North Camp History Walk 2010

The walk we did last year was repeated on Sunday 10 October 2010, when a number of members and prospective members joined me on a historic tour around South Farnborough and North Camp.  We gathered at the gardens in front of the Old Town Hall (now Ferneberga House) opposite St Mark’s Church, then moved along Reading Road to the junction of Farnborough Road to the site of an airship crash in 1911, on what was then Woodlands Cottage.  We progressed along Osborne Road, and then into Cross Street to look at the twelve cottages in Alma Square, built around 1865.  Continuing along Osborne Road, with its numerous Victorian houses, we looked at the recreation ground which was once a gravel pit, then walked along Parish Road, the original path to the gravel pit, on to Farnborough Road and up to the Holiday Inn which was originally the Queens Hotel.  Looking out from the path in front of the hotel we talked about the site of an ancient burial mound behind a memorial to an unknown soldier in the Boer War both of which are on the Queens Roundabout.  Wavell School is on the site of the earlier barracks and squares of the North Camp and at one time back in the 1860s there was also a popular racecourse which attracted thousands of spectators. 

Along Lynchford Road we passed Peel Court which replaced the old police station and looked at the Soldiers’ Home which is now named The Old School House.  To illustrate the fact that local history can involve looking for clues, members were encouraged to delve into the holly hedge surrounding the Methodist church.  Hidden deep in the hedge is a post and wire fence where the posts have a small crown on the top indicating the property’s military origin.  We then went on to talk about the history of the numerous shops along the edge of the camp which used to be the main shopping area for miles around.

Renamed public houses, the site of horsedrawn trams and the connection with the fairground families were all mentioned.  The route continued along Peabody Road, into High Street, looking specifically at the ornamental ‘bunch of grapes’ tiles on a row of houses opposite St Mark’s School, and into Camp Road where the variations in architecture make up an interesting street scene.  From there we went into Queen’s Road and completed the walk by looking at the old brewery cottages and the former Children’s Home along Church Path which emerges onto Reading Road opposite the site of the home of Dr Hunter Dunn, the father of Joan Hunter Dunn immortalised in John Betjeman’s poem, the Subaltern’s Love Song.

We concluded the walk by passing St Mark’s church to return to the Old Town Hall Gardens. 

Jo Gosney