Aldershot & District Traction Co. Daimler omnibus waiting to depart for Haslemere from outside the Fox & Pelican public house, Grayshott, 1914. Seen in the background is the unusual pub sign painted by the well-known Victorian artist and socialist, Walter Crane 1845-1915, see Smith J H (1978), Chapter 7 for more details

Royal Huts Hotel, Hindhead: proprietor, Ben Chandler. He ran his stables and motor garage from here. Later, he established a garage at the top of the hill which at 2010 is the Barrons BMW agency opposite the Punch Bowl Hotel on the A3.

Ben Chandler’s Commer omnibus on the Grayshott to Hindhead and Haslemere service at the Royal Huts Hotel, Hindhead. 1909.

Ben Chandler’s charabanc at the White Horse Hotel, Haslemere preparing for an outing. 1912

Ben Chandlers’s horse drawn omnibus on the Grayshott to Hindhead and Haslemere service together with the London & South Western Railway charabanc outside the Royal Huts Hotel, Hindhead. 1906. Chandler sold his motor bus operation to the Aldershot & District Traction Company in 1913

London and South Western Railway Co. Thornycroft charabancs at the Frensham Pond Hotel where the service crossed, it only diverted via the hotel during the summer months.

M Larbey’s van at Haslemere station, 1914. Built in Guildford by Dennis, this van was based at Clay Hill, Haslemere. Larby sold out to Aldershot & District Traction Company in September 1915.

Ben Chandler’s Commer bus in service between Haslemere and Grayshott, followed by the London & South Western Railway Co. Thornycroft bus in service between Haslemere and Farnham. Photographed outside the Royal Huts Hotel, Hindhead in 1910.

Haslemere Station yard. London & South Western Railway omnibus in the front of the station entrance. Ben Chandler’s Haslemere to Hindhead and Grayshott omnibus is in the centre. 1910.

‘The Gables’ was situated behind and to the Hindhead side of the ‘Old Cycle Shop’ in Headley Road. 1915 advert.

‘Oak Cottage’ and yard has since been redeveloped. It is situated next to the ‘Old Cycle Shop’ in Headley Road. 1915 advert.

Extracts from Ben Chandlers time and fare tables for the Grayshott to Haslemere service 1910

Funnell and Furlonger ran their carriers business from ‘Ash Villa’ in Headley Road. 1915 advert

Extracts from Ben Chandlers time and fare tables for the Grayshott to Haslemere service 1910.

Extracts from the L.S.W.R. time and fare tables for the Farnham to Haslemere service 1910.

Extracts from the L.S.W.R. time and fare tables for the Farnham to Haslemere service 1910.

Sidney Jefferys ‘Grayshott Coaches’ depot at ‘Rose Cottage’, Headley Road ,1963. The site was subsequently redeveloped as offices.

Pride of the Grayshott Coaches fleet in 1965 was this Dennis ‘Lancet’ built at Guildford in 1959 and with Plaxton coachwork

Service No.18 operated by Stagecoach Ltd threads its way down Headley Road, Grayshott. This service connects Guildford with Haslemere, Hindhead, Grayshott, Bordon, Farnham and Aldershot. 2010.

Headley House offices, Headley Road, Grayshott (across from the Royal British Legion Club) built on the site of Rose Cottage from where Sidney Jefferys ran his bus business. Paul Jeffreys took over on his father’s retirement in the early 1970s and moved the business to Bordon.

