'W' is for Warlingham.</
From the middle ages, Warlingham was on the main trade route from London to the channel ports. Many of the local ponds were for the watering of cattle coming through, most notably Henry VIII slept the night at Botley Hill. Another coaching Inn from this period still survives in the centre of the village. During recent renovation works, evidence of a tunnel was discovered linking the Inn to the Alms Houses which are close by on the corner of Leas Rd and Chapel Rd; The full story is told in the pub. Being the main hill between Biggin and Kenley aerodromes, Warlingham suffered significant bomb damage during the war. On School Common, the green area on the opposite side of the road from the cache, a barrage balloon was located, there was also a gun put in the middle of The Green itself
The cache is located near to Willy's Pit Pond
A name for this pond has been handed down by word of mouth, and so sometimes it is spelt as 'Willey's Pit' . A local boy, Frank Churchill, was drowned in this pond in 1883 when thin ice gave way beneath his weight. In 1931, when main drainage was being installed in the village, a large quantity of excess soil was deposited here, filling most of the pond. Work was carried out in the autumn of 1998 to restore it. The central tree was planted there about 45 years ago after doing duty as a Christmas tree on The Green.
Nowadays the Pond is maintained by local residents who have put a lot of time and effort into making it into a wildlife haven.
Please take care of small children close to the water.
Suggested parking is in Redvers Road, away from the junction. Please beware of traffic as this is a common cut through and get busy at certain times of the day, or when the village is congested.
This cache was placed by LatchemFamily and adopted by alan666notb
Bonus Cache
Bonus numbers will be present in some of the caches in the series, collect these numbers as you will need to use them should you wish to find the series bonus '* - Bonus Cache - Surrey A-Z'