4:50 alarm, I checked out the window and the sky was clear! It’s quite hard to get out of bed at that time, as I’m sure you’ll appreciate, however as I’m already in Goldsworth Park the pay off comes the minute I walk out the front door.
Lidstone Close
My aim is to generally wander, however there was an image I had in mind this morning, a set of neatly trimmed conifers I found a few weeks ago, I knew they would look good in the morning light and that they were about a 20 minute walk away, so I headed in that direction. I walked down towards the lake, taking a route I never had before, the sun was barely up and nothing took my fancy. It rained most of yesterday and last night so the air was crisp and fresh, the ground is generally warm, last month was the hottest June on record, the moisture was rising in the ever warming air creating quite the atmosphere. I reached the lake, a very low thin mist hung over its surface, the only people around were fishermen and the odd dog walker. I've decided not to use headphones or listen to anything while walking so I can take in the full experience. I’ve also decided to record sound every now and then along my route. The first instance was standing by the lake at 5:15ish, generally birds! The lake, while looking atmospheric and peaceful wasn’t cutting it, just not quite right. I headed off.
I ambled past a house with the most beautiful and extensive rose collection you could imagine, all fully in bloom. Continued down a road adjacent to our old house at Perleybrooke Lane and on towards the footpath that leads over Lockfield Drive, down to the canal. I paused on the bridge over Lockfield Drive and made a recording. The wet road made the roar of cars approaching especially loud. There was a baseline of birds and rustling leaves, peaceful, then in the distance I hear a car approaching, it builds and builds until the sound of the car overtakes the baseline, it’s all I can hear, it gets louder and louder, then it hits me, the roar, an attack . I see the car pass beneath, then the sound begins to fade, and fade until the baseline becomes clearer and begins to win my ears over. The intensity of the sound of the car makes me hang on to the sound, listening to it right until it is no more, it’s invasive. With peace returned I continued down to the canal.
Ahead is a small stone bridge over the Basingstoke canal, Langman’s Bridge, it was constructed in 1790 and is the last remaining Surrey canal bridge in original form, a scheduled monument no less. I record under the bridge, it’s mainly bird song and the sound of water hitting the canal as birds knock the overnight rain from the trees. A few commuters pass as they use the canal route to head towards Woking town center. I cross over Langman’s Bridge and begin wandering towards Helmsdale, where my long anticipated conifers lay in wait. As I turned the corner they didn’t disappoint, last night's rain glistening in the early morning glow, I thought to myself, “worth that early start!”
Greenham Walk
I wandered around Winnington Way and a few other roads, nothing stood out to me, I’ll come back at another time of day. I head back to the canal and down the side of my primary school, Goldsworth Primary School. As I do, memories come back to me, I could see right across the field, reminding me of sports day and playing in the school football team. The bottom corner of the pitch, by the canal, used to flood, right over the corner flag, you essentially had to float the ball and try to kick it from the top of what felt like a small lake. Onwards to the bridge barn pub, I didn’t know you could walk down this side of the canal, almost everyone walks on the opposite side, it’s clear though if not a little muddy. I could’ve decided to investigate the housing behind the school which I never thought of as Goldsworth Park but I decide that’s for another day, I continue towards Well Lane.
It’s my assumption that well lane and Bridge Barn Lane used to link up and cross the canal at the bridge here, however they’ve both been severed by Lockfield Drive, making the bridge a strange feature, as if someone built a bridge to nowhere. I turn down Well Lane, the first road we lived on when we moved to Woking and then off towards Merivale Gardens, another previous address, right on the edge of the park (dad always said it was Horsell!). Not much here I wanted to shoot but I stood for a little while looking at our old house, we lived there from 1999 - 2005, my first experience of life on the park. A decent road, a cul-de-sac, a garage, a driveway and a wrap-around garden, one of my best friends at school lived down the other end. I would go to his to play Goldeneye on the N64. It felt a little uncanny to look at that house, so many memories, too many to mention, one of the funniest was when my sister Molly and I walked home from school in what was essentially a monsoon, by the time we got half way home we had given up trying to stay even remotely dry. When we finally got home dad wouldn’t let us in, got us some towels and had us dry off out the front.
Yesterday I discovered the path out the back of our old house was proposed to be a road called the Horsell Bypass, it obviously never came to pass as it’s still a cycle route. I asked dad about it and he knew, it came up when he bought the house, the agent assured him it’ll never happen. I decided to walk the route of the proposed Horsell Bypass, heading towards Sythwood and Bullbeggars Lane. There’s some interesting compositions around the park, skate park and Sythwood housing, I trundle on, a little weary and headings towards Waitrose, a pastry would go down a treat I think.
I made it, 7:40AM, Waitrose opens at 8!