New audio guide sheds light on the secrets of Witley Camp

In 2019, Godalming Museum was awarded £63,900 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to carry out an exciting community archaeology project at Witley Camp, with help from Surrey County Archaeological Unit and The National Trust. Once a bustling military camp home to 20,000 British and Canadian soldiers and a veterinary hospital in the First World War, the area today has returned to woodland with little trace of any remains.

A new walk and free audio guide has been created by Surrey County Archaeological Unit with help from Godalming Museum and the National Trust, highlighting some of the key First World War areas of the camp using original photographs, sounds and recordings, providing an insight to the life of the people based here over 100 years ago.

Hannah Potter, the Community Archaeologists for Surrey County Archaeological Unit says “Witley Camp had such a huge impact on so many lives during the First world War, but very little remains of the site today. This audio-guide offers a glimpse into the past as well as an enjoyable walk around a beautiful site.”

Godalming Museum Curator Alison Pattison commented “The collections at Godalming Museum include many images and memories of the First World War army camps on Witley Common and it is wonderful to be able link these with the landscape and share them with people enjoying the common today. To see the busy army camp of a century ago in the context of the peaceful heath and woodland of the present day, enriches our understanding of both.”

Perhaps the most famous soldier who passed through the camp was Wilfred Owen. He was stationed at the camp in the summer of 1916. Whilst at Witley, Owen wrote ‘A New Heaven’, which he later reworked to form his famous poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’. With the outbreak of the Second World War, three camps were rebuilt by the British for use by Canadian troops and to train the local Home Guard. Witley was involved with the disastrous Canadian Army landings at Dieppe and was used as a holding area in the lead up to D-Day. Between 1946 and 1949, the camps were taken over as the headquarters of the Polish Resettlement Corps, helping resettle around 150,000 Poles and their families in Britain. The site was again returned to common land with little above the surface to tell the incredible tale. Many thousands of lives were impacted by the camp, but as the last veterans of the Second World War pass away, this memory is fading. It is hoped that the audio guide, focusing on the First World War, will increase awareness of this important site.

To get the Witley Camp in the First World War audio guide, you will need to download the izi.TRAVEL app on to your phone. After this has downloaded you will need to search for ‘Witley Camp’ and click the download button (either ‘Download’ in a rectangular button, or a circle with a down arrow in it, depending on your phone). When the download is completed, you are all set to go!

Things to know about this walk:

• We advise that you download this walk before visiting Witley Common as there is limited phone signal at the site.
• The walk begins at the Webb Road National Trust Car Park. The address of this car park is Webb Road, Witley, Godalming, GU8 5QJ. Parking is free for National Trust members.
• We advise you use headphones for this walk to improve the sound quality.
• This walk is just over 1 mile long and lasts around 1 hour.
• The walk is over some sandy and uneven ground with roots and other trip hazards. Please take care.
• Don’t forget to turn your phone volume up when you start the walk!

Don’t have a smart phone?
Don’t worry! Email Surrey County Archaeological Unit for a map and transcript of the audio-tour at education.scau@surreycc.gov.uk
Although you will miss out on the sound clips, you will still be able to view all the photographs and directions.

Weekend Walk: East Meon: Low path / High path (8.5 miles)

This really is a most wonderful walk and is highly recommended. Humphrey and I did it recently with a friend on one of those perfect days we had. It is a circular walk through the gentle county of East Hampshire, far from the bustle of the towns, on paths that are seldom used, giving you a feeling of peace. East Meon is the half-way destination and the main objective of this walk, with its pubs, cottages, church and chalk stream of the kind written about by Izaak Walton. The return route is over the hills with some great views that will stretch your legs a bit. Try and do it on a clear and sunny day to make the most of the views. SR

