1.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
2.
Shepperton Lock
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Shepperton Lock is a lock on the River Thames, in England adjoining the northern bank near Shepperton, Surrey. It is across the river from Weybridge, but not directly accessible from there, in 1813, the City of London Corporation built the pound lock on a cut along an existing watercourse to create Lock Island. There are two weirs, one between Lock Island and Hamhaugh Island and the larger one between Hamhaugh Island and the southern bank. The Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry service runs from Ferry Lane below the lock to the end of Thames Street, Weybridge, overlooking the lock and the islands is the Thames Court pub/restaurant. A weir is recorded at Shepperton in the 1086 Domesday Book, the lock was built in 1813 on the site of a small watercourse known as Stoners Gut which ran across the neck of a hook in the river as it went to Weybridge. This channel was considered a nuisance to navigation and was not considered for use as the channel as barges usually went to Weybridge or the Wey Navigation. The gut was dammed and in 1805 came the first suggestion for a lock, after strong opposition, the proposal was put forward again in 1809 and a wooden lock was subsequently built. A stone lock was built in 1899, next to the wooden one which was then filled in. A small island adjoining the Surrey bank, upstream of the lock and this became corrupted into the name Dockett as in Dockett Eddy Lane. There is usually ample parking space, from the Weybridge side it can only be reached by the ferry. Immediately above the lock is Pharaohs Island, said to have been a gift from the nation to Admiral Nelson following the Battle of the Nile, in fact it did not gain this name until the early 20th century. The Middlesex bank is open with several larger houses along it until Dumsey Meadow a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Surrey side is built up until parkland at Chertsey Meads, Chertsey Bridge crosses the river just before Chertsey Lock. On the backwater going past Chertsey Lock, which becomes the Abbey River, is the site of the Anglo-Saxon Chertsey Abbey sacked by the Vikings, Chertsey Regatta is held alongside Dumsey Meadow in August. The Thames Path follows the bank all the way to Chertsey Lock. The lock in Charles Dickens Our Mutual Friend at Plashwater Mill is based on Shepperton lock, in H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds one of the main battles fought against the invaders from Mars takes place between Weybridge and Shepperton lock. Locks on the River Thames Rowing on the River Thames Shepperton Lock
3.
Ait
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An ait or eyot is a small island. It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the River Thames, aits are typically formed by the deposit of sediment in the water, which accumulates over a period of time. An ait is characteristically long and narrow, and may become a permanent island, however, aits may also be eroded, the resulting sediment is deposited further downstream and could result in another ait. A channel with numerous aits is called a braided channel, although not common in 21st-century English, ait or eyot appears in J. R. R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings, Charles Dickens Bleak House, and Thackerays Vanity Fair. Joyce Cary used eyot in The Horses Mouth – Sun was in the bank, salmon trout above soaking into wash blue. River whirling along so fast that its skin was pulled into wrinkles like silk dragged over the floor, ruffling under the silk-like muscles in a nervous horse. Ruffling under my grief like ice and hot daggers, more recently, eyot was used by Terry Pratchett in the first of the Discworld books, The Colour of Magic. It also appears in The Popes Rhinoceros by Lawrence Norfolk, steampunk author G. D. Falksen uses eyot in the first chapter of Blood in the Skies. Islands in the River Thames Shoal
4.
Weybridge
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Weybridge /ˈweɪbrɪdʒ/ is a town by the River Wey in the Elmbridge district of Surrey. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the Wey and it is an outlying suburban town within the Greater London Urban Area, situated 7 miles northeast of Woking and 16 miles southwest of central London. Real estate prices are well above the average, as of 2008. Within the post town, rather than Weybridges other boundaries is Oatlands or Oatlands Village, Weybridge lay within the Elmbridge hundred. Its domesday assets were,6 hides, 1½ ploughs,32 acres of meadow and it rendered £4 per year to it feudal system overlords. It was much smaller than todays post town, and about one quarter of the size of neighbouring Walton. The earliest monuments on the wall of St Jamess C of E Church are 15th century plaques. When it was demolished in 1650, bricks from its walls helped to line the then new Wey Navigation canal, in 1571 commissioners were appointed to report on the condition of the bridge across the Wey. It was accordingly ordered that a new bridge – a horse-bridge like the last – should be built, wood being used for its construction, the expense was to be borne by the queen, as the land on either side belonged to her. St. Georges Hill was the site of the Diggers Commune in the 1640s, the Duchess is buried in St. Jamess Churchyard. In the 19th century Oatlands broke away from the parish of Walton on Thames to become a village in its own right, influenced by the secondary manor of Weybridge, the forerunner of Oatlands Palace, the post town adopted Oatlands as its only village in the 19th century. The entomologist, Horace Donisthorpe, visited Weybridge Heath to investigate the ant colony, Weybridge grew into a commuter town with the advent of the fast train link into London Waterloo and a lot of new houses have been built around the Oatlands Park and Broadwater Lake area. Weybridge railway station was opened by the London and Southampton Railway in 1838, after the station was opened, development of what was until then only a village began and gradually Weybridge became a town. Large houses were built on St Georges Hill from 1911 by local builder and developer Walter George Tarrant of Byfleet, in Weybridge Heath, many rare species of insects, rare birds and insectivorous plant have been recorded. The heath was allowed to become overgrown in recent years. Weybridge is the British headquarters of Alliance Boots, CHEP UK, Sony Corporation, Procter & Gamble, JTI, Abbey Business Centres also have a presence in the town. Eurotax Glass, owners and publishers of Glasss Guide, pricing bible to the motor industry, in addition, retailing also forms part of the local economy, and a range of retailers are represented in the town centre. In H. G. Wells classic novel The War of the Worlds, the title of chapter 12 of the book is, What I saw of the destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton
5.
Chertsey branch line
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The Chertsey branch line, opened in 1848, connects the Waterloo to Reading Line at Virginia Water to the South Western Main Line at Weybridge. It is also referred to as the Weybridge branch line, or by its more accurate description since 1866, on 16 July 1846, the London and South Western Railway was authorised to construct a railway line from Weybridge to Egham, close to Staines Bridge. This was opened as far as Chertsey on 14 February 1848, the WS&SWR line was not built, and the powers expired. The line was double-track, and at its end there was a single-track spur facing Reading. The junction at the Weybridge end was also triangular, the new curve was authorised on 20 August 1883. The junction of this curve with the line near Byfleet was altered to a burrowing junction from 19 February 1903. The spur at Virginia Water giving access from Chertsey towards Ascot was closed in 1966, the line was electrified on 3 January 1937 by the Southern Railway. Demand and population more especially have grown around the two stations exclusively on the line, in 2014-2015 financial years journeys made from or to Chertsey and Addlestone totalled 0.995 million. On weekdays a half-hourly all-stations service to London Waterloo station runs via Staines, travel time may be shortened by a few minutes by changing to a fast train at Staines or Weybridge. On Sundays there is an hourly service which, instead of going to Weybridge, takes the west curve at Byfleet Junction. The trains that run on the line are operated by South West Trains, originally using Class 450 trains most of the time which have first class, air conditioning and toilets. Now these only operate infrequent services in peak hours, as since 2015 most trains are operated by the Class 458/5 fleet, on Saturdays and in some peak hours Class 455 trains work the line. Class 170 trains worked the line on the cross-country Anglia Railways services, between Virginia Water and Chertsey, the line crosses the M25 motorway by means of a cable-stayed bridge. The bridge is of note because it is one of few such bridges to carry a heavy railway required here as the approaches the motorway at an angle of 28 degrees. The bridge consists of two towers set into the central reservation of the motorway. The concrete edge beams are suspended from the towers, and each is supported by a pair of cables linked to the towers, the edge beams support a concrete deck slab on which the tracks run. The bridge is 120 yards long and 72 feet high, and was completed in 1979
6.
Coxes Lock
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However a re-engineered brook alongside the Basingstoke Canal at West Byfleet make all sections up to a point near Sheerwater Bridge, Woking receive a light minimum flow. The tallest non-ecclesiastical/civic building in South-East of England outside London pre-dating about 1880 is the east of the former mill blocks, a tree-lined towpath and lakeside path run to the lock as does a cul-de-sac for vehicles leading to the apartments. In some 19th-century sources, Coxs Lock is recorded, Coxes Lock was built between 1651 and 1653, as part of an important link to transport heavy goods between London and Guildford. The Lock contains a stone inscribed Built 1770 when improvements were made to the structure, Coxes Lock is the deepest unmanned lock on the Navigation with a rise of 8 feet 6 inches - and is 1.5 miles from the Thames. In 1776 an iron entrepreneur, a Mr Cox, recognised the potential that the site offered and started to build his iron mill which became known as Coxes Lock Mill, the three mill buildings were a mixture of industrial mill/foundry and accommodation for 207 years. They are now apartments but include a heritage section left untouched, the mill was powered by the waterwheel. Allowing more water down the millstream as the mill expanded became an issue between the mill who favoured this and the commercial barge owners. To avoid grounding most of the year the mill pond was excavated -. In 1808 the lease of the mills was passed from Alexander Raby, Mill owners were well-versed in having to change usage to survive. The mill saw spells of its wheels and linked pulleys used for a weaving business for a short period. Adopting new technology at the end of the 19th century, Coxes was financially strong enough to invest, the mill was rebuilt in 1901 and extended in 1906, becoming one of the most important industrial buildings in the country at the time. New machinery technology and powerful engines saw the demise of waterpower at the mill when power sources switched at first to steam, by the mid 1960s a great wheat silo standing at 137 ft had been constructed with a further flour silo erected in 1969. The mill joined with Allied Mills 21 other mills in the country, most of the adjoining area is National Trust water and meadows which form a green buffer to London including sharing in most of reduced Surreys Metropolitan Green Belt status. Shortly after the closure of the mill in 1983 and the ceasing of commercial traffic the navigation was donated to the National Trust, the three mill buildings are listed for heritage or architecture in the starting category, Grade II, and have been converted to residential use. The small complex has a gym and swimming pool. National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty Canals of the United Kingdom History of the British canal system The National Trust Official Page River Wey Community Site
7.
