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West Horsley
West Horsley photos
Displaying the first of 6 old photos of West Horsley. View all West Horsley photos
West Horsley maps
Historic maps of West Horsley and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all West Horsley maps
West Horsley area books
Displaying 1 of 16 books about West Horsley and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of West Horsley
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of West Horsley.
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My Wedding
I was married at St. Mary's at West Horsley on 4th November 1961 to Colin Duddridge. Sadly he passed away in April 2008. I now live in Canada and have done for nearly 40 years. I was in the choir for 9 years and my father Douglas Blake was a sidesman.
West Horsley (previously Under Ockham)
The Barley Mow, we went up there for my sister's hen night, and ended up at the caravan park down Green Lane. I have just visited it, well last year actually, and didn't realize it was such a lovely park, I just remember it being very dark and cold. It is very well run caravan site, with fishing, and from all accounts was a school, they still have a huge lake, with a walkway in the middle which was the schools and a hall with the date on, which I can't remember at the moment, it is well worth a visit, and if we had our motorhome, or our caravan, now we would definately go and stay there!
Surrey memories
My Early Years
I was born in Sheepwash cottage in 1926 the year Tommy Sopwith left the Towers and it was turned into a girls colledge by Miss Maule and Miss Isaceson . My father had worked for Tommy Sopwith for many years at the Towers and he stayed on as estate foreman. We moved into the cottage horsley towers as most of the old estate was sold to the developers. The old back enterance became the front enterance, everything had to go through the tunnel under the gardens.
We moved away when the school closed down, that was in 1935 I think.
Wedding
I was married at St Martin's Church on September 6th 1958, to Alan Haddrill. My maiden name was Crump and I lived in Surrey Gardens, Effingham Junction. The vicar was away so a replacement came from, I think, Clandon. He was late, and I arrived before he did! My father and I went in through a door at the front, under the tower, and my new husband and I emerged through the porch. There had been a huge thunderstorm the night before, but the day was warm and sunny. We had our reception at the Horsley Hotel, opposite the station.
An Evacuee During World War II
My name then was Babs Collins and my memory goes back to World War II, when I and others from my school in Victoria, London were evacuated to both East & West Clandon. We had been moved very hurriedly in July 1940 from Brighton where our school was first sent to in 1939. This second evacuation was because the Germans had begun to bomb the south coast preparatory to invading us after Dunkirk.....
In the drama, I was separated from my two elder sisters (imagine). I was taken in with another little girl namrd Josephine by a very kindly Mr & Mrs Holt of 1, Sophy Cottages, and there I stayed until July 1945, when I returned home to London.
All I can say is I was made to feel completely at home; Mr & Mrs Holt had four grown up children, all in the war (more stories to tell), and I became part of them and the village as a whole. In fact, my claim to fame is, in... Read more
Living in Effinham Junction.....1936 to 1958.
I grew up in Surrey Gardens, first at "Ceuta", then at White Croft. My father, Mr Crump, purchased the plot of land beside the footpath and the house was built 1947/8. During my childhood, Surrey Gardens was a rough road with many potholes, and our fathers became expert at mending our bicycles. The woods behind the houses on one side were our playground as was the Common beyond the station. There were no houses opposite the Railway Cottages, and I remember woods there, carpeted with bluebells. Also there was no road to Horsley through the woods by the bridge over the railway line...again our playground. There was one shop by the station, a wooden structure, presided over by Mrs Searle. She sold everything, only limited by the war time. There was another shop next to the Garage on Forest Road, which also had a Post Office Counter, and a Mr Marshall, further along, opened his garage once a week to sell fish. For most things it meant the bus to East... Read more
William of Occam
My memory relates to 1977 because it was then that I first heard of William of Occam (from Ockham early 14th Century). I would think he should be the village's most famous son. It seems sad that there appears to be no memorial to him there. Although a Franciscan friar, he was also in trouble with the Papal Court for heresy, so perhaps Henry VIII would have had some sympathy for him. Occam's Razor is a major philosophical contribution to modern scientific thought. "Occam's Razor" is the title of a regular Australian Broadcasting Commission presentation popular current topics.
