Sunday, February 10, 2008
10 Feb A trip to Crawley for Grandpa B.
Sunday again..... and I realise that I have been quite idle.
Never mind, "tomorrow is another day."
We began early, leaving home at quarter past seven for Dorking. The ice on the car had to be dealt with first. I felt really cold at the car boot sale and items we picked up made our fingers feel numb - I expect some of the stalls had been set up since before dawn.
It really hadn't been worthwhile going to Dorking - except that maybe it is good for my soul to get out and do normal things. We bought very little. I found just 6 books and Bill bought 2 model vehicles and a book to read for himself.
After we had warmed up again Bill went out again - he had run out of bread and
decided to walk to Asdas in the town. He took his camera with him.
Crawley has changed so much in our own life time and through the years before.
The most famous old building is probably The George Hotel, an old coaching inn in what used to be the town centre before The New Town was built.
In recent years The Square as we used to call the space opposite The George has been pedestrianised. It used to be busy with traffic and buses, but now there is just a cobbled one way system on the far side of The Square. The renovations have been done reasonably sympathetically.
You can see that the changes to the buildings of The George and surroundings have changed little, except that the old building has been made to look more medieval by exposing the timber beams, which would have been there when it was first built. In Georgian and Victorian times it was fashionable to give your property a make over and to get rid of old fashioned things like beams and have tile clad walls instead.
There are some sculptures now within the newly furnished Square. This is part of one that reflects the old meaning of the place name, Crawley.
Crawley's name is derived from the Anglo Saxon crawe leah - a 'crow infested clearing'. The spelling changed during the Middle Ages - Crauleia (c1203), Crawele (c1250) and Croule (1279) - with the more familiar spelling Crawley appearing around 1316.
I think the crows have moved South a little - and the grassy area in front of our house is now the "crow infested" place.
There have been many changes in The High Street. Bill and I remember all the shops here that supplied a family's basic needs. Now most have been transformed into estate agents or eating places.
The building set between the roads heading North and South was demolished in 1956. I went to a dentist in that central block.
The signal box is no longer used. The windows are boarded up. It is opened sometimes for history open days.
I once went up to the signal box and had a cup of tea with the signal man.
The gates have changed of course and the pedestrian subway by the signal box has been filled in. As children we loved to stand under the railway when a train passed over head.
The old post card shows the level crossing and the view southwards along Brighton Road. Our house is about a quarter of an hour's walk from this spot.
And it was in our house that I spent the rest of the day - watching too much sport on TV - athletics trials, rugby etc.
