The Fernhurst Society
Tales from the Archives - 51
Driving With Sid
The Friday's Hill we know today is a considerably easier road to travel along than it was prior to 1962. The lay-bys on the right and left show the original route and width of the hill. Nigel Headland recalls in his memoirs a drive to Haslemere with Sid Burrows, just before he enlisted in the army to fight in WW2.
Sid ran a garage in Fernhurst (Burrows & Paine, now Spur Garage) and also held a license as an agricultural service engineer, for which he was entitled to a special ration of extra petrol. Motor cars weren't the easiest thing to come by so he tended to use any vehicle that came to him for repair. He had to go to Haslemere and took the young Nigel along with him in a rather decrepit looking circa 1923 Austin Seven that was in his garage for repair.
The pair started off up Friday's Hill. There was so much blue smoke issuing from the exhaust it was impossible to see if there was anything behind them. Half way up the narrow, twisty road the engine stalled and the car started going backwards. Sid calmly managed to stop the car, re-start the engine, but, such was the state of the gears, that they had to reverse all the way up, with almost no visibility because of they were now having to drive through the exhaust fumes.
If you would like to know more about this story, or research other local topics, the Archive is open on Tuesdays, 2.30-5pm in the Village Hall. Other times by arrangement.
Christine Maynard
Fernhurst ArchiveOne of a series of short articles bringing you some of the incidents from our rich village history. Collated by Christine Maynard, based on documents preserved at the Fernhurst Archives, these originally were published in the monthly Fernhurst News.
The Fernhurst Archives
Fernhurst History
