A BIG thanks to the readers who responded to the request for more information about the photos of Woking town centre recently highlighted in this feature.
Several suggestions were made as to the location of the row of derelict terraced houses.
Boundary Lane was mooted. But then David Boorman emailed to say: “I originally thought you meant Boundary Lane and the canal side cottages north east of Percy Street. I checked with someone who used to visit that area and she said that there was nothing like that there.”
Reader Ron Sims said that he recalled some houses looking like that in the Poole Road area, off Goldsworth Road.
Names of people in the photo taken outside the offices of Jack Knight Developments Ltd, Butts Road, have been supplied by Ray Freeland, who is standing on the left at the front. He was Woking’s borough architect.
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Pictured next to him is Cllr Maurice Pound, Cllr Captain John Lindley RN, Cllr Elizabeth Butler, Jack Knight junior, and Woking borough planning officer George Kingston. Jack Knight staff members are standing behind.
Regarding Woking’s war memorial, David Boorman added: “I have attended most Remembrance Day parades since at least 1971. The picture is certainly the new Town Square with the [town’s] first purpose-built library to the rear.
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“In those days, my eldest son, Nicholas, then a Sea Cadet petty officer, now a lieutenant with the Royal Naval Reserve Sea Cadet Corps (SCC), was also always in the Woking parade. He suggests the picture is before 1976 and that it is possible the SCC officer is Doug Eve. I note that the guards are ‘resting on arms reversed’ as was standard in those days.”
Trevor Staples got in touch to say stonemason Granville Martin moved the war memorial from Sparrow Park to the Town Square.
“His yard was down Goldsworth Road, near Jimmy’s Café,” said Mr Staples, who worked for the firm as a labourer in the 1960s. “We used to go up to Dalston in London to collect huge amounts of stone for the memorials. Grenville cut and polished the stone and his brother Albert also worked for him.
“We went to a lot of cemeteries to collect headstones that had deteriorated and needed restoring. We removed them and brought them back to Woking to be repaired and then took them back when they were finished.
“In fact, we went all over the place. In big cemeteries like Brookwood and Highgate we often had to search hard to find the headstone that needed restoration.”
Mr Staples recalled one of the stallholders in the open-air market was the now late Alan Comber, who used to drink in the railway club across the road from the market.
Moving onto the photos this week, both feature Goldsworth Road. The Aldershot & District Traction Company Ltd opened its garage there in 1931. The firm later became Alder Valley under nationalisation in 1972. It closed the garage in January 1982 and the site was subsequently sold for development. The picture is likely to date from this time and was taken by the now-late Tony Dorman.
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Furnishers John Perring came to Goldsworth Road in the 1930s – the picture shows this branch in the 1960s. The company had shops in towns across the south of England and was known for its good quality furniture, lighting and homewares.
Later known as the Perrings Furnishing Group, the business appears to have ceased trading in the early 1990s.
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If you have some memories or old pictures relating to the Woking area, call me, David Rose, on 01483 838960, or drop a line to the News & Mail.
David Rose is a local historian and writer who specialises in what he calls “the history within living memory” of people, places and events in the west Surrey area covering towns such as Woking and Guildford. He collects old photos and memorabilia relating to the area and the subject, and regularly gives illustrated local history talks to groups and societies. For enquiries and bookings please phone or email him at: [email protected]