LIPHOOK The village grew out of the hamlet of Bramshott which was established by Norman times. In the fifteenth century it was known as Chiltlee or Chiltley but John Speed's map of 1610 shows it as Lippocke. The area was dominated by the four manors of Chiltlee, Bohunt, Foley and Bramshott. Samuel Pepys came here and wrote in his diary, dated 6th August 1668 So to coach again and got to Lippock, l ate over Hindhead, (the traffic’s still awful mate, 340 years later, but we are hoping the tunnel will improve things a lot), having an old man, a guide, in the coach with us; but got thither with great fear of being out of our way, it being ten at tonight. Here good, honest people and after supper, bed. Yes we still are good honest folk here. He obviously didn’t go to Bordon. Liphook expanded as a coach stop on the London - Portsmouth route. The Royal Anchor inn grew up as a place to stay the night and change horses - local tradition has it that Nelson spent his last night in England in Liphook before sailing for the Battle of Trafalgar. From 1916-1928 author and poet Flora Thompson lived in Liphook where her husband was postmaster. Her most well-known works include the trilogy Lark Rise, Over to Candleford and Candleford Green, memoirs of her childhood in 1880s Oxfordshire. Lark Rise to Candleford was a bastardisation brought about by the British Broadcasting Corporation to make some abominable slushy costume drama on a Sunday night, which mercifully now coincides with Top Gear on the other side; (which I am allowed to watch) Her first work, Bog-Myrtle and Peat, was published in 1921 when she lived in Liphook. It can get very hot in God’s county Page 1 of 33 The next two pictures are of the front of the Millennium Hall, with its front door canopy clearly inspired by the Louvre If you gaze yonder from the shelter of La Canopé, you will be able to take in and enjoy the glorious panoramic vista of our local branch of Sainsbury’s. Marvel at its innovative and cunning design, (if it’s not too dark), constructed in such a way as to avoid low flying aircraft. And now we are off and the next place of note is but a mile or so away at......... Page 2 of 33 STANLEY COMMON Stanley Common lies to the south east of Liphook and is adjacent to the Forestry Commission land at Iron Hill, on its western boundary. The common lies within the Wealden Greensand Heaths Natural Area, as defined by English Nature, and sits on lower greensand soils. Until recently, the site received little active management, apart from occasional forestry thinning. However, since the Lynchmere society took over in 1998, there has been a considerable amount of heathland restoration work carried out. As a result of the first 5 years of restoration the area of open heathland has been increased and the regrowth of heather and other healthland species is dramatics. This regrowth has been accompanied by the stabilisation of wildlife surveyed and encouraging increases in sightings of heathland birds such as the nightjar, Dartford warbler and woodlark for example. As you turn right (heading South) at the edge of Stanley Common, you are on course for Elmers Marsh. If you cast your eyes left, (and also above), you will catch a glimpse of Blackdown, the highest point in Sussex at 280 metres. Page 3 of 33 ELMERS MARSH A sunken trail; middle of nowhere; one or two houses. “Why has he put this in”; I hear you ask ? Because it nearly had a sodding railway line here; that’s why Anyway second thoughts were had, (you can’t see any trains can you ?), and the whole thing got a serious amount of cold water poured on it, in 1868. Route of proposed Haslemere:Midhurst railway Page 4 of 33 OLDER HILL & WOOLBEDING COMMON Walk up this track and pause at the top for hopefully some marvellous views that look a bit like this: If the views however, look like this, you probably need to make a phone call Page 5 of 33 Woolbeding Common is managed by the National Trust. It was made a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1998 for the heathland habitat which supports some rare birds, such as nightjars, woodlark and the Dartford warbler. Please cross reference separate guidance on heathland. Dartford Warbler ‐ Sylvia undata Nightjar ‐ Caprimulgus europaeus It is also one of our most threatened habitats with over 80% of the heathland in West Sussex lost in the last 200 years. I read somewhere that 5% of all Northern Europe’s heathland is in this part of South East England. One of the reasons they are spending nearly £400 million building a road tunnel on the A3 at Hindhead. Lowland heathland is an ancient habitat that