Coach travel 1820s style, this would be typical of the type of coach using the road during the 19th century

Coach travel 1960s style, somewhat different to that of 140 years previous, Southdown Motor Services provided the express coach service from Portsmouth to London for many years, the smart green coaches were a familiar sight stopping at the Huts Hotel

After Sheetbridge north of Petersfield the ‘Jolly Drover’ would be encountered on the long climb northwards at Hill Brow. c1910 view

Rake Hill, the last long decent going north until after Hindhead. c1910 view

The bottom of Rake Hill, the ‘Flying Bull is just out of view on the left

Approaching Liphook the first refreshment stop would be the ‘Wheatsheaf’, a popular venue with cyclists in Edwardian times. Still open for business today

Liphook Square, an important junction on the road, the long established ‘Anchor Hotel’ is on the left

Leaving Liphook going north, ‘The Green Dragon’ is on the right. c1908

Post World War One saw an increase in commercial transport on the road. Radford Bridge transport café was a popular venue for drivers and their mates either after or before taking on the long climb over Hindhead. From 1930/32, a view of a well loaded lorry carrying cast iron baths, the lettering on the lorry side shows the transition from horse to motor. The gentleman in the centre is Frederick Thomas Evans.

Familiar visitors to Radford Bridge café would be lorries from the Butser Turf Company who came from further south on the road at Horndean and known locally as the ‘Hillbillies’. The Dennis lorry had been built further up the road at Guildford

During World War One a large army camp, mainly for Canadian usage was built both sides of the road at Bramshott Chase. This view shows many of the shops and centres of entertainment which were established, part being known as ‘Happy Valley’

1920s view of the ‘Seven Thorns’ now looking somewhat different, it remained similar in appearance until falling into disuse in the late 1980s

The ‘Blue Jug’ tea rooms Bramshott Chase, formerly the post office it remained popular with travellers until the 1960s. A small blue jug could be purchased here as a souvenir

Hindhead became the location for many hotels and guest house catering for rapidly expanding tourism in the district. One of the finest built was the ‘Moorlands Hotel’ dating from the mid 1890s and recently demolished. It survived until World War Two but after never reopened as a hotel and became a Lloyds Bank training centre and later head office for British Car Auctions

About 1904 a horse bus service was established from Grayshott to Haslemere, the bus is here outside the Royal Huts Hotel about 1908

With many people wishing to visit Hindhead motor bus services were soon established, The London and South Western Rly. Co. ran between Haslemere and Farnham and Ben Chandler, the proprietor of the Huts Hotel ran the Grayshott to Haslemere service. These services crossed at Hindhead and this 1912 view shows a bus on each of the services. Both sold out to the Aldershot and District Traction Co. in 1913

This 1950s view of the Aldershot and District Traction Co. Dennis bus on service 24 at Hindhead. This service ran hourly to/from Guildford and Petersfield

By the time of this early 1960s view looking north coach travel had peaked and the motor car was taking over for weekend trips to the coast, nevertheless the Royal Huts remained popular for refreshments

By the early 1920s a policeman was required for point duty at the crossroads

In the 1930s traffic lights had arrived as seen in this just pre World War Two scene

The ‘Golden Hind’ café north of the crossroads in the 1920s, one of the many such establishments

Opposite the ‘Golden Hind;’ was the ‘Sally Lunn’ yet another large building catering for the traveller and tourist. c1930 view

The road looking north of the crossroads c1906

The ‘Punchbowl Inn’ with origins back to the 18th century this inn served travellers for many years and even for a short time was a temperance house. Now the site of the JET filling station

At the top of the hill, owned by the National Trust and often referred to as the ‘top car park’ it remained un-surfaced for many years. The Cooper brothers, owners of the ‘Golden Hind’ café, had a concession at the car park in the 1950s and 60s and used this former A.E.C. bus from which to serve tea and coffee etc

Hindhead, synonymous with the murder of the unknown sailor walking the road in 1786 provided much publicity for the area and this postcard illustrates the memorial stone by the road, the ‘Celtic’ cross on the Gibbet and the sailors grave stone in Thursley churchyard

Viewed from the higher ground this shows the road around the Punchbowl in about 1908

Both the original road across Gibbet Hill and the ‘new’ 1826 toll road trust route around the Punchbowl in this view

Hidden from general view in the Punchbowl and accessible from the London Road is the YHA hostel. The road name changes from Portsmouth Road to London Road at a point just north of the N.T. car park

The ‘Red Lion’ Thursley, at the foot of the hill, the inn where the sailor was befriended by his later assailants