1. Walk away from the village along the quiet side road, Ramsdean Road, going past the school on your left, with table-shaped Butser Hill looming ahead. Just before a right-hand bend, ignore a footpath left by a metal gate. Only 70m further, turn left into the smart gravel drive of Stroudbridge Farm, marked as a footpath. Pass their little garden on the right with a bridge over the Criddell Stream. You now have the farmhouse on your left and the stream on your right. Go through a large wooden gate and follow the grassy track. The track veers right over the stream, taking you over a stile on the left of a large metal gate into a large rough meadow. Keep to the right-hand side of the meadow not far from a wire fence. The meadow elbows left, becomes fenced and narrows under tall oaks, leading through a small metal gate beside a large one. In the far left-hand corner, go over a stile or through a large metal gate and continue on a wide path. Keep to the main gently winding brick-lined path for nearly 300m until finally you emerge into daylight, passing a crumbling farm building on your right. On your left you can see the vineyard of Dean’s Farm. At the top of the slope, at a T-junction, turn right on a signed footpath.

2. Butser Hill is now prominent on your left with Lythe Hanger on your right. Your path is a wide grassy strip beside the field on your right. The next field also has a grassy strip as you approach the buildings of New Barn. At the corner of a small grassy field attached to the house, keep straight ahead staying on the grass strip. The path runs near the buildings on your right and joins their concrete drive. Where the drive curves left, leave it to continue straight ahead down a grassy meadow. In only 20m, veer right past a marker post and downhill through the woodland of Nutcombe Copse. At the bottom, veer right on a wide ancient sunken track that runs along the valley. Unfortunately it is muddy in parts, since it shares its course part-way with a stream, but this is easy to avoid using the bank on your right (sometimes swapping to the left). [2018: a walker met motorbikes coming this way and had to take evasive action.] The winding stony track rises between steep banks. Where it begins to come out of the trees and you see the buildings of Orchard Farm ahead, go left up steps (easily missed!) over a stile and into a large sheep meadow.

3. Cross straight over the sheep meadow keeping roughly 50m from the houses on the right and going past a field maple in the centre. Aim just to the right of a group of tall trees which conceal dwellings, where you can see a yellow round (broken) disc on the fence. Go over a stile here and follow the tarmac drive past a bungalow Nutcombe View and Ramsdean House. At the end, turn right on a lane which is joined by another lane. Shortly, just before the first house of the hamlet of Ramsdean, turn sharp left over a stile on a signed footpath.

4. Keep to the right in the meadow, across another small meadow, over a stile and up the right-hand side of a larger pasture. The hill visible on your right is Barrow Hill. Your route from here to just before East Meon is almost dead straight all the way. At the top, go over a pair of stiles and along the left-hand side of the next crop field. Your way is now through a gap next to a redundant stile and straight across a crop field (or, if not clear of crops, depending on the season, left and sharp right at the corner). At the other side, keep directly ahead along the left-hand side of the next field. Sir Williams Hill, which you will be traversing later, is visible on your right. The path crosses a rough meadow and a diagonal crossing path, and follows a path straight ahead by willow banks. The path widens to a track. Ahead to your left is Old Winchester Hill. After nearly 500m, this ancient track leads you past a metal barrier onto a dirt drive (wet in some seasons). 250m later, you reach a tarmac lane at a bend.

5. Cross straight over the lane and go through a new small wooden gate into a sheep meadow. The houses and church of East Meon now come into view with Park Hill standing guard to its north. Go across the centre, just to the left of a small enclosure, and go through another new wooden gate at the end of the meadow. Veer right on a grassy path towards the village, through a new small wooden gate. You reach a bridge on the left with the infant Meon flowing under it by a house. Turn left over the bridge, follow the path past some attractive houses, across a gravel track and finally through a gate into the cricket pitch. Go straight across (or round if a match is in progress) and through yet another new small wooden gate. Avoid a lane sharp right but turn right on a major road by Forge Cottage (dating from 1600) and so into the village to the High Street, with the Meon running along it.

