The "Hare And Hounds" today: click the photo for their website

  1968 saw the first meeting of West End Parish Council, an indication of the increasing size and importance of the village in it's own right. Also, the first stage of a new junior school complete with its own playing fields was built down Benner Lane on land bought by compulsory purchase order from Malthouse Farm. The infants still used the original Holy Trinity building until in 1987 when that closed and the children moved into the main school. After two years of silence it re-opened, housing a hairdressing salon, dance studio and tea room. Plans for further development sadly came to nothing when it was demolished to make way for eight homes.

  In the overall scheme of things the village falls within the Borough of Surrey Heath, formed when Frimley and Camberley Urban District Council merged with Bagshot Rural District Council in 1974. The area covered by this authority covers the westernmost corner of Surrey and borders on the counties of Hampshire and Berkshire. It also forms half of a combined Parish with Bisley and church services alternate between Holy Trinity (below-left) and St. John The Baptist (13th-century) in Church Lane, Bisley.

Holy Trinity, West End

  The 1991 Census showed West End as having a population of 6,728 (the 2001 census was still being compiled as this was written). A link with the farming past is maintained in the form of an agricultural show which takes place every September on the Recreation Ground. Plant nurseries are still fairly common in the area however some have long since been buried under modern housing estates as the south east in general - as ever - remains under sustained pressure for an insatiable quest for affordable accommodation. The busy A322 Bracknell to Guildford "Rat-Run" is often a two-way constant stream of traffic (more so at Rush Hour) which serves as a connecting route for towns between the M25, M3 and M4. A by-pass has frequently been proposed for West End and experienced a lengthy public consultation stage. Like many such plans, it received a fatal blow when the Government recently cancelled many major road-building projects at a stroke. After the recent re-surfacing of the main road the speed limit is to be reduced to 30 mph through West End and Bisley, a sign of the cautious times we live in. The infamous Brentmoor Road junction now has dedicated traffic light control.

We are here or thereabouts: click the map for an enlarged view

  Along Brentmoor road is the Hare & Hounds, opposite which was WECCs' original ground. It now forms part of the extensive Brentmoor Common, an area of lowland heath covering some 75 hectares managed by the Wildlife Trust. Read about the more historical aspects of Brentmoor Road here. Across the A319 from Gordon's School on Windlesham Road is the excellent 9-hole Windlemere golf course, Opposite which is Hookstone Green. In years past, on November 5th a bonfire burned here as well as on Streets Heath Recreation Ground. A short way out of the village along the Red Road was The Folly. This gravel pit of importance lay on the boundary between the parishes of West End and Windlesham and locals used it extensively for roads and other construction work. Its location made it a point of importance when "beating the bounds." At the end of the eastward-bound Beldam Bridge Road is the Castle Grove public house, apparently originally built as a booking office for a light railway for Chobham that never materialised. This doubtless explains why to this day the road to Woking is named "Station Road" with no station!

  The National Rifle Association had better luck after given notice to quit Wimbledon Common in 1888. Moving onto Bisley Common, a station was opened by the then Prince Of Wales, one month before the order was passed under the Tramways Act of 1890! (This was six years before the Light Railways Act.) This branch line ran from Brookwood station, ran westward on the northern side of the Waterloo line till the bridge near Pirbright, then curved north over the recently-restored Basinstoke Canal toward where Bisley Camp is today, a total of about 1.25 miles in length. It served the N.R.A. every July when they had their meetings (which continue to this day). It was used rather more heavily during both World Wars, being extended to Army camps in the area for the duration of each breakout of hostilities. Rarely making any profit, the branch was closed by the LSWR in July 1952, the last journey marked by suitable music and rifle volleys courtesey of the Gloucester Regiment. The tracks were removed shortly afterwards but the route is visible for much of it's length for those curious enough to look. (The wartimes' extended route is much harder to find, though.) The station buildings at the Camp are still in use, mainly for accommodation. (Click here for Bisley Gun Club.) Nearby Brookwood (through which goes Basingstoke Canal) houses a huge, peaceful War Cemetery. A couple of miles away to the east of West End you'll hit Horsell Common, famous as a setting for H. G. Wells' sci-fi classic, "War Of The Worlds." To the east of Chobham is Fairoaks Airport.

New Website devoted to villages in our area, including West End!

Origins of the village     Recent times & around the area

westendcc@yahoo.com

Pages maintained by Adrian Barrett