EDITOR'S NOTE
The Guildford Book Festival's last week, a wet start and one more Sunday without trains. Elif Shafak, Jim Al-Khalili, Mary Portas, Sebastian Faulks and Alison Weir all speak before the Festival closes on Sunday 18, and a few events are already on waiting lists. The Yvonne Arnaud has Swan Lake with a full live orchestra on Tuesday and Lee Mead on Wednesday, and the Cathedral has two concerts by candlelight. The practical things: there are no trains through Guildford on Sunday 18 October, Monday and Tuesday morning are the wet part of the week, Woking Road has overnight closures from Monday to Friday, and the A3 southbound is still shut overnight near Hindhead.
FEATURED THIS WEEK
Guildford Book Festival: the last week
Tuesday 13 to Sunday 18 October. The Festival's final six days bring some of its biggest names to Guildford. Elif Shafak is in conversation with Stephanie Merritt (Tue 13, 7pm) and physicist Jim Al-Khalili talks about On Time (Tue 13, 8.30pm), both at Guildford Baptist Church. Mary Portas is at Guildford College on Thursday (7.30pm), Sebastian Faulks is back at the Baptist Church on Saturday (6pm), and the weekend ends at the Guildhall with Alison Weir on Sunday (6.30pm) and Melita Thomas on Tudor women (8pm). Shafak, Weir and both Sunday afternoon events at Clandon Wood Nature Reserve (Caroline Quentin and Jeremy Wade) are already on waiting lists, so book early for the rest. All Festival tickets →
BEST FOR KIDS
The Last Wolf with Rob Biddulph, Saturday 17 October, 3pm. The children's author and illustrator is at Guildford Baptist Church for an hour on Saturday afternoon, one of the few children's events in the Festival's final week. For under-fives, the Yvonne Arnaud's Pop-up Play is back on Friday 16 from 10am to noon: free, with toys, colouring and dressing-up in the River Room. Tickets for The Last Wolf →
NEW THIS WEEK
Guildford Shopmobility is back. The mobility equipment hire service reopened on Friday 2 October, after Guildford Borough Council awarded it a £44,874