the pond had become completely inaccessible through the uncontrolled growth of heavy undergrowth, and this has now been cleared. The work was contracted to a local specialist water remedial works company Land & Water Group Ltd based in Albury. There is unrestricted access to the site with public footpaths and tracks dissecting the site. Two miles outside of Guildford along the Shere Road (A25) are two ponds which are at the centre of a debate as to their origin. The Silent Pool (GR: TQ061486), which has local folklore and legends associated, and the adjoining Sherbourne Pond are considered a local beauty spot. The author Martin Tupper relates one of the legends in his novel Stephen Langton; or The Days of King John: A Romance of The Silent Pool published in 1858. The medieval King John is said to have encountered a woodsman's daughter bathing naked in the pool and in his attempts to entice the terrified girl out of the water she waded into deep water and drowned.
A joint team from the Surrey and Farnham Archaeological Societies has completed a survey (August 2006) to settle a 150 year old debate as to whether the ponds are a natural geological feature or were man-made in the 17th century. Findings suggest the southern half of The Silent Pool was excavated at the same time as the neighbouring Sherbourne Pond c1650. The northern part is of geological origin and clearly predates the 17th century excavation.. The current drought (2006), which has created severe difficulties for wildlife in and around the ponds, aided the survey team considerably as they were able to access the basin of The Silent Pool which has dried up completely.
Source: Operation Emma, named after Martin Tupper's heroine, has ruled out the chance that there was such a deep drop in the pool as to have led to her unfortunate demise. The survey did unearth important archaelogical evidence to support a history of the pool's construction.
Source: Fed by a spring Silent Pool was probably originally created as a fish pool but it has also been used for watercress beds and 'floated' water meadows. The lower Sherborne Pond was created in the 17th century specifically to provide a dependable water supply for the nearby village of Albury and to power a water turbine for grinding animal feed. The water was also used for an ornamental fountain and to irrigate vineyards. A separate spring feeds into Sherborne Pond and is much more reliable than the one the Silent Pool depends upon. The Old English name for the spring here was Shirburn, 'shirburn' meaning 'bright spring', and from whence Sherborne came. In more recent times the man-made dam between the two ponds has been reinforced with 15 ft (4.5 m) deep interlocking steel piling. The ponds have always been renowned for the clarity of their water but this had diminished considerably during the 1990s particularly in the lower pond so in 1999 Sherborne Pond was extensively dredged to remove large quantities of silt, and repair work was made to both dams to seal leaks that had developed. The clearness of the water returned, the clarity due to the close proximity of the ponds to the spring source. A boathouse was first built by the Silent Pool in Victorian times although this was demolished. The present building was built in 1996 by the Countryside Team of Surrey County Council. The Silent Pool itself has however been severely affected by the low rainfall of the last two years and at one point in the Spring of 2006 had completely dried up. Additional demands had been made on the watertable feeding the springs here by water extraction at Clandon to meet growing domestic water needs. However in the winter months (2006/7) water has flowed back into the pond and it has a good supply of the clear bluish chalk filtered water for which it is renowned. Much of this replenishment appears to be coming from sub-surface sources rather than the spring itself. Although the pond has suffered from low levels previously, especially in the droughts of 1976 and 1992, the last time it completely dried up for a long period was in 1741. In the 1730s the renowned Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni was commissioned to design a grand Palladian mansion for the influential Onslow family, and he included the magnificent two storey Marble Hall as its focus. The hall was modeled by Italo-Swiss stuccoists with marble chimneypieces by Michael Rysbrack, a leading 18th century sculptor, and provides a stark colour contrast to the red brick of the exterior and rich colours of the state rooms beyond.