6. Continue along the High Street and turn right on Church Street past the village well, with its 1857 wellhead, on to the church which is definitely worth visiting. Go through the lichgate and pass to the left of the church. Keep ahead over the grass and veer left at a fingerpost (which is well hidden in an elder bush and nettles), skirting the graveyard. The path bends right uphill, soon by a garden fence. Just before a wooden swing-gate, go right up concrete steps, through a swing-gate and straight up the hillside parallel to a line of maples on your left. At the pointed corner of a field, keep right with a wire fence on your left. You now have an excellent view of the whole village and, beyond it, the rolling South Downs – a classic view. Your path curves left by the fence and then runs along the contour, and, once you are round the hill, heads for a white house, the modestly named Park Cottage. Go over a stile beside a farm gate and keep on down the right-hand side of the meadow. Go through a kissing-gate in the corner, along a grassy strip and through another kissing-gate onto a lane next to a pond.

7. Cross straight over the lane, past a large metal gate, to a footpath opposite. Follow the sandy track directly uphill, between two fields. On reaching the far side, in 500m, turn right with the track and, in 60m, turn left at a marker post on the far side of a hedge on a wide cinder path downhill. In 200m, at a T-junction at the bottom, turn right and, in 30m, turn left at a fingerpost on a grassy path between fields. You soon reach a Y-junction at the corner of a wood: fork left, keeping the wood on your right. As you near the top, the steeple of Froxfield Church is visible a fraction to your left. The field on your left ends as you reach a T-junction with a wide track in 400m. Turn right on the track, between tree plantations. As you descend, you pass a line of trees on your left known as Scaffold’s Row and arrive at a wood called Sheep Walk by a marker post.

8. Follow the wide track downhill through the wood, soon following overhead wires. You pass an electricity pole and quickly meet a wide, gravel crossing path with a yellow marker on the left and a Private sign on your right. Ignore this crossing path and continue down the track till you reach a smaller crossing path. As a guide, this is just before another electricity pole with a small transformer and by another yellow marker pointing in the opposite direction). Turn right on this crossing path (defying the direction of the arrows). The path goes uphill, bends right under a yew tree and goes downhill fairly steeply (careful!) on a path cut into the sloping hanger. At the bottom, you come to an oblique T-junction. Turn sharp left on a level wide path. In only 20m, turn right on a narrow path down a slope and through a new swing-gate. Continue down the left-hand side of a grassy meadow towards some modern houses. A new metal kissing-gate and a path by a fence and garden lead you to a residential road. Keep straight on and turn left on the main road opposite Home Farm Cottage in the pretty village of Langrish, its steepled church just visible to your left. Turn left here.

9. In only 20m, go right up some steps on a signed footpath, left on the grass and immediately right at the corner. You are in the garden of the cottage with its manicured hedges but you need to make a respectful exit in 20m, left through a small kissing-gate into the adjoining very weed-cluttered pasture. Go diagonally right and through a wooden gate under a tall oak by a large metal gate. Keep ahead to join a track coming from the left. Your path runs between fields and meadows and has a grassy central strip. Follow this track for about 500m and, when you reach a crossing track, pass to the left of an unneeded stile and go along the right-hand side of a meadow. At the top, veer left and right, through a gap in the hedge next to a broken stile and into the next field. Continue across the centre. On reaching the jutting corner of the field, veer right with the woodland of Mustercombe Copse on your left, perhaps with a last look at Butser Hill. About 20m before the next corner, fork left on a narrow unmarked path into the wood.

10.This lovely little wood makes a memorable end to the walk. At the other side, go over a stile to cross a meadow with Stroud now visible ahead, keeping to the right of an oak in the centre. Go over a stile in a fence, followed by another and a third stile with a bridge over the Criddell Stream, and through a strip of woodland to meet a tarmac drive. Go straight over the drive and through a swing-gate. Veer left across a small meadow which is part of a private tree garden with a small fenced-off paddock designed to house an adorable miniature pony. Go through a wood-and-metal kissing-gate in a hawthorn hedge and round the edge of a paddock, through another metal swing-gate, over a V-stile, across another pasture and through a final metal kissing-gate to the road where the walk began.

DISTANCE: 8½ miles
MAP: Explorer 133 (Petersfield) and 132 (Winchester)
START: The walk begins at Stroud, Hampshire, near Petersfield, postcode GU32 3PJ, less than a mile from the A3. Park in Ramsdean Road which is off the A272 and next to the Seven Stars Pub Restaurant, signposted Ramsdean.

