In 1863 the annual fair pictured in one of the Turner paintings ended in a riot, largely due to the selling of cheap ale. It was reported in The Times that “Upward of 400 young fellows, many of them being low characters of Guildford, assembled in St Catherines village lining the road on either side, and when any peaceably inclined passenger approached they closed in and inflicted both insult and injury”. Will young fellows never change?
There are two parking spaces at N51 13.517 W00 34.752 and three more 20 metres further down Ferry Lane on the railway bridge. There’s a maximum stay limit of 2 hours … but surely you are not going to be here for over two hours??
As you wander round this area, you may be interested to know that the name Guildford comes from the Saxon Gyldeforda meaning golden ford. This probably refers to the golden sand in the river bed, contrasting with the track across the white chalk, but could also refer to flowers such as flags which flourish in shallow fords. Ye Olde Ship Inn, a few yards down the road into Guildford, is a very good place to take both food and liquid, and has a warming fireside during the Winter months.
| You will have seen (from your prep-work ;-)), that it’s less than 150yds between the two starting reference points, and all clues are within shouting distance of The Chapel, so I recruited Nan Taylor to add her special element of malicious spitefulness. “Flaming Liberty!!” |
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The following two waypoints can be done in any order (but one order would probably be easier than the other):
N51 13.460 W00 34.710 Information Board
From the information board, in what year was the first licence for a fair granted? Answer = ABCD
Neither of the metal gates into the Chapel were padlocked so I believe that it is fine to enter and explore the inside of the Chapel (although – as Nan says – “Gawd knows 'ow thats gonna help ‘em”).
N51 13.504 W00 34.630 Plaque with a poem.
How many words are there in each line of the poem? Answer = EFGH
The stream that comes out of the hill at this point was thought to help with sore eyes. Children would come here and drink the water mixed with sugar or treacle. I gave some to Nan Taylor as we sat and read what I felt was a beautiful poem. It didn’t seem to cure the problem with her foul mouth though.
Stage 3 can be found at N51 1B.FAF W00 3H.G(D-B)F
Stage 4At stage 3, take the final (four letter) word and convert it to an 8 digit number using A=1, J=10, T=20 etc. Call the 8 digits STUVWXYZ. Stage 4 is at N51 13.(V-W)(V+Z)(T+U) W000 34.T(V+X+Y)(S+U) If you find a good route in, it can be done without wellies. If not, then even wellies may not be enough!
Stage 5 – there IS one!