Situated just outside Guildford on the Epsom Road (A246) the house at Clandon Park (GR: TQ043513) has a collection of 18th century furniture, porcelain, textiles and carpets collected by Mrs Grubbay who owned the house in the 1920s. The property was bought by Sir Richard Onslow in 1641 and has been the home of the Onslow family ever since. Although the family no longer live in the existing great house, which was rebuilt in the 1720s by the 2nd Baron Onslow, the 7th Earl and his family live in a house in the park. The house and seven acres were donated to the National Trust in 1956. The 6th Earl had lost the fight to combat the rapidly escalating upkeep such a large property needed and sold the house to his aunt, the Countess of Iveagh who as a daughter of the 4th Earl had spent much of her childhood at Clandon Park. It was the Countess who eventually gifted the house to the Trust. In nearby West Clandon is the 17th century Onslow Arms, once a village pub named in honour of the family but now part of the upmarket L'auberge restaurant group complete with a helicopter landing pad. In the grounds are a parterre (1), grotto and a sunken Dutch garden. The outgoing governor of New Zealand, William Hillier the 4th Earl of Onslow, imported a traditional Maori meeting house in 1892 that he installed in the grounds here. The meeting house is being restored (September 2006) under the guidance of Jim Schuster, the great-great grandson of the original Maori craftsman that had undertaken the original carvings on the building. The building was one of only a few left intact after Mount Tarawere erupted in 1880 destroying the settlement and 100 of its inhabitants.
The meeting house, Hinemihi of the Old World, provided shelter for 50 survivors before the governor bought it for £50 and is only one of a handful of historic Maori meeting houses to be found outside New Zealand.
Schuster is a heritage advisor to New Zealand's Historic Places Trust and joined the conservation efforts of the University College of London's Institute of Archaeology in the restoration. The Countess of Iveagh of the Onslow family presented the house and seven-acre gardens to the National Trust in 1956. The 7th Earl of Onslow lives in a house in the Park. The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum is based at Clandon Park. (1) Parterre - an ornamental garden laid out in a formal pattern usually bordered by low evergreen hedges and filled with annual bedding plants. Sources: National Trust; Surrey Advertiser 29th September 2006 The manor of West Clandon, which also was variously referred to as Clandon Regis, has a long and distinguished history with it recorded in the Domesday Survey as being held by Edward of Salisbury but eventually was awarded to the Onslow family in 1711. The modern name of Clandon originates from the ancient English 'Clene Dune' which referred to the nature of the land this being downland clear of shrub. Apart from an upmarket pub, the Onslow Arms, the village's most notable building is the church of St Peter and St Paul (GR: TQ044513). The original building recorded in 1086, which was probably built by the Anglo Saxons in wood, was replaced during the Normans' ambitious 12th century campaign to replace and enlargen churches.
Records exist at the church from 1290 showing that Richard de Boclynton was the priest presiding at the time. It is thought that significant changes to the church starting with the chancel were funded by the Knights Templar circa 1220, the connection cemented by the fact that the local headquarters were at Temple Court, the current home of the Earl of Onslow within the parish. The unusual Purbeck marble font dates from 1150 and drains directly into the earth beneath the floor. A replica of an original wooden medieval carving which was stolen in modern times hangs over the North Door. This tells the story of local legend relating to a dragon that lived beyond the cottages opposite the church along Back Lane. One version of the legend tells of an army deserter who had been condemned to death, but having escaped was passing through the village when he heard about the dragon terrorising its inhabitants. In return for a promise of a pardon he slew the dragon with the help of his dog as depicted on the carving and accordingly was granted his freedom. On the North Wall are bread shelves believed to be unique beneath a benefaction board on which were placed sixpenny loaves for the poor and that were paid out of the estate of local businessman John Bone. This simple generosity came during a time of severe agricultural depression in the early 19th century.
The current pulpit stands by a 12th century piscina of which there are very few of this style in Surrey. The pulpit as pictured above is of French stone and was installed in 1874 replacing the original Jacobean wooden pulpit. The original pews were provided with doors to keep out draughts but were replaced when gas heating was installed in 1874. There is a scratch dial high up on the outside of the South Wall. The dial consists of several concentric circles and when it had its gnomon (the sundial arm) in place was used as a crude way of indicating time and the times of services. The distinctive wooden clad spire was destroyed by fire in 1913 and had to be replaced. The heat was so intense that the six bells hanging in the belfry melted and had to be recast. Two more bells were added in 1932 to provide a peal of eight bells, unusual for such a small parish. Luckily the tower clock escaped damage from the fire which came as a relief to horologists as it has a rare mechanism. The clock, made by Thwaites and Reed of Clerkenwell in 1880, has a double three legged gravity escapement designed by a Mr Denison for the clock which strikes Big Ben in Westminster Tower. The mechanism separates the clockwork from the pendulum which is nine feet (2.7 m) long and is driven only by gravity which does not change with weather or friction in the clock. This makes for extreme accuracy. The original three three-quarter ton weights that had to be cranked to the top of the tower each week were replaced in 2004 with smaller weights wound automatically by electric motors. Situated 4 miles (6.4 km) outside of Guildford in East Clandon on the A246 road to Leatherhead, Hatchlands Park (GR: TQ067520) is an 18th century mansion set in 430 acres of parkland. The house has Adam interiors and claims the world's largest collection of keyboard instruments. Fine English, Italian, Flemish and Dutch paintings adorn the walls.