New Haw
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The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, an executive agency of DEFRA, has its central laboratories in a semi-rural part of New Haw. The laboratory is notable as being one of the principal test centres for the H5N1 virus and it adjoins Byfleet, Weybridge, Addlestone, Ottershaw and Rowhill/Row Town, West Byfleet and Woodham. New Haw stands on an irregular south-west border close to Woking, the River Wey, the start of the Basingstoke Canal, the Wey Navigation rises through three steep locks in the relatively short New Haw section. The M25 motorway passes, without junctions for more than 3 miles, the route also has fixed and mobile speed cameras. There is an evidence of New Haws history. The original village was a hamlet of Woking, around Crockford Park farm, with the commuter boom of the 1950/60s the town grew to the southwest down Woodham Lane towards West Byfleet, and Woodham. The village now lies around the junction of Woodham Lane and the Scotland Bridge Road roundabout, a popular shopping area for locals is The Broadway, where a number of shops, public houses and restaurants are located. Haw is an old word for gate, and it is possible that New Haw developed following the installation of the new lock gate in 1653. In 1873 All Saints School was founded as a school for Poor Persons, probably with a grant from John Marshall-Paine, the school opened in 1874 and included accommodation for 92 pupils. School records show there were frequent absences during harvesting or at other times when help was needed on the farms. Conditions at the school were far from ideal, the schoolroom was often in need of repair, and during the winter of 1906 temperatures plummeted to 1 °C, and at one time the teacher of the infants was herself only 11 years old. In 1911 the school became All Saints Church and it is part of the diocese of Guildford. All Saints New Haw has a congregation including a range of youth activities. In 2009 Boscos and Claires Cafe were added to the church buildings, the village has a number of open spaces. The largest is Heathervale Park, a space bordering the Basingstoke canal. Fullbrook School offers local residents athletic facilities, including a gym, football pitches, several aeroplanes are believed to have crashed in New Haw during the early decades of the 20th century. On 25 May 1912, an Avro Type F cabin monoplane landed upside down on nearby Addlestone Moor, photographic evidence of this accident is held by Brooklands Museum. Local schools include, New Haw Junior School, Fullbrook School, the Grange Community Infant School, the villages railway stations are West Byfleet and Byfleet and New Haw, which was originally called West Weybridge
8.
M25 motorway
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The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a 117-mile motorway that encircles almost all of Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. An ambitious concept to build four concentric ring roads around London was first mooted in the 1960s, further widening is in progress of minor sections with plans for managed motorways in many others. To the east of London the two ends of the M25 are joined to complete a loop by the non-motorway A282 Dartford Crossing of the River Thames between Thurrock and Dartford and this crossing, which consists of twin two-lane tunnels and the four-lane QE2 bridge, is named Canterbury Way. Passage across the bridge or through the tunnels is subject to a toll, in the opposite direction, to the east of the point where the M25 diverges from the main east–west carriageway, that carriageway become the M26 motorway. The radial distance from London varies from 12.5 miles in Potters Bar to 19.5 miles in Byfleet.8 miles, major towns listed as destinations, in various counties, adjoin the M25. North Ockendon is the settlement of Greater London situated outside the M25. In 2004, following a poll, the London Assembly mooted for consultation alignment of the Greater London boundary with the M25. Inside the M25 and outside/beyond the M25 are colloquial, looser alternatives to Greater London sometimes used in haulage, the Communications Act 2003 explicitly uses the M25 as the boundary in requiring a proportion of television programmes to be made outside the London area. Two motorway service areas are on the M25, and two others are accessible from it. Those on the M25 are Clacket Lane between junctions 5 and 6 and Cobham between junctions 9 and 10 and those directly accessible from it are South Mimms off junction 23 and Thurrock off junction 31. Cobham services opened on 13 September 2012, originally, the M25 was unlit except for sections around Heathrow, major interchanges and Junctions 23–30. By 2014 only one significant stretch was still SOX-lit and the units were removed the same year, the motorway passes through five counties. Junctions 1A–5 are in Kent, 6–14 are in Surrey, 15–16 are in Buckinghamshire, 17–25 are in Hertfordshire, policing of the road is carried out by an integrated policing group made up of the Metropolitan, Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey forces. The M25 is one of Europes busiest motorways, in 2003, a maximum of 196,000 vehicles a day were recorded on the motorway just south of London Heathrow Airport between junctions 13 and 14. A precursor of the M25 was the North Orbital Road, the idea of an orbital road around London was first proposed early in the 20th century and then re-examined in Sir Charles Bresseys and Sir Edwin Lutyens The Highway Development Survey,1937. Sir Patrick Abercrombies County of London Plan,1943 and Greater London Plan,1944 proposed a series of five roads encircling the capital, the northern sections of the M25 follow a similar route to the World War II Outer London Defence Ring. Little was done to progress these plans until the 1960s when the Greater London Council developed its London Ringways plan consisting of four rings around the capital. Sections of the two outer rings – Ringway 3 and Ringway 4 – were constructed in the early 1970s and were integrated into the single M25 orbital motorway, but the Ringways plan was hugely controversial owing to the destruction required for the inner two ring roads
9.
Basingstoke Canal
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The Basingstoke Canal is a British canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation. From Basingstoke, the passes through or near Greywell, North Warnborough, Odiham, Dogmersfield, Fleet, Farnborough Airfield, Aldershot, Mytchett, Brookwood, Knaphill. Its eastern end is at Byfleet, where it connects to the Wey Navigation and this, in turn, leads to the River Thames at Weybridge. Its intended purpose was to allow boats to travel from the docks in East London to Basingstoke and it was never a commercial success and, from 1950, lack of maintenance allowed the canal to become increasingly derelict. After many years of neglect, restoration commenced in 1977 and on 10 May 1991 the canal was reopened as a navigable waterway from the River Wey to almost as far as the Greywell Tunnel. However its usage is still limited by low water supply. The canal was conceived as a way to agricultural development in Hampshire. Engineer John Smeaton and his assistant William Jessop worked on the canal, one of the main cargoes carried from Basingstoke was timber. The suggestion was rejected by those working on the plans and the company agreed not to oppose the railway. The canal was never a success and fell into disuse even before the construction of the London and South Western Railway. Commercial use ended in 1910 but low-level use of the canal continued, in 1913 Mr A. J. Harmsworth tried to navigate the canal in a boat called Basingstoke. It is thought that it proved impossible to navigate the entire canal, during World War I the Royal Engineers took over the running of the canal and used it to transport supplies from Woolwich. The canal was sold upon his death in 1947 and by 1950 was in the hands of the New Basingstoke Canal Co Ltd and this company continued the restoration of the canal but there was a serious setback in 1957 and a major breach in 1968. By the late-1960s it was essentially derelict despite volunteer efforts to improve the situation, in 1966, the Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society was formed by a group of local canal enthusiasts, with a view to reopening the derelict canal. They were instrumental in running a campaign that culminated in 1976 with the purchase of the canal by the County Councils of Hampshire, in February 1977 a job creation project started with the aim of carrying out restoration work on the Deepcut flight of locks. The work was coordinated with the work of the society who organised work parties at weekends while the job creation team worked on weekdays. After about 18 years of restoration,32 miles of the canal were formally re-opened on 10 May 1991, the western section from North Warnborough to Basingstoke remains un-navigable from the point at which it enters the Greywell Tunnel. The tunnel partially collapsed in 1932 where it passes from chalk into clay geology, some of the former canal basin at the western end has also been lost to modern development in and around Basingstoke
10.
South Western main line
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The South Western Main Line is a major British railway between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many areas including suburbs of London such as around Hampton Court Palace. It runs through Greater London, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset and it briefly runs alongside the Windsor and Reading Lines which terminate also at London Waterloo. Together with these, it forms the core of the built by the London. Network Rail refers to it as the South West Mainline, much of the line is relatively high-speed, with large stretches cleared for up to 100 mph running. Tourist special services to a lesser frequency use the line such as the Cathedrals Express and Alton is a connection to a shorter heritage service. In 1831, the Southampton, London & Branch Railway and Docks Company was formed, the company planned to build a railway line to Southampton, but were also interested in building a line from halfway down their route towards Bristol via Newbury and Devizes. In that year the Basingstoke Canal company suggested instead that a link be built between their canal, built 1794, and the Itchen Navigation, the suggestion was rejected by those working on the railway plans and the canal company agreed not to oppose the railway. The chosen route to Southampton was not direct as it adopted a compromise axis about one third of the way down for a westward Bristol line and this axis terminates shortly after the conurbation on the line of Basingstoke, then an agrarian market town. The route therefore missed the towns of Guildford, Farnham and Alton which would have boosted early revenue, the town of Winchester north of Southampton was included in the built and in the unbuilt proposal, seeing its station open in 1839. The Great Western Railway secured its patrons for a far more direct route to Bristol, the GWR received Parliamentary authority and shortly afterwards the Southampton railway. The SL&BRDC held to its route including Basingstoke, though changed its name to the London and Southampton Railway. The first section to be opened was from Nine Elms, the LSWRs first London terminus, in Battersea, to Woking on 21 May 1838. This last section was the most difficult on the route with an initial climb necessitating earthworks to Litchfield Tunnel. The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was also formed and built a line from 1845 to 1847 from Southampton to Dorchester and it avoided Bournemouth, then barely a village, and ran via Wimborne Minster and Ringwood before reaching Dorchester. It took a route, which followed the easiest-to-construct links rather than linking settlements in a straight line. Initially, Poole was served by a branch from Hamworthy to a station on the side of Holes Bay. The Ringwood line was nicknamed as Castlemans Corkscrew after Charles Castleman, the line was originally planned to continue towards Exeter, but this never came into effect
11.
