Many of the commons I’ve visited are well looked-after and well-used, either by the public, by commoners, or both. They’re attached to community groups, they have Facebook pages, the council has an action plan for them, a charity nurtures them for bats. But many of the smaller commons – and some are very small indeedContinue reading “Small Surrey commons near to Staines, Woking and Heathrow.”
Tag Archives: surrey
Staines Moor, Surrey.
When I was planning my five-night stay in Staines, I spent a while poring over an OS map of the area and spotted a large expanse of common land between two of the area’s great reservoirs – Wraysbury Reservoir and King George VI Reservoir. Being the largest expanse of common land near to Heathrow AirportContinue reading “Staines Moor, Surrey.”
Weybridge Heath & Little Heath, Cobham, Surrey.
You might not think of Surrey as the birthplace of enduringly influential radical politics, but it is. And more than once, because not only is Runnymede where Magna Carta was (most likely) signed, but The Diggers conducted their two experiments in egalitarian communal living near to Weybridge and Cobham in the aftermath of the EnglishContinue reading “Weybridge Heath & Little Heath, Cobham, Surrey.”
Horsell Common, Woking, Surrey.
I’m a lifelong fan of alien invasion movies, so it’s odd I’ve never actually read War of the Worlds (though I’m probably one of the few people who count Speilberg’s 2005 take on the story as a guilty pleasure). However, when I found out Wells had his aliens land in a sandpit on Horsell Common,Continue reading “Horsell Common, Woking, Surrey.”
Eton Commons, Surrey
Eton College and Eton Town are surrounded by an extensive block of common land which reaches West along the Thames and continues on past the small town of Eton Wick. This seemed to me fittingly bucolic, of a piece with those other commons-wrapped bastions of the elite, Oxford and Cambridge Universities. I’ll admit my tripContinue reading “Eton Commons, Surrey”
Runnymede, Windsor, Surrey.
In final few days of August, I spent five nights staying at a three star hotel in Staines. Not exactly the height of glamour, though I certainly enjoyed the perversity of telling people. Aside from it being rather cheap to stay there during a pandemic, Staines offers easy access to a number of really importantContinue reading “Runnymede, Windsor, Surrey.”
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