The first reference to an estate at Hatchlands was made in the Domesday book of 1086 when it was owned by the Abbey of Chertsey. In 1544 Henry VIII granted the estate to Sir Anthony Browne (d 1548) and his wife Elizabeth Fitzgerald ('The Fair Geraldine') (d 1589). Sir Anthony was Master of the Horse and Standard-Bearer to the king and became a personal friend. He stood in at Henry VIII's proxy marriage to Anne of Cleves in 1540 and during the king's final illness it was Sir Anthony that broke the news to the king of his terminal condition. Such was his standing he was appointed guardian to Prince Edward who was to become Edward VI and to Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I). The interior designed by Robert Adams (1728 - 1792) is the earliest documented work he undertook of an English country house. Hatchlands Park was built by Admiral The Hon. Edward Boscawen, the third son of the 1st Viscount Falmouth. Boscawen was a naval hero of 18th century Britain and is remembered especially for the victory at the Battle of Louisburg in 1758, and for his destruction of a fleet off Lagos Bay, Portugal, in 1759.
A nautical theme runs through the house which replaced the old house that stood nearby. The admiral bought the estate circa 1750 and had Adams utilise designs incorporating anchors, cannon, dolphins and sea-nymphs. Neptune presides dominantly. The admiral did not have long to enjoy the new house dying as he did at the age of 49 in 1761. In the following century new owners including William Sumner of the East India Company undertook further changes to the interior which included gilding Adams' ceilings. The formal garden was designed by Gertrude Jekyll, and is set alongside the house and surrounded by a 430 acre park. Parkland of this size so close to London is remarkable and iillustrates the social and economic importance of the estate at the time.
An icehouse sits discreetly near to the house. Icehouses were used before the luxury of refrigerators and freezers removed the need for ice to be gathered from nearby ponds and lakes and stored for use during the summer months. The Hatchlands' icehouse consists of a narrow passageway which was once sealed by a heavy door at each end. Beyond the inner door lay an eight foot (2.4 m) deep shaft cut into the ground and a high domed ceiling. The chalk bank into which Hatchlands' icehouse was cut allowed for ease of draining of meltwater. The estate and house was gifted the The National Trust in 1945 and is currently privately leased. The house and gardens are open to the public at restricted times. A few miles to the south of Guildford lies Shalford, a village straddling the busy A281 Horsham Road with a population of 5,161 (2001). The village is recorded in the Domesday Book as having three watermills, and over the ensuing centuries there was much milling activity along both the rivers Wey and the Tilling Bourne which joins the Wey here (GR: SU996480) at a point along the southern edge of Shalford Park. The only surviving mill today is the National Trust owned 18th century Shalford Mill (GR: TQ001477) which takes its power from the Tilling Bourne. A mile or so further upstream (GR: SU997465) the Wey & Arun canal flows into the Wey near Broadford.
Historically Shalford is significant for its renowned medieval fair that operated on Shalford Common from the time of King John (1166 - 1216). The 'Great Fayre of Shalford' was granted a royal charter and grew to such popularity that at its peak it was recorded as covering 140 acres (570,000m2) and attracted merchants from much of the country. There is an unsubstantiated claim that the author John Bunyan (1628-1688) stayed for a time in the village and drew his inspiration for The Pilgrim's Progress from the fair. The fair was eventually eclipsed by St Catherine's fair on the other side of the river and died out.
