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Where Is This? No.209
Published on: 12 May, 2016
Updated on: 12 May, 2016
By David Rose
The location of the picture featuring 1948 London Olympic Torch Relay runners remains a mystery as we have not had it positively identified.
The red dot is where John Lomas suggests the runners might be. They would be heading away from the town centre – ie going north-west.
John Lomas suggested the runners could be coming out of Woodbridge Road near the junction with Leapale Road. He has emailed a map and added a red dot at the spot.
This is about where I thought the location might be. The time when the torch left Guildford was about mid morning (I think), so the shadows might be in the right place. But was Woodbridge Road a one-way street at that time?
The quirky pictured shows a cottage in Stoke Fields. Dave Holt replied saying it was where his great grandparents and their five children once lived, while Shirley and Brian West commented on the current owner and how her late husband bought the pair of cottages and converted them into one.
Click here to see last week’s post and all the replies.
Do you know where this is? Click to enlarge in a new window.
This week’s vintage picture shows a view across the town. Can you work out where it was taken from and what can be seen?
Where can this be found?
The quirky picture is a feature in some paving in the upper part of the town and photographed by Martin Giles. Do you know where and what it is all about?
If you know where this week’s mysteries are, please leave a reply in the box below – and extra details if you have them.
They will be published along with two more mystery images at about the same time next week. Good luck.
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Responses to Where Is This? No.209
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John Lomas
May 12, 2016 at 10:28 am
The old picture shows a traction engine on Tunsgate with Holy Trinity and Abbot’s Hospital beyond.
Judging by the parked cars particularly the Austin County series models A40,A50,A70 and the A30 or A35 this is probably early 1950s and there are so many Austins that I have to wonder whether there was an Austin dealership there.
Andrew Backhurst
May 12, 2016 at 12:37 pm
A nice picture of old Guildford with a stormy looking sky! Taken from the cage on top of the castle, looking across Tunsgate towards Holy Trinity and Abbot’s Hospital.
Dave Middleton
May 12, 2016 at 1:05 pm
The old picture is of the west end of Holy Trinity Church, probably viewed from the top of the castle, looking over the site of the shortly to be redeveloped again, Tunsgate Shopping Centre.
The street in view behind the parked cars is Tunsgate.
The cars are parked in the old Tunsgate temporary car park. The roofs of the Abbott’s Hospital can be seen to the left of the church.
No idea on the paving.
David Smith
May 12, 2016 at 2:41 pm
The first photo is Tunsgate prior to the new shopping centre – you can see Holy Trinity church in the distance
The second picture shows the large area outside of Trinity Gate on the Upper High Street which I expect was designed for cafes with tables and chairs but is now home to a series of estate agents.
Norman Hamshere
May 12, 2016 at 3:45 pm
Regarding the Olympic runners picture. The starting date for the one-way system Woodbridge Road / Leapale Road. was December 17, 1936.
Lesley Dunt
May 13, 2016 at 12:42 pm
This is taken from Guildford Castle looking towards back of Holy Trinity Church and the road is Tunsgate.
The car park is where the Tunsgate Shopping Centre is now.
Mary Bedforth
May 13, 2016 at 3:56 pm
1. Tunsgate from the castle.
2. Top of the High Street along with these other inscriptions:
“It all started on an ordinary day, in the most ordinary place in the world.”
“After all, tomorrow is another day.”
“Hello gorgeous.”
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera and so forth. “You’re late. You’re stunning. You’re forgiven.”
“For a moment there I thought we were in trouble.”
“It’s the story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.”
Hang on lads, I’ve got a great idea
You talkin’ to me?
~~~
I have no idea about their provenance. Connections to films?
Michelle Mitchell
May 19, 2016 at 9:26 am
Trinity Gate was built on the site of the old Odeon cinema, so I imagine that is why film quotes were chosen.
Chris Townsend
May 19, 2016 at 4:05 pm
The quotations are from films, as you say, so they are a reminder of the old Odeon on the Trinity Gate site.
Brian Holt
May 16, 2016 at 10:05 pm
1. Looking across Tunsgate, with Holy Trinity Church in the background.
I think the photo was taken from the top of the castle. To the right of the steam roller was Jefferies motorcycle shop.
2. Outside Foxtons estate agents in Epsom Road it reads: “Its The Story Of My Life I always get The Fizzy End Of The Lollipop.”
There are others there. On reads: “It All Started ON A Ordinary Day In A Ordinary Place IN The World.”
Another says: “For A Moment There I Thought We Were In Trouble.”
I have no idea why they are there.
Ray Springer
May 17, 2016 at 10:48 am
The photo must have been taken from the roof garden above what was then Harvey’s, now House of Fraser.
Abbot’s Hospital is quite visible opposite Holy Trinity Church. Tunsgate is the road running across the picture left to right.
The quirky picture of the paving looks comparitively new and my guess is that it is in the G-Live complex at the top of the town.
Sheila Atkinson
May 17, 2016 at 10:09 pm
The photo shows Tunsgate as it used to be.
The car park disappeared many years ago and shops were built on the site, the area is undergoing alterations yet again.
Margaret Cole
May 18, 2016 at 12:38 pm
This aerial view is taken from the Castle Keep and shows the car park that was in Tunsgate with all the old shops in a row and Holy Trinity Church and Abbot’s Hospital in the background. A very good picture.
The pavement art escapes me.
Chris Townsend
May 18, 2016 at 5:27 pm
The vintage view of the Tunsgate area was probably taken from the castle.
Memorable in Tunsgate was Quittenton’s tiny umbrella shop, possibly the one painted white on the ground floor.
Further up were Jeffery’s motorcycle premises, in the centre of the photo, to left and right of the yard. (Weren’t those doors painted red?)
The white three-storey building was the camera shop, since extended to the right.
The Boxing Day hunt used to leave from the Tunsgate car park at that time, before Tunsgate Square replaced that area in the photo and the cottages in the foreground. One of them, opposite the Castle Street Baths, had a cockatoo in the window, but I don’t remember whether it was the real thing or not.
G Wheeler
May 18, 2016 at 10:50 pm
The first is Tunsgate
Eddie Russell
May 19, 2016 at 3:24 pm
The inscriptions at the top of the High Street by Trinity Gate are all quotes from films, presumably a nod to the Odeon cinema which was here.
“It’s the story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop,” is said by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot.
“It all started on an ordinary day in the most ordinary place in the world,” is when Laura begins her flashback in Brief Encounter.
“After all, tomorrow is another day,” is from Gone With The Wind.
“You’re late”,- Julia Roberts.
“You’re stunning,”- Richard Gere.
“You’re forgiven,”- Julia Roberts.
From Pretty Woman.
“For a moment there I thought we were in trouble,” Butch Cassidy at the climax of Butch Cassidy And The Sundance kid.
“Hello gorgeous,” – Barbare Streisand from Funny Girl.
“You talkin’ to me?” – Robert De Niro from Taxi Driver.
Many thanks for your comprehensive and informative reply. Ed.
Dave Middleton
May 20, 2016 at 3:53 pm
You forgot, “Hang on lads, I’ve got a great idea”. Michael Caine at the end of The Italian Job, when the coach is hanging over the precipice.