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The River Wey South Branch
Haslemere to Lindford

Having risen in West Sussex the Wey county hops between Hampshire and Surrey before heading on to eventually join its twin at Tilford. The stretch from Haslemere to Lindford is a beautiful and historic section of the valley with industrial history going back to Roman times.

Haslemere

Haslemere nestles in rolling hills close to the Devil’s Punch Bowl (see below) in nearby Hindhead, and commands a point where the counties of Surrey, Sussex and Surrey all converge. The town, with a population of around 14,000, took its name from the dense hazel woodland and a lake (mere) that once stood close to the centre of the town. The broad high street leads into Shepherd’s Hill with its row of picturesque 16th century cottages. A Tennyson memorial window designed by Burne-Jones graces St Bartholomew’s Parish Church.

Haslemere Hall in Bridge Road was the brainchild of local benefactor Lewis Barclay Day. The 350 seat auditorium, complete with upper balcony and a large stage equipped to provide flying scenery and lighting, was designed by Guildford architect Annesley Brownrigg after an open competition for best design. Opening in 1914 the Hall was immediately requisitioned by the War Office and used as a drill hall for troops destined for the trenches. With the war at an end Barclay Day presented the Hall to the town. The building's design reflects the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early 1900s and boasts a fine curved stone staircase serving the upper rotunda. The Hall is run by a board of trustees and is funded largely by private donation.

On the Hindhead Road is the Edwardian pile Branksome Place. The listed building set in 32 acres of rolling lawns and woodland has long since been converted into a 60-bedroomed hotel and today (2008) is run by the De Vere luxury hotel group.

Haslemere is home to the Dolmetsch family, famous for the musical instruments they continue to make in workshops in the town founded in 1918. Arnold Dolmetsch was credited with the invention of the descant recorder, now a standard instrument used to introduce young children to music making. In the family's honour an annual music festival has been held at Haslemere Hall without a break since 1924. The Dolmetsch Early Music Festival's organisers lay claim to the record of the UK's longest running music festival in one location.

Other notable residents of the area have been Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930) the creator of Sherlock Holmes, George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) the Irish born playwright and essayist, and George Elliot (1819 -1880) the novelist, who as Mary Ann Evans worked under this pseudonym. James Oglethorpe (1696 – 1785) was the member of parliament representing the town prior to leaving for America to found the State of Georgia.

Shottermill on the western edge of the town and close to the River Wey was the site of a mill that specialised in the manufacture of cannon balls and shot for muskets. Further downstream near Hammer is the site of Pophole Mill (GR: SU874326) which was established by Lord Montague and that also was involved in the production of iron products. Only a set of sluices that controlled the flow of water from Hammer Pond to the mill remain. Hammer had its industrial origins in the early iron smelting industry. Brickworks were active here from the 19th century.

The Wey was channelled into water meadows here through Hammer Bottom as it flowed through Shottermill as part of the river's water management system.
(4.130306)

In common with much of the Wey Valley, Haslemere witnessed the heroics of pilots from both sides during the 1940 Battle of Britain. Research published by renowned aviation historian and valley resident Simon Parry (War-torn Skies - Battle of Britain Surrey 2007 ISBN: 978095547) reveal the dramatic downing of a Luftwaffe aircraft near Haslemere. The Messerscmitt Me109 was attacked from below whilst escorting bombers returning from a raid on London and came down at Holmans Grove at Grayswood. The pilot, one Lieutenant Herbert Schmidt, parachuted to safety ending up over the county border in Fernhurst. The account of his ordeal is one of many in the book.

"Suddenly I saw tracer bullets in my direction of flight, and in the same moment my cockpit was full of flames. I was falling fast and constantly somersaulting. My first idea? I must open the parachute! it was very difficult to pull the handle as my arm (which had been smashed by a bullet) was being thrown about as I tumbled, but with great effort I succeeded in pulling the handle.

"When the parachute opened I thought I would be torn to pieces. I was falling fast and nearly all my clothing had been burnt off me. The parachute opened with a jerk and my boots came off.

"I floated in the air: I can still picture some things; three Spitfires roaring around and flying away, my blackened and bloody hands, but feeling no pain."

In a bid to encourage local residents and visitors to get out into the countryside to explore the Surrey Hills around Haslemere a new initiative has been launched (February 2008) by Natural Discovery. The Lythe Hill Hotel on the outskirts of town is providing electric bicycles for hire by the day or for longer periods. The hire tariff includes loan of cycle helmets, panniers, locks, repair kits and wet weather capes. The Powacycle Salisbury bikes have a small motor that provides a boost to get cyclists up steep hills and has battery range of 25 miles.

Near to Haslemere is composer Tobias Matthay's house High Marley. Matthay designed his house that sits high in the Surrey Hills overlooking Marley Commons in 1907. The house has its major rooms with dominant south facing vistas and he designed the rooms so that they met at obtuse angles to soften the interior shadows. Matthay used the house as a place to teach his pupils whilst Professor of Advanced Piano for the Royal Academy of Music. Matthay died in the house in 1945. One of his pupils wrote a piano piece titled High Marley Rest in 1933.

Wispers Closure

Haslemere loses Wispers, a long-established independent school for 11-18 year old girls, in a shock announcement (May 2008) in which the governors stated its closure from the end of the summer term. The school, which was founded in 1947 in Midhurst before relocating to its 26-acre site in High Lane, Haslemere (GR: SU902335) in 1969, is a casualty of falling pupil numbers and escalating costs. Fourteen full-time and 15 part-time teaching staff will lose their jobs together with 17 members of support staff. The roll of 80 pupils, many of whom are from abroad, are having to find places at other schools. Twenty are boarders.

The governors will be establishing the Wispers Education Trust providing bursaries for girls from lower income familes from the proceeds of the sale of the site and its buildings. A third of the school's pupils in its last year were funded at the school through bursaries or scholarships, the majority funded by the school itself. Wispers had secured its site in Haslemere thanks to the support of local businessman Ken Wood, the founder of the Kenwood kitchen equipment manufacturer and who was chairman of the school governors until his death in 1997. The school operated under the motto Fortiter, Fideliter, Feliciter which translates as Faithfully, Bravely, Happily, and had found support right up to its demise including a glowing report from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (2007). The school had also consistently announced a 100% pass rate at A level for its pupils.