In 1877 a cricket match was played on the common when one side fielded 11 Mitchells, all related, against 11 Heaths all from the same family. The imposing parish church of St Mary's (GR: SU999478) was built in 1846 on the site of older churches dating from at least the 1086 Domesday Survey. A Tudor brass has been preserved here. There are a number of historic buildings in the village including Shalford House which dates back to the Tudor period (1485-1558) and has as a central feature of the dining room a carved stone fireplace that was installed in 1609. The house belonged to the Usten family for 300 years. Eight mature lime trees which were protected by a preservation order in 2005 are to be felled (February 2008). The trees, which are sited between St Mary's church and the Shalford Water Treatment Works, have been of concern to the parish council for some time as their size has resulted in damage to the church wall. A bat survey will be conducted before felling starts and the parish council has been charged with replacing the trees with younger specimens. A famous Shalford resident was Ernest Shepard, the artist who illustrated AA Milne's Winnie The Pooh books. Shepard stayed with his family at the vicarage before eventually moving to Shamley Green. He is said to have got the inspiration for his famous illustration of Christopher Robin peering down into the water from visits to nearby Shalford Mill. MORE ON SHEPARD HERE
In the late 19th century the government, concerned at the threat of invasion, implemented a plan to build a line of entrenched defences to be dug along the North Downs to protect London. These were to be manned by local volunteers gunners and riflemen and would serve as mobilisation centres stocked with ammunition and trenching tools. The westernmost centre was built at Henley Grove and Pewley Hill in Guildford with supplies being processed from a base at Nine Elms in London via a depot at Guildford Station. The forts were built in 1893 and had large earth banks and ditches excavated to protect the magazines and storerooms. Pewley Hill was the larger of the two, but with the entrenched defences line plan abandoned almost as soon as it had been implemented the properties were sold off in 19005. In 1940 during the Second World War the army constructed a considerable line of defences - the 'GHQ Stopline' to the south of London. Part of this included huge anti-tank ditches and large concrete pill boxes which can still be seen across the area today especially along the banks of the Wey and the Tilling Bourne. Guildford was never targeted by the Luftwaffe for attack although 542 air-raid alerts and 31 bombs were recorded here during the war, all considered to be the act of stray aircraft ditching their bomb loads having become lost. Eight Guildford residents lost their lives as a result. Guildford was however targeted by V1 flying bombs in an airborne campaign during the summer of 1944 and five landed on the town.
Following the increasing success of the German navy's submarine activity in disrupting supply convoys across the Atlantic food rationing had to be imposed in 1940. Books of vouchers were issued which gave weekly allowances for foods including meat, butter, tea, sugar and jam. The successful 'Dig for Victory' campaign saw virtually every piece of open ground dug up for vegetable plots and allotments were established for people without suitable gardens, with many of these still surviving today.
The population of Guildford was swollen by 8,000 during the Second World War when children were evacuated from London and vulnerable towns along the south coast. The allocation of evacuees receiving families was a lottery with many children experiencing unhappy stays.
Many pupils at the town's Royal Grammar School joined the Royal Air Force when they left school as they had a good reputation for science, and consequently the school saw more pupils lost during the Second War than the First. Largest losses were the aircrews in Bomber Command. The younger boys however delighted in aircraft spotting and were fascinated by dogfights between British and German aircraft.
Local historian Frank Phillipson, who has undertaken considerable research into Guildford during the war years, followed the last days of a young New Zealander who joined the RNZAF to serve Britain and the Commonwealth. Sgt Donald Law had only flown Spitfires for nine hours when he had a fatal crash at Slyfield Green, Guildford. In his last letter home the pilot spoke of his excitement at flying the air force's most powerful machine.
