Guildford Station Past and Present

Guildford Station documentary

Guildford Main Line Train Station
was opened in eighteen forty five. It's first operators were: LSWR, London & South Weston Railways. Thirty years later in eighteen eighty, the station was rebuilt to a much larger scale.

In eighteen forty nine, lines to Reading and Rigate were opened, they were run by South Eastern Railways.

Then later on in eighteen forty nine, another new line began services to Farnham by way of Tongham, and if that's not enough, in eighteen eighty five they opened the Leatherhead & Epson Downs line. That's a lot of work for the navvies. Probably good pay though...

Hey, and all done in just thirty six years! Wah! Good Grief, they must have been exciting days! "Ordinary" people traveling?! What ever next?!

No excuses for not visiting Grannie now, well I suppose in reality the "ordinary" people didn't really get much of a look in, I mean, people were earning a patience back then, back in the day. But hey, some more affluent bods filled up the carriages, one could now visit "far off places". The World's moving on a pace... 

Our Other Station

London Road was the terminus for the old Cranleigh line, witch ran all the way to Horsham via Bramly - Wonersh, Cranleigh, Loxwood, and others?. Sadly closed now by our "friend" Dr Beeching in nineteen sixty five.

That's virtually one hundred years after it was completed, god rest Beechings soul. The line was operated by the London Brighton & South Coast Railways.

It's a great shame though, that everything has to pay it's way, every single day, or else, it's torn down, ripped up, and discarded, branded as: "No longer of any value".

How short sighted it is to discard so much for the sake of today's fancy. Instead of reacting to every ripple, Take the longer view. What do you think?

It was obvious to even me, way back then, that a longer term view, is a lot more reliable than the mean, itchy trigger fingered society we've become.

Back to the future, I wish. But hindseight is a wanderfull thing :-)

How good would it be to still have a Railway Connection to Cranligh and Horsham?

The roads would surly be a whole lot better! Everyone along the line would have prospered, that little bit better don't you think?

In turn the country as a whole would have prospered in the long run. Everything could have been just that bit better, if it were not for Dr Beaching, hummm?

From Cranligh to Guildford by Steam

Shurly, if we had only kept the line open as far as Cranleigh, Cranleigh would have now been a town, prospering in a way not possible without here rail connection to Guildford and London.

Just think about it, Horsham doesn't need us, and we don't need them. This has always been obvious to me, and I bet if you have lived or live close to Cranleigh, you'd most probably agree. Would you not?

Still, Beaching could only do his best, and his best didn't turn out as we expected. In retrospect though, "It would have been a jolly fine thing, had we still had a fully functioning Cranleigh line...

Any How. Have a peek at Guildford Station back in the old Steam days. Romantic, Exhilarating, Masculine, Dirty, Smelly, Sweaty, Hissy, and Magnificent. Personally... I still lean a little to the romance.

Any how! Without more adoo:
This is how guildford Station used to go about its business in the days of Steam, back in the early 60's. It looks a bit shabby and run down, but we are looking at B+W, Silent film.
It's quiet Hypnotic...

Southern Steam Days at Guildford

Below: 
35028 "Clan Line" Departs from Guildford, 
This Video is Colour & has Plenty of Sound
Snorting and Rasping like a Giant Blood Hound. A fiery Dragon, Magnificent in all here
Ungodly glory?

Yes I'm owning up, I like Steam. There's something about the shire power, and should I say, So Evocative of some God of Fire? A Fenix, alive, Vibrant, Majestic, with all those Distinctive Smells of Steam and Sulfur, that used to permeate the air. They all ad up to something truly emotive, especially as they hale from a distant and different era to the one we live in now. So: 

Nostalgia... Take a look at this video. I hope you like it :-) 

These next videos are for those of you who have some love of Steam Trains.

If you liked the last video, then I'll bet you like this one...
Steam and Fire and Smoke and Flames, This thing's got Attitude, Get Out of My Way!!

I enjoyed that, it brought back some happy memory's. But now for the Early Electric Years.

Southern Electric - Classic Traction in Green Heading for Guildford

You know, it's not the uncomfortable, noisy, tinny, plastic trains we all have to travel in that makes me think,  "Let The Train Take The Strain". Yeah Rite! I wish... The Trains are still noisy, bumpy, and too expensive. Sometimes, dirty, smelly and crowded! But hey! What could we do without them? It's a shame though that there's no romance left. A bit like everything else these days.

Take a look at some of the "Beautiful Places" we can go by Train

But you know what?
We in Guildford have a great deal to be grateful for, putting aside all the money stuff we have to attend too, I wish ;-)

You know, we've got some of the most beautiful countryside around, and virtually none of it more than a short Train Ride, or a Bus Journey, or the Car trip away, even Shanks Pony can get you to many of the beautifully walks.  

Sorry, I'm digressing again, I'm supposed to be talking about our lovely Guildford Station...

Our Line has now been operating for (As I speak) One Hundred and Sixty Six Years, and when you look around the evidence is all too obvious...

Why can't they grow wild flowers along the banks, they'd only have to seed it once. Hey, they left it a bit late in this picture, but look, nature can take care of it for us if we take care of here.

What about tidying up the rest of the infrastructure while were talking about it, people judge our country from stuff like this. Where's our pride gone? Down the shoot like everything else these days?

But Hey! I love Guildford, I'm definitely a genuine Guildfordo'phile :-)

So do you wander about the future of our railway station, and the beautiful line that wends it's way through some of the most quintessential of British countryside?

This is where we're at today.

Railworkers 2 Cab Ride - Portsmouth Direct Line

Not that bad after all :-)

I couldn't even have imagined I'd enjoy making this post, but writing this story has really been very interesting.

I'm finding out stuff that amuses and interests me. Who'd think this Guildford Station journey could have turned into being so "interesting?" Dam. Well I liked it! Yeh! Yeh! I know.
Self recommendation and all that. Lol :-)
Catch-yer-later!