was created thousands of years ago by the activities of man. The original wild wood was cleared during the Bronze Age for timber and grazing livestock. Nutrients then leached from the exposed sandy soil and created conditions suitable for heather and other heathland plants. Woolbeding is a dangerous place. If you are doing this part of the Titty Wittering Challenge, please ensure you are not on your own. These guys live there, honestly they do and they don’t take prisoners, or pensioners, or anything else my spelling verifier wants to “suggest”. If they find you, we’ll never see you or your sponsor money again. So please tread very carefully Page 6 of 33 IPING The Saxon name Iping means settlement of the family or followers of a man called Ipa. They probably enjoyed a drink or three Iping – a sort of nothing place? How wrong you are dear walker. This is where HG Wells’ Invisible Man (Griffin) fled to from London and terrorised the villagers where he revealed there was.....well literally nothing to him. The house, on the left, after you have crossed the bridge, allegedly gave Wells the inspiration to base part of the story here. Iping Mill is the one of most noticeable features of the village as you pass through it. The mill was busy producing paper (blotting paper believe it or not), until the 1920s when a fire ended production. Thus ended 900 years of milling various products at Iping Mill. In its long history the watermill had milled cloth, grain and had even provided the power for a sawmill. There's a Roman Road which passes through here on its way from Chichester to Silchester. The remains of a Roman Station have been found alongside it a short distance north of the main part of the village - and closer in truth to the village of Milland. Iping Roman Station would have served as a military staging post, covering about 2 acres and able to support forces passing through with supplies, repairs and other essentials. Page 7 of 33 STEDHAM Stedham, you ask ? - Stedeham (Anglo Saxon) hamm = ‘water meadow' - where steda [steed] = ‘stallion' are kept. So, The water meadow where stallions are kept. Now here’s a story and a half. RONALD DOUGLAS HOLBROOK VC RN The 26 year old Lieutenant [later Commander] Holbrook was awarded the VC, the first for the Royal Navy, for making the first submarine raid into the Dardanelles, on the 13th December, 1914. Part of his citation reads: "Lieutenant Holbrook was in command of the submarine B.11, an old and obsolete craft built in 1905. Not withstanding the difficulties of treacherous currents in the Straits, he dived under five rows of mines and torpedoed and sank the Turkish battleship "Messudieh," which was guarding the mine- field. He then succeeded in bringing the B.11 back to the Mediterranean, in spite of being attacked by gunfire and torpedo boats. When they got back to safety the B.11 had been submerged for nine hours." Educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, he was the son of Sir Arthur Richard Holbrook, a newspaper publisher. One of five brothers. Between them, during the First World War, they earned a VC, DSO, MC and CBE, and their father was knighted for his services in commanding the Royal Army Service Corps' training unit. Holbrook retired from the Navy in 1920 and afterwards spent most of his time farming and serving as chairman of the family publishing firm. He passed away on 3 July 1976 at his home, Stedham Mill, (see later), at the age of 87. He is buried at St James Churchyard, Stedham. Holbrook is probably the only VC recipient to have a town and a local government area named after him. On 24 August 1915 amid a wave of anti-German feeling related to the First World War the name of the Australian town of Germanton was changed to Holbrook to honour the recent VC recipient. Page 8 of 33 They built a park and erected a statue. They even bought an old Australian submarine (which you can see below). to put on display. This was quite a feat considering that Holbrook is a considerable distance from the sea. Well 400 kilometres if truth be known. Holbrook subsequently visited the town on 3 occasions. He and the town maintained close relations up until his death. His widow, Mrs Gundula Holbrook, donated his medals, including the French Legion of Honour, to the Council of the Shire of Holbrook in 1982. In 1995 she made a substantial donation of $100,000 (presumably Australian dollars as American ones wouldn’t have been much good and necessitated a somewhat tedious trip to the Bank), towards the establishment of a submariners' memorial in the town and in 1997 she visited the town to unveil it.