IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
London Road North, REDHILL, RH1 3AL

Silver Birch at Dean Farm, Hooley

The building in the background used to be a Little Chef; it is now a Starbucks. The tyre marks in the road are because of this junction's unofficial use as a point of U turn for traffic travelling to/from the M23 from/to Merstham and Redhill via the A23. The layout of the junction seems to have been designed to enable such manoeuvres to take place, which is somewhat surprising given that it involves cutting across and rejoining what is often a continuous stream of traffic. Longer term, various proposals have been put forward for a roundabout hereabouts to allow this to be done more safely (and officially) although as with many such consultations, the powers that be seem to be taking an eternity to decide on which of the alternatives should be built, after which funding will need to be secured, so when it will actually happen is anyone's guess. On the far right of the photo can be seen a section of wall. This is no ordinary wall; instead it is one of the few visible remnants of the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Iron Railway, being the parapet of the bridge which originally carried Dean Lane over the railway - see Image and Image for a closer view of the bridge.

The parapet and arch on the left of the photo are one of the few physical remnants of the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Iron Railway, opened in 1805 as a southern extension of the 1803 Surrey Iron Railway, the first public railway in the world. The purpose of the CM&GIR was to carry chalk and stone from Merstham Quarry, using horse drawn trucks. It was originally intended to continue to Godstone Green (hence Godstone in the name) and also Reigate, but these extensions never happened. The parapet and top of the arch are the remains of the bridge where Dean Lane crossed the railway, next to the lane's junction with the A23 Brighton Road. The southern parapet, on the right hand side of the road, was demolished by Canadian troops during the Second World War, who used Dean Lane to gain access to their camp on Alderstead Heath (see Image). The bridge has been scheduled as an Ancient Monument and is locally listed. For a closer view of the archway and parapet, see Image

This is one of the few physical remnants of the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Iron Railway, opened in 1805 as a southern extension of the 1803 Surrey Iron Railway, the first public railway in the world. The purpose of the CM&GIR was to carry chalk and stone from Merstham Quarry, using horse drawn trucks. It was originally intended to continue to Godstone Green (hence Godstone in the name) and also Reigate, but these extensions never happened. This is the parapet and top of the arch of the bridge where Dean Lane crosses it, next to its junction with the A23 Brighton Road. The bridge has been scheduled as an Ancient Monument and is locally listed. For wider view, see Image

Rush hour traffic northbound on the A23 at Hooley

The A23 is behind the hedge on the left.

Looking across the field to the wooded valley. To the right of picture, hidden amongst the trees, is the A23/M23 junction.