Taken with permission from www.fancyfreewalks.org.

Chocolate temptations

Karen Doidge Hill has always been very creative, with her first love being fashion design. She grew up in Cornwall before moving to London to study at London College of Fashion. After graduating, she opened a boutique which also had concessions in Top Shop. With the advent of children, she moved back to Cornwall and discovered her love of baking. She opened Quench Juice Café and had many happy years making cakes. When her daughter started being cast in films and chose to study at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, the family moved back to London. Here, Karen began making cakes for friends and colleagues and started ‘Small Wonders’ making cakes for special occasions and creating cakes for people with special dietary needs. She also started writing baking and cake articles. Karen now lives locally in Milford.

Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel ‘Rolo’ Brownies
As my nephew doesn’t eat peanut butter in the recipe below, I have been asked to make some of my ‘Rolo’ Brownies. This recipe is one of my easiest ever and whenever I have children staying I get them to help me make them.

Ingredients:
200g unsalted butter, 200g good quality 70% dark chocolate, 125g muscovado sugar, 125g caster sugar, 4 eggs, 125g plain flour, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp good quality cocoa powder 1 tsp sea salt, 4 tubes of ‘Rolos’ – 2 chopped and 2 left whole.

Makes 16 squares.

Method:
1. First heat your oven to 150º C fan.
2. To begin melt the chocolate together with the butter over a low heat. In a separate bowl, beat together both sugars with the eggs until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture, then sift in the flour and cocoa. Mix all together along with the sea salt. Stir in chopped ‘Rolos’, and pour into your prepared tin. Press the remaining “Rolos” into the mixture.
3. Bake for 25-30 mins, until firm to touch, but still nice and gooey in the middle. Remember with Brownies, they will continue to set as they cool.
4. Leave in the tin to cool completely and then transfer to a chopping board to slice. These are fantastic eaten warm with a good dollop of vanilla ice cream, and so very easy to make. Delicious!

Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Nut Brittle
I have been eagerly awaiting the new Great British Bake Off series, which is always watched by the whole family. This year we missed the first few episodes as the family was having great fun on holiday in Gibraltar. It was my daughters 17th birthday, so I had to make her a special cake – very tricky with such a limited kitchen. In fact, the first hurdle was a lack of scales. I managed to improvise using the luggage scales, a shoe lace and a saucepan – this would be so much easier at home. My daughter’s choice was for a combination of all her favourite things – dark chocolate, cheesecake, peanut butter and salted caramel. No problem. The recipe is rather complicated, but as long as you take it step by step, it will be a piece of cake!

Ingredients:
For the base: 500g Oreo Cookies, 100g butter.
For the Cheesecake filling: 200g good quality 70% dark chocolate, 500g full fat cream cheese, 300g mascarpone cheese, 200g sour cream, 150g smooth peanut butter, 1 large free range egg, 170g muscovado sugar, 5 tbsp good quality cocoa powder.
For the Salted Caramel Sauce: 30g unsalted butter, 100ml double cream, good pinch of sea salt.
For the Chocolate Ganache: 100g good quality 70% dark chocolate, 200ml double cream.
For the peanut Brittle: 160g caster sugar, 30g salted peanuts.

Makes 12-16 portions.