The lives of Guildford men and women who gave their lives during the war are recorded on the war memorial in the castle grounds. RECOLLECTION OF WARTIME RESIDENT In 1942 a Prisoner of War Camp (GR: TQ033501) was hastily erected on Merrow Down as Work Camp 57 adjacent to the Guildford Golf Club. The nearest watch tower was only a few yards away from the clubhouse door. By 1944 it housed close on 800 Italian prisoners sleeping 40 to a hut and absorbed from over 22,000 who had been captured in North Africa and who were regarded as low-risk. The Italian prisoners worked on local farms and forestry. It transpires that the camp was never to be upgraded during the war to a high-risk camp to house German prisoners due to its proximity to sensitive secret training camps. As the war progressed the camp became pivotal to government plans to contain ever increasing numbers of POWs. Merrow Camp was a regional HQ administering another 14 POW camps and hostels across three counties responsible for 2,500 prisoners. Wanborough Manor (GR: SU935489) located six miles away on The Hog's Back had been converted into a Special Training School in 1941 by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as the country's first centre of a national network for training wartime agents. It also acted as a debriefing and clearing centre for German POWs who had jumped sides, endearingly referred to as 'Bonzos', and who had just returned from SOE missions abroad for the Allies. Another SOE training centre at Tyting House (GR: TQ022487) by St Martha's Hill near Guildford housed a highly sensitive Security Section. The house had been requisitioned in 1942 by the Special Operations Executive and was designated as Special Training School 28 where agents assigned for covert operations in enemy territory were appraised. Later it was used for processing agents returning from operations and was where they were accommodated until they could be returned to normal life once it was deemed that they no longer presented a threat to those agents still in the field. Tyting House was converted into council flats after the war, but having later fallen into disrepair was demolished in 1957. Tyting Farm, originally part of the estate, remains today and is currently leased to the Surrey Wildlife Trust. MORE HERE The Merrow Camp however did at the close of the war take in German prisoners after the Italian inmates were released for repatriation or despatch to open hostels. Among the first were a small group of German prisoners who were to act in administration and liaison roles with responsibility for 15 satellite camps and hostels in West Surrey scattered between Shamley Green, Ewhurst and Shackleford. They were to be joined by German POWs shipped back to Europe from North America in 1946. The camp commander had a difficult time quelling deep unrest as the prisoners from across the Atlantic had been told prior to departure that they were being repatriated straight to Germany, and the Guildford facilities were inferior to those they had become accustomed to. Gradually restrictions on prisoners were relaxed and it was not uncommon to encounter them roaming unescorted about the town. The local community also softened their hostility and many were welcomed into local homes and attended the church in Merrow for services. Groups of prisoners as part of their rehabilitation were also invited to the Houses of Parliament and some took up studies at Guildford Technical College. One German prisoner of war who was held at Merrow in 1947 decided to make Britain his home when he was finally released and was granted British citizenship. Gerhard Breitenfeld was assigned work on the local sewerage system whilst at the camp and found the post-war regime for Germans awaiting repatriation very relaxed.
Breitenfeld, having heard that his family farm in Germany had become absorbed into Poland and seized, decided to pursue the chance of settling in England.
Once the camp finally closed as a POW centre in 1948 it provided emergency housing with weekly rent of 12s (60p) for a partioned half-hut. The camp was permanently closed in 1958 with some of the remaining residents being housed in the newly-completed Bushy Hill estate in Guildford. All that remains today are some of the camp terraces and hut footings on the golf club's practice driving grounds. The tarmac road remaining there was the approach road to the prison compound, and alongside was where the guard huts, administration buildings and stores had been located. Source: Military historian John Glanfield continues to research the Merrow camp and with input from readers of local paper the Surrey Advertiser has unearthed more fascinating facts. The story of an encounter with an Italian POW by a local jobbing gardener highlights how Major Yates, the camp commander, treated his prisoners, especially those with rank. Cycling home Harry Woods almost came off his bike in shock when confronted with the sight of the enemy officer in full uniform standing at the side of the road chatting nonchantly to a woman. Enquiries by