The Black Lives Matter campaigns of 2020 following the appalling murder of George Floyd highlighted serious issues with the traditional view of Britain’s past. The idea that Britain spread democracy around the world and benevolently transformed the Empire into the Commonwealth came under fire. Suddenly history was in the spotlight and in the middle of…
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Guildford Tourist Office Review
The future of Guildford’s tourist information centre (TIC) is in doubt as councillors heard that providing an online service could save the council £70,000. The TIC is currently housed in Guildford House Gallery, a Grade I listed townhouse and art gallery in Guildford High Street. Its potential closure was discussed at a meeting of Guildford…
April 2022 – Museum Friends donate new cataloguing system
The Guildford Dragon has reported that the Friends of Guildford Museum have “made a generous gift to it of a computerised system for keeping records of all the around 100,000 objects in the collection.” Collections manager Sarah Fairhurst said they had already started getting the entire collection onto the CMS but “it will take decades…
April 2022 – Guildford Museum needs a plan
Guildford Museum is not exactly a dynamic advert for the town. It has been struggling for years and has hardly changed in decades. Visitor numbers are at an all time low. Councillor’s appear divided. Some see heritage as an asset and some as a burden. However, I think the Council should make more of its…
Dirty old Guildford
In another of his articles in the Guildford Dragon Online Newspaper, David Rose destroys the myth that old Guildford was a quaint, picturesque place we should get nostalgic about. This is one of the best articles I have read about town in a long time partly because it takes an alternative view. As he says…
Vintage 1950s Photos
In this article published in the Guildford Dragon Online Newspaper David Rose shows some wonderful photos from the 1950s taken by Ted (William Edward) Jauncey, who once worked at the electrical engineering firm Nelco at Shalford. Click here for the full article. A PDF version is also available
Pewley Down Fields Saved
The preservation of land at the end of Addison Road and Pewley Way is an amazing story of local action. In April 2021 the field came onto the market and there was interest from a local vineyard and land banks. Locals met on 30th April to discuss giving pledges and the campaign started. The asking…
Haydon Place area
NOTE: These are informal notes and started from a discussion on Guildford Town Past and Present facebook. I really enjoyed it and did a bit of a trawl on the internet. I found lots more information which I have pulled together here. I hope people don’t mind me using their quotes. It is a series…
Leas Road Bus Depot Closure
A historic site is vanishing for many of us who remember the excitement of seeing buses at the end of Leas Road. I remember the joy of seeing the buses go to bed as a child. The depot is now due to close due to a business and the opportunity for housing development. This article…
High Street Shop Closures
The Surrey Advertiser reported on 1st October 2021 that 15% of Guildford’s retail spaces are now empty. This is double what it was in October 2019 and greater than the national average. The average for the south-east is 12%. The Surrey Advertiser reported that shops are pulling out as leases expire. The large chains tend…