'Garden Grabbing' Concerns

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

MORE ABOUT 'GARDEN GRABBING'

The Devil's Punch Bowl, The Tunnel, Gibbet Hill and Hindhead

The Devil's Punch Bowl (GR: SU895363) is a natural ampitheatre of dry sandy heath that lies to the end of a valley between Hindhead and Thursley and is straddled by Hindhead Common. A popular beauty spot now managed by the National Trust, the valley is skirted by the main road artery (A3) linking London to Portsmouth and has been choked for many years by traffic that has been confined to the only remaining single carriageway stretch along the whole 74 mile (119km) route. This bottleneck will be closed once the Hindhead Tunnel bypass road is completed in 2011.

THE TUNNEL CAMPAIGN HISTORY HERE

The area was one of the earliest major acquisitions (1905) made by the Trust, undoubtedly influenced by the fact that the Trust's first ever chairman, Sir Robert Hunter, lived in nearby Haslemere.

click on image to go to photographer's website

The Devil's Punch Bowl and the adjoining Hindhead Commons cover an area of 1,600 acres and consist of some of the most extensive areas of lowland heath in the country, and as a large expanse of underdeveloped countryside is listed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

A dominant prominence of sandstone overlooking the Punch Bowl was named Gibbet Hill (1) in the 18th century marking the hanging of three footpads (2) who murdered a sailor travelling alone along the Portsmouth to London road through what was then a wild and remote area, and who they had befriended in an inn in the area. Such was the public outcry at this cold blooded act on a sailor trying to return to his ship at Portsmouth that a memorial stone, which became known as the Sailor's Stone (GR: SU899359), was erected on the site of the murder in the same year. Reputedly the bodies of the three murderers were left hanging in chains by the old road, only removed once they had completely disintegrated. The inscription on the stone reads:

Erected
In deteftation of a barbarous Murder
Committed here on an unknown Sailor
On Sep. 24th 1786
By Edwd. Lonegon, Mick Cagy & Jas. Marshall
Who were all taken the fame day
And hung in Champs near this place

Whofe theddeth Man's Blood by man thall his
Blood be thed. Gen: Chap 9: Ver 6

A further inscription added to the base of the stone a hundred years later records that the stone was renovated by one James John Russell Stilwell of Killinghurst, a descendant of James Stilwell who had originally erected the stone in 1786.

(1)Gibbet refers to the gallows that was erected on the hill to hang the condemned men. It would have been a simple wooden structure consisting of an upright post with a crosspiece forming a T-shaped structure from which the noose was hung.
(2) 'Footpads' is a 17th century term used to describe robbers who operated on foot rather than 'highwaymen' who used horses to stop carriages and make a fast getaway.

The Haslemere Initiative (3) organised a ceremony (September 2007) to commemorate the 221st anniversary of the unknown sailor's murder. Accompanied by representatives from the Three Counties National Trust and the Mayor of Haslemere the group raised a toast to mark the erection of a memorial board at the site providing historical information about the killing. A second information board has been erected by the Celtic cross on Gibbet Hill (see below).

(3) The Haslemere Initiative is a partnership organisation of local and county government and the Haslemere Chamber of Commerce.

The hills around Hindhead, itself a small village of a few hundred inhabitants and billed as the highest village in Surrey, were noted by contemporary writers, and it's perhaps not surprising that many viewed the area as wild and lawless.

I had laid my plan, which included the getting to Thursley that night. When, therefore, I had got some cold bacon and bread, and some milk, I began to feel ashamed of stopping short of my plan, especially after having so heroically persevered in the 'stern path,' and so disdainfully scorned to go over Hindhead. I knew that my road lay through a hamlet called Churt, where they grow such fine bennet-grass seed. There was a moon; but there was also a hazy rain. I had heaths to go over, and I might go into quags. Wishing to execute my plan, however, I, at last, brought myself to quit a very comfortable turf-fire, and to set off in the rain, having bargained to give a man three shillings to guide me out to the Northern foot of Hindhead.

Off we set, the guide mounted on his own or master's horse, and with a white smock frock, which enabled us to see him clearly. We trotted on pretty fast for about half an hour; and I perceived, not without some surprise, that the rain, which I knew to be coming from the South, met me full in the face, when it ought, according to my reckoning, to have beat upon my right cheek. I called to the guide repeatedly to ask him if he was sure that he was right, to which he always answered 'Oh! yes, Sir, I know the road.' I did not like this, 'I know the road.' At last, after going about six miles in nearly a Southern direction, the guide turned short to the left. That brought the rain upon my right cheek, and, though I could not very well account for the long stretch to the South, I thought, that, at any rate, we were now in the right track; and, after going about a mile in this new direction, I began to ask the guide how much further we had to go; for, I had got a pretty good soaking, and was rather impatient to see the foot of Hindhead.

Just at this time, in raising my head and looking forward as I spoke to the guide, what should I see, but a long, high, and steep hanger arising before us, the trees along the top of which I could easily distinguish! The fact was, we were just getting to the outside of the heath, and were on the brow of a steep hill, which faced this hanging wood. The guide had began to descend; and I had called to him to stop; for the hill was so steep, that, rain as it did and wet as my saddle must be, I got off my horse in order to walk down. But, now behold, the fellow discovered, that he had lost his way! - Where we were I could not even guess. There was but one remedy, and that was to get back if we could. I became guide now; and did as Mr Western is advising the Ministers to do, retraced my steps. We went back about half the way that we had come, when we saw two men, who showed us the way that we ought to go. At the end of about a mile, we fortunately found the turnpike-road; not, indeed, at the foot, but on the tip-top of that very Hindhead, on which I had so repeatedly vowed I would not go! We came out on the turnpike some hundred yards on the Liphook side of the buildings called the Hut; so that we had the whole of three miles of hill to come down at not much better than a foot pace, with a good pelting rain at our backs. William Cobbett 24th November 1822 published in Rural Rides 1830

Stories from the mid 19th century were collected and published in Frensham Then and Now (1938 Baker & Minchin) which includes this piece by an unnamed local resident about the infamous 'Hindhead Gang'. As notorious was the 'Blackdown Gang' which operated from Black Down common, the source of the southern branch of the River Wey to the south of Haslemere.