the police revealed that the major was regularly letting the Italian medical officer out on parole on the understanding that he would not travel further than a mile from the camp, nor attempt to escape, visit local shops and houses, or post mail. The police also discovered that the War Office had authorised parole for italian medical officers and chaplains, but had forgotten to advise the local police. Prisoners lived in concrete-floored huts that slept 40 in two-tier bunks. The huts' wooden walls were loosely insulated with bitumenised felt and prisoners were issued with straw mattresses and three blankets, with a fourth available in winter months. Each hut had a solid-fuel iron stove and electric light, with latrines and ablutions provided in communal blocks. The prisoners' senior officer, Secondo-Capo (a naval rank of Second Chief) Luigi Angelini had responsibility for his men's discipline and welfare. Reveille was at 6.30 am, although the men had an extra hour in bed on Sundays, and they started the day on a breakfast of bread, jam and a hot beverage loosely described as 'coffee'. They were then transported to the farms and sawmills to fulfil an eight-hour day, six days each week, where they would break for a typical meal of bread, cheese, potato puree and coffee. The men's early evening meal usually included meat, bread, vegetable soup or fruit, with a dessert and glass of beer on Sundays. The POWs were subject to the same rationing restrictions as the local populace, but were allowed a monthly issue of 2lbs (0.9kg) of macaroni a month. They also had a weekly ration of 35 cigarettes or 11/4oz (35g) of tobacco and 4oz (113g) of soap. The prisoners were paid three farthings (15p at 2007 values) per hour for unskilled labour, and a penny ha'penny (90p) for skilled work, all paid in tokens redeemable in the camp's canteen. There they could buy smoking accessories, basic toiletries, aspirin and liver pills, stationery, Oxo, Bovril, lemonade powder, and a variety of local produce to supplement their diets. Profits from the canteen were donated to a prisoner's welfare fund. Although it was strictly against the camp's regulations, inmates with woodworking and metalworking skills would craft souvenirs, often using materials salvaged from downed aircraft, and sell them locally for hard currency. The prisoners had use of musical instruments and held regular concerts. There was no official restriction on what songs were sung with the exception of Giovinezza, the unofficial national anthem of Italy at the time. There were few recorded escapes from Merrow, and those that did were recaptured. Two Italian POWs in a 1942 attempt managed only to reach Leatherhaed in Surrey before being apprehended. The Merrow Camp was deemed to be in too sensitive a location to house high-risk German prisoners, especially with the Special Operations Executive's Tyting House and Wanborough Manor being nearby. The authorities in 1944 were desperate to move German prisoners from France to England and had earmarked 24 camps in Britain, including Merrow, to be emptied. In the event Merrow Camp itself was to wait until the war was over. 458 German POWs were consigned in September 1945 to satellite hostels under Merrow's responsibility. Locally 220 went to The Hallams (1) (GR: TQ038452) near Blackheath and a further 144 to huts in Shackleford near Godalming. In June 1946 Merrow Camp was cleared of Italians and filled with Germans who had been held in North America during the war. By this time The Hallams was holding over 400 prisoners. (1) The Hallams is a Grade II listed country house built in Victorian style by the architect Norman Shaw in 1894. The house has 13 bedrooms and was valued in 2007 at £2,250,000. Towards the end of the year regulations were relaxed for prisoners not deemed to be a threat and a third of the 720 Germans held in Merrow Camp were released to billets on local farms. By Christmas, 500 from across the satellite hostels had been repatriated. The easing of controls on the POWs is illustrated by stories gathered by historian John Glanfield. These include prisoners attending courses at Guildford Technical College, Woolworths' 3d and 6d store in town becoming a popular destination, and a young German soldier whispering a translation of the service in Merrow's St John Church to his compatriots huddled in the pews. The German's own pastor gave a heartfelt address at the church on Boxing Day to thank the people of Merrow for inviting prisoners to join them in their homes for Christmas. One German, who was to remain in England after the war to rebuild his life recounted how, as a 19 year old prisoner, he found Merrow lightly guarded with the pisoners virtually running the camp themselves. The watch towers had all but been abandoned and holes had been cut in the barbed wire, not for escape but to make getting in and out easier. The last truckload of Germans left Merrow in April 1948. This letter, written by the departing Camp Leader 28 year old Feldwebel (sergeant) Willi Helmdach, was published in the Surrey Advertiser.