Pyrford
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Pyrford /ˈpɜːrfərd/ is a village in the borough of Woking in Surrey, England. It is on the bank of the River Wey, around 2 miles east of the town of Woking and just south of West Byfleet. At the foot of slopes in the south of the area are agricultural flood plain pasture meadows bisected by the River Wey Navigation, roads passing through the village include the B367 and B382. Open areas in the south and east of the village are designated Metropolitan Green Belt, the current village name Pyrford is derived from the Saxon dialect of Old English combined term Pyrianford, which scholarly research into Old English asserts means pear tree ford. Famous residents include the poet John Donne, the Rowley Bristow Hospital from 1928 to 1991 was in Pyrford in the area now occupied by St Martins Mews and St Nicholas Crescent. Pyrford is mentioned in The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells, the River Wey Navigation, to the south-east and east of the village, marks the boundary between Pyrford and Wisley. The area has marked trails for ramblers, Pyrford marina by the Dodds Bridge footbridge, and with its own access road, on the Pyrford canalside enables people to hire and own boats, it faces the named public house. Pyrford Common offers an open space, car parking and a play ground for children. The common is surrounded by a wooded area. Owing to an old law, and covenants on land controlled by religious sects, Pyrford had no public house, the Anchor pub, by Lock Lane, lies on land once part of Wisley parish. The Inn at Maybury is sited alongside the junction of Old Woking Road, the third location for drinking is The Yeoman, a Harvester pub-restaurant, on the Old Woking Road in the neighbouring village of West Byfleet. Instead, two venues in Pyrford are the Pyrford Social Club, a membership club, next to the cricket club. These are both licensed for alcohol, July 2012 saw Pyrfords inclusion in what has become the standard version of the London-Surrey cycle classic used in the Summer Olympic Games. Pyrford has three courses, Pyrford Golf Course, Wisley Golf Course and Traditions. It is also home to [Pyrford Cricket Club, founded in 1858, Pyrford is one of the oldest cricket clubs in Surrey, and has achieved success in recent years. Well known former PCC players include former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu, New Zealand wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins, Pyrford also has an amateur football club, Pyrford F. C. who play at the Pyrford Cricket ground. Traditions Golf Club on Pyrford Road, offers locals a pay and play service, membership is not required, and the golf course offers an 18-hole round. A public bridleway crosses the golf course linking Pyrford Road to the Wey Navigation Canal, on 28 July and 29,2012, Pyrford hosted a section of the London 2012 Cycle road race
12.
Newark Priory
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Newark Priory is a ruined priory on an island surrounded by the River Wey and its moat-like channel the Abbey Stream near the southern boundary of the village of Pyrford in Surrey, England. Newark Priory was before its run by the Canons Regular of St Augustine. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint Thomas Becket in contemporary documents Thomas the Martyr and originally and this gradually changed its name from Aldbury to Newark or the New Place of St Thomas near Guildford, at one point being called Newstead. The taxation roll of 1291 shows considerable non-ecclesiastic assets, during Henry VIIIs Dissolution of the Monasteries Newark Priory was dissolved. The prior himself was pensioned off, all sent to the Tower of London. It has been said that a cannon was employed from the top of Church Hill to bombard or demolish what were the extensive buildings. This incident is portrayed in one of a series of made by artist Tessa Kewen. The last known prior of Newark Priory was Richard Lipscombe, appointed just before the surrender of the establishment and lands in 1538. The building, falling into ruin, was said to have been destroyed by locals using the stones for road mending until Lord Onslow. Newark Priory still exists as ruins today and is listed as a Grade I Ancient Monument and it was placed upon the English Heritage Register of Buildings at risk, established in 2007. It is located upon private land so is unable to be reached at closer proximity than the Wey path by Newark Lock and its island of a few acres is a meadow crossed at its end by Newark Lane between Pyrford and Ripley. A dawn service is held each year on Easter Day at 6am in the ruins, run by churches from the towns including Byfleet, West Byfleet, Pyrford. Google Map The English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, woking Borough Councils page on Pyrford. A BBC webpage detailing information on The Reformation and The Dissolution of the Monasteries which was part of the reformation
13.
Send, Surrey
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Send is a village and civil parish in the Guildford borough of the English county of Surrey. The north of Send is at the edge of the Bagshot Formation. Send is buffered by Metropolitan Green Belt from other villages and towns except for the Grove Heath neighbourhood of Ripley. A rural band of the village adjoins the River Wey including Cartbridge and Send Marsh – this land has been drained and the river tamed by sluices, the Broadmead Cut, the vast majority of the built-up areas are not within an area of flood risk. Between the Wey and its canal in the far north of the parish are the Papercourt, Send appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Sande. It was held by Rainald from Alvred de Merleburgh and its domesday assets were,20 hides,1 church,10 ploughs,2 mills worth £1 3s 6d,5 fisheries worth 4s 6d,84 acres of meadow, woodland worth 160 hogs. It was headed by 41 households and had additionally fifteen serfs and it rendered £15 10s 0d per year to its overlords. The parish saw a little-known skirmish, Old maps mark the place where the road crosses the stream which joins the Wey near Send as St. Thomass Waterings. Ripley was at the time of the Domesday Book a hamlet of Send, in 1878 Ripley gained its own parish. The earliest official record such as a Patent Roll, revealing its manors existence is in 1279, brickfields were developed in the south of Send by the 1870s, running until at least 1911. This was in the middle of a period when at least seven other wealthy entrepreneurs, aristocrats, Send had the base of defunct 1950s Formula One and sports car constructor Connaught Engineering, generally branded as Connaught. Relieved by the construction of a six-lane by pass, the A3 trunk road, for most of the village the nearest railway station is at West Clandon on a longer line between Guildford and London. Woking on the South West Main Line is closer to a part of the village and offers semi-fast and fast services as opposed to only stopping services. Send is on a gently rising patch of Bagshot Sand, with Cartbridge like Ripley, on sand and gravel of the lower Wey Valley, elevations range from 49m Above Ordnance Datum in the south to 22m at the far northern border on the Wey Navigation. Cartbridge is a mostly amorphous locality that covers the end of the villages main street. Based drawing of boundaries by Surrey County Council its population at the United Kingdom Census 2001 was almost half of the village as a whole. The neighbourhood is, insofar as it is used, contiguous with the clustered, built-up estates of Boughton Court Avenue and the Portsmouth Road forming Burntcommon. For census analyses of largest neighbourhoods in Surrey the county council in 2001 opted to consider Burntcommon as a non-notable locality jointly with Send Marsh, Send Marsh has Sends Grade II listed late 17th century manor house on the village green, with rear extensions of the 19th century
14.
Guildford
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Guildford /ˈɡɪlfərd/ is a large town in Surrey, England, located 27 miles southwest of central London on the A3 trunk road midway between the capital and Portsmouth. It is the seat of the borough of Guildford, on the building of the Wey Navigation and Basingstoke Canal Guildford was connected to a network of waterways that aided its prosperity. In the 20th century, the University of Surrey and Guildford Cathedral, in Sir Thomas Malorys 1485 fictional series Le Morte dArthur, Guildford is identified with Astolat of Arthurian renown, however only rural Celtic Bronze Age pieces have been found in the town. Continuing the Arthurian connection, there is a public house. Some of the tiles built into Guildford Castle may be Roman, and it is proven by archaeology and contemporary accounts that Guildford was established as a small town by Saxon settlers shortly after Roman authority had been removed from Britain. The settlement was most likely expanded because of the Harrow Way crosses the River Wey by a ford at this point, alfred the Great, the first Anglo-Saxon king of unified England, named the town in his will. Guildford was the location of the Royal Mint from 978 until part-way through the reign of William the Conqueror, Guildford Castle is of Norman design, although there are no documents about its earliest years. Guildford appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Geldeford and Gildeford, the King officially held the 75 hagae in which lived 175 homagers and the town rendered £32. Stoke, a suburb within todays Guildford, appears in the Book as Stoch and was held by William. Its Domesday assets were,1 church,2 mills worth 5s,16 ploughlands with two Lords plough teams and 20 mens plough teams,16 acres of meadow, and woodland worth 40 hogs. Stoke was listed as being in the Kings park, with a rendering of £15, William the Conqueror had the castle built in the classic Norman style, the castle keep still stands. A major purpose of Norman castle building was to overawe the conquered population and it had £26 spent on it in 1173 under the regency of the young Henry II. As the threat of invasion and insurrection declined, the status was demoted to that of a royal hunting lodge, Guildford was, at that time. It was visited on occasions by King John, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In 1611 the castle was granted to Francis Carter whose grandsons initials EC, the surviving parts of the castle were restored in Victorian times and again in 2004, the rest of the grounds became a public garden. In 1995, a chamber was discovered in the High Street, while this remains a matter of contention, it is likely to be the oldest remaining synagogue in Western Europe. Guildford elected two members of the Unreformed House of Commons, from the 14th century to the 18th century the borough corporation prospered with the wool trade. In the 14th century the Guildhall was constructed and still today as a noticeable landmark of Guildford
15.
