EDITOR'S NOTE
School's out. Most Surrey schools break up on Wednesday, making this the first proper week of the summer holidays — and Guildford is unusually well set up for it. One practical note before anything else: the A3 northbound closes through town this weekend. Details below.
FEATURED THIS WEEK
The first week of the summer holidays — and the Spectrum's £10m pool is ready for it
The Spectrum's leisure pool reopened this month after its £10m refurbishment, complete with a new interactive splash pad for younger swimmers and a made-over Super Slide — just in time for six weeks of "I'm bored". Book a slot ahead for the first holiday week; it will be busy from Thursday.
BEST FOR KIDS
Fun Kids Science Quest at G Live on Saturday — radio presenter Dan Simpson brings hilariously chaotic live science experiments to the stage. One hour, properly pitched at primary-age kids.
NEW THIS WEEK
Guildford's second Wetherspoons opened Tuesday on the University of Surrey campus. The Sir Ronald Wates is the first Spoons in the UK owned and run by a university — and it's open to everyone, all year round.
HEADS UP
The A3 northbound closes through Guildford this weekend — 9pm Friday to 6am Monday between the Dennis and Stoke interchanges — for bridge repairs, with traffic diverted through the town centre. Allow up to 30 minutes extra.
👨👩👧 Things To Do
Kids & Family
Fun Kids Science Quest — G Live, Sat 25 Jul. Live experiments, games and guests with Fun Kids radio's Dan Simpson. Tickets at glive.co.uk →
Spectrum Leisure Pool — newly reopened after refurbishment, with a brand-new splash pad for younger swimmers. Book a slot ahead for the first holiday week.
The Great Woodland Adventure — RHS Wisley's summer trail runs through the holidays: hands-on forest fun in the woods, included with garden entry.
Pop Up Play — free drop-in play sessions for pre-schoolers at the Yvonne Arnaud's River Room, Friday morning.
Adults · Date Night
Bill Ryder-Jones — The Boileroom, Wed 22 Jul. The former Coral guitarist's tender solo material in Guildford's best small room. Tickets →
Drink & Draw — The Boileroom, Tue 21 Jul. Casual sketching, drinks, no talent required.
Nikita Kuzmin: Supernova — G Live, Thu 23 Jul. The Strictly finalist's new dance spectacular with guest Nadiya Bychkova. Tickets at glive.co.uk →
Weekend Events
Fontaines D.C. + Kasabian celebration night — The Boileroom, Fri 24 Jul. Two tribute sets, one sweaty room. Tickets →
Otherwise a quiet weekend for gigs — the Spectrum, Wisley and the river will be doing the heavy lifting.
Looking ahead: 9 to 5 The Musical arrives at the Yvonne Arnaud 28 July–1 August, and the theatre's summer drama camps for 7–11s start Monday 27 July.
🏙️ What's New in Guildford
A campus Spoons — open to all. The Sir Ronald Wates opened Tuesday (14 July) in the University of Surrey's former Wates Building, opposite the library. It's the first Wetherspoons franchise in the UK owned and operated by a university: same menu, same prices, open 8am daily year-round, with a terrace looking up at the cathedral.
First look at North Street. The first building of the 485-home North Street development is now open as a marketing suite and showroom (between Barclays and All Bar One). Apartments go on sale from £386,500 — the public's first look inside the biggest change to the town centre in a generation.
Popeyes is coming. The New Orleans fried chicken chain has bannered the former JD Sports unit by White Lion Walk — no opening date yet, but it would be the chain's first Surrey restaurant.
Burpham loses its Post Office counter. The Morrisons Daily on London Road, Burpham closes on 22 August, taking the in-store Post Office with it. The Post Office says the closure was "unplanned" on its side and it's seeking a new host business in the area.
Electric Theatre — signs of life. The council's formal search for a new operator continues, with expressions of interest invited for cultural and commercial uses; a decision is expected later this year.
🚧 Useful Guildford Updates
Trains — a clear week. No planned engineering work on Guildford's lines this week — Waterloo, Portsmouth and North Downs services all running to timetable at time of writing. (Sunday travellers heading west note: buses replace trains Reading–Basingstoke on 26 July.)
Roads — the big one first. The A3 northbound closes this weekend — 9pm Friday 17 to 6am Monday 20 July, between the Dennis and Stoke interchanges — for bridge-deck repairs at the Dennis roundabout, with signed diversions through the town centre via the station and Woodbridge Road. A lane closure on the roundabout itself stays in place until December. Details at nationalhighways.co.uk → Further out, the M25 J10/A3 Wisley interchange scheme continues with overnight closures (typically 10pm–5:30am) — fine by day, check before late-night trips. In town, works continue on the A320 Woking Road and New Pond Road resurfacing is due to start. And pencil in October: a six-month, £2m project to add zebra crossings on every arm of the Boxgrove roundabout begins then, with works mostly overnight.
Planning — a 3km water main through the town centre. The week's most consequential filing: Thames Water wants to lay a 3km water main from Ladymead treatment works down Woodbridge Road, York Road and Jenner Road to the Pewley Hill reservoir — part of its £93m post-2023-outage upgrade, needed by 2030. The council is now screening whether it requires a full environmental assessment. Meanwhile the big recent decision stands: the council refused the 32-cabin eco-retreat proposed for Netherlands Wood on the Albury Estate, an application that drew 113 public comments. And an amendment to the approved Debenhams riverside redevelopment was decided this week as that scheme inches forward. Otherwise a quiet, householder-heavy week in the register.
COMING UP THIS WEEK
Mon 20 Jul: Headliners of Tomorrow, The Boileroom
Tue 21 Jul: Drink & Draw, The Boileroom
Wed 22 Jul: schools break up · Bill Ryder-Jones, The Boileroom
Thu 23 Jul: Nikita Kuzmin: Supernova, G Live
Fri 24 Jul: Pop Up Play (am), Yvonne Arnaud · Fontaines D.C./Kasabian night, The Boileroom
Sat 25 Jul: Fun Kids Science Quest, G Live
Sun 26 Jul: buses replace trains Reading–Basingstoke
HIDDEN GEM OF THE WEEK
Dapdune Wharf. Tucked behind Woodbridge Road, the National Trust's wharf on the Wey runs gentle 40-minute river trips through the holidays — and you can clamber aboard Reliance, a restored Wey barge, while you wait. One of the cheapest genuinely good afternoons in town, and most locals have never been.
Dapdune Wharf © National Trust
WEATHER THIS WEEK
Hot, dry and getting hotter. Mid-to-high 20s from Monday, climbing to around 30°C by Friday and staying there for the weekend — with no rain in the forecast all week. Pollen is high and UV will bite: sunscreen for Stoke Park, water for the school-holiday queues, and the Spectrum's new splash pad picked a good week to exist.
👀 WORTH KNOWING
Guildford's MP wants a third railway station. Zöe Franklin has reiterated calls for a station in west Guildford, telling the government that public transport “must be delivered” alongside the town's new house building — reviving a long-shelved plan.
Eyes down on North Street. The betting shop at 23 North Street has been granted permission to become a bingo hall — not a phrase the town centre has heard in a while.
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