Today the only evidence remaining of the camp at Merrow are the large tree-fringed terrace cut into the hillside by the prisoners and used as a football pitch, the short tarmac road that led to the wire-fenced compound, and the concrete bases of three of the four corner watch towers. Some hut footings are still also clearly visible. Source: In May 2008 the 60th anniversary of the closure of Merrow Camp 57 was marked with a ceremony to unveil two information panels on the site. The prominence today of the historical importance of the camp is largely down to extensive research by John Glanfield, the military historian and author. The Surrey Advertiser publishes a weekly archive on local history edited by David Rose. Burwood Farm (GR: TQ020493) on Merrow Downs had their 40 Acre Field which proved to be a useful aviation facility for pilot training and touring air displays. During the 1930s a flying circus used the field as a base for local displays, with one recorded in the area in 1935. In the Second World War the RAF used the field as a relief landing ground to take overspill from Fairoaks airfield near Chobham 12 miles away. The No. 18 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) based at Fairoaks, which had been formed in 1937 by General Aircraft Ltd and taken over by the RAF at outbreak of war, operated DeHavilland Tiger Moths from Merrow. A particular activity favoured here was the practising of forced landings. Between 1943 and 1944 the field was used as a temporary base for three RAF Taylorcraft Auster aircraft, light single-engined monoplanes used for artillery spotting. As there were no permanent facilities at Merrow any personnel based there for a time had to resort to tented accommodation. In 1940 a radio tender was positioned at nearby Newlands Corner to boost the high-frequency radio signals passing between fighter aircraft and their Fighter Command Sector Stations.
A number of flying incidents related to the field were recorded during the war, perhaps not surprising given the function the field served. In 1941 a Bristol Blenheim made a forced landing due to bad weather and on the following day the relief crew were brought in by light aircraft to recover the plane. Unfortunately the pilot of the relief aircraft, an Avro Anson, was unable to gain sufficient height when attempting take-off and crashed the aircraft into the outbuildings of a house on the perimeter of the field. Thankfully there were no casualties, although the plane was written off. The crew of the Blenheim having witnessed the accident reportedly decided against attempting to fly the bomber out and it was later dismantled and transported by road. In the same year a Tiger Moth of No. 18 EFTS had to make an emergency landing in the woods at Newlands Corner after a fuel fault caused a loss of power. The aircraft was recovered. In 1943 an Australian trainee pilot crashed his Tiger Moth into the trees at the edge of the Merrow field having overshot on landing. No serious injuries were sustained by either the pilot or his instructor, although the plane overturned and was written off. Source: During the Second World War the Ministry of Food issued a directive for the establishment of communal kitchens where every citizen could go to obtain at least one wholesome cooked meal per day. Britain had relied on the importation of 55 million tons of food from abroad immediately prior to the outbreak of hostilities and with these supplies being severely disrupted harsh food rationing was introduced. The government strategic food policy at the time determined that an adult could live healthily on a diet of twelve ounces of bread, six ounces of vegetables, a pound of potatoes, two ounces of oatmeal, an ounce of fat, and six-tenths of a pint of milk per day, supplemented either by small amounts of cheese, pulses, meat, fish, sugar, eggs and dried fruit. Food prices were fixed by the government to prevent racketeering. The British Restaurant system allowed citizens to eat there without having to give up precious rationing coupons. The first British Restaurants to open in Guildford were in October 1940 when the Mission Church Hall in Westborough and Stoughton Church Room opened their doors to the needy. Others opened over the ensuing years which included Upper High Street in Guildford centre; Addison Road, Charlotteville; and Merrow Village Hall. Angel Yard off the High Street in nearby Godalming also housed a British Restaurant. Meal tickets were issued that took the form of coloured cellulose acetate tokens in the shape of large coins and these were presented in exchange for a subsidised meal. Typically a meal would consist of soup, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, potatoes and cabbage, with apple pie and custard and a cup of tea which would cost one shilling (5p equivalent today). The tokens were issued in the restaurant in return for cash with individual colours denoting the meal courses and beverages the diner had chosen. The restaurants run by the council and supported by organisations including the WRVS (1) were large enough to seat from 150 (Mission Hall, Guildford) to 600 (Upper High Street, Guildford) diners for lunchtime sittings. The Godalming Museum houses an original token dispenser and tokens. Sources: www.war-experience.org; Surrey Advertiser 29th September 2006 The Foxenden Quarry As the intensity of German air raids in WWII started to increase so did the need for shelter provision for the local population. A perfect site for a mass shelter was identified by the Borough Council's Emergency Committee at a disused chalk quarry (GR: SU999498) close to the town centre. The deep shelter, which could accommodate 1,000 people, was dug into the upper strata of the chalk and consisted of a series of interconnecting tunnels equipped with bunks, ventilation, sanitation and first aid stations. The tunneling and construction took a year to complete.