I, who am now well over the allotted span, can remember when a boy being told by my Grandmother tales of the goings-on of that rough Hindhead Gang who were so noted for sheep stealing and highway robbery. I still have a staff which was regularly carried by my Grandfather when he went out after dark. I myself remember tales of these rough gangs going round and smashing up threshing drums, as they were very embittered against these inventions, thinking they would do away with their winter's work. These old drums were but small affairs driven by horse gear. Old Mrs. Sturt kept a shop at the crossroads opposite Earle's Farm [at Frensham]. On very rough, windy nights they were afraid to go to bed. Sometimes old Mrs. Sturt would rush across the road in the morning and say, 'Oh, Harriet, they have been again; they have taken our cheese, butter and everything; it is that Hindhead Gang and they have cleared us right out.

Local Historian John Owen Smith relates the tale that Lord Tennyson, the acclaimed 19th century poet, in 1867 wrote to his friend Francis Palgrave saying that although he had been warned about the local inhabitants he had decided to take up the lease for nearby Grayshott Hall. His time at the house appeared happily to have never involved any encounters with the local ruffians. A few years previously one Mr I'Anson had similarly been warned when he announced his intention to bring his family to the area.

In 1862, when Mr. I'Anson decided to build a house at Grayshott, he was warned that he would not succeed in completing it, or in living there, the few cottagers of the hamlet bearing the character of lawless folk who would never allow a stranger to settle among them. The predecessors of the squatters were runagates - persons who had fled from justice, and in the dense woodlands they skulked like the badger or the fox. The place was a rural Alsatia. However, the house was not only begun, but finished, and Mr. I'Anson and his family took up their abode in it. The praiseworthy ambition then seized his eldest daughter, the present Miss I'Anson, to civilise and lift up the degraded outcasts among whom her lot was cast. The task was no light one. It took a considerable time before the cottagers could be convinced that in visiting them she had no ulterior object. She started a Sunday School, but few could be enticed into it. However, the opposition of the parents disappeared and the children brought their little empty heads to be filled up. Grayshott : The Story of a Hampshire Village John Owen Smith 2002

Even the artist J.M.W Turner, who passed through Hindhead in November 1807, seemed to view the area as wild and barren as his sketch later to be engraved Hind Head Hill seemed to depict.

However a Victorian 'colony' of well-known writers who lived in the hills around Hindhead and nearby Haslemere towards the tail-end of the 19th century undoubtedly had a different view of the area. One reason may be down to the fact that by the 1870s the coaching trade had all but vanished, their business snatched away by the new railway revolution, and with them the highwayman's prey also disappeared. Additionally the broom squires, who made besoms from heather and birch twigs outside their huts on the heath and who were often blamed for local crime, had by then been put out of business by the competition from factory-made brooms and so also had disappeared from the area.

Writers included poet laureate Lord Tennyson, Conan Doyle and Bernard Shaw. A total of 65 other writers have been identified by historian Bob Trotter as being members of the appropriately coined 'The Hilltop Writers', and he details these in his book of the same name. The writers were attracted by the beauty of the area together with its accessibility by the new railway line that opened in 1859 giving them a fast connection to and from London.

At every step some new beauty bursts upon you. There is not a human being near - but one house, a solitary farm faraway on the ridge of Hindhead, is to be seen … It is with surprise that in this lonely waste one sees, between the Devil's Punch Bowl and the top of the hill, a fine, broad and well-kept road, nor is that surprise diminished when you come upon it, and find that it is as hard and smooth as any road in a private park can possibly be. There are very few marks of wheels to be found upon it, but abundant traces of sheep ... I declare that I stood looking at that road in amazement for pretty nearly a quarter of an hour, and I am inclined to think that if I had stayed there till now I should not have seen anybody or anything coming along it in either direction. Louis Jennings 1878

Commoners by right had access to the heathland for grazing, and it was the presence of their animals that kept Hindhead Commons preserved in its natural state. In the mid-1900s these rights were withdrawn and very quickly birch, pine and bracken encroached and started to dominate over the heather. The National Trust has in place a programme of active reclamation which includes the idea of introducing Exmoor ponies and Highland cattle.

The dominant flora across the heath is bell heather (Erica cinerea), cross-leaved heather, also known as bog heather (Erica tetralix) and dwarf gorse (Ulex minor) alongside common gorse (Ulex europaeus), purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea) and the omnipresent bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum). Older woods and wood pastures include oak, holly and ash with beech coppice in a number of locations including Highcombe Copse.

The wet habitat along Highcombe Bottom with its stream by the Youth Hostel (GR: SU894368) has ensured that alder, willow and bog bean (Menyanthes trifoliata) have flourished. The valley bottom also supports healthy insect populations including a rare cranefly specie. Woodpeckers, including green (Picus viridis), great (Dendrocopos major) and lesser-spotted (Dendrocopos minor) frequent the woodland and nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), stonechat (Saxicola torquata) and woodlark (Lullula arborea) can be seen on the heath.

Hindhead Commons, Boundless Valley (GR: SU905365) to the north-east of Gibbet Hill and Tyndall's Wood (GR: SU887355) by Arthur Conan Doyle's home Undershaw are all popular with walkers, equestrians and cyclists. To reach these from the Devil's Punch Bowl requires a dash of courage when confronted with the endless stream of traffic on the A3 which divides them, although come 2011 this route will be closed when the Hindhead Tunnel opens. Access to the Devil's Punch Bowl from the National Trust car park on the A3 is free although there is a charge for parking for non-members. The now Trust-owned cafe is open daily.

The trig point (3) shown above marks the summit of Gibbet Hill, which at 895 ft (272m) above sea level ranks it as the second highest hill in Surrey. Maintained by the Ordnance Survey as a surveying bench-mark (S1535) and a global positioning system (GPS) point, the pillar has a circular topographical plate fixed to the top providing pointers and distances to regional towns. Nearby is a 15ft (4.6m) granite Celtic cross with the individual inscriptions 'Post Tenebras Lux', 'In Luce Spes', In Obitu Pax' and 'Post Obiter Salus', one on each of the four faces of the column. These translate as 'After Darkness, Light', 'In Light, Hope', 'In Death, Peace', 'After Death, Safety'. There is a date of 1851 inscribed. Local concensus seems to suggest that the cross was erected to reassure travellers that contrary to popular belief Hindhead Common was not beset by spirits and ghosts, and that they were safe to rest there.

