Torchlit History Talk at St John’s Xmas Celebration

Gossip and History is always a good combination and there was plenty of it on the Torch-lit History talk at this year’s St John’s Christmas celebrations. A crocodile of about 50 people followed Sue Bore (standing in for her husband Chris Bore) and her very colourful flashing neon wand around St John’s, Surrey  to learn more about the history of their village. I didn’t catch all of it, might have something to do with my mulled wine consumption or the fact I couldn’t see what I was writing but I’ve got most of the juicy and interesting bits and have recounted them in the following blog. Feel free to contribute in the comments section at the end if you can clarify or add to my account of the evenings proceedings.

St John’s Church on a misty day.

First stop was between the Church and St John’s Village Club, where a lady called Sue who had been born and lived in the village for 58 years climbed onto a small step ladder and balanced precariously on the top. She started by describing how she and her brother used to go to the Church school that once stood where Apollo and Scylla Place are now. Her brother used to have a little peddle car that he would peddle part of the way, leave it under a bush and walk the rest of the way. On the way back he’d pick up the car and peddle all the way back. The car was always just where he left it. The Bell from the school is still in it’s original place and can be seen in the eves of Scylla Place.

Church School Bell on Scylla Place, St John’s Surrey

Some of the villagers began to chime in with their stories. One lady advised us that the history of the school has been well documented by a Mrs Kiery. Sue’s Mother a Mrs Constable used to teach in the school. Another lady suddenly realised that she used to know Sue’s mother and another talked about her own father who had been the Verger and Sexton at the church in the 50’s and 60s. It was almost like a school/village reunion! Perhaps some of those people could be persuaded to record their memories for prosperity?

St John’s Church was built in 1840 by Charles Bowles the Vicar of St Peter’s in Old Woking who felt that the burgeoning population around the Kiln Bridge area needed a Chapel of Ease. ie they probably couldn’t be bothered to walk all the way into Old Woking to go to church on their day off so the wiley vicar built a church closer to them and ‘easier’ to get to, so they had no excuse. He employed the architect George Gilbert Scott as Architect and the completed church was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on 24^th June 1842.

St John’s village Club

Next someone told us the story of the Village Club, this was originally built by the Percival Family who owned most of the surrounding land in the 1870s. They lived in a huge house and grounds called The Hermitage, now known as the Hermitage Estate. This was when the Canal was a working canal and St John’s was frequented by lots of bargemen. Most of them headed for the Rowbarge for their entertainment which was a popular place of ill repute! The Percivals decided to build a Working Men’s Club in order to keep working men out of the Rowbarge. Miss Percival was the only lady allowed in the club and to this day it still doesn’t admit ladies. The female audience were  more amused by this than upset although there were a few disgruntled murmurings  but I don’t think the suffragettes of St John’s are too bothered about not being allowed in. My other half said he might join especially when he heard that membership was only £10 a year and it costs £2.10 a pint! I’m all for it, that’s a couple of hours of peace for me.

A few Celebrities have lived in the house next to the club, John Gregg the cricketer and Jean Chaliss a BBC radio presenter , I could have this name wrong as I tried to google Jean Chalice but found nothing so if you can help me on this one please comment at the end.

St John’s lye looking a bit moody and foggy!

Next stop was the Merityre Centre. Here again the elders of the village (hope they don’t mind being called elders, I think it sounds wise) took over and started remembering what shops were where. The pharmacy used to be a Stables and the Car Park opposite was the Stable Yard and there was a Barber’s near Bellini’s called Sid’s Hair Cutters. According to popular legend Sid was a bit of a gambler and you never went to Sid when he had money on a horse as he just couldn’t concentrate! There was also another pub in the Village called the Prince of Wales, very nice food according to one of the villagers but sadly it has gone now. One lady recounted going to Tiang’s when it was a Dressmakers and Haberdashers and remembered a lovely garden behind the shop. Around where the Tyre Centre is now were Brick Kiln’s which were supplied with locally sourced clay hence the name Kiln Bridge.

The Kiln Bridge, St John’s Surrey

Our final stop was the site of the Old Memorial Hall. This time John Jarret who is Chairman of the New Memorial Hall Construction Committee took to the step ladder and gave us a potted history of the Hall.

The Kiln Bridge, St John’s Surrey

In World War II Three fighter pilots came down over Woking. They were all on training flights. Two came down over Knaphill they were aged 19 and 20 and sadly lost their lives. The third, a Polish Pilot clipped wings with another Spitfire while practising and had to press the ejector button. His Spitfire came down on the golf course and he parachuted down over the kiln bridge. The story goes that Mrs Moore from the Butchers, thinking it was the enemy arriving rushed out brandishing a meat cleaver. The Pilot didn’t speak any English and I suspect found the encounter more terrifying than fighting the Luftwaffe

The Memorial hall was opened on the 3^rd May1940, primarily for the Canadian servicemen that were stationed in nearby Inkerman Barracks. Someone wondered aloud that quite a few residents of St John’s might have Canadian blood! It cost the princely sum of £2,500 to build and was opened by two princesses, both grand daughters of Queen Victoria, Princess Helena Victoria who was 70 at the time and Princess Alice.  In the Press cuttings the hall was described as the Princess Helena Victoria “Hut” despite having a full concert hall and 4 bathrooms. It was originally staffed by 80 volunteers and 4 paid staff. Later on the hall was purchased for the sole use of the people of the village in memory of those who had lost their lives in the war.

The Olde Hay Loft, St John’s, Surrey

Before John gave us a quick summary of the construction of the new hall we were side tracked by a story of an Indian Princess. In the 1930s an Indian Princess and her entourage came to stay in the village, in the  next to the Olde Hay Loft Canal. She became ill and they thought she was going to die so put her in the woodshed as it was a religious belief that you should not have a dead body in the house. Sure enough she died. The body then had to be transported over water, down the canal to the crematorium where a funeral pyre was prepared. The crematorium was one of the few place that an outdoor cremation was allowed. The Daily Mirror tried to bribe someone to take a photograph but big screens were erected and no pictures were possible. The Daily Mirror may have been thwarted in their attempt to make money from the story but the entrepreneurial shoe makers in St John’s did a roaring trade in plimsolls as the funeral goers were not allowed to wear leather.

The New Memorial Hall, St John’s, Surrey, Dec 2013

Back to the new Memorial Hall and John gave us a quick update on progress. The villagers have been saving for 30 years to rebuild the Hall but finally Woking Council have decided to step in and pay for the whole thing. The new building will cost around £1.7 million. Natural heat will be harnessed from the ground, a rain water collection system will be used to flush the toilets and it is built from an award winning design. The new hall will provisionally be opened on the 3^rd May 2014.

The tour ended here and we felt that we’d not only been given a living history tour with all the villagers recounting their memories but also some great stories to tell down the pub! Those that had put the tour together and those that joined in with their knowledge and memories did a fantastic job and I’m looking forward to the next history tour which will be on the 1^st Feb 2014 starting at Seasons Coffee shop.

If you would like to help with the opening of the new Memorial Hall please contact, John, Denise or  Fiona at the following email address bookings@stjohnsmha.co.uk

I like my history and I love a bit of gossip! So I’m going to give the history tour a double thunderbolt rating, Very Good, as I’m sure February’s tour will be even better!

Double Thunderbolt Rating