A3 road
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The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its 67-mile length, it is classified as a trunk road, almost all of the road has been built to dual carriageway standards or wider. Apart from bypass sections in London the road travels in a southwest direction and, after Liss, the other section of such restriction is through Battersea, Clapham and Stockwell towards the northern end reflecting its urban setting and also accommodating bus lanes and parking meter bays. The construction of the Kingston and Guildford bypasses in the 1920s and 1930s made use of narrow gauge railways to move the construction materials. The Esher bypass, between Hook from the first mentioned bypass to the M25, is three lanes with a hard shoulder, from here to Guildford the road has three lanes. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu stressed the urgency of building a Kingston By-pass in 1911 however before the onset of World War I public funds were not secured and were not available in the aftermath. It was opened by the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Stanley Baldwin MP and it ran for 8.5 miles from the Robin Hood Gate of Richmond Park to the near outskirts of Esher. The opening ceremony concluded with refreshments for 800 guests in marquees near to the northern start/end and its construction immediately attracted developments of housing where access was easiest. The road was once the haunt of highwaymen such as Jerry Abershawe who terrorised the area around Kingston, another particularly dangerous location was in the vicinity of the wooded crest skirting the Devils Punch Bowl, Hindhead, about 8 miles south-west of Guildford. In 2011 the Hindhead Tunnel became the centre of the Hindhead Bypass around the road of the small town. Until 2011 the road through Hindhead was the last single carriageway section of the route, outside London and it continues along Newington Butts, and bounds then enters the London Borough of Lambeth on Kennington Park Road which becomes Clapham Road and Clapham High Street. The A3 then turns west as Clapham Common North Side, along this road it enters the London Borough of Wandsworth after which it runs concurrently with the A205 South Circular and goes through Wandsworth, then the A205 carries on west towards Richmond. The A3 then continues south-west between Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common before beginning to bypass Kingston upon Thames while going through Roehampton Vale. The A3 enters The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames just before Kingston Vale where there is a junction with the A308 for Kingston upon Thames, the speed limit then increases to 50 mph before going under the Coombe Flyover. The A3 then goes on a flyover by Shannon Corner in Raynes Park, before having junctions for New Malden, Tolworth, brief features of a section of road contribute to a traffic pinch-point during peak hours around the Hook underpass. The road reduces from three lanes to two in the underpass, the speed limit at this point reduces from 70 miles per hour to 50 miles per hour, with the first of a handful of GATSO speed enforcement cameras. If returning to London traffic from the A309 also joins just before the underpass, after passing Claygate the motorway-standard section has junctions with the A244 between Esher and Oxshott, then the A245 between Cobham and Hersham. The roads Wisley Interchange with the M25 enables a flyover still with a 70 mph speed limit and it bypasses Wisley, Ockham, Ripley before cutting through the major town itself as a dual carriageway and changing to a 50 mph speed limit
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A25 road
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The A25 road is one of the two cross-sector non-motorway grade roads in the 2 sector of Great Britain alongside the A27 which is approximately double its length along the south coast. En route, the passes through Reigate, Redhill, Nutfield, Bletchingley, Godstone, Oxted, Westerham, Brasted, Sevenoaks. It passes over six of the seven rivers which drain the vale and land to the south, a short distance beyond Borough Green, at Wrotham Heath, Platt, Kent the A25 ends at a junction with the A20, which continues eastward towards Maidstone. It continues for a distance beyond the traditional Portsmouth Road, since replaced by a bypass which the road does not reach. The east of the route the Victoria County History describes as a road in 1911. Relatively briefly the modern road uses bypasses and straightened cuts, many of the inns along its path were one time staging inns. One of the earliest sections of the M25 motorway runs parallel and to the north of the A25, as such, most of the route is a single carriageway and a very small minority of it is a dual carriageway, the junctions at Guildfold and Redhill. The route has been included in the London-Surrey Cycle Classic alongside the entrances to Hatchlands Park, the east of the county has Reigate Castle along its route. Combe Bank Landscaped Grounds and Squerryes Court are along the route in west Kent, bringing the total of listed English gardens along the route to four
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New Guildford line
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The New Guildford line, presently operated by South West Trains, is a commuter line between London and Guildford. It branches off the South Western Main Line just south of Surbiton, on timetables, trains on this route are advertised as going to Guildford via Cobham. Rush hour services provide two morning services and one evening service non-stop between Surbiton and Waterloo, off-peak services run only twice per hour and are considerably slower, stopping at intermediate stations between Surbiton and Waterloo. The line was electrified using the 750 V DC third rail system as far as Claygate in 1916, at present on Monday to Saturday there are two trains per hour to Guildford. All services on the call at all stations on the line between Surbiton and Guildford. This extra train runs non-stop between London Waterloo and Surbiton in both directions, on Sundays there is just one train per hour in each direction. Southern Railway also operates peak time services between Guildford and Effingham Junction and these trains go to London Victoria and London Bridge via Sutton and West Croydon, with one train per hour in each direction on both routes. The New Line, originally referred to as the Guildford, New Line, was opened on 2 February 1885 by the London, successor companies to run the line were the Southern Railway, British Rail, and presently South West Trains. A note on the geology of the line at the Guildford end was made by Goodwin-Austen in 1884, originally the line left the main line at Hampton Court Junction with two parallel tracks off the main line. The bridge just south of the down line junction is to this day big enough for two tracks when it now only has to accommodate one track, in 1908 the up line was diverted under the main line to reduce congestion. Details of this venture were noted in The Railway Magazine in 1908 which referred to the bringing into use of a new burrowing line, the journey from Claygate to Guildford was then a steam hauled service. The journey to from Waterloo to Claygate took 29 minutes on commencement of the service which was supplemented by steam hauled services during the mornings and evenings. Currently electric train stock is kept and serviced at Durnsford Road depot, Wimbledon, the latter depot was closed in 1990 and has been refurbished as a servicing centre for track maintenance Multiple Purpose Vehicles for AMEC SPIE and Railtrack. From electrification to the early 1960s train stock was formed of 3, in the early 1940s a new 4-SUB was introduced, as shown in this photo by the Southern Railways Group. Subsequently, following World War 2, a number of a sleeker design of 4-SUB was made as shown by Hart. For a while in the late 1950s and 1960s the line was the route from Waterloo that had 4-SUB units substituted by EPB units. For many years new train stock was tested for long periods on this route, the line received the first post-World War 2 EPB electric stock that became the standard for British Railways Southern Region for many years. In January 1952, 4EPB set number 5001 entered service on the line, one of the new electric trains in the 1950s is illustrated in
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St Nicolas' Church, Guildford
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St Nicolas is an Anglican parish church in Guildford, England. The church is on the bank of the River Wey. It is next to non-motor vehicle Friary Bridge, the only bridge of the town centre. It is directly beyond the foot of High Street, Guildford and it is one of the three ancient parishes of the town. The parish extends to the north where it takes in the station and other streets to the east side of Bray Road and Ridgemount which are toward the Cathedral. It extends on the bank to the south as far as the edge of the town of Godalming. The southern manor, Artington has an early medieval ruined church with low crumbling walls on a hillside near the River Wey surviving. It is the set of ruins church/chapel walls in the borough. The former owners the Loseley family have a Victorian wing on the south side, John Mason Neale wrote and/or composed, Good King Wenceslas, O happy band of pilgrims, Deacon. John Samuel Bewley Monsell wrote and/or composed Fight the good fight and O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, comical and narrative book writer P. G. Wodehouse was baptised with the waters of the font, son of the rector John Manship was Samuel Manship, a London publisher of theology and philosophy. The west end has a gable end excepting tall, shallow outside buttresses in light-stone relief. It has matching pointed arch windows consisting of tall close lancet lights, a five-light trefoil window is above. The church is built from the south and west Surrey yellow ironstone-sandstone with 10 consecutive round windows, grouped in pairs, above immediately is guttering of equal height before the ascent of a long hipped slate roof surmounted by a simple yellow stone cross on the west end. A square belfry tower with flagpole surmount the chancel in lighter stone than all, the north transept gable end is embellished by a large plate-tracery, three-light-plus-roundel window on a sill and under a hood moulding. The chancel itself, facing east is apsidal with vaulting and it has a marble floor and mosaics
19.
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
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The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is a theatre located in Guildford, Surrey, England. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, it presents a series of produced and national touring productions, including opera, ballet. The theatre has two venues, a main theatre and the smaller Mill Studio. The foundation stone was laid by Vanessa Redgrave who commemorated the occasion by casting her hands in concrete, the company opted to dispense with traditional repertory theatre in favour of a more flexible model in which actors are cast as appropriate to different productions. Many stars have performed at the theatre over the years, stephen Barry was a young assistant director in the 1960s. The first artistic director, Laurier Lister, was succeeded in 1975 by Val May, the founding chairman was one-time Mayor of Guildford Archie Graham-Brown. It is a Grade II listed building since 2012, and the architect was John Brownrigg of the locally-based firm Scott Brownrigg, currently under the directorship of James Barber, the theatre presents a mixed year-round production schedule that includes an annual pantomime. Its scenery workshop builds for Glyndebourne, the Royal Shakespeare Company, a youth department offers regular productions in the Mill Studio and an annual summer musical on the main stage. The wider theatre space is used for arts and functional purposes including art exhibitions and the annual film season feature, originally the eighteenth-century Town Mill building housed the theatres workshops. The studio opened in 1993 as a base for the Youth Theatres activities, in 1997, a National Lottery grant was used to upgrade the facilities, enabling expansion in audience capacity and the range of productions presented
20.
North Downs Way
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The North Downs Way National Trail is a long-distance path in southern England, opened in 1978. It runs from Farnham to Dover, past Guildford, Dorking, Merstham, Otford and Rochester, along the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, planning for a new Long Distance Path, as they were classified in 1949, began in Kent in 1950. After an extensive survey, it was agreed that a route on a line which offers the best scenic qualities for the walker along the ridge of the North Downs, working alongside Surrey County Council, plans were eventually submitted in 1966. At that time, it was 141 miles in length,36 miles of which were newly created Public Rights of Way. East of Boughton Lees, the splits in two, the northern section running via Canterbury and the southern via Wye, at this stage the path crosses the Stour Valley Walk. The two sections of the path reunite at Dover, the northern route is 211 km long, and the southern route 201 km, the current length of the North Downs Way being 246 km. The pathway is mixed-category in that it varies throughout length from footpath status to bridleway, byway, some 19% of the Way follows roads, though 75% of those are minor lanes. The path runs along the ridge of the North Downs hills, and follows parts of the Pilgrims Way
21.