Method:
1. To make the cheesecake, the first thing is to preheat your oven to 180C/Fan 160C. Then begin with the base. Blend your Oreo cookies in a food processor to get a fine crumb, then add to your melted butter. Tip into your cake tin and press down until tightly compacted, covering the base and coming up the sides. Place in the fridge to set.
2. Melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of boiling water, remove from the heat and cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth, add the mascarpone cheese, sour cream and peanut butter. Mix in the egg, sugar, and cocoa powder. Lastly add the cooled chocolate and stir. Pour the mixture into your cake tin on top of the base.
4. Half fill a large roasting tin with boiling water and place into your oven. Wrap your cake tin with tin foil so water cannot get in, and place into the roasting tin. Top up with boiling water, and then bake in your oven for one hour and 15 mins. Remove the cake from the oven, allow to cool and place in your fridge.
5. To decorate your cheesecake, first start with the salted caramel. Place the sugar in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat and melt slowly. Do not stir the mixture, gently swirl the pan to incorporate all the sugar. When it turns a golden brown, add the butter and stir. Add the cream and stir to get a silky smooth caramel sauce, then add a good pinch of sea salt. I use this sauce all the time, especially over vanilla ice cream or fruit. Cool the caramel completely, then pour over the top of the cheesecake letting it pour over the sides. Put it back in the fridge to await the final coating.
6. To make the chocolate Ganache, heat the cream in a pan over a medium heat until just beginning to bubble. Pour over the dark chocolate and stir until they have melted together to make a thick shiny sauce. Let this cool and then drizzle over the caramel topped cheesecake. Return to the fridge until ready to serve.
7. Lastly, to make the brittle shards, melt the sugar the same way as for the caramel. But this time when it turns golden brown, carefully pour onto a greased piece of greaseproof paper and quickly scatter on your peanuts. Allow to cool completely, and when ready to serve snap into shards and arrange on top of your cheesecake.
8. This cake is very, very rich, and you will only need a small slice. It is delicious served with ice-cream.

Five tips from HR for successful remote inductions

Sometimes change can lead to good things. If your business is in the position to be hiring at the moment, chances are you and your team are fairly busy, and business is going well.

After finalising your recruitment process, which may have been arduous with applications at an all-time high, you will no doubt be keen for your recruit to get started and hit the ground running. There’s work to be done after all and you need all hands-on deck.

But in order for your newest employee to feel involved and be able to contribute effectively, there is one more part of the process that you will need to make a priority.

An induction.

Why are employee inductions important?

Inductions are a time for introductions to team members, systems, processes, and company culture.

Knowing who to report to and the preferred methods of communication are vital for a new employee. Even more so at a time like this.

A good induction not only sets your newest employee up for success, but can also increase the chances of them staying put.

If you’re already busy, the last thing you’ll need is having to start the process all over again.

What to consider when holding a virtual induction

If, like many businesses at the moment, you are operating remotely, your induction process will need some tweaking to suit your new setup.

We have put together the following top tips to help.

1. Have a backup plan

Before you have started, before you have even recruited, think about your backup plan.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that things don’t always go to plan. Even the most well-orchestrated plans can be interrupted by absences or technology failures.

Your backup plan should include important documents, guides or training that can be emailed or posted to the employee in advance. This gives them something to work through in the instance of a hiccup and will keep your induction schedule on track.

2. Use a condensed version

A condensed version of your typical induction helps to decrease the chances of zoom fatigue. The alternative would be planning adequate breaks, but this could make the process longer.

Focus on the essentials. What will they need to know in order to do their job well? What processes are key? For example, how to book holiday or report an absence.

After ticking these boxes, you may find that the rest naturally falls into place.

3. Set up introductions with co-workers

When teams work together remotely, video conferencing can help to breakdown communication barriers and maintain a human connection.

Set up virtual meetings with members of the team that your new employee is going to be working with. This will help to break the ice and give them a good understanding of who they may need to speak to and when.

It may also help to assign them a buddy in these early stages, for informal information and support.

4. Prioritise health and safety

Employers have a duty of care for all employees, that includes remote workers.

Anyone joining the team should return a homeworking risk assessment before they start work. This protects both the employee and the business.

Stress awareness, lone working and the importance of a safe workstation are all crucial considerations when managing remote workers. Ask us how you can work this into your induction material.

5. Make time for inclusivity

An inclusive company culture directly impacts the success and happiness of employees. In 2020, maintaining a sense of team spirit is more important than ever before.

Virtual team building can be fun, productive and help your recruit to feel included.

When coming up with games or tasks, ask employees for their input, you may find they are keener to participate. Or contact us if you need some ideas.

For further help with remote inductions

Whether you’re recruiting now or think that your future inductions will be managed remotely, we are here to help and guide you through.