(3) Trig (trignometrical) points in the days before GPS provided surveyors with a frame of reference enabling an accurately surveyed and documented position. Exact positions could be found by linking trig points. The surveyor would attach his theodolite to the metal disc inserted to the top of the trig point.

A trail across Hindhead Commons, initiated in 1995 to mark the centenary of the National Trust, was named after Sir Robert Hunter, the founder who lived locally in Haslemere.

October 1995 saw the first performance of a community play written for schools and amateur dramatic societies to dramatise local history. A Balance of Trust celebrating the centenary of The National Trust had an incredibly lengthy list of characters depicted by a cast of thirty players. The 67 characters included Waitress at the ‘Happy Eater,’ Hindhead (4); Landlord of ‘The Huts’ at Hindhead (5); John Tyndall (who had lived in a single-roomed hut on Hindhead Common with his wife); and local resident, the Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle.

(4) The Happy Eater was a fast food restaurant located by the main crossroads in Hindhead. It was demolished in the 1990s to make way for a new residential development.
(5) The Huts in the 1860s was a primitive hostelry at Hindhead with it's own micro-brewery. The building was later refurbished and reopened as The Huts Hotel.

click on image to go to photographer's website

VISIT THE TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION PHOTOFILES HERE

Why is The Devil's Punch Bowl So Important?

The Devil's Punch Bowl was formed over many thousands of years by spring water eroding the upper surface of sandstone until it hit the impervious layer of clay beneath. The spring still runs heathily today and provides a rich natural environment for a wide variety of wildlife.

There is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status in place, with this status having been further strengthened by including the SSSI within the internationally important Wealden Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA).

As befits a large and impressive natural feature the Devil's Punch Bowl has also had its share of local legends. One such originating in mediaeval times had it that the devil spent much of his time tormenting the god Thor by pelting him with enormous handfuls of earth, one of which left the great bowl that remains today.

The ampitheatre was featured in the TV series Seven Natural Wonders broadcast by the BBC in 2005. The programme covered seven natural landscapes of note in each of eight English regions. Other 'wonders' featured in the local region included The Needles, Lulworth Cove and The Ridgeway, an 85 mile (137 km) road dating back to neolithic times.

The National Trust have started (August 2007) a major project to undertake environmental restoration at the Devil's Punch Bowl which will continue to prepare the area in readiness for when the A3 tunnel relinquishes the beauty spot from the traffic that has blighted it for decades. Improved access to Highcombe Edge from the main car park has already been undertaken, aided by a Sustainable Development Fund grant from the Surrey Hills AONB.

A report commissioned by the Hindhead Together Partnership (1) has recommended (January 2008) that the National Trust take a pivotal role in developing new facilities at Hindhead to coincide with the opening of the A3 tunnel. The facilities recommended include an eco-friendly visitor centre and management facilities to compliment the improvements that are already planned to the footpath and bridleway network. The consultants, MPCS, have however recommended that the changes to the visitor facilities should be aimed at a moderate increase in visitors rather than expecting to have to cater for a mass influx of tourists.

(1) The Hindhead Together Partnership, which is based at the Witley Centre in Witley, Godalming, was launched in November 2006 to provide a framework for development plans in the area associated with the changes that the tunnel will bring. Under the chairmanship of Poul Christensan who is the deputy chair of Natural England and a South East England Development Agency board member, the organisation is aiming to ensure that development is appropriate to the needs of local people and businesses. The Partnership comprises Natural England, Waverley Borough Council, Surrey County Council, The National Trust, Surrey Hills, the South East England Development Agency and the Highways Agency.

Grayshott
and the Temperance Movement

In the nearby village of Grayshott an historical archive has been established to provide an important source of information on how local people lived from the mid-19th century to the present. The Grayshott Village Archive, which has been supported by National Lottery and local funding, is housed in the village hall. The archive includes interviews with local villagers recording historic memories of the village, and notes key utility milestones including the fact that a public electricity supply was not installed until 1901, mains water in 1904 and gas in 1909.

The village's only pub, the Fox and Pelican, has interesting origins. Land for the building of the public house was acquired at a price of £750 by a family member of the Alton Brewery Company in 1898 but the development almost immediately ran into difficulties. Horrified at the idea of a commercially run pub springing up in their village, a group of local residents with the vicar at their head raised private capital through issuing public shares to build a refreshment house based on temperance principles, and were backed by the People's Refreshment House Association. Subsequently the Alton Brewery Company's application for a trading licence was rejected in preference to the vicar's, and so the refreshment house was built at a cost of £1,465.

The temperance controls for a 'refreshment house' were that although alcohol was served it was sold to the landlord by the association at retail prices thereby eliminating any profit for the landlord. Conversely non-alcoholic beverage provided large profits through low supply costs. The landlord also was not allowed to advertise alcohol and could only serve it 'upon request'. For the name, The Grayshott and District Refreshment Association, which was formed to run the house, chose 'fox' after Bishop Fox, the 16th century founder of Corpus Christi College, and 'pelican' from the Bishop's coat of arms. The 1899 opening of the house, which had four bedrooms for travellers, attracted the attention of the national media including the Daily Telegraph and the London Morning Star. It was not until the late 1950s that the pub was taken over by Gales Brewery and converted into a fully licensed public house. Gales remain the owners today. The original building, which for a village of Grayshott's size is unusually large and rambling, still remains largely intact.

Like neighbouring Hindhead the village keenly awaits the opening of the new A3 tunnel as it will relieve the area of decades of traffic strangulation. There will be other benefits too as debated by an estate agent in the village. Proprietor Andrew Meehan of Keats Mehan reckons on property in the area becoming more sought after as local roads become becalmed. Although he doesn't support the view that prices could increase by as much as twenty percent as held by many homeowners in the village, he does reckon that with the removal of the current Devil's Punchbowl bottleneck commuters will find the area much more accessible and may consider setting up home.