River Tillingbourne
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The River Tillingbourne runs along the south side of the North Downs and joins the River Wey at Guildford. Its source is near Tilling Springs to the north of Leith Hill at grid reference TQ143437 and it runs through Friday Street, Abinger Hammer, Gomshall, Shere, Albury, Chilworth, the source is a semi-natural uninhabited area. The catchment is situated on sandstone which has a low rate of weathering, the Tillingbourne is 18 km in length. The river is classified as a subsequent stream, since its course is determined by the direction of the stratum of rock for the majority of its length. The river used to power a number of gunpowder, paper, the gunpowder mill was at Chilworth. Present day users include a farm, watercress beds, a business growing reeds and is often studied by students from nearby field studies centres, such as Sayers Croft. The river passes through the Albury estate at, Albury Park, Weston fishery, Vale End fishery, the rivers course has been diverted slightly here for the purpose of the estate. The River Tillingbourne supports a healthy population of both wild brown trout and coarse fish. The Environment Agency has been working with local fishermen to improve the habitat for fish by recreating a pool and riffle habitat
22.
North Downs Line
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Between Redhill and Ash the line runs roughly parallel with the North Downs. Between Reigate and Gomshall the line runs along the foot of the North Downs escarpment in the Vale of Holmesdale and it then follows the Blackwater valley as far as Sandhurst, before continuing to Reading. The line was authorised by Acts of Parliament in 1846 and 1847 and most of it was constructed by the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway Company, although the company had some independent shareholders, it was closely associated with the South Eastern Railway. The original intention was for the SER to build part of the line itself, the independence of the company was only a formality to satisfy Parliament. The two companies had some common directors, a SER engineer controlled the construction of the line, as intended at outset, the line was leased to the SER in 1850, and the two companies finally merged in 1852. The companys relationship with the GWR is described as enigmatic, the GWR initially offered the company the use of its facilities at Reading station but terms could not be agreed and a separate station was built. The SER operated the line from its opening, and ran services on it from Reading to London Charing Cross via Redhill. Even today, the distances along the line between Redhill and Shalford Junction, and between Ash Junction and Reading are measured from the Charing Cross terminus of the former SER, the line is two-track throughout and is designated W6 loading gauge. Overnight engineering possessions of up to 4.5 hours are available, Reading to Wokingham is electrified and signalled under the track circuit block system from Wokingham Signal Box. Signalling headways are 3 minutes for fast services and 3.5 minutes for stopping services, the line speed is 70 mph, except for two 30 mph restrictions. This section is not electrified and the speed is 70 mph. It is currently planned to transfer the control of Wokingham Signal Box to the new Rail Operating Centre in Basingstoke in 2017/18, North Camp to Shalford Junction is controlled from Guildford. Signalling headways are 2 minutes for fast services and 3 minutes for stopping services and this section is electrified from Aldershot South Junction. The line speed is 70 mph, except for a 40 mph restriction at Ash Junction where the line sharply. Resignalling in October 1999 enabled reversible working on the line through both tunnels between Guildford and Shalford Junction. Shalford Junction to Reigate The route leaves the Portsmouth Direct Line at Shalford Junction, from here to Reigate, the line is not electrified. It is controlled by Guildford from Shalford Junction to Gomshall and by Reigate Signal Box from Gomshall to Redhill, Signalling headways are 5 minutes for fast trains and 7 minutes for stopping services. The line speed varies from 30 mph to 70 mph, the approach to Redhill is controlled by Three Bridges Signalling Centre and has a 30 mph speed restriction
23.
Wey and Arun Canal
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The Wey and Arun Canal is a partially restored, 23-mile-long canal in the south east of England. It runs southwards from the River Wey at Shalford, Surrey to the River Arun at Pallingham, the canal was built with 26 locks. Passing through a landscape, there was little freight traffic to justify its continued existence. Without maintenance, the canal became derelict over much of its length. However, since 1970, active restoration by The Wey & Arun Canal Trust has resulted in several miles of the waterway being restored to navigable standard, work is continuing, with the ultimate aim of re-opening the entire canal to navigation. As its name describes, this Act authorised works to improve the Arun upstream from Houghton Bridge to Newbridge, an undershot waterwheel of a design unique on the waterway system was built into the aqueduct. Driven by the flow of the river this had scoops on the back of the blades which raised a small proportion of the water into the higher canal. A second artificial cut was added in 1790 from Coldwaltham to Stopham, including a 375-yard tunnel under Hardham Hill, the route of the Navigation from Newbridge to Houghton was 13 miles with six locks. The river continues a further 15.5 miles to the sea at Littlehampton, the last barge to travel on the section between Pallingham and Newbridge was recorded in 1888, and Hardham tunnel was closed in 1889. The first scheme to link the Wey and the Arun was proposed in 1641, tributaries of both rivers were only 2 miles apart, and a canal to bridge this distance was submitted as a bill to Parliament, but was dropped when it reached the committee stage. Another scheme, which would have linked up the rivers Adur, Arun, Mole and Wey, was suggested in 1663, but was not pursued. In 1810, the 3rd Earl of Egremont began to promote the idea of a canal to link the Rivers Wey and Arun, josias Jessop was appointed consulting engineer in 1811. It was his first job as an independent consulting engineer since he had established his reputation constructing Bristol Harbour. He made an estimate of £72,217 for construction of the canal, which he increased to £86,132 in May 1812, a petition was presented to Parliament, but the scheme got no further. An Act of Parliament received the Royal Assent on 19 April 1813, entitled An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal, to unite the Rivers Wey and Arun, in the counties of Surrey and Sussex. This authorised the construction of the canal from the Godalming Navigation near Shalford, may Upton was appointed resident engineer in July, and work began. Jessop designed all the structures, including aqueducts, bridges, locks. The canal was 18.5 miles long, had 23 locks and was suitable for 30-ton barges, construction was completed in September 1816, having cost £103,000
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Cranleigh line
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The line ran through Cranleigh and measured 19.25 miles. A branch of the LSWRs London to Southampton line had reached Guildford in 1845, was extended to Godalming in 1849, in 1844 the LSWR drew up plans to construct a line to the then important port of Shoreham-by-Sea from a point near Horsham. Upon hearing of this possible encroachment the LBSCRs predecessor acted quickly in promoting a bill authorising a line to Shoreham. The London and Brighton Railway Act received royal assent on 18 June 1846 and its starting portion to Horsham from Three Bridges on the LBSCRs direct line between London and Brighton was laid in 1848. By that time the companies began to experience financial difficulties coinciding with the economic recession of the late 1840s. It would be a ten years before the plans for a line to the coast, to Shoreham and directly to Chichester, were actioned. The trio promoted their Horsham & Guildford Direct Railway Company for parliamentary approval from a point 1.5 miles south of Guildford station to Stammerham,2.5 miles to the south-west of Horsham. The actions of the H&GDR drew the attention of the Wey, the Canal Company rapidly drew up a complementary route to follow the canal more closely from Guildford to Pulborough,18.5 miles. In an attempt to waylay this opposition at an early stage, the LBSCRs withdrew opposition so the H&GDR became law on 6 August 1860 as the Horsham and Guildford Direct Railway Act. The Act fixed the capital of the H&GDR company at £160,000, the company was to acquire the necessary land for the railway by way of compulsory purchase by 6 August 1863 and to complete the construction works within two years of that date. A penalty of £12,000 would be payable should the works not be completed on time, the LBSCR was granted the working rights over the line for ten years. The Act also included a Working Agreement with the LBSCR which prevented the H&GDR from offering running rights on the line. Once the Act had been passed the trio added further members to the board with a view to constructing the line. The company began negotiations with the LSWR for access to its Guildford station, the Working Agreement prevented the H&GDR from offering running rights over the line to the LSWR, removing a possible incentive for the LSWR to cooperate. The problem over access to Guildford station remained a problem until the 1890s and was never fully resolved until the grouping of 1923, the national economic climate also hindered progress on the line, with contracts for its construction not being drawn up until 1 July 1861. The line was to be laid as a track at a cost of £123,000 for its 15 miles 46 chains. The price included the purchase costs, maintenance costs for the first year of operations. However squabbles ensued over ownership of the railway and a contractor went bankrupt with £30,000 debts during the construction, slow progress began to frustrate the LBSCR which sought greater influence on the company board
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Godalming
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Godalming /ˈɡɒdəlmɪŋ/ is a historic market town, civil parish and administrative centre of the Borough of Waverley in Surrey, England,4 miles SSW of Guildford. The town traverses the banks of the River Wey in the Greensand Ridge – a hilly, heavily wooded part of the outer London commuter belt, in 1881, it became the first place in the world to have a public electricity supply and electric street lighting. Godalming is 30.5 mi southwest of London and shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France, friendship links are in place with the state of Georgia and Moscow. James Oglethorpe of Godalming was the founder of the colony of Georgia, Godalming is regarded as an expensive residential town, partly due to its visual appeal, favourable transport links and high proportion of private housing. In recent years it has ranked the UKs third most desirable property hotspot. The borough of Waverley, which includes Godalming, was judged in 2013 to have the highest quality of life in Great Britain, the town has existed since Saxon times, and probably earlier. Godalming grew in size because its location is halfway between Portsmouth and London, which encouraged traders to set up stalls and inns for travellers to buy from. Godalming Parish Church has an early Saxon chancel and a Norman tower, Godalming appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Godelminge. It was held by William the Conqueror and its domesday assets were,2 churches worth 12s,3 mills worth £2 1s 8d,25 ploughs,40 acres of meadow, woodland worth 103 hogs. Its population was roughly 400 people, at the time, its manor belonged to the King, but a few hundred years later, ownership transferred to the Bishop of Salisbury, under a charter granted by King Edward I of England. In the year 1300, the town was granted the right to hold a weekly market and its major industry at the time was woollen cloth, which contributed to Godalming’s prosperity over the next few centuries, until a sudden decline in the 17th century. Instead, its people applied their skills to the latest knitting and weaving technology and began producing stockings in a variety of materials, a willingness to adapt from one industry to another meant that Godalming continued to thrive. For example, papermaking was adopted in the 17th century, in 1726 a Godalming maidservant called Mary Toft hoaxed the town into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. The foremost doctors of the day came to witness the freak event, eventually Toft was found out after a porter was caught smuggling a dead rabbit into her chamber, she confessed to inserting at least 16 rabbits into herself and faking their birth. Court testimony of 1764 attests to how purchasing one of the mills in Godalming and dealing in corn, so successful was Godalming that in the early 19th century it was considerably larger than Guildford, and by 1851 the population had passed 6,500. Already, it was becoming a residence for commuters, for it was connected to London by railway two years earlier, in 1849, and to Portsmouth in 1859. Today the town is served by Godalming railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the first mayor of Godalming was Henry Marshall. Godalming came to attention in September 1881, when it became the first town in the world to have installed a public electricity supply
26.
