Easter 2004

a procession of people led by a large wooden cross

Every Good Friday the four churches in Bagshot hold a combined 'walk of witness'. It starts at the Catholic Church in Guildford Road, processes through the High Street, along the bypass and back down Bridge Road to The Square where a hymn is sung and prayers said. Coffee and biscuits are them served in the Evangelical Church.

white, yellow and blue crocuses growing in a pot I find the history of about 100 years ago really quite fascinating - to find out how life and places then compare with today. So in 1999 I started a personal project to make my contribution to the knowledge of future generations with similar interests. My plan was to create a record of Bagshot as it was at the end of the second millennium. It has taken a long time, but now it is complete. It has ended up being principally a pictorial record of Bagshot in about 2500 images. It is described in more detail in a separate page. I have received very complementary letters from the County Archivist's office and our local museum, and had a large write-up in the Guildford Diocesan newsletter 'The Herald'.

"The next train may not be for 3 months." These may not have been the exact words of the local train company, but on Monday 12 January many commuters turned up at local stations to find they had a bus journey instead. All except a few peak time trains on our line had been cancelled in order to facilitate driver training on new trains that are being introduced. Despite having been able to plan the provision of the replacement bus service, the train company claimed that they had not taken the decision soon enough to have been able to tell commuters on the previous Friday. The only saving grace is that the replacement busses were free - but I'm not sure how much consolation this is to people with connections to make, or those left behind because the bus was full. The cancellations lasted until the beginning of March.
One of the old slam-door trains that are being replaced.
4-carriage electric train in blue, white and red livery

large building under construction behind a pale yellow painted old mansion. The Cedars is a grand old house at the end of the High Street. It's most recent use was as offices but is now vacant. In a recent controversial decision the borough council overturned an earlier restriction and allowed housing development in its garden. So we now have a substantial three storey development of seven flats appearing behind it.

Then I heard from local resident James "We have received notice of a plan submitted to Surrey Heath Council, to demolish part of the original 'Cedars' building, and then extend most of the way along the present car park to turn it into ten flats! ... this is in a conservation area, the building itself is locally listed, and this proposal will change entirely the way Bagshot is seen by visitors arriving along the A30." Since I doubt that this particular application has got any chance of success I really don't see what prospective developers think they gain by causing stress to concerned residents.

white daffodills One of the 'local knowledge' threads includes a photo of children outside the old Catholic church. I am delighted to be able to recount that through the photo some of the friends in it have been reunited and will be enjoying a real reunion in Bagshot in April..

The Bagshot Evangelical Church has renamed itself the Brook Church in recognition of the fact that they serve the whole of the Windle Brook area, not just Bagshot.

Jane, an ex-pat now living in California wrote to say how much she enjoys the pictures I have used showing English flowers, I've done my best here for you.

primrose flowers E-mail viruses seem to come in spates. The latest versions not only send emails to everyone in the victim's address book, but pretend not to have come from the actual victim but from random addresses from the victim's address book. So a couple of weeks ago I not only received a virus (which was promptly quarantined by my Anti Virus software), but I also got an automated message from someone else's system administrator claiming that I had sent a virus when I had not, it was that my address had been forged by the virus. The really sad thing is that someone I know must have been infected by the virus, and I have no way of knowing who it is. Should you be interested, I have a few notes about avoiding becoming a victim here.

Revisions to the website since the Christmas newsletter include:

A lady sent me a message asking where my general knowledge quiz was. My instant reaction was "sorry, wrong site", but then I though "why not". So I've put together a little Quiz.to amuse you. Most of the answers are to be found on the web site
I have added more links added to the 'roots' page
There are minor updates to the 'changes in Bagshot' page.
Background colour and pattern added to many pages.
In the general enquiries area
- Do you know when cricket was first played in Bagshot?
- Broadmoor escapees and on the same page at last we have an answer to what the IDR is (Inner Distribution Road).
- The reopening of the cinema in 1948.
- Do you remember another cinema
- A request for information about Moore's Garage and about Bagshot's contribution to WW2.
- A claim that the Three Mariners pub is so named because it is built from old ship timbers.
- Pieces of information about Tilbury's store (at long last we have identified where it, and thus Cosy Corner) was, Vicarage Lane and the house on the junction of Higgs Lane and College Ride.
- The date of the rebuilding of the Kings Arms has been narrowed down a bit.
- Several topics that used to be within the 'enquiries' page have been promoted to a page of their own, including the origins of the name Bagshot and Central Garage.
In the family enquiries area
- A contact for information about people 'in service' with the Royal Family
- Margaret has an update about George Henry Taylor, but is still looking for information
- York family
- Given the occasional success we have in establishing contacts I thought I might abuse the 'local' nature of this site and see if any of my 'lost' relatives find a posting about one of my ancestors through search engine enquiries.

Best wishes for Easter and the rest of the year to you and those you hold dear.
God Bless,
Neil
(webmaster)

home: Bagshot St Anne's Church

The opinions expressed here are those of the author, writing on his own behalf and not representing anyone else or any organisation.

ps: each time I do a mailing telling friends like yourself about one of these 'update' pages I get several bounce back as undeliverable because the intended recipient has changed their email address, and I have no way of knowing what it has changed to. So if you change your email please remember to put me on the list of people to tell if you want to keep in touch.