"In the first instance the market will pre-empt the position around 18 months before it opens,” said Meehan. “Here in Grayshott we will never be in the same position as Haslemere, because we don't have a railway station and so the gap between the two will never close completely. But what will happen in the general Grayshott area is more people will consider living here." Source: Petersfield Post & Bordon Post 6th February 2008

The Plight of Undershaw

The author of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930) lived for 10 years near to the Devil's Punch Bowl at the house (GR: SU 887356) he had had designed for him. The short stories, originally published in The Strand Magazine featured the local countryside.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Image in public domain

The location was perfect in Doyle's mind for his wife who was a longtime sufferer of tuberculosis would benefit from the unique microclimate of the plot giving a dry sheltered position for the house that he had built in 1896 with her particularly in mind. He paid £1,000 for the plot of land and drafted the first designs of the house himself before passing them over to architect and friend Joseph Henry Ball to complete.

"It is so sheltered from cold winds that the architect felt justified in having lots of windows, so that the whole place is full of light. Nevertheless, it is cosy and snug to a remarkable degree and has everywhere that sense of 'home' which is so delightful to occupant and stranger alike." Bram Stoker, Dracula author.

Conan Doyle moved out of Undershaw in 1906. After it was sold again in the 1930s the property remained in the same ownership for 70 years. It sits by the busy A3 in Hindhead, and between 1924 and 2004 had been a private hotel and restaurant.

The 36-room house house seemed to have exerted a great influence over the writer and specifically is said to have provided the inspiration for The Adventure of the Norwood Builder (1903).

This account by The Sherlock Holmes Society of London highlights the author's productive time there.

"Those years at Undershaw were among Conan Doyle's most productive. Sherlock Holmes, killed off in 1893, was restored to life, and many other stories and novels were written there, including Sir Nigel, which he considered his literary high point. He involved himself in public issues, and stood for parliament twice. He served as a volunteer army surgeon in South Africa during the Boer war, and wrote both a history of it and an internationally circulated pamphlet defending Britain's cause. He became deputy lieutenant of Surrey, and took an active role in the local golf club and in the Chiddingfold Hunt. He championed the cause of George Edalji, who was falsely imprisoned for animal mutilation (the subject of Julian Barnes's recent novel Arthur & George).

"The many distinguished visitors to Undershaw included the writers James Barrie and Bram Stoker, the artist Sidney Paget, the cricketers Albert Trott and Frederic Meyrick-Jones, and even Field Marshal Lord Roberts, hero of Afghanistan and commander of British forces in the Boer war."

Sadly since its sale in 2005 to a property developer the Grade II listed building has sat empty and is rapidly falling into disrepair. The extent of the problem has come to light with an official works notice issued to the owners to effect an estimated £64,000 worth of remedial work which includes securing and waterproofing the building. If the notice is ignored Waverley Borough Council have the legal right to gain access and undertake the work.

The developer, Desmond Moore, has encountered fervent opposition led by the Victorian Society (1) to plans for the property to be subdivided and a planning application to divide the house into four dwellings was withdrawn (2006).

Today evidence of the decline include smashed stained glass windows, a leaking roof which has been further worsened by theft of lead from the structure, and general vandalism.

"This is a matter of great local concern," said Councillor John Robini. "It is an important building and I am pleased that the council is taking action and I hope we can get something done. I hope we can assure the community we can get this back on the planning agenda."

Undershaw at its prime was a fantastic house designed in the 'Arts and Crafts' style of Doyle's time and international efforts have been made (2006) to secure an upgrade of its listed status to Grade I. The house has 36 rooms, and although many of its original features were lost when it was converted into a hotel in the 1920s, it still has the author's initials monogrammed on ground floor doors and some undamaged stained glass windows bearing the the family crest.

As recently as 2004 food critics from the national press paid the house a visit when it was a restaurant under the auspices of restaurateur Peter Ilic, and here they gave a glimpse of the sadness of what was once a grand house.

"To dine at Undershaw without a pipe would be unseemly. That's because Undershaw was built by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes - the world's greatest detective, and its favourite pipe smoker. The Arts and Crafts house, built of red brick and tile, was at the end of a steep drive under a hanging wood. On a wet, foggy night, it was easy to imagine the place with gas lamps at the window, and a huddle of hansom cabs outside. What more atmospheric setting for my last bowl of light-matured Virginias?

"Undershaw looks down the Nutcombe Valley and onto the South Downs. There are heavy rhododendron bushes banked on either side of the lawn. But rhododendrons don't flower in winter, and, with overgrown thicket and untended borders, the outside was a dismal sight. So, to be honest, was the inside.

"The original doors were designed to open on the push-pull principle (experts on door furniture will know this principle well) so that Conan Doyle's wife, who suffered from arthritis, didn't have to turn any handles. But, otherwise, the original features have long since gone." Richard Johnson. Independent. 7th February 2004

"My cab driver gave a B-movie throaty laugh and said, 'Funny place, Undershaw's. Reminds me of Dracula's castle.' I could see what he meant. The house was built by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is a huge lump of red brick Victorian Gothic, complete with stained-glass windows, a single, guttering candle in the gloomy hallway and crimson walls stained with the blood of sacrificed virgins. Or Dulux. One or the other. I went on a stormy day, when broken trees littered the path through the wooded slope to the front door and the rain charged horizontally into the hills. I was led by the impeccably polite waiter (who didn't smell at all of sulphur) from the gloom of the hallway to a much lighter room of pale blue and white, with airy views over the Surrey hills." Jay Rayner. The Observer. 25th January 2004

(1) The Victorian Society, which was founded in 1958, is the national society responsible for the study and protection of Victorian and Edwardian architecture and other arts.

Source:
Surrey Advertiser 19th January 2007; telegraph.co.uk 7th July 2006; The Independent 7th February 2004; Observer 25th January 2004

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has rejected (February 2007) an application to have Undershaw upgraded to Grade I status stating that the writer was not judged significant enough to warrant the change.

". . . cannot be said to be an author of the standing of . . .Charles Dickens or Jane Austen." English Heritage, who advised the Government on the application.

The fallout has been considerable with writers condemning the move and failing to recognise the literary importance of Conan Doyle.

The writer Julian Barnes' (Flaubert's Parrot 1984 Booker shortlisted) novel Arthur & George features the house extensively. The Booker shortlisted story based on the true tale of an early 20th century solicitor who had been accused of maiming cattle and who is saved by the intervention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

"Given that you can't channel-surf without coming across a Conan Doyle adaptation of some sort, I think the Secretary of State (Tessa Jowell) is profoundly misguided," said Barnes. "It is a fine and interesting property and a rare example of a house where a writer was the co-architect of their house. The only other I can think of is Thomas Hardy's."

