Not So Sad

Blue Monday is reckoned to be the saddest day of the year; it is usually the third Monday in January so this year it fell on January 20.

I understand that this date has been arrived at by taking various things into consideration: the weather, the time since Christmas and all that associated debt, time since the failure of New Year's resolutions and generally low motivational levels. Possibly summed up in one word: ennui.

A word of cheer: the happiest day of the year is reckoned to be 24 June.

For me, though, it was Groundhog Day – I will explain.

Exactly a week previously I had been called to Ashford Hospital for an operation; it was postponed. I was happy to know the reason for my postponement was a telephone discussion between my oncologist and my urologist; they were obviously being careful.

On Tuesday I was sent to St Peter's for an assessment – all was OK. On the Wednesday they thought they could deal with me on Friday, but that was called off and on Thursday I attended my usual immunotherapy course in Morrisons’ car park.

Friday was another visit to St Peter's to check me out, resulting in the go-ahead for Monday – Blue Monday. Except it was not for all the staff were delightful and helpful and the operation which, I was told, took just half a hour – what would I know, I was asleep!

If all of that reminds you of the Flanders and Swann song The Gasman Cometh do check it out for the sheer brilliance of their silliness. I should point out that song is full of mishaps – my week was not!

When I arrived in the waiting room there were already two ladies there, deep in conversation. They had 7am appointments – as had I at one time but it had been moved forward, thankfully.

There is a lot of pre-op ritual with bathing and fasting and what you may or may not eat or drink within the previous 24 hours.

At one time the ladies were discussing shopping in Woking and, therefore, parking in the town and car park charges. They reckoned that, logically, reduce parking charges and you will get more customers – to the car parks and, importantly, to the shops. Hardly rocket science.

One of the ladies came from Rowtown, which she pronounced as in rowing a boat. I told her I have a friend in Ottershaw who pronounces it as in argument. Which is correct?

Another interesting fact: when one lady was called in I discovered that they had only met that morning and were not long-term friends. But that's what hospitals are like – friendly places.

Playing Around

My entire family played some part in the original community play, written for Woking by Ann Jellicoe in 1992. The Woking Community Play Association (WCPA) is still going strong.

Their latest play, Testing Times, was about the recent Covid pandemic and the flu pandemic of 1918-19. They plan to perform it once more to Woking People of Faith at the Friends (Quaker) meeting house in March. Keep a watch for more information on that.

They've just started researching the Balfour family of Fisher's Hill House, who will be the subject of their next play. They are looking for people to be involved with research and writing at this stage so if you're interested contact Keith on [email protected]

The Balfours are an interesting family: they lived at Fisher’s Hill House, Hook Heath, which was designed and built by architect Edwin Lutyens, the brother-in-law of Betty Balfour, a Woking borough councillor who lived there with her husband, Gerald, a Conservative member of parliament. The Balfours also hired Gertrude Jekyll to design the garden at Fisher’s Hill.

The house had a number of other famous visitors including Winston Churchill and Gerald’s brother, prime minister Arthur Balfour, who stayed at Fisher’s Hill House and died there in 1930.

Both Arthur and Gerald were involved with the Society of Psychical Research, which believed that it was possible to contact the dead, a practice considered to be an emerging science that might soon be proved.

Gerald and Betty had six children, including Lady Evelyn “Eve” Balfour, who later became an important person in setting up the Soil Association Gerald also had a secret love child with Welsh politician Winifred Combe Tennant who worked as a medium who went by the professional name Mrs Willett.

The Balfours have featured in a couple of the association's previous plays, but this is the first time they have been put centre stage.

WCPA is still at the research phase of the project and this play will require a lot of research. The Surrey History Centre does have a number of documents and WCPA is looking for people who can carry out research before they can pin down the storyline and start writing.

Also wanted: people to be involved in the writing which will be carried out in the same collaborative method they’ve utilised in other recent plays.

Positivity

On 19 January I wrote about The Crown in Horsell being considered THE local pub Now let me praise Fiery Bird.

They are rightly proud that Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC has been named winner of “Community Arts Venue of the Year 2024 – Surrey” in this year’s SME News Southern Enterprise Awards.

Friday 31 January sees the first of their 2025 Lovely Music Nights, presenting the best in original music on the grass-roots scene and brings you The Invisible Hats, The Beelines, Rats, Rats, Rats!

The Invisible Hats are a songwriting project made up primarily by Geoff Allnutt (lyrics) and Jamie West (music and vocals), plus a number of loose collaborators attempting to build a songwriting factory out of a small studio in rural West Sussex. Do check out their programme of live music

Fiery Bird is just three minutes walk from Woking railway station and has ample car parking on site. It is next to Woking Fire Station.

Signs of Past Times

Having noted that Geoff Allnutt will be featured at the Fiery Bird I decided to research another Allnutt. Perhaps it is an ancestor?

If you walk south from the Wheatsheaf Bridge you may see the words Allnutt seed merchants on high on the wall in front of you. That is if it has not yet been demolished.

Thomas Bishop Allnutt and his brother John were born in Oxfordshire in 1852 and 1855 respectively. They followed in their father's business as farmers and seed merchants. In about 1898 they opened a wholesale and retail outlet at 39-41a Chobham Road.

Neither brother lived in Woking and Henry John Caines was their shop manager. The shop closed sometime during the First World War and at this time the building was divided so that No 39 became a separate unit where Alice Maud Mary Hayley ran a fancy stationery shop, until her death in 1922.

From 1923 to 1938 the shop was run by Alfred Thomas as a hairdresser.

I do hope someone has managed to photograph that Allnutt sign before it is added to the pile of debris which is Woking's history. I gleaned that information through the research of Trevor Howard, who knows about every shop and shopkeeper in Chobham Road.

A Lot of Candles

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of Send & Ripley History Society, founded as the Send History Society.

The society’s impressive collection now runs to more than 7,000 photographs, buildings reports on most of the local buildings of architectural or historic interest, and 300 indexed journals packed with articles of interest to buildings researchers, genealogists and social historians.

There are also local documents covering church registers of births, marriages, deaths and burials; census reports; trade directories and court and manorial documents transcribed and even translated from the medieval Latin, then painstakingly indexed – some of these only available from their collection.

In the past couple of years they have begun digitising these records to preserve them for future researchers. The society continues to provide services to local schools and has published an impressive list of books and short films.

It is presently hosting an exhibition just about the 70s with as many local items and relevant subjects that could be fitted in – decimalisation, the long hot summer of 1976, the local music scene, Queen's Silver Jubilee, Guildford pub bombings, opening of the Ripley by-pass among them.

The former NatWest bank in Ripley is now a local history museum for the Send & Ripley History Society. Some bank heist! It is in the High Street: next to Ripley Village Hall, GU23 6AF.

For further information or photographs of Send & Ripley History Society, please contact: Cameron Brown, chairman, [email protected], 07811 276386, or Clare McCann, Ripley Museum curator, [email protected], 01483 728546.

Another Groundhog Day

That's the thing about groundhog days – they keep coming around. This time it is another alert about closure of Victoria Way.

I fear it is a case of watch this space and be patient!