Navigability
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A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and slow enough for a vessel to pass or walk. Preferably there are few such as rocks or trees to avoid. High water speed may make a channel unnavigable, waters may be unnavigable because of ice, particularly in winter. Navigability depends on context, A small river may be navigable by craft, such as a motor boat or a kayak. Shallow rivers may be navigable by the installation of locks that increase and regulate water depth. Inland Water Transport Systems have been used for centuries in countries including India, China, Egypt, the Netherlands, the United States, Germany, China, and Bangladesh. In the Netherlands, IWT handles 46% of the nations inland freight, 32% in Bangladesh, 14% in the United States, what constitutes navigable waters can not be separated from the context in which the question is asked. Numerous federal agencies define jurisdiction based on navigable waters, including admiralty jurisdiction, pollution control, to the licensing of dams, the numerous definitions and jurisdictional statutes have created an array of case law specific to which context the question of navigability arises. Some of the most commonly discussed definitions are listed here, section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, approved 3 March 1899, prohibits the unauthorized obstruction of a navigable water of the U. S. For the purpose of establishing which river is public and therefore state-owned, if a river was considered navigable at the time of statehood, the land below the navigable water was conveyed to the state as part of the transportation network in order to facilitate commerce. Most states retained title to these rivers in trust for the public. Some states divested themselves of title to the land below navigable rivers, title to the lands submerged by smaller streams are considered part of the property through which the water flows and there is no public right to use private property. The scope of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority was granted under the Federal Power Act,1941, such authority is based on congressional authority to regulate commerce, it is not based exclusively on title to the riverbed or even navigability. Therefore, FERCs permitting authority extends to the flow from non-navigable tributaries in order to protect commerce downstream, also, the Clean Water Act has introduced the terms traditional navigable waters, and waters of the United States to define the scope of Federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act expands a more limited jurisdiction beyond navigable waters sometimes extending limited federal jurisdiction under the Act over private property. S, Supreme Court decisions, Carabell v. United States and Rapanos v. United States. Finally, a water-body is presumed non-navigable with the burden of proof on the party claiming it is navigable, the U. S. Forest Service considers a waterbody not navigable until is adjudicated otherwise. See Whitewater v. Tidwell 770 F. 3d 1108, therefore, and public rights associated with navigability cannot be presumed to exist without a finding of navigability. Navigability is a term of art, which can lead to considerable confusion
27.
Addlestone
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Addlestone is the administrative town of the borough of Runnymede in the county of Surrey, England. The town lies just within the M25 motorway, Addlestone is home to an ancient oak named The Crouch Oak and is centred 18.6 miles southwest of London. Junction 11 of the M25 motorway serves the local to Addlestone and Chertsey. Addlestone has its own station on the Chertsey Branch Line. Narrow green buffers separate the town of Weybridge and town of Chertsey and a green buffer including a farm, M25. The population of the two wards Addlestone North and Addlestone Bournside was 11,501 in 2011, populations of associated wards, New Haw and Chertsey South and Row Town were 5,757 and 5,328 respectively. The four wards have their own semi-permanent profiles, Addlestone Bourneside has the greatest proportion of rented homes. Housing in Chertsey South and Row Town which is mostly Row Town was, in 2011, 86% owner-occupied with or without a loan, the M25 motorway accounts for the relatively large proportion of land devoted to roads for the density of population and housing. The name Addlestone probably means Attels Denu, the belonging to a Saxon named Attel. Addlestone, historically called Atlesdon or Atlesford, was a part of Chertsey ecclesiastical parish, in 1241 the place was listed as Attelsdene and by 1610 John Speeds map shows it as Adleston, halfway between St. Annhill and St. Georg Hill, just south of the Thames. The Crouch Oak, an oak tree believed to have originated in the 11th Century, is an important symbol of the town and it used to mark the boundary of Windsor Great Park. Legend says that Queen Elizabeth I stopped by it and had a picnic, the tree is one of the main historic features of the town, and consequently several local businesses use its name in their title. It survived an attack in September 2007. Sayes Court, Addlestone, now a school and residential estate was an old country house. In 1823 it became the property of Sir Charles Wetherell, Recorder of Bristol, in the 1740s, the famed gardener, Philip Southcote, chose to construct a two-storey house. By 1911 the ecclesiastical district and ward Addlestone could be considered to have outstripped the original centre of the parish, Chertsey, Chertsey poor law unions workhouse was in Addlestone and was built in 1836–8. Addlestone chapel was added in 1868, the Village Hall was built in 1887 by the Addlestone Village Hall Company. They were conducted on the separate system, and are supported by voluntary contributions
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West Byfleet
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West Byfleet is a village in Surrey which grew up around its relatively minor stop on the London & South Western Railway, the station, originally Byfleet and Woodham, opened in 1887. The first place of worship was dedicated in 1912, the parish of West Byfleet associated with it was established in 1917, the village is bounded to the north by the Basingstoke Canal and to the east by the M25 and the Wey Navigation Canal. In local government it forms a ward on the basis as its parish in the Borough of Woking. The railway station, see transport, opened in 1887, primarily to enable commuting, the villages first church was dedicated in 1912, the parish of West Byfleet associated with it was established in 1917. The Waitrose food supermarket, built in the 1990s, lies at the centre of the village, some 70 shops now trade offering a variety of goods as well as services such as hairdressing, beauty treatments, estate and employment agents. All the joint stock banks are represented and this retail offering has made it for such services a focal point for other neighbouring settlements of, Pyrford, New Haw, Woodham, Byfleet and Ripley and an alternative to Woking. In the 2010s fashion and style shops have complimented the stores offered, an art gallery and vintage gift emporium have also established a West Byfleet focus. West Byfleet has a number of restaurants for its size. Although there is an amount of turnover, the number tends to remain the same down the years. The retail centre of a high street-style network of roads declined in breadth at the end of the 20th century losing traditional size outlets such as hardware, electrical goods and greengrocery. In 2010 Aviva as landlord of the former Woolworths store re-let approximately half to Costa Coffee, the Basingstoke Canal with its tree-lined path to Woking, the Aldershot Urban Area and Basingstoke passes straight forming the north-west border of the village of West Byfleet. The town has one football club, West Byfleet Albion who play in the Guildford. Most secondary school students attend Fullbrook School, St John the Baptist School or Bishop David Brown School, primary level schools are, West Byfleet Junior School The Marist School. Church of England – St Johns the Baptist Church, originally part of the Byfleet parish until West Byfleet was established as a parish in 1917. Roman Catholic – Our Lady Help of Christians The surface undulates gently from the west to the east, soil ranges from sandy acidic soil in the west to more alluvial soil in the east, underlain by a mixture of gravel and clay. Elevations range from 18m Above Ordnance Datum to 33m, old Avenue has been designated a Conservation Area due its Arcadian environment of substantial family homes of interesting architecture and still good sized gardens. It Is considered the most desirable location of the Parish as it is easy walking distance of West Byfleet station and as a no through road. Birchwood Road and part of Station has been designated a Conservation Area. Between nos 18-18a and 19-19a was a ground with washing lines
29.
Shalford, Surrey
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Shalford is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England on the A281 Horsham road immediately south of Guildford. It has a station which is between Guildford and Dorking on the Reading to Gatwick Airport line. It has one named locality, occupying the west of the area, Shalford appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Scaldefor. It was held by Robert de Wateville from Richard Fitz Gilbert and its domesday assets were,4 hides,1 church,3 mills worth 16s, 11½ ploughs,4 acres of meadow, wood worth 20 hogs. The village also became known for the Great Fair of Shalford which was set up by a charter issued by King John. In its heyday, it was said to have covered 140 acres, the mills continued to be built and operated there for hundreds of years. The original church, mentioned in the Domesday survey, no longer exists, an early Victorian church now stands in its place. St Marys was built in 1846 with a lychgate and stained glass, one of the finest properties, Shalford House, dated back to the Tudor period and featured a carved stone fireplace dated 1609. Unfortunately, Shalford House was demolished in 1967 to make way for a treatment plant. There are many Grade II listed structures including stocks and whipping post, the River Tillingbourne joins the River Wey at Shalford adjacent to the parish church. For centuries, the river provided an important source of income for the village demonstrated by the industries mentioned by those articles, cranleigh Waters joins the Wey at the northern terminus of the Wey and Arun Canal/East Branch of the Wey. Shalford was a place for barges, and continues to be visited by boats today –. A watercolour sketch titled In Captain Pierreponts Grounds was painted by Anthony Devis not long after Captain William Pierrepont of HMS Naiad acquired Shalford Manor in 1800, brigadier George Roupell, a Victoria Cross recipient, died in Shalford in 1974. The Genesis, singer/drummer Phil Collins had a home in Shalford named Old Croft, where he wrote music which would end up on his first solo album Face Value, and also the Genesis album, Duke. The settlement of Peasmarsh on the west bank of the river Wey between Artington and Godalming is contained in the parish, a woodland surrounding the rebuilt manor house, being higher up than most of the reclaimed marshland, is named Peas Marsh. A barn at Littlemarsh Farm, one at Tilthams Farm and Tilthams farmhouse are grade II listed, there is also a C of E church, St Michaels. The average level of accommodation in the composed of detached houses was 28%. The proportion of households in the parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35. 1%
30.
