Where Is This? No.128

Published on: 24 Sep, 2014
Updated on: 2 Oct, 2014

By David Rose

A terrific response to last week’s mysteries – well done to you all.

The vintage aerial photo showed the A3 near Onslow Village just after the fatal accident of motor racing legend Mike Hawthorn in 1959. The quirky photo is of a part of the almshouse in Stoke Road.

Click here to see last week’s post and the replies at the foot of it with lots of extra details.

A couple of readers suggested that the almshouse has been featured before. To be honest, I can’t recall that, maybe I have.

One thing is for sure, it’s getting harder for me to find suitable quirky photos to feature. Beginning with this column in the Dragon’s forerunner, the St Catherine’s Village website, we have featured clocks, unusual signs, sculptures and public art (courtesy of Peter Bullen), and a number of other things.

I have always tried to feature things that are on public view. Some people have suggested other items that are inside buildings, but I have not featured these so far are I think they might be too difficult. Perhaps I am wrong.

I could continue by photographing and offering up coal-hole covers seen in and around the area of George Road and Artillery Road, or door knockers in Charlotteville, but I think these would also be a bit on the obscure side of things.

I could do speedboats, but there aren’t any, well, none I am aware of!

If readers have suggestions, please email me at drosedragon@gmail.com

I’ve got one for this week – see below – but while on the hunt around Guildford earlier this week, I couldn’t find much else.

Here’s the vintage photo (none in short supply for the time being).

Where is this and what is going on?

What’s going on here then and where is the location?

As you can see, the photo wasn’t taken too many years ago – it’d say about the mid 1970s. I recall it well, but would be interested in knowing the exact year. I’m now getting a deja vu moment, have I published this one before?

In which town centre pub garden can this be found?

Walking through Guildford town centre on Tuesday, I spied this suit of armour in a pub garden. Do you know where it can be found?

If you know the answers and can perhaps add some extra facts, please leave a reply in the box below. They will be published at about this time next week along with two more mystery images.

Responses to Where Is This? No.128

John Lomas Reply

September 25, 2014 at 6:48 am

There was once a brick arch bridge carrying Woodbridge Hill under the railway. On the photographer’s side of the railway was Weyside Road, where the pedestrian is stood, beyond the bridge there was a crossroads with Manor Road to the right and Midleton Road to the left.

When Midleton Road was converted into part of the Guildford by-pass, in the mid ‘30s, a new bridge, of metal girder construction, was constructed to the left of this arch bridge.

For many years both bridges were in use by vehicles, though by the time of this photo motor traffic had all been diverted through the 1930s bridge and this one had become “pedestrians only”.

This picture was taken when the real Guildford by-pass was being superseded in its turn by another by-pass running alongside it. You can see that a bridge of similar design to the mid 30s bridge is being dropped into place so that once the railway is re-connected work can proceed to remove the embankment and arch bridge.

This was necessary prior to pushing through the new road, cutting Manor Road off from Middleton Road and closing this end of Weyside Road. I believe this would have been during the early to mid ’70s, say ’73 to ’76 .
Colin Reardon Reply

September 26, 2014 at 2:33 pm

Looks like the removal of the railway bridge by the Wooden Bridge pub when the A3 was moved to a flyover past the old Dennis entrance.
Chris Townsend Reply

September 29, 2014 at 5:43 pm

The vintage photo shows the dismantling of the railway bridge at the foot of Woodbridge Hill. It had been the first of two bridges, the second built to serve the stretch of the bypass between Midleton Road and Woodbridge Road. The new bridge, visible beyond the old one in the photo, was built in conjunction with the “new” A3, opened in 1981, and a footbridge built alongside, but access by road to the bypass from that point was cut off, with traffic directed down to the new Dennis’s roundabout as part of an altogether more complicated road system. That looks like part of the wall of the Wooden Bridge on the right. The pub, dated 1936, is no longer the prominent landmark it was when first built, overlooking the bypass, opened in 1934.

The suit of armour is in the courtyard of the King’s Head, on the corner of Quarry Street and Castle Street.
Doug and Bill Reply

September 30, 2014 at 3:29 pm

The bridge on the junction of Weyside Rd and Middleton Rd being knocked down to make room for the by-pass.
The suit of armour is in the George Abbot at the bottom of the High St, when, at times of flooding can be easily reached by speedboat. At the back of the pub there was Smallbone’s Motor Factor when the now car park was a bus station.
margaret cole Reply

September 30, 2014 at 6:06 pm

The rebuilding of bridge in Midleton Road. PC World is on the right. The work started in 1976 with a couple of years delay, it was to divert traffic from A3 to Burpham all completed in 1981.
The suit of armour I think is in The Kings Head Quarry Street, after going on an internet Pub-crawl to The Royal OAK Robin Hood and The Albany I must get out more
ray springer Reply

September 30, 2014 at 7:44 pm

This is the demolition of the bridge across the road leading from the A3 Ladymead to Woodbridge Hill, part of the works associated with the re-routing of the A3