Headed out at 5:30AM this morning. The sky was clear and the sun was just popping its head above the trees. After my research yesterday about the Sythwood area of Goldsworth Park, I decided to head there with a new found fascination. It would seem this is the oldest part of the park dating back to the late 1960s. From my reading at the Surrey History Centre I learnt that there were a few issues with this phase which included housing by the district country council for rent, a new main road (Sythwood) and a school (Sythwood Primary School).
The main issue was the access from Bullbeggars Lane which was narrow and unsuitable for construction traffic, this was proposed to be (and I assume was) widened. Other issues I read about more generally were the hard to predict but assumed large bill for new sewers, drainage and roads across Goldsworth Park, there was much debate about the burden falling on existing taxpayers for the benefit of new residents. I also read in minutes a few mentions of how Horsell residents might react to such a large scheme being built on their doorstep, no actual quotes though.
The Lake
I reached Sythwood from the direction of the lake, walking through Willowmead Close, one of the roads on my paper round when I was a teen, more on that later.
I immediately got distracted by the way the light was falling on the industrial buildings on Kestrel Way, the Goldsworth Park Trading Estate. I thought maybe I should ignore it and stick to my plan, but that’s boring, you’ve got to follow your gut on these meandering wanders. I turned into the estate from Sythwood by the school and most likely looked pretty suspect, in my experience most yards/businesses are suspicious of anyone hanging around taking photos, this was no different. A huge truck was backing up just as I was eyeing up a large pallet of orange painted wood, lit up in a morning glow, he beeped his horn and I thought I best go speak to him. He was obviously suspicious, wanted to know what I was up to, I just replied “Wandering”, he didn’t ask any other questions, happy that he had stopped me and went back to his truck. Down the far end, tucked away is a data center, of which I would love to go inside, they fascinate me and are very secretive, they have high security and I didn’t bother going near it today. It’s intriguing that such a facility has been dropped right in the middle of a suburban housing estate, further investigation needed.
I headed off on my original plan to have a decent look around the housing off Sythwood. We always referred to this area as “Sythwood” but I’ve recently heard it being called “Bullbeggars Estate” and “Lakeview”, who knows it’s official name! As I mentioned above these homes were built by the district county council for rent, opposed to the vast majority of the park which was built by private developers for sale (Willett Homes and Ideal Homes). The difference between these areas is noticeable, which irritates me, the quality of the finish of the exterior of the buildings is somewhat bleaker than other areas of the park. The smaller low rise homes are brick but the larger blocks are concrete and what looks like plastic cladding, mostly the rest of the park is brick and any cladding is wood which feels more natural and sympathetic. I believe this disparity is getting better generally but in my opinion there is no real reason to treat some people differently to others, I’m sure it is purely a cost issue but the fact they are rented and not purchased doesn’t make the tenants any less deserving of high quality housing. It could be that all the residents are perfectly happy, I can only comment on the differences I notice as I walk around at this stage without talking them. The other thing I notice is that there is a bleakness, it feels like most of Goldsworth Park is leafy and has an almost enclosed feeling of tree cover, but around here the sky is big and stark against the taller buildings. The larger blocks are 4 stories which is not huge but much bigger than any other on the park.
French’s Wells
I contemplated what the view might look like from the upper walkway of these blocks and eventually decided I would take a look, the stairwells are not secured. I almost immediately decided it was a bad idea, I reached the top and it felt wrong, like I was invading people's personal space, as if walking into someone's garden, I went back down.
Onwards I went towards Harelands Roundabout. I took some photos of garages enroute, I think garages are the only constant on Goldsworth Park. It would appear they had a semi prefabricated design with brick walls at either end, concrete slabs slotted together between to form the row and topped with corrugated asbestos. The only real exceptions to this rule are the garages that are not in blocks but on residents properties, these are built to a much higher standard and are usually brick with tiled roofs. I have a feeling I might end up with a series of garage images, I find them strangely fascinating.
Paper rounds! When I was about 13/14 I had a paper round delivering the Woking Review, I ended up walking through 4 or 5 of the roads I used to cover today and it felt strange. My overriding memories are of manually putting all the flyers in the papers, one night delivering them in the pouring rain (each paper ending up falling apart in my hands), dogs grabbing the paper and ripping it through the letterbox and the oddly vicious letterboxes that could trap your fingers. It amounted to a couple hundred papers a week and I made about £10. The roads were; Willowmead Close, Hedgerley Court, Foxhills, Tresillian Way and Merrivale Gardens. Walking through Hedgerley Court today I actually remembered a little cut through between some garages, Willowmead Close felt oddly familiar, you spend a lot of time in a road when you have to walk up to every door. At Foxhills, which is made up of blocks of flats, I had a vivid memory of trying to put 8 newspapers through the larger letter boxes and failing, sometimes the blocks would be open and you could just drop them all under the letterbox.
Muirfield Road
I walked back along the canal, back past Langmans Bridge, almost all the way to St Johns before cutting back across Lockfield Drive. Just off Muirfield Road there is a line of 21 Pine trees, I’ve walked past them on numerous occasions and wondered if they’re a remnant of Slococks Nursery. It looks to me that they are too close together and in such a straight line that maybe they were being grown to be sold but were never removed. There’s another instance like this on the park but I can’t remember where, I’ll stumble across it again one day.