Where Is This? No.256

Published on: 21 Apr, 2017
Updated on: 21 Apr, 2017

By David Rose

Fewer replies to last week’s images, but still mostly correct answers.

The vintage view, taken during the Second World War, was at the cattle market off Woodbridge Road. The Corn Exchange building was in view with the houses of Wellington Place (on Woodbridge Road) in the background.

The sculpture in the quirky picture can be found at the University of Surrey.

Click here to see last week’s post and further details in the replies at the foot of it.

Where is this bridge on the River Wey? Click to enlarge in a new window.

One of the ancient bridges that span the River Wey is the subject of this week’s vintage picture. A small place half a dozen or so miles out of Guildford and where the river is much narrower than through the town and beyond.

It is a cropped picture postcard view with the actual card postmarked on the back August 29, 1903. Do you recognise the location and can you add any details?

And where is this? Click to enlarge in a new window.

Staying with a watery theme, this week’s quirky picture, photographed by Martin Giles, shows the side of a large building near Guildford town centre. Where and what can be seen?

If you think you know the answers and can add any extra details, please leave a reply in the box below, The answers, along with the next pair of images, will be published at about the same time next week.

Responses to Where Is This? No.256

Diane Maxfield Reply

April 21, 2017 at 12:32 am

The back of what is now The Mill Studio with the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in the background.
John Lomas Reply

April 21, 2017 at 8:30 am

The old picture shows Eashing Bridge, the horse and cart/trap in the river is interesting.

There was a ford there for accessing the island at the rear of Eashing Mill even though the road/causeway beyond the bridge also crossed the island, presumably there was either a weight problem with the bridge or it was too high off the land surface for a track to be constructed to the rear of the mill from the road.

https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/494677/143795/12/100555 shows the route of the ford.

The quirky picture shows the river frontage of the Guildford Mill (flour) later The Water Works and now the Yvonne Arnaud Mill Studio Theatre; in the distance can be seen the main Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.
John Gibson Reply

April 21, 2017 at 9:21 am

Eashing Bridge – NT owned, rather ruined by traffic lights but the buildings are still there – and Town Mill adjacent to the theatre
Norman Hamshere Reply

April 21, 2017 at 9:57 am

Cottages at Eashing Bridges leading to Eashing lane and the Stag public house from where the photo was probably taken.
Bernard Parke Reply

April 21, 2017 at 10:48 am

1) Eashing. I think that we have had this before.

2) The Old Town Mill.
Simon Nelson Reply

April 21, 2017 at 3:35 pm

The top photo is in Lower Eashing where the road comes down from the A3 and over the narrow bridge.

The traffic on the bridge is now controlled by traffic signals, otherwise little has changed since 1904.

The second scene is showing the rear of the old mill which is now The Mill Studio in Millbrook.

The white building in the background is The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, and Debenhams (which is out of this shot ) is on the right of the picture.
Dave Middleton Reply

April 21, 2017 at 4:05 pm

The bridge is at Eashing, just off the A3 and near to the Stag pub.

The carter in the picture is resting his horse in the river to allow it to drink and cool it’s hooves, while the wooden cart wheels are getting a soaking to allow them to swell and keep their joints tight, a necessity in dry weather.

The quirky picture is of the back of the Mill Studio and turbine room, by the Yvonne Arnaud, on the Debanhams side.
Eddie Ward Reply

April 22, 2017 at 8:14 pm

The bridge in the photograph is Eashing Bridge, and the other is The Mill next to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.
Sue Matthews Reply

April 23, 2017 at 9:51 am

Eashing Bridge in lower Eashing.
Mo Legg Reply

April 23, 2017 at 6:12 pm

I think the bridge is over the Wey at Elstead, as seen from the village green side of the river.

The river bed at this point is still very shallow, reference the horse and cart, as the annual Elstead Marathon runners still cross the Wey at this point, which is only a matter of a few hundred yards from the finish line.

There is a second bridge built some 30 to 40 years ago along the unseen side to cater for the traffic demands of quite a busy road.

The second picture is of the rear of Guildford mill and millrace as seen from about pavement level in Millbrook, Guildford.
Brian Holt Reply

April 24, 2017 at 2:40 pm

Eashing bridge just off the A3. It is thought the bridge was built by monks from Waverley Abbey.

In 1233 the previous bridge was destroyed by floods.

The cottages on the right still stand there today, the old Eashing mill no longer stands after two fires and is replace by commercial properties.

The second picture shows the old town mill, next to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Millbrook, now used for scenery production and storage for the adjacent theatre.

In the top right hand corner you can see the outdoor seating area with tables at the back of the theatre.
Chris Townsend Reply

April 24, 2017 at 8:17 pm

The bridge is at Eashing. From https://eashingbridgesnationaltrust.wordpress.com/brief-history/

“It is believed that the historic double bridge, which spans the River Wey and a carrier stream, was built by the monks of Waverley Abbey in the 13th century.”

From http://www.francisfrith.com/eashing/eashing-bridge-1898_41806 it appears the postcard was first published in 1898.

The large building in the quirky picture is the Town Mill viewed from the patch of land beside Millbrook between the Mill and Debenhams. The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is in the background.
Mike Dillon Reply

April 25, 2017 at 5:21 pm

The bridge over the Wey is the Eashing Bridge, just off the A3.

The side of the building was taken from Millbrook and is the side of The Mill Studio facing Debenhams.
Bill and Doug Staniforth Reply

April 26, 2017 at 9:11 am

Picture 1 is the quaint village of Eashing showing the river bridge. Note the cart in the river launching David Rose’s speedboat (I wonder if he won it on Bullseye?).

Picture 2 is the Mill on Millbrook with Plummers in the background.

[David Rose adds: Although my bike (as supplied by your good selves) is an excellent form of transport, occasionally I need something a bit quicker, so the speedboat comes in handy on occasions! And surely you well know it’s now Debenhams and the name Plummers is just a distant memory? Keep up the good work!]
Margaret Cole Reply

April 26, 2017 at 9:36 am

I believe the first picture is of Easing Bridge over the River Wey near Godalming.
The second picture shows Guildford Town Mill near Yvonne Arnold Theatre taken from Debenhams side of the Mill Stream.
Russell Morris Reply

April 27, 2017 at 8:50 am

The postcard picture shows the 13th century Eashing Bridge and a late 17th century cottage alongside.

The bridge is said to be the work of Cistercians from Waverley Abbey.

It is a Scheduled Monument and a grade I Listed Building. Its design is closely similar to Wey bridges at nearby Tilford.

The young Lutyens (who spent his childhood at Thursley) must have known the bridges well because he later employed the same cantilevered oak balustrade in several of his own bridge designs, notably on the Compton “Pilgrims'” Way bridge (now sadly mutilated by highway engineers but surely worth restoring).

A virtually identical view of Eashing Bridge was the subject of a Wilfrid Ball painting of 1910 and can be seen on the National Trust website.

The second picture shows Guildford Town Mill with the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre visible in the background.