HR Dept, Elm House, Tanshire Park, Shackleford Road, Elstead, Surrey, GU8 6LB
www.hrdept.co.uk/wokingandguildford
T: 01483 603001

Weekend Walk: Box Hill (5 plus 4.5 miles)

Walk east, past Ryka’s café, through the car park of the Burford Bridge Hotel and then a few yards along the A24 towards Dorking. Just past the roundabout take a path left, down into a field by the side of the River Mole. Walk around the edge of the field, by the river, to reach a footbridge. Cross and follow the path right to reach a T junction where you turn left and start to climb a hill. Ignore the first signpost pointing right. Instead, take the second path right, at the top of the first set of steps. The path climbs up some more and then strikes out east, along the flank of the slope. Keep going until reaching a five bar gate at a point where a path merges in from above left.

Go through the gate and immediately reach a T junction where you turn right and walk down only a few yards before breaking off left (unsigned) for 5 yards to reach a lane. Turn left and a signpost takes you uphill from the point where the lane dead-ends at a gate. The path then turns right and continues east, along the flank of the slope. Keep going until passing a bench with a view down over Brockham. Shortly afterward reach a T junction with a path coming down from the left. Turn left to take this path back (west) towards Box Hill. At one point you are forced left down some steps and then right to continue on.

Keep going, straight across at a cross paths with a wide track. Continue until, at a T junction, turning left to continue on in the same direction. Go through a gate and, a few yards further on, drop down left a few yards and turn right to continue on in a grassy open area but still parallel to the main path with which you eventually remerge.

Again continue on to pass the Box Hill viewing platform and later the grave of Major Peter Labilliere, who had himself buried upside down there in 1800. The track widens and takes you down a wide grassy slope. Just before three trees in the middle of the slope, turn left and walk down to the starting car park. You could use the cafe and/or toilets and/or picnic here. You could go on to the Stepping Stones public house in West Humble (see later) or the field by the Mole that you traversed earlier.

After lunch, from Ryka’s, again head towards Dorking as you did at the start of the morning walk but do not drop down left into the field. Instead walk on a few yards and go through an underpass to the other side of the A24. On the other side, turn left and quickly right, into West Humble Road. Walk up past the Stepping Stones pub to just beyond West Humble Station. Pick up the path going right from the right-hand side of the road just beyond the station and alongside Fanny Burney’s house. (Frances Burney (1752 – 1840), later, Madame d’Arblay, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright.) Enter a large field, staying on the right-hand side, and crossing a footbridge over the Mole. On reaching Swanworth Farm, take the path left and cross the Mole again. Continue on to a small field with an information plaque then swing right, onto a wide path running right and through a wood and eventually meeting an asphalted lane running uphill, left, towards Norbury Park House.

Follow this up to and then around the perimeter of the grounds of Norbury House, staying alongside its wooden fence. You will swing left and pass a sawmill. Follow the fence until it breaks off left and downhill. (At this point it is worth briefly diverting left to look at the view out over the valley and over Mickleham.) Continue on along the wide path until reaching a signpost saying “Druid’s Grove” and pointing down some steps to the left. Go down the steps to join a narrow footpath on which you head right. At a T junction with a wider path, go right and later take a left fork. At a T junction, go straight over and steeply down a lot of steps to emerge on the bank of the Mole. Follow the bank, right, to reach the field by Fanny Burney’s house. Cross to the far right corner and emerge by West Humble Station. Walk back to Ryka’s.

DISTANCE: A figure of 8 of 5 plus 4.5 miles
OS MAPS: Explorer 146 – Dorking, Box Hill & Reigate
STARTING POINT: The car park by Ryka’s café and next to the Burford Bridge Hotel (RH5 6BX) at the foot of Box Hill
GRID REFERENCE: 5 171 1 520
REFRESHMENTS: Ryka’s café, Old London Rd, Dorking, Mickleham, Surrey RH5 6BY (01306 884454) or the Stepping Stones, Westhumble St, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6BS (01306 889932)

Image above: Box Hill by John Miller