The creator of Inspector Rebus, Ian Rankin, has added weight to the criticism calling it 'literary snobbery'.

"He created one of the most recognisable and archetypal figures in literature, and if this house is not worth saving, then I would say that no house is worth saving."

The Victorian Society, who made the application, have lodged an appeal pointing out anomalies in the department's approach by citing the Grade II* listing of a house that belonged to the grandmother of poet Tennyson simply because he had stayed there.

"I think if we are going to list any house with literary connections, it is of more interest and a greater part of our heritage than a house that belonged to Tennyson's grandmother," said Julian Barnes.

"No one is arguing that it bears architectural comparisons to a building such as St Paul's Cathedral, but it's the resonance of what it means and the person who lived there and what he achieved," said Kathryn Ferry, architectural adviser for the Victorian Society. "There is all this accumulated history. There is a sense of snobbery about this being someone who is best known as a crime writer, which can't be as significant as someone like Dickens or other 'literary greats' - and I do have a problem with that."

Source:
The Independent on Sunday 11th February 2007

The fact that the local council has now (May 2007) taken action to secure emergency repairs to the building was highlighted in this piece published by Private Eye in their 'Nooks and Corners' section:

Hooray for Waverley Borough Council in Surrey, which has dared do what most local authorities are too scared, mean or irresponsible to do, even though they have the powers under historic buildings legislation: it has sent in builders to carry out emergency repairs to a listed building being deliberately neglected by its owners.

The beneficiary is Undershaw, the house at Hindhead built in the 1890s by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for himself and his wife. It was bought in 2002 by developers who have since tried to multilate it by chopping it up into flats.

Meanwhile, the Victorian Society awaits the result of its appeal against the refusal to upgrade Undersaw to grade I by Culture secretary Tessa Jowell. She dismissed the house as "unremarkable", adding: "The building most closely associated with [Sherlock] Holmes is 221b Baker Street. I would be only too pleased to consider listing that building Grade I should a request come forward." It remains unclear whether Jowell was joking or really thinks the fictional detective's address actually exists. 'Piloti'

Source:
Private Eye No. 1185 26 May - 7 June 2007

Wealden Iron Industry

This stretch of the Wey Valley was involved in what is collectively known as the Wealden Iron Industry which became active in Roman Times and continued on into the Middle Ages, and beyond. Iron smelting in the valley used local ironstone, which can be easily found today lying on the ground all around, and burning locally made charcoal as the heat source. Early smelting was in bloomeries, so called because these simple clay furnaces produced a ‘bloom’ or a lump of iron. The adopting of water-powered bellows in the 14th century increased productivity, but the local industry was dramatically transformed at the end of the 15th century when the secrets of blast furnaces were learned from French iron makers who settled just across the Sussex border. The new iron was cast into ingots called ‘sows’ and ‘pigs’ which had a high carbon content making the iron strong enough to be used in guns and cannon balls. The introduction of great waterwheel driven hammers enabled carbonless wrought iron to be shaped into all manner of products bringing considerable wealth to the area. There are good examples of hammer ponds, the reservoirs feeding power to the hammers, and the references remaining in the names of settlements in the valley laying witness to the importance of the industry here. Hence the likes of Hammer, Hammer Hill, Hammer Bottom and Hammer Moor to name but a few.

Bramshott, Liphook &
THAT George Best Brawl!

Now in the county of Hampshire, the Wey brushes past the small town of Liphook and there veers northwards by the ancient village of Bramshott with its 13th century church (GR: SU843329), the manor there important enough to have been listed in the Domesday Survey, and on towards Lindford.

A grand house, Bramshott Place (GR: SU843322), was built by John Hooke, a clothier from Godalming, in the 16th century, and it was here that Balfour masterminded his strategies before the Battle of Cheriton Wood (1644) in the English Civil War. The original house, which took five years to build and was finished in 1580, was intended as a status symbol for Hooke who fraternised with leading Parliamentarians of the day.

17th century Hearth Tax documents listed 15 chimneys in a red brick structure designed along a Dutch style, although no pictures survive of what must have been a grand country residence. Demolished in 1850 all that remains as a memory of the house today is a Tudor gatehouse. This is a small square two-storey brick building circa. 1575 located in the grounds of the 19th-century Bramshott Place, now King George's Hospital. It was one of a pair, and the main house was situated to the south of this remaining gatehouse, with The Great Bowling Green to the left of the drive. In 1610 Hooke bought the manorial rights of Bramshott to provide a further mark of his status, shifting the locakl centre of power from the original manor house situated near the church.

Liphook itself developed as a settlement providing services for the Stage Post with coaches travelling from London to Portsmouth. The Royal Anchor Hotel, founded in 1416, regularly provided hospitality for royalty including Queen Victoria, George III and William IV. Samuel Pepys and Lord Nelson were also guests, and an Elizabethan door presented by Queen Victoria bearing the royal arms graces the bar. The novelist Flora Thompson (1874-1947) wrote the Peverel Papers as a Liphook resident in 1916 inspired by the beauty of the area. A plaque identifies her house, once the post office where her husband was Postmaster, and there is a bust of her opposite the new post office.

And where does the legendary George Best fit into the history of Liphook? The high-living English veteran footballer, sadly now more renowned for his alcohol fuelled high jinks than his once unbeatable skills on the pitch, was a local man and made front-page news for a drunken brawl in 2004. Reportedly according to Best's account he was seated in The Royal Anchor quietly sipping a white wine spritzer when a resident took a swing at him. The other man told a different story.

The remains of an ice house (GR: SU825308), used to preserve food a few centuries ago, lies buried in the grounds of Foley Manor on the outskirts of the town. It consists of a 12 ft (3.7 m) diameter circular brick chamber with a dome supported by an iron pole. The property is not open to the public. There are several examples of ice houses in the Wey Valley with the best preserved at Hatchlands (GR: SU ) a National Trust property near East Clandon.

The parish has associations with Sydney and Beatrice Webb, founders of the Fabian Society in 1884, and who built Passfield Corners. The Fabian Society is a socialist think tank dedicated to social reform through political debate, and today has a considerable membership of leading socialist reformers.

