Where is This? No.148

Published on: 19 Feb, 2015
Updated on: 19 Feb, 2015

By David Rose

The very short lived Blackfriars pub at the entrance to the Friary Centre was last week’s mystery vintage photo. It opened in 1981 and closed in 1989!

Click here to see last week’s post and all the replies, that include details of the pub; and also of the quirky photo that was a view of what was once Ward Street Hall (now Regent House says Margaret Coles) and the Guildford Institute.

Going back to the Blackfriars, it was, as I recall, a Friary Meux pub. The original brewery, a merger in 1956 of Guildford’s Friary, Holroyd & Healy’s Brewery with Meux of London, was later taken over by Allied Breweries and which later still became Allied Lyons.

A bit ironic that when the Blackfriars was in operation (on the site of the former Guildford Friary brewery), the beer was being brewed in Romford, Essex!

At that time the Friary Meux brand was having a bit of a facelift with some modern marketing. One of the things that happened was that Friary Meux’ traditional colours of red and black (as seen on bottle labels, pub signs, and so on, changed to red and dark blue.

Former Guildford Museum curator Matthew Alexander told me recently that when the colour change came in he asked someone at Friary Meux (its admin department then based in Godalming) why the new dark blue? The answer he received was along the lines of it wasn’t intentional – they’d simply just got the colour wrong!

Do you know which church this is?

On to this week’s images and the vintage one being a postcard view of a local church. Might be an easy one, or perhaps a bit tricky?

Where can this zebra be found?

The quirky picture is of a zebra in Guildford town. Do zebras like eating a certain kind of nut?

If you know the answers please leave a reply in the box below. All replies will be posted at about the same time next week, along with a new post with the answers to this week’s photos and the next pair of images.

Responses to Where is This? No.148

David Davies Reply

February 20, 2015 at 2:22 pm

Looks like St Mary the Virgin in Shalford. Taken some time ago, since that view of the church is largely obscured by columnar yew trees.

Note the pillar adjoining the wall on the left, which is probably the main gate/entrance to what was Shalford House, demolished in 1967 and now replaced by the offices of Thames Water.

Alas no room on the nearby Tillingbourne stream for Doug’s speedboat!
Chris Townsend Reply

February 22, 2015 at 12:35 pm

The church is St. Mary’s, Shalford, rebuilt in 1847, at least the fourth church built on the site, with the old village stocks in the view.

The zebras live at offices at 4 The Billings, originally part of a printing works, in Walnut Tree Close.

Billing’s the printers came to Guildford in 1856 and were once a major employer in the town, printing bibles in many languages, amongst other things.

They built houses for their employees in Caxton Gardens (about 1907) and Woodbridge Hill Gardens (about 1926), and had their own fire brigade until at least the 1950s.

The business moved further down Walnut Tree Close in 1962.
Margaret Cole Reply

February 24, 2015 at 11:58 am

St. Mary’s Church, Shalford. The stocks give it away, an easy one for a change.

Now this Zebra picture is No.1 as the hardest to find.

You’ll have to do a book on The Billings. It’s Investec, Unit4 The Billings, No. 3 Walnut Tree Close.

Thanks for the clue about nuts. This building is opposite the railway station, OK if you are a commuter. I think the zebra must be the company’s logo?
Doug and Bill Staniforce Reply

February 24, 2015 at 3:44 pm

The church is Shalford near the mighty Tillingbourne River.

The zebra is the Investec premises in Walnut Tree Close.

PS: Whilst glancing through this month’s Speedboat Magazine I notice Spectre Powerboats are planning a big comeback this year, so it’s probably sensible to order early.

[Ed: ok, can it be done on line, will they ‘ship’ my order in a speedy manner?]
Brian Holt Reply

February 24, 2015 at 11:07 pm

1: Shalford Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin. It was built in 1846 on the site of older churches dated from at least the 1086 Domesday Survey. A Tudor brass has been preserved here.

In 1950, when I was in the Shalford Sea Scouts, we marched every Remembrance Day to this church from the scout hall next to the railway bridge.

2: I think its Biddles building in Walnut Tree Close.