Canal
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Canals and navigations are human-made channels for water conveyance, or to service water transport vehicles. In the vernacular, both are referred to as canals, and in most cases, the works will have a series of dams. These areas are referred to as water levels, often just called levels. In contrast, a canal cuts across a drainage divide atop a ridge, many canals have been built at elevations towering over valleys and others water ways crossing far below. Cities need a lot of water and many canals with sources of water at a higher level can deliver water to a destination where there is a lack of water. The Roman Empires Aqueducts were such water supply canals, a navigation is a series of channels that run roughly parallel to the valley and stream bed of an unimproved river. A navigation always shares the drainage basin of the river, a vessel uses the calm parts of the river itself as well as improvements, traversing the same changes in height. A true canal is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide, most commercially important canals of the first half of the 19th century were a little of each, using rivers in long stretches, and divide crossing canals in others. This is true for many canals still in use, there are two broad types of canal, Waterways, canals and navigations used for carrying vessels transporting goods and people. These can be subdivided into two kinds, Those connecting existing lakes, rivers, other canals or seas and oceans and those connected in a city network, such as the Canal Grande and others of Venice Italy, the gracht of Amsterdam, and the waterways of Bangkok. Aqueducts, water canals that are used for the conveyance and delivery of potable water for human consumption, municipal uses, hydro power canals. Historically canals were of importance to commerce and the development, growth. In 1855 the Lehigh Canal carried over 1.2 million tons of burning anthracite coal, by the 1930s the company which built. By the early 1880s, canals which had little ability to compete with rail transport, were off the map. In the next couple of decades, coal was diminished as the heating fuel of choice by oil. Later, after World War I when motor-trucks came into their own, Canals are built in one of three ways, or a combination of the three, depending on available water and available path, Human made streams A canal can be created where no stream presently exists. Either the body of the canal is dug or the sides of the canal are created by making dykes or levees by piling dirt, stone, the water for the canal must be provided from an external source, like streams or reservoirs. Where the new waterway must change elevation engineering works like locks, lifts or elevators are constructed to raise, examples include canals that connect valleys over a higher body of land, like Canal du Midi, Canal de Briare and the Panama Canal
31.
River Wey
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The River Wey is a tributary of the River Thames in south east England and one of two major tributaries in Surrey. It begins as two branches rising outside the county which join at Tilford between Guildford and Farnham, once combined the flow is eastwards then northwards via Godalming and Guildford to meet the Thames while in Surrey. Downstream the river forms the backdrop to Newark Priory and Brooklands, the name may be derived from the Old English word Éa meaning river. The Wey has a catchment area of 904 square kilometres, draining parts of Surrey, Hampshire. It joins the River Thames between Hamm Court and Whittets Ait facing a weirstream of Shepperton Lock and it is navigable from Godalming to its confluence as part of the Wey and Godalming Navigations, a trade-minded 17th century canal. The river morphology, biodiversity and flow are well studied, with places to take samples. The Wey North branch rises in Alton in Hampshire and runs eastwards through Upper Froyle and Bentley and this branch was originally the upper catchment of the Blackwater, this early river Wey captured waters from as far as Tilford. When this branch was blocked at Farnham, the flow spilt over into areas such as Elstead, the Blackwater remains as a much shorter river to the north of Farnham, with a wind gap between it and the Wey. The Wey South branch commences in two shorter rivers leading from separate sources, one is at Black Down near Haslemere and runs through Liphook, Bramshott, Passfield, Standford, Lindford and Frensham to Tilford. The other rises at Inval, below Gibbet Hill, Hindhead in the parish of Haslemere. This joins the Blackdown-source south branch west of Haslemere, other smaller tributaries of the south branch are Coopers Stream and the River Slea. From Godalming the river is intertwined with the Wey and Godalming Navigations which are manmade canals, the River Ock joins at Godalming, Cranleigh Waters and the River Tillingbourne at Shalford and the Hoe Stream at Woking. The 19.5 miles towpath of the section is open to pedestrians. During the seventeenth century the river was navigable to Guildford. The Basingstoke Canal and Wey and Arun Junction Canal were later connected to the river, the navigable sections are now owned by the National Trust. The river has long used as a source of power for mills. At one point there were 22 mills on the river, at various times they have been used for grinding grain, fulling wool, rolling oats, crushing cattle cake, leather dressing, paper production and gunpowder manufacture. Willey Mill was still in use in 1953, there has been a mill on the site of Guildford Town Mill since at least 1649
32.
European long-distance path
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The European long-distance paths are a network of long-distance footpaths that traverse Europe. While most long-distance footpaths in Europe are located in just one country or region, the first long-distance hiking trail in Europe was the National Blue Trail of Hungary, established in 1938. The formation of the European Union made transnational hiking trails possible, the European long-distance paths were designated by the European Ramblers Association. In general the routes make use of existing national and local trails such as the GR footpaths, today the network consists of 12 E-paths and covers more than 55,000 km, crisscrossing Europe. The newest E-path is E12, following the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, geography of Europe GR footpath EuroVelo, the European cycle route network Overview of the paths
33.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
34.
River Lea
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It is one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames. Its valley creates a chain of marshy ground along its lower length, much of which has been used for gravel and mineral extraction, reservoirs. The river has been canalised to provide a route for boats into eastern Hertfordshire. While the lower Lea remains somewhat polluted, its stretch and tributaries. A diversion known as the New River, opened in 1613 and its origins in the Chilterns contribute to the extreme hardness of London tap water. The name of the River Lea was first recorded in the 9th century, spellings from the Anglo-Saxon period include Ligan in 880 and Lygan in 895, and in the early medieval period it is usually Luye or Leye. It seems to be derived from a Celtic root lug-meaning bright or light which is also the derivation of a name for a deity, a simpler derivation may well be the Brythonic word cognate with the modern Welsh Li pronounced Lea which means a flow or a current. The spelling Lea predominates west of Hertford, but both spellings are used from Hertford to the River Thames, the Lee Navigation was established by Acts of Parliament and only that spelling is used in this context. The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority also uses this spelling for leisure facilities, however, the spelling Lea is used for road names, locations and other infrastructure in the capital, such as Leamouth, Lea Bridge, the Lea Valley Walk and the Lea Valley Railway Lines. This spelling is used in geology, archaeology, etc. to refer to the Lea Valley. The divergent spellings of the river are also reflected in the place-names of Luton and Leyton, both mean farmstead on the River Lea. The source is said to be at Well Head inside Wauluds Bank at Leagrave, but there the River Lea is also fed by Houghton Brook. It forms the boundary between the counties of Middlesex and Essex, and was used for part of the Danelaw boundary. It also forms part of the boundary between Essex and Hertfordshire, for much of its distance the river runs within or as a boundary to the Lee Valley Park. Between Tottenham and Hackney the Lea feeds Tottenham Marshes, Walthamstow Marshes, in their early days, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient played their matches as football amateurs on the Marshes. South of Hackney Wick the rivers course is split, running almost completely in man made channels flowing through an area that was once an industrial zone. Inside Greater London below Enfield Lock the river forms the boundary with the former Royal Small Arms Factory, now known as Enfield Island Village, just downstream the river is joined by the River Lee Flood Relief Channel. At Tottenham Hale there is a set of reservoirs, Lockwood Reservoir, High Maynard Reservoir, Low Maynard Reservoir, Walthamstow Reservoirs, East Warwick Reservoir
35.
Tilford
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Tilford is for the most part a wooded village centred at the point where the two branches of the River Wey merge in Surrey, England,3 miles south-east of Farnham. As the Greensand Ridge in its western section is in two parts, the Greensand Way has a connecting spur here to its main route running east-west to the south, the name Tilford appears to identify the Old English name Tila, as Tilas ford or Tillas ford. The two medieval bridges spanning the River Wey are Scheduled Ancient Monuments, several substantial farm houses date from the 16th century. Tilford House was built in 1727 and its chapel in 1776, in the mid eighteenth century the village was owned by Elizabeth Abney, daughter of Lady Mary Abney, and her detailed local survey map has survived to this day in the British Library. During World War II Cdr D J Foster, who lived in the village, the land reaches 163m OD on the boundary with Seale, with a marked 180° south-facing panorama on OS maps and other guides, taking in much of Alice Holt Forest and the Greensand Ridge. This has contributed to the wholesale of Tilford into the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The centre of the parish on the River Wey is at 49-50m OD. The village centres on a triangular green used for cricket in the summer, the two branches of River Wey, Wey North and Wey South have their confluence in the village centre. The river is navigable to canoes and at times to other vessels from Godalming,7 miles downstream. The Barley Mow pub was built in about 1763, and is famous locally for its grumpy landlord Tilford Oak The Tilford Institute was built in 1894 to Sir Edwin Lutyens design and is a focus for sport. It was Salt who first introduced Mahatma Gandhi to the works of Henry David Thoreau. The Rural Life Centre is a collection of prehistoric, Roman and medieval artefacts, the annual Weyfest music festival takes place here. Its garden with a pergola is by Gertrude Jekyll, planted and landscaped in 1892 and 1902, beside the green is a well-known tree, the Tilford Oak. In the early 21st century the tree was estimated to be at least 800 years old, in 1908 Eric Parker wrote about the Tilford Oak in Highways and Byways in Surrey, William Cobbett made a curious mistake about the Tilford Oak. The stem or shaft is short, that is to say, it is short before you come to the first limbs, but it is full thirty feet round, at about eight or ten feet from the ground. Out of the stem there come not less than fifteen or sixteen limbs, many of which are five to ten feet round. The tree is in full growth at this moment, there is a little hole in one of the limbs, but with that exception, there appears not the smallest sign of decay. Visitors to Tilford can amuse themselves with trying over Cobbetts measurements, I could not reach to measure it ten feet from the ground, but at five feet I made its girth, in July 1907, twenty-four feet nine inches. Probably it was not much less when Cobbett was a little boy and that independent, combative mind would not accept anothers measurements, and if he remembered the tree as a little tree, then a little tree he was right in remembering
36.