The shelter was closed down in 1944 and in the ensuing decades was used by the local council for storage. The tunnels were cleared in the 1980s when restorative work had to be undertaken to prevent deterioration and collapse. The complex was completely sealed a decade ago when a child fell into a tunnel having managed to climb through an emergency hatch. The child tragically suffered fatal injuries. Sealed from public view for 60 years the shelter has survived pretty much intact and has only recently been opened to limited visits. Many of the original features including signs and toilets have been preserved. The only dominant feature missing are the bunks which were removed after the war. The shelter, which is accessed through a secure entrance at York Road car park, is now opened to the public once a year to celebrate UK Heritage Days in September. Information from the Tourist Information Centre in Tunsgate, Guildford. A total of 18 public shelters were created in Guildford which included those beneath the Playhouse off the High Street, the Angel Hotel's crypt, the public baths in Castle Street and one located at Guildford Glass Works in Portsmouth Road. TAKE A PHOTOTOUR Wey Valley's Leading Hospital Threatened with Closure IT'S OFFICIAL - ROYAL SURREY SAVED (August 2007) The Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford which provides major in-patient and out-patient services for the county, including accident and emergency services, is facing the possibility of closure as part of the government's attempt to slash £100m from the county's NHS spending.
A campaign to save the hospital has been launched by an eminent surgeon with the backing of two Surrey MPs. The threat comes as news leaked that the NHS were considering closing either the Royal Surrey or St Peters Hospital in Chertsey. Another option being considered is the merging of the two trusts.
The Independent Campaign to Save the Royal Surrey County Hospital held its first public meeting (October 2006) outlining its concerns. The first consultations concerning the issue are being held by the NHS in December which has instilled a mood of urgency over getting public reaction out into the open.
A local paramedic with over two decades of service in saving lives in the county had already started issuing petition forms of his own volition fearful that closure of the accident and emergency facilities could lead to loss of life.
More information and details on how you can get involved are available at the Royal Surrey Action Group. British residents can also sign the official online petition to be submitted to Downing Street HERE Sources:
The leader of the opposition David Cameron during a visit to the Royal Surrey (February 2007) took the opportunity to lambast the government over their planned cuts to the health service in Surrey.
Source: The Good Life star Penelope Keith has joined the fight to save the hospital and highlighted the longer travel times closure would impose by traveling by bus (February 2007) to make the point. Ms Keith CBE lives in Milford near Godalming. IT'S OFFICIAL - ROYAL SURREY SAVED Surrey Primary Care Trust announced (August 2007) that the threat to axe key services at Guildford's Royal Surrey Hospital has been withdrawn. There are still further stages to negotiate in the NHS services review including approval by the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority.
Source: University of Surrey Linguists The Surrey Morphology Group, who are based at Surrey University in Guildford, is a team of linguists who have set themselves the task of recording and analysing the world's rarest and most rapidly disappearing languages for posterity. Founded in 1992 the group have an unenviable task given that there are 6,000 native languages in the 193 countries of the world with many of these in danger of losing their hold in the face of increasing globalisation. The overall aim is to investigate why the global population speaks so many different languages and dialects and what it says about cultures, histories and human psychology.
As an example a member of the group went to Bougainville in the South Pacific and recorded a language that would otherwise have died without being heard by western ears. Torau is spoken by only 1,000 people where locally there are at least 25 other languages many related in some way to western languages such as English, German and Russian. The group have worked on languages with just 30 to 40 speakers, and one that had only one surviving speaker. Linguists fear that between 45% and 90% of languages will disappear over the next 50 years. Source: Stringer's & Chitty's Commons Regeneration The 13 acres of Chitty's Common (GR: SU978522), wedged between the housing estates of Stoughton and Rydes Hill close to the Worplesdon Road (A322), are to be restored thanks to a prize award from a savings bank. The Surrey Wildlife Trust beat off competition in a public ballot (November 2006) to nominate an area that needed restoration for The Sanctuary Awards. The common, with a diverse range of habitats including three ponds and mixed woodland, will benefit from the £10,000 prize awarded by ING Direct. General clearance including felli |