Bramshott Mill during the early17th century operated as an iron mill known locally as the Bramshott Hammer. In 1690 this was converted to papermilling. The Mill House, then owned by the brother of a Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, was burned to the ground by suffragettes in 1913. Only the front steps and a garden wall remain. Another mill, this milling flour, was built in the 18th century at Bramshott and was converted to the Old Mill House (GR: SU837332) as a private residence in the early 20th century. The house has retained some of the machinery, sluices and part of the millpond although the waterwheel was dismantled. Standford Mill is recorded as operating papermilling from 1808 and the building was converted into a private residence in the 1970s. Standford is also documented as having had an iron furnace at some point.

The valley here has a long history of iron-making dating back to Roman times and various springs rise here to serve as tributaries to the Wey. Closer to Lindford the river runs through the grounds of Passfield Manor. A public footpath runs alongside the lake which is set in picturesque grounds, and it is possible to have a glimpse of the impressive manor house here (GR: SU828337). Passfield Mill was a paper mill in the late 17th century and built on the site of an iron mill. A series of fires in the late 18th and early 19th centuries resulted in a relatively modern brick replacement, and the Mill and Mill House have now been absorbed into a light industrial park, the Passfield Mill Business Park (GR: SU819345).

Headley Mill - Living History

Although at its peak there were at least a dozen watermills active at one time or another on the six mile stretch of river between Haslemere and Lindford, it is not until Headley Mill (GR:SU812356) that there is any significant example left of industry directly associated with the Wey. This mill is the last commercially working watermill in Hampshire with the firm J. Ellis & Sons working the mill to produce feedstuffs for animal and poultry, running modern machinery from the relatively modern (1927) breast-shot waterwheel. There are four pairs of the original mill stones in situ which, although not used for animal feedstuff production, have been kept in working order and are occasionally run for public demonstration. Each stone is 4ft (1.2m) in diameter and 10ins (25cm) thick weighing in at 15cwt (762kgs) There is a scale model of Headley Mill at the Haslemere Museum.

Woolmer Forest

Woolmer Forest (GR: SU800320) alongside Bordon and Liphook has a landscape of rolling hills with partial heather and forestry coverage together with low lying bogs and ponds, and has benefited by being under the control of the army (see Bordon garrison below). The name derives from the ancient 'Wolf Mere' when native species of carnivores roamed the area. Stone Age artifacts, pre-Roman burial mounds and Roman coins have been found across the local area. The forest was under the direct control of the Crown as a Royal Forest until the 14th century and served for centuries beyond this as a source of timber for the naval shipyards.

The forest's current size of approximately a square mile can be compared to that recorded by Gilbert White in 1789.

"The Royal Forest of Wolmer is a tract of land about 7 miles in length by 2 1/2 in breadth, running nearly from north to south, and is abutted on, to begin to the south, and so to proceed eastward, by the parishes of Greatham, Lysse, Rogate and Trotton, in the County of Sussex; by Bramshott, Hedleigh and Kingsley. This Royalty consists entirely of sand covered with heath and fern; but is somewhat diversified with hills and dales, without having one standing tree in the whole extent. In the bottoms, where the waters stagnate, are many bogs, which formerly abounded with subterraneous trees. . ."

Parts of the original forest still remain as scattered parcels including Broxhead Common and Slab Common in Whitehill, Kingsley Common, Shortheath Common in Worldham and Ludshott Common in Bramshott. An area of heathland within the forest has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Protected Area (SPA) covers Longmoor. The Deadwater Valley Walk penetrates a 50 acre area of heath and woodland.

The forest boasts 500 species of wild plants with several listed as of national and local rarity. The bogs are especially important habitats and harbour two species of carniverous Sundews (Drosera), 11 species of Sphagnum Moss and Hare's Tail (Lagurus ovatus), Cotton Grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) and White-beaked Sedge (Rhynchospora alba). 70 species of fungi have also been recorded.

Fauna species are plentiful too with over 50 species of spiders, 300 moths, 34 butterflies, 25 hover-flies, 12 wasps, 10 bees, 24 dragonfly and damselfly, 71 terrestrial and over 57 aquatic beetle. Many of these insect species are rare with one of the water beetles (Graphoderus zonatus) being unique to the area. Local environmentalists claim that the forest is the only place in Britain where all 12 species of native amphibians and reptiles can be found in one place including the rare Sand Lizards (Lacerta agilis) and Smooth Snakes (Coronella austriaca), and Natterjack Toads (Epidalea calamita). 133 bird species have been recorded including Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor), Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus), Buzzard (Buteo buteo) and the rare Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata). Mammals include roe deer, water voles and the ubiquitous foxes, rabbits and grey squirrels, and smaller mammals including several species of bat together with mice, weasels, stoats and shrew.

In 1974 the Ministry of Defence established the Woolmer Conservation Group, its first (they now have over 200 worldwide at locations where the British military are based). The group coordinates the combined activities of English Nature, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Naturalist Trust, the British Herpetological Society, Deer Management and the MOD's Defence Land Agents. A carefully monitored management plan is followed which has included dredging and enlarging Woolmer Pond (GR: SU787318) and clearing many hectares of scrub. The army has implemented a no-firing policy on the ranges in September annually to facilitate conservation efforts.

However under a 2007 defence review the MOD are closing the REME garrison at Bordon and fears are being expressed locally as to the future of the forest. SEE BELOW

The Army at Bordon

Bordon, which has the origin of its name from a hill fort overlooking Woolmer Forest, and Whitehill are two linked settlements that have rapidly grown over the last century in part due to the army garrison based here. The area with Woolmer Forest at its centre is steeped in ancient history dating back to the Stone Age. The forest is the remnant of a medieval hunting forest that covered much of North East Hampshire, with the heathland rich in natural wildlife habitats. Much of this environment has been preserved due to the fact that 300 hectares was secured by the War Office in the 1860s to be used for military training.

The adjoining village of Whitehill, records of which date back to 13th-century maps, prospered from being a stopping post for the new turnpike roads. The first, built in 1826, was cut through the forest to link Farnham and Petersfield with a second constructed in the 1860s connecting Liphook and Greatham.

The Army had a garrison at Bordon prior to the Boer War (1899 - 1902) during which camps were built to receive troops returning from the war and celebrated its centenary in 2004. The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) currently have 4 Battalion, which was formed in 2000, based at Bordon, and has a remit to provide equipment support to mechanised brigades. This support includes the maintenance and repair of vehicles and electronic equipment at barracks and in the field on active duty. The battalion was deployed to Iraq in 2005 and in 2007 is on duty in Afghanistan.

