Flashback: January 2014 Floods And Darts Legend Bobby George Dazzles Pupils

Published on: 7 Jan, 2024
Updated on: 28 Jan, 2024

Flashback is a new feature looking back at some of the top stories published on The Guildford Dragon NEWS exactly 10 years ago.

Flooding was again in the news back then….

Friary Street After The Flood – Still Counting The Cost (published on January 10, 2014)

Shops on Friary Street are still counting the cost of the recent floods, several remain closed. Just yards from the Town Bridge, the street has always been the worst hit of Guildford’s commercial area when the River Wey floods.

All together the losses, flood damage and lost trading, will amount to many thousands of pounds.

The Environment Agency Barrier is said to have worked well in Norfolk where it was deployed before being set up between Debenhams and the Town Bridge.

Whether the barrier erected by the Environment Agency on Tuesday (January 7), under the gaze of national TV, would have helped protect Friary is still not known. The river receded after the barrier was put up and by Thursday morning it had gone.

Wagamama on the corner of Friary Street has suffered serious damage to its floor and was deserted on Wednesday evening (January 8) when these photos of other shops in Friary Street were taken:

The manager in Whibleys the Jewellers said: “We had to close from Boxing Day to the 4th January. We had two feet of water in here and it damaged some of our stock, such as watches, as well as fixtures and fittings.” Cameron Tait from Woodbridge Road, an assistant in Solutions Inc said: “We have taken a real hit. We were closed on 27th to 30th December when busy trading was expected. As you can see the floor has had to be taken up and the wood in some of the display units has swollen with the water causing them to split. We hope to be fully back to normal by February but we are trading normally in the meantime.” In Lush the assistant manager pointed at the level the water had reached in the shop and said: “On Christmas Eve the water came in and rose to about 11 inches. Luckily our floor is quite resistant to flood damage but we have suffered thousands of pounds of stock damage. We had to shut on Boxing Day while we cleaned up.” The project manager at Five Guys said that several days work had been lost because of the flood but he was re-arranging the shop fitting project sequence so that, hopefully, the new burger bar could still open on February 9. Specsavers were closed from December 27 to New Year’s Eve. The equipment they use for conducting eye tests is still inoperable so although the shop is manned it is only to allow customers to collect spectacles that have been ordered. In the T Shirt Store Elyse, originally from Denver, Colorado but who now lives in Godalming, said that the shop had been fortunate: “Our concrete floor was unaffected and although the water came in, it drained from front to back, then straight through the door at the rear of the shop. We have not had to close at all.” The Gourmet Burger Bar were able to stay open by using the first floor. The manager said: “Ironically we suffered a flood six months ago when a freezer failed. We had to carry out a refit after that but now the wooden part of the floor is damaged once again.” TK max, at the slightly higher north end of Friary Street, remained unaffected, despite the worrying sight of sandbags positioned near their front door. But Shoe Zone and Junior Cupcakes, both nearer the High Street end, remained closed. On Tuesday (January 7) White Lion Walk had to close when the the delivery basement, pictured here, flooded affecting the drainage of the centre. It reopened on Wednesday and has been trading normally since.

While in other news…

Darts Legend Bobby George Dazzles Kings College Pupils (published on January 9, 2014)

Darts legend Bobby George gave an entertaining lesson in mental arithmetic to pupils at Kings College, Park Barn, on Thursday morning (January 9).

Darts legend Bobby George with pupils at Kings College.

He took time out of his busy schedule commentating at the BDO World Professional Darts Championships taking place at Lakeside in Frimley Green to visit the school. Armed with a BBC film crew, a set of darts, a dart board and a lot of bling, Bobby talked to 100 fascinated students about the importance of maths in darts.

Bobby entertains the pupils while giving them some useful maths advice.

Darts players throw extremely fast, and with only seconds in between throws, they need to calculate their aim quickly. It isn’t just about hitting a bull’s eye – it is about working out which is the best score to get, and how to get it. Do they try for a treble, a double or a single? Bobby has become a master in his profession, and this is in no small part to do with maths.

Having a go throwing the ‘arrows’.

After explaining some of the different combinations and how the more you practise maths, the quicker it is to calculate, Bobby asked a few eager students to come and have a go at throwing the darts. All students did amazingly well. Sam Yarrow won a signed dartboard for being particularly talented!

The king of bling, Bobby the dazzler George.

The announcement of a question and answer session saw many hands rocket in to the air for an opportunity to find out more about Bobby. He revealed that on one TV cookery show he accidentally wore a pair of pyjamas. His wife had bought him a special outfit for the show, and instead of picking the outfit on the right which she had laid out for him, he grabbed the one on the left – a pair of pyjamas.

Highlights of Bobby’s visit to Kings College will be shown on Friday (January 10) on BBC 2.

Bobby with more pupils including Sam xxxx

Bobby with more pupils including Sam Yarrow with the signed dart board he was presented with.

The headteacher at Kings College, Kate Carriett said: “Students were keen to discover some of the tricks of Bobby’s trade and listened intently and took part with great enthusiasm. The link between darts and mental maths is a key one and today has helped to put the curriculum into an interesting and relevant context for some of our young learners.”

One pupil asked Bobby why he wears so much bling. With a wink and a grin he replied: “Because I can afford it.”

Another pupils tries to get a top score.

Learn to play darts and your maths will certainly improve.

Two Photos Of A Superb Sunrise? (published on January 5, 2014)

What a lot of weather we are having! The floods and stormy seas still dominate the national headlines and news stories, and yet on Sunday morning (January 5) there was a gorgeous sunrise.

Another Guildford Dragon NEWS reader, David Howell has sent in his photo taken on his phone to join Shirley West’s earlier picture below. Looks like those of us still akip missed quite a show.

Davi Howell’s sunrise at Roundhill Way

David Howell wrote: “I didn’t know who to send this to so I chose you. The sunrise photo that Shirley West took of the sunrise on the 5th January 2014 is very pretty and as I sat on my sofa about 7.30am I felt I had to take the attached photo [above]. Sorry, only had my phone available, but what a sight.”

A colourful sunrise photographed by Shirley West on Sunday, January 5.

This photo was taken by Shirley West at her home off Broadacres in Rydes Hill, Guildford.

Anyone up and about early will have noticed that there was a frost too. By Sunday evening that had all changed and the rain was again pouring down, with even a bright flash of lightning and a clap of thunder at one point.

There’s nothing like the weather (and pictures of it) to keep people talking! Thank you to Shirley and David for sending them in.

We love to get photos of news incidents or beautiful local scenes such as these. When you get such good or interesting pictures it really is good to share. Please remember The Dragon when you are out and about. With so many phones also having camera functions, these days, everyone can be a news photographer. Ed