North Downs
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The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Westerham Heights, at the edge of the North Downs, near Bromley. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs, the North Downs Way National Trail runs along the North Downs from Farnham to Dover. Downs is from Old English dun meaning, amongst other things, the word acquired the sense of elevated rolling grassland around the fourteenth century. These hills are prefixed north to distinguish them from the morphologically similar range of hills - the South Downs - which run parallel to them. The narrow spine of the Hogs Back between Farnham and Guildford forms the western extremity of the North Downs, whilst the cliffs between Folkestone and Deal terminate the ridge in the east, there are two distinct aspects, the steep south-facing escarpment and the gentle north-facing dip slope. The southern boundary is defined by the foot of the escarpment which gives way to the flat, the northern boundary is less apparent but occurs where the chalk submerges below the more recent Paleocene deposits. The Downs are highest near the Kent-Surrey border, often reaching heights in excess of 200 m above sea level at the crest of the escarpment, the highest point is Botley Hill in Surrey at 269 metres. The County top of Kent at Betsoms Hill, with a height of 251 metres is located nearby, east of the Medway Valley the Downs become broader and flatter, extending as far as the Isle of Thanet. The ridge is intersected by the valleys of a series of rivers and these drain much of the Weald to the south, the western ones are tributaries of the Thames, they carve steep valleys through the chalk and provide natural corridor routes. Except for the valleys and wind gaps, the crest of the escarpment is almost continuous along its length. The dip slope is dissected by small dry valleys, and in the broad eastern part in Kent. Leith Hill is sometimes referred to as part of the North Downs but is located on the parallel Greensand Ridge. The Chalk Group, composed almost entirely of chalk, a kind of soft fine-grained limestone. It is formed of three parts, the Upper Chalk, which has many flints, the Middle Chalk, with flints. The chalk is most commonly exposed on slopes or as cliffs, the buried upper surface of the chalk beneath the acidic strata is often eroded into pipes, gulleys and pinnacles, sometimes visible in road cuttings and quarries. The Upper Greensand Formation, a whitish, limy sandstone, often used for building, the Upper Greensand of the North Downs is a thin bed of one or two metres thickness, and it is rarely visible at the surface. The Upper Greensand marks the edge of the Downs, being underlain by
37.
Surrey Hills AONB
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Surrey Hills is a 422 km2 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Surrey, England. The AONB was designated in 1958 and covers one quarter of the county of Surrey, Surrey Hills AONB adjoins the Kent Downs AONB to the east and the South Downs National Park in the south west. The highest summit of the Surrey Hills AONB, Leith Hill near Coldharbour, is 294 metres above sea level and it is part of the Greensand Ridge, which traverses the AONB from west to east, and is the highest point in southeast England. The Surrey Hills area has three long-distance walks running through it, the North Downs Way, the Greensand Way and the Pilgrims Way, blackheath Common is also part of this area. The northern ridge of hills, predominantly formed by chalk, is separated by the Vale of Holmesdale which continues into Kent from the southern ridges which are predominantly greensand. They provide a haven for plants and insects. Parts of the area are owned and managed by the National Trust, including Ranmore Common, Leith Hill, chiddingfold Forest, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, lies within the area. Surrey Hills AONB is surrounded by an Area of Great Landscape Value which covers a further 8% of the county
38.
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
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An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside in England, Wales or Northern Ireland which has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of their importance, by the relevant public body, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales. In place of AONB, Scotland uses the similar national scenic area designation and they also differ from national parks in their more limited opportunities for extensive outdoor recreation. To achieve these aims, AONBs rely on planning controls and practical countryside management, as they have the same landscape quality, AONBs may be compared to the national parks of England and Wales. National parks are known to many inhabitants of the UK, by contrast. The idea for what would become the AONB designation was first put forward by John Dower in his 1945 Report to the Government on National Parks in England. Dower suggested there was need for protection of certain naturally beautiful landscapes which were unsuitable as national parks due to their small size and lack of wildness. Dowers recommendation for the designation of these other amenity areas was eventually embodied in the National Parks, there are 46 AONBs in Britain. The first AONB was designated in 1956 in the Gower Peninsula, AONBs vary greatly in terms of size, type and use of land, and whether they are partly or wholly open to the public. The smallest AONB is the Isles of Scilly,16 km2, the AONBs of England and Wales together cover around 18% of the countryside in the two countries. The AONBs of Northern Ireland together cover about 70% of Northern Irelands coastline, AONBs in England and Wales were originally created under the same legislation as the national parks, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Unlike AONBs, national parks have special powers to prevent unsympathetic development. Two of the AONBs, which extend into a number of local authority areas, have their own statutory bodies. All English and Welsh AONBs have a dedicated AONB officer and other staff, as required by the CRoW Act, each AONB has a management plan that sets out the characteristics and special qualities of the landscape and how they will be conserved and enhanced. The AONBs are collectively represented by the National Association for AONBs, AONBs in Northern Ireland were designated originally under the Amenity Lands Act 1965, subsequently under the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands Order 1985. There are growing concerns among environmental and countryside groups that AONB status is increasingly under threat from development, the Campaign to Protect Rural England said in July 2006 that many AONBs were under greater threat than ever before. The subsequent development, known as Falmer Stadium, was opened in July 2011. The Weymouth Relief Road in Dorset was constructed between 2008 and 2011, after environmental groups lost a High Court challenge to prevent its construction, writing in 2006, Professor Adrian Phillips listed threats facing AONBs
39.
Richard Weston (canal builder)
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Sir Richard III Weston was an English canal builder and agricultural improver. He instigated the construction of the Wey Navigation—one of the first man-made navigations in Britain—and introduced new plants, Weston was born in 1591, the eldest son of Sir Richard II Weston of Sutton Place, Surrey, by Jane Dister, daughter of John Dister of Bergholt, Essex. He was the great-great-grandson of Sir Richard I Weston, builder of Sutton Place and he was educated, or spent part of his early life in Flanders. In 1613 he succeeded to the estates at Sutton and Clandon and was knighted on 27 July 1622 at Guildford. Sir Richard Weston was ambassador from England to Frederic the fifth, Elector Palatine and he was present at the famous battle of Prague in 1620. Early 1630s Weston decided to copy the canal and lock system then prevalent in The Netherlands to make the River Wey navigable between Weybridge and Guildford and he was appointed one of the Royal Commissioners to oversee the work in 1635. During the English Civil War, his property was sequestrated and he took himself into exile, in 1644 he visited Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp and took the opportunity to study agricultural methods in use there. By 1649 he was back in England and instigated a bill in parliament to authorise the construction of the navigation became an Act of Parliament in 1651. Weston immediately set to work on construction, although he died before the scheme reached completion, one of his first agricultural schemes was to increase the hay yield, by introducing a new strain of hay and by irrigation schemes. He also introduced from Flanders a crop rotation scheme based on clover, flax, in 1645 he had written an account of Flemish husbandry which formed the basis of the Discours which was published in various versions in 1651 and 1652. Weston died aged 61 and was buried at Trinity Chapel Guildford and he married Grace Harper of Cheshunt and by her had seven sons and two daughters. Sir Richard Weston was the first to introduce, at any rate into the Surrey district and he attempted by this means to make the River Wey navigable from Guildford to its junction with the Thames at Weybridge. In 1635 he was appointed one of the commissioners for the prosecution of the work. Accordingly, a petition was presented in the name of Pitson, a bill authorising the works was brought into the House of Commons on 26 Dec.1650, and passed as an act on 26 June 1651. The capital was 6, 000l. of which Sir Richard was to find half, Sir Richard set to work at once with great energy, employing two hundred men at a time, and using timber of his own to the value of 2, 000l. Materials and timber were taken, by permission of the parliament, from the kings estates of Oatlands. The work was carried on after his death by his son and Major Pitson, at the Restoration an impudent attempt was made by a certain John Radcliffe to get into his own hands the management of the canal. Even more important than Sir Richard Westons canal schemes were his agricultural improvements and he tells us himself that at the time he went out of England he had had thirtie years experience in husbandrie and had improved his land as much as any man in this kingdom hath done
40.
Water-meadow
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A water-meadow is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries, derelict water-meadows are often of importance as wetland wildlife habitats. Water-meadows should not be confused with flood-meadows, which are covered in shallow water by seasonal flooding from a river. Water-meadow is sometimes used loosely to mean any level grassland beside a river. Two main types of water-meadow were used and these were used for fields on slopes, and relatively little engineering skill was required to construct them. Water from a stream or spring was fed to the top of a sloping field, the water could be used again for fields lower down the slope. Bedwork or floated water-meadows were built on almost-level fields along river valleys. A leat, called a main, carrier or top carrier, was used to water from the river and carry it down the valley at a gentler slope than the river. Mains were often along the edge of the valley, each main supplying up to about 1 km of the valley, the water from the main was used to supply many smaller carriers, on the crests of ridges built across the fields. The channel on the crest of each ridge would overflow slowly down the sides of the ridge, the seeping water would then be collected between the ridges, in drains or drawns, these joining to form a bottom carrier or tail drain which returned the water to the river. The ridges and the made a interlocking grid, but the ridge-top channels. A by-carrier took any water not needed for irrigation straight from the back to the river. The ridges varied in height depending on the available head – usually from around 10 to 50 cm. The pattern of carriers and drains was generally regular, but it was adapted to fit the natural topography of the ground, the water flow was controlled by a system of hatches and stops. Irrigation could be provided separately for each section of water-meadow, sometimes aqueducts took carriers over drains, and causeways and culverts provided access for wagons. The working or floating and maintenance of the water-meadow was done by a skilled craftsman called a drowner or waterman. The terminology used for watermeadows varied considerably with locality and dialect, water-meadow irrigation did not aim to flood the ground, but to keep it continuously damp – a working water-meadow has no standing water. Irrigation in early spring kept frosts off the ground and so allowed grass to grow several weeks earlier than otherwise, the grass was used both for making hay and for grazing by livestock
downstream 
Addlestone │ Weybridge 