The School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (SEME) was founded in 1961 from two REME training units based at the Bordon garrison (GR: SU790355) and has a role to train servicemen and women in electro-mechanical skills and as well as units from the Corps of REME it also provides training for foreign and Commonwealth soldiers and civilians. Over 140 different courses, which have been provided for the regiment by Vosper Thornycroft since 1998, cover vehicle mechanics, armoury and metalworking. The unit is one of the country's largest training organisations with over 4,000 students undertaking courses annually and 1,200 students in active training at any one time.

The 468 Specialist Territorial Army Volunteer soldiers of 104 Battalion REME are headquartered at the Bordon garrison.

St George's Garrison Church in Station Road, Bordon provides Church of England services for service personnel and their families.

Three miles (4.8km) away near Greatham a training camp is operated at Longmoor (GR: SU795307) which originally provided an operational centre for the Infantry, Royal Engineers and Royal Corps of Transport. The area has been used for military training since 1863 when the Army purchased 781 acres of land at Longmoor from the Commissioner of Her Majesty's Woods, Forests and Lands. Initially soldiers had to march a distance of 20 miles (32km) from the Aldershot garrison town breaking camp on land now occupied by St Lucia and Trenchard Parks, until a permanent camp was established. Construction work was completed in 1903 but the camp was never popular with soldiers who complained of 'damp and unhealthy ground'. The problem became so bad that in the same year the War Office was forced to relocate part of Longmoor Camp to Bordon.

In order to move 68 huts to Bordon a two-track narrow (18" / 46cm) gauge railway was built through the forest and heath, the route of which can still be seen today. The huts, which were 72ft (22m) long, 21ft (6.4m) wide and weighed 30 - 40 tons were each cranked up on to seven pairs of trolleys and were towed by the joint efforts of horses, steam and manpower at an average speed of 3 mph (4.8 kph). The process was laborious requiring a steel hawser to be dragged forward 500 yards (457m) along the tracks by two horses. The cable attached to a steam powered winch mounted on a platform to the front of the hut was then hitched to a tree and the trolleys winched forward before the process had to be repeated. On the steeper gradients traction engines were deployed to assist in the winching process. As the average weekly movement was only four huts the whole process of relocation took two years to complete. The relocation, which was completed in 1905, was not without incident and included one fatality. A sapper of the Royal Engineers lost his life when a hut swung sideways when being jacked back on to the ground and crushed him. Another incident when one of the huts fell from the line at Whitehill resulted in the hut being abandoned and being used for a time as the local police station. The police hut stood right alongside the 1907 military railway (see below). The existing police station was built in 1931 behind the site of the original.

The camp remaining today, which opened in 1978, is designated as a self-catering facility with units having to bring in their own stores and catering personnel and can accommodate 99 officers, 137 non-commissioned officers and 500 junior ranks. Nearby are the Longmoor Ranges which spread across Broxhead Common, Kingsley Common, Shortheath Common, Hogmoor Enclosure and The Warren. Woolmer Forest including Cranmer Pond and Woolmer Pond fall within the ranges' designated danger area. The ranges are open to the public when not in use by the military, access being denied when red flags are flying on the perimeter during the day or red lights are activated at night. Public access is permitted subject to the provisions of the Aldershot and District Military Lands Byelaws 1976 and the Longmoor Ranges and Demolition Training Areas Byelaws 1982.

The London and South Western Railway opened a link from Bentley to Bordon in 1905 and the War Office extended this in the same year to Longmoor. The route chosen was different to the narrow gauge railway because of the steep gradients that had to be negotiated there, with the standard gauge line being constructed close to the Whitehill to Greatham road. The Army constructed workshops, stores and a locomotive shed at Longmoor with much of the construction utilising materials salvaged from the Suakin-Berber military railway that had been built during the Sudan campaign of 1882 - 1885. The army's link was completed in 1907 and was designated as the Woolmer Instructional Military Railway (WIMR) which servicemen quickly renamed as the 'Will It Move Railway'. Various Railway Regiments were based here until 1969 when the Longmoor Military Railway was closed. The line was dismantled in 1971.

During the First World War Canadian soldiers were billeted at both Bordon and Longmoor, at which time a sawmill was constructed by the Canadian Forestry Corps by the Deer's Hut at Liphook. The Canadians returned during the Second World War and the existing SEME training area at Bordon was a Canadian Base Ordnance Depot and Workshop. A commemorative stone was erected in 1985 on the site of the original Garrison Church in memory of Canadian soldiers who served during both wars.

Two miles (3.2km) away at Oakhanger are based three satellite communications units which provide a ground relay station for the control of UK and allied satellites. RAF Oakhanger provided the focal point of UK military satellite communications for all three services from 1969 until 2003 when the base was closed as an RAF station. An independent contractor now provides the UK Military Satellite Communication System service.

The Phoenix Theatre and Arts Centre in Station Road, Bordon was converted from a former Edwardian school. Described as 'intimate' the theatre puts on over 30 professional shows a year. The site of the modern One Stop convenience store was where the Church of England in 1904 had constructed a Soldiers and Sailors Institute building to provide leisure facilities. The structure, which was officially opened by Princess Alexander of Teck, was of corrugated iron with a wooden-boarded interior and took seven weeks to complete. The facilities included a refreshment room, a reading and writing room where concerts were held, a billiard room, a large devotional room with a harmonium and five bedrooms and two bathrooms. The facility was later added to with a 500 seater hall and a dance hall. The building was demolished in 1960.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has decided (2007) to consolidate army training following a Defence Training Review from the current 30 sites nationally to 10. Up to 600 acres of MOD land at Bordon will be released for local development over the next few years with the possibility of up to 5,500 houses being built on the land. Local campaigners are arguing for the Bordon rail link to be restored to help absorb travel demands from the huge influx of new residents. £564,000 has been earmarked for providing a facelift for Bordon town centre and will be used to link the Forest Community and Forest Shopping Centres and provide an outdoor arena.

The electro-mechanical training currently delivered by SEME at Bordon will be relocated to St Athan in South Wales with a small unit remaining at Bordon for vehicle recovery training. Military and civilian personnel and students locally will be reduced by an estimated 1,800. Initial reports suggest that the transition will be completed by 2011.

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