Where Is This? No.125

Published on: 3 Sep, 2014
Updated on: 3 Sep, 2014

By David Rose

Last week’s vintage picture showed a view of the High Street and an event taking place presumably at Holy Trinity Church.

Click here to see the post and all the views at the foot of it. Many of your correctly identified the location, but the actual event is still a bit of a mystery. It is not the event of October 4, 1913, when a window in the chapel of the church was dedicated to The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. I have a picture of that in my book Images of Guildford (co-written with Graham Collyer) on page 159. Comparing the two images the soldiers lined up are wearing different uniforms.

I now have a hunch that the picture featured last week may have shown part of Guildford’s peace celebrations in 1919. I will try to check further.

The quirky picture shows a view of Ladymead and some containers or tanks that are part of the Environment Agency / Thames Water complex. Some good replies and additional information, but we still don’t know exactly what is held in the tanks.

Also, it is mentioned that there is a windsock there – I wonder why?

The ‘Chuckle Brothers’ continue to make speedboat puns – I wish a boat chandler would give us a speedboat so we can settle the free prize dilemma once and for all! But, of course, you can keep the jokes coming!

Hats off to John Lomas for his continued detection work. John no longer lives in Guildford, but uses Google Streetview to locate the quirky photos.

Here are this week’s mysteries…

Which Surrey village is this?

The vintage photo is cropped from a delightful 1900s picture postcard view taken by photographer Percy Lloyd of Albury. It’s not that village, but which one? Can you add any details of the church and what is a much photographed location that has also been used by a number of film makers?

Can you name this school?

The quirky picture shows what I guess was once a bell tower on a school near Guildford town centre. Do you know which one?

If you know the answers, please leave a reply in the box below. Replies will be published at about the same time next week.

Responses to Where Is This? No.125

Bernard Parke Reply

September 4, 2014 at 4:13 am

1) Shere

2)Adult Education Centre in Sydenham Road, ( at one time Pewley School)
Trevor Stevenson Reply

September 4, 2014 at 9:28 am

Shere and Sandfield School?
John Lomas Reply

September 4, 2014 at 9:34 am

The postcard is a picture of Shere, it is interesting to compare this with the ones in the Francis Frith collection from the same era. The FF ones are taken from further to the left and are more symmetrical; I feel this photo is more pleasing to the eye.
The buildings on the left hand side are stll identifiable in modern views and if the dark vertical just to the left of the building jutting out on the right is a shop window casement, then even that is still a feature of the location.

The bell tower looks like the one on the York Road elevation of the Sandfield Primary School site..
However it would appear that the portion of the elevation with the high window on the right has, since the photo was taken and before the Google camera came round, been reduced in height and the window bricked up.

Unless the original slide or negative has been flipped horizontally before being turned into a print.
Norman Hamshere Reply

September 4, 2014 at 12:49 pm

It must be Sandfield school where Dragon journo David Rose’s father and I spent many unhappy hours with that infamous sadistic bully John Gardiner, headmaster.
Richard Howell Reply

September 4, 2014 at 3:17 pm

The first picture shows the centre of Shere, with St James’s Church in the background, which featured in one of the Bridget Jones movies.

The bell tower is from Sandfield Primary School on the corner of York Road and Chertsey Street.
Ray Springer Reply

September 4, 2014 at 9:11 pm

The village is Shere, nothing much has changed in this village since that photograph was taken.

The school is the Sandfield Primary School
Margaret Cole Reply

September 7, 2014 at 11:26 am

No.1 Shere Square looking at St. James 12th century church. It must be very old picture with just one person there. Today it would be swarmed with people and cars

No.2 This is my old school Pewley, in Harvey Road now Guildford Adult Education Centre, Harvey Road. Gallery just to the left of picture, headmaster’s study on the right. Happy days.
Rosemary Morgan Reply

September 8, 2014 at 8:43 am

The village is Shere and the school is Guildford High School.
Chris Townsend Reply

September 9, 2014 at 7:45 am

The vintage photo is of the square at Shere, with St. James’ Church. The present lychgate, designed by Lutyens, was added about 1902; is it visible in the photo? In my family, the church was the location of One Wedding and Two Funerals [One more wedding and you’ll have enough for a film. Ed].

The school, now Guildford Children’s Centre, York Road, was opened in 1901 as Sandfield Boys’ School. Opposite, and similar, were Sandfield Girls’ and Infants’ Schools, now Sandfield Primary School. (The drainpipe clinches it.)
Peter Holt Reply

September 9, 2014 at 9:11 am

1) St James Church, Shere. 2) Sandfield School, York Road.
David Mowat Reply

September 10, 2014 at 3:00 pm

The Surrey village is Shere. In the distance St James’s church can be seen. The village has been used in a number of films. More recently in 2005 it was used for the Wedding Date, a film in which a small yacht had to be substituted for the Stanniforth brothers’ speedboat when it was mysteriously unavailable.

The quirky picture shows Sandfield primary school on York Road.
Brian Holt Reply

September 10, 2014 at 8:40 pm

1 St James Church Shere has a rich history indeed and dates to the 12th century at least, but may be older. It has been used for filming.

2 Sandfield School by the Stoke Road traffic lights.