Haslemere, Surrey- a little evening stroll & window shop!

[@sarahsselection]

Hope you like the look of Haslemere- I may be moving to this pretty little place! ❤

[@kaitlynx1388]

What a charming peaceful little place. Looks like a wonderful place to call home 🌷💚🌷💚🌷💚🌷

[@sarahsselection]

It really is a dream place, but not cheap to buy as you can imagine. That's Surrey for you! Xx

[@clarewilkins5094]

Looks gorgeous 😍 Sarah.What a lovely place to live 🎉

[@sarahsselection]

Hello! I know, it really is. Sleepy, peaceful & boring in the best way possible! 💕

[@clarewilkins5094]

@sarahsselection As I get older I feel there's nothing wrong in boring 😆🥰

[@xetalq]

Hi Sarah: I grew up in Haslemere and loved it - as a child, it was a wonderful place in which to live, with plenty to do. To begin with, I went to school in Haslemere itself, before attending schools in nearby Hindhead and Godalming. The countryside is close by and easily accessed, with part of the Surrey Hills AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) named Blackdown being very close. Blackdown was originally owned by the Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson and he bequeathed the land to the nation upon his death. Take the Petworth Road about half a mile out of town, make a right on Haste Hill and at Five Ways Corner, proceed about a mile and a half up the eponymously-named Tennyson's Road to reach Aldworth House. Aldworth - where Tennyson lived for twenty to thirty years - is open to the public, by prior arrangement. A grove of trees on Blackdown called: The Temple of the Winds was Tennyson's favourite spot and affords a wonderful view south towards the far-distant English Channel that is memorialised in one of Tennyson's poems: "Prologue to General Hamley", which prologue Tennyson wrote when he sent General Hamley the original draft of: "The Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava". The referred Prologue contained the following four-line stanza about the view from the Temple of the Winds on Blackdown Common: - You came, and look'd and loved the view Long known and loved by me, Green Sussex fading into blue With one gray glimpse of sea; Arthur Conan Doyle lived in the area (Hindhead, to be precise) for more than twenty years, during which time he wrote most of the Sherlock Homes' stories. One of Conan Doyle's neighbours was the Irish author and playwright, George Bernard Shaw, whose former house "Blencathra" was subsequently converted into St Edmund's School in 1900. On 21 April 1732, long-time Haslemere MP, Lt General James Oglethorpe, founded the Colony of Georgia in the new world, with the gracious permission of HM King George II. This colony eventually became the US State of Georgia. Accompanied by Oglethorpe, the first 115 settlers destined for Georgia sailed from Gravesend in the ship "Ann", on 17 November 1732, landing at Charleston, South Carolina on 13 January 1733. Indeed, Oglethorpe is why the hotel at the opposite end of the Haslemere High Street is named: "The Georgian Hotel". In 1895, another Haslemere resident, Sir Robert Hunter, became one of the three co-founders of the National Trust. The whole Haslemere area is beautiful, peaceful and safe and redolent with history.

[@sarahsselection]

@@xetalq Evening! Thanks for your lovely comment and hope you're well. How interesting all this is- I'm so grateful that you've educated me I had a basic idea of some, but not all of these facts. Such a lot of history and culture in this delightful area. I feel lucky to have grown up around here. Do you live in the area still?

[@xetalq]

@@sarahsselection Hi Sarah - thank you for your kind reply. We moved to Haslemere many decades ago when I was very young - not even school age, to be honest. For his job, my father needed to live within an hour's drive of London Heath Row Airport and after drawing a circle on a map, Haslemere was the first town my parent's visited (they were living in London close to Heath Row at the time and wanted to live in the countryside). My parents instantly loved Haslemere and decided they did not need to look anywhere else. So, they bought an acre of land up on Haste Hill, whereon they had a house built, into which we moved en famille after a couple of years in a rented house on Longdene Road. We lived there for some 15 years, after which Dad was hired to fill an administrative position in Africa, to which we moved and where we lived for a few years before returning to the UK. When we returned to Blighty, we had already sold the house in Haslemere and so moved so that my mother could live close to her own then-widowed mother (ie my grandmother), elsewhere in the UK. After university, I spent some years in the United States before moving to Hong Kong, where I have lived since with my own family, for several decades now. In my profession, I have been fortunate enough to have travelled the world entire (with the sole and strange exception of South America!). In all my journeys, I have seen few if any places anywhere as beautiful as Haslemere and the surrounding area. I have been back many times to Haslemere to visit and show my own children where I had the very great good fortune to grow up. If you grew up in the area, did you do so in Haslemere itself? Or in one of the neighbouring towns or villages? And if you are moving back to Haslemere soon then that would necessarily mean that you too have lived elsewhere for a few years?

[@sarahsselection]

@@xetalq What an interesting life story- so intriguing that I need to go back & reread later to take it all in! I have never lived anywhere longterm other than Surrey & Sussex but all over, first from general house moves & now, as a house-sitter (the cheapest way to live in lovely homes in a variety of locations!). I'm from just outside Godalming originally, & now sit just outside London, Kingston, Cobham, Camberley & Sussex for a few clients (with cats mainly!). I've also lived (v short term so more stays really) for work in NYC & Wales over the years. I would love to travel more, but only 21 countries so far. Like you, I haven't yet visited South America, but hoping to in the future (& Japan next year, hopefully!). 😊

[@ConfusedGrapes-sg3dh]

If one can..Very Nice..Many can dream 😊

[@sarahsselection]

@@ConfusedGrapes-sg3dh Absolutely! 😊 ✨

[@paulamartin6049]

I you end up living here i am booking my flight for a house warming weekend visit it is adorable sarah and boring is perfectly acceptable lol px

[@sarahsselection]

I know- I love boring most of the time! X Isn't it charming! X

[@paulamartin6049]

Oh just meake sure the corner shop knows that as a possible resident they will be required to increase there pepsi max supplies lol maybe u could negotiate a deal px

[@sarahsselection]

They'll run out with me around! The current residents need to stock up, plus the pubs!! Btw, did you know that Wetherspoons does Cherry Pepsi Max now?? Can't remember if I told you already- perhaps you told me! I see that I told you twice about the BN biscuits previously!! 😂 X

[@paulamartin6049]

@@sarahsselectionthats a pisitive development. i don't think i have been in Wetherspoons for 5 years we dont have one local to us. What u doing this weekend anything nice ? Px

[@sarahsselection]

@@paulamartin6049 cleaning, pet sitting and working- what about you? Out on the town?? X

[@paulamartin6049]

@@sarahsselection oh yah boogieing and partying all weekend not lol probably a little trip to ger some supplies for a lonesome movie night on saturday m&s treats sound good i have a little laundry and general cleaning to do i like pottering and will do a little more decluttering and i have some items to donate so i may do that and go to a few charity shops for a look see only no purchasing allowed . I also fancy making a cheesecake however if i seesomething delish in m&s that i wouldn't make myself i might just treat myself who knows. Off course all washed down with copious amounts of pepsi max although i recent had a gorgeous gidt of an pear and apple cordial.so i am going to be on the look out for that which means a trip to Sainsburys ..boring and quiet but thats how i like it lol px

[@sarahsselection]

@@paulamartin6049 pear & apple cordial sounds truly scrumptious 💕 And I actually popped to M & S today as my Amazon fresh delivery cancelled on me!! I highly recommend the Bounty cookies! X