Surrey A-Z Facts and Events

Surrey not only claims to be the most wooded county in Great Britain, but has the oldest untouched area of natural woodland in the UK. This is in the vicinity of Box Hill, near Dorking.

Box Hill rises to a height of 193m (634 feet) and is a well known Surrey beauty spot and recreation area with spectacular views towards the South Downs. This 1200 acre National Trust property is a favourite with walkers, picnickers, cyclists and drivers alike and has been for centuries past when horse-drawn carriages would bring ladies and gentlemen from London to take the air and walk among the box and yew trees.

What a glorious day it was on Saturday. I played golf on Epsom Downs as usual and as we approached the top of the Downs where the golf course comes
right up opposite the Grandstand of the Epsom Derby Racecourse, what a view opened up!!
From several holes in the middle of the course up there, you normally get a 180deg panoramic view of London, but it can be a bit hazy. Last Saturday was just SO clear! We could see right across to the hills north of London, Hampstead Heath I suppose, which formed a sharp horizon and backdrop. And in between, the whole of the Metropolis was laid out, from Heathrow Airport in the west to Canary Wharf and beyond in the east.
We could see the planes coming in to land, one after another, at Heathrow, the Wembley Arch, the London Eye, the sun glinting off the many facets of the Gherkin building in the City and many other well known landmarks.
What a wonderful sight. And such a joy to play golf in such surroundings.
No wonder people drive up and park in the public car park opposite the Grandstand just to take in that magnificent view. I could sit there for hours!

Would Wordsworth turn in his grave? I was driving north on the A3 towards London on Saturday 12th January and turned off at the Esher junction. On part of the roundabout underneath the A3 main road I was amazed to see a very large clump of daffodils growing wild. They were in full bloom and were the first I'd seen this year. We're not two weeks into January for goodness sake!!
"...a host of golden daffodils ..." as Wordsworth said, but I bet he wasn't talking just after Christmas.
I raised what I thought was a record breaking find at lunch today only to be told that a friend of a friend had daffodils come up in her garden last December. There was I thinking I had discovered something remarkable, only to have my delusions shattered. There's always some SMART ALEC isn't there!! Can anyone go one better??

The River Wey in Surrey was one of Britain's first rivers to be made navigable. Called the Wey Navigation, it opened in 1653. Over 200 years later, in 1764, the Godalming Navigation opened, increasing the canal length to 20 miles running from Weybridge on the Thames to Godalming Wharf.

In the 18th century barges plied up and down the canal transporting heavy goods like timber, coal, flour, corn and even gunpowder from the Chillworth Gunpowder Mills, on the banks of the Tilling Bourne river, a tributary of the River Wey. The derelict buildings of the gunpowder mills can still be seen standing in quiet woodland along the Tilling Bourne towpath.

In 1796 the Basingstoke Canal was connected to the Wey Navigation near Byfleet.

The Wey survived the coming of the railways, when many canals fell into disuse, and continued commercially until well after the 1939-45 War. It was finally donated to the National Trust in 1964.

Today it is preserved and protected as a piece of industrial archeology and a much used leisure area. Colourful holiday barges and river boats now use the waterway and many local country walks take in parts of the towpath, visiting locks and peaceful stretches as the canal meanders through the beautiful Surrey landscape.

One can't help but wonder if, as fossil fuels become scarce, there will be a return to these calm waterways as a serious form of commercial transport.

The skull of Surrey's oldest known human inhabitant was found buried at Shepperton henge. The skull was believed to be 3,000 years old.

A clay head was reconstructed from the skull by forensic scientists and exhibited at Surrey History Centre in 2002.

Although there is archeological evidence that Mesolithic pit dwellers were believed to inhabit Surrey around Farnham 8,000 years ago, no human remains have been found in the area.

I decided to write this blog because I recently discovered that Surrey is not only one of the most, if not the most, beautiful counties in England, but has a remarkable number of things claiming to be the "oldest".

Sometimes "oldest" means not just in Surrey, but in England, Britain or even The World! I hope to highlight some of the more interesting items as I do my best to verify their claims.

Please let me know if you spot any errors.