WOKING'S HISTORY & HERITAGE
(Featuring the Articles and Archive of Iain Wakeford)
PREVIOUSLY FEATURED ON THE heritagewalks.org WEBSITE,
All the contents of this website are copyrighted and should not be reproduced in any form for commercial purposes without prior agreement. Anybody wishing to copy material for private or research study purposes may do so. (c) Iain Wakeford 2022
Articles on Woking's History
As well as writing several books and booklets on Woking's history, I have also contributed numerous articles to local newspapers and magazines. In 1995, I produced a weekly column for the Woking News & Mail (looking back through my own copies of their newspapers) to celebrate the centenary of the publication of the Woking News (in 1895) and its later merger with its rival the Woking Mail.
In 2010 I was asked by the Woking Informer for information and illustrations on the history behind certain local news stories, and this (over the weeks and months) expanded to a weekly column looking at the history of the Woking area in general.
In January 2013 the Woking Informer articles were transferred (and expanded) to be publsihed in the Woking, Byfleet, Chobham and New Haw Edition of the Surrey Advertiser (which was renamed the Woking Advertiser just a couple of months later).
From January 2014 until July 2019 the Woking Advertiser articles featured the 'Chronological History of Woking' series from this website, starting with the Geology & Geography of the area, before moving onto the prehistory and then the general history of Woking.
I have also, in the past, contributed articles to numerous local, regional and national magazines, journals and newspapers, as well as providing information and illustrations for some overseas editions (mainly in connection with my research on The War of the Worlds), and whilst I am not able to repropduce those on this site, I may add some special illustrated notes here on items that I think you might find of interest - so again 'watch this space'.
Indeed the section on 'Woking's War of the Worlds' is an example of such 'notes', looking at H G Wells' famous science-fiction story, chapter by chapter, investigating the history behind the local places he mentions and illustrated by contemporary photographs, maps and in many cases the original drawings from the Victorian Pearsons Magazine (in which The War of the Worlds was first published in 1896).
In 2018, as part of the celebrations marking the centenary of the end of the First World War, and in conjunction with the Woking Magazine, I will wrote up some of my notes for my Heritage Walks around Horsell, Byfleet and Old Woking (see Walks page).
As part of the Horsell Jubilation Celebrations in 2012 I was asked if I could contribute some illustrations and notes on the history of the village over the past sixty years. The result was the 'booklet' on 'Horsell 1952-2012'. Other similar articles may be published later.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, when my walks, talks and displays had to be cancelled, I started researching the history of my home in Old Woking (a task that I had been putting off for years). A new section on this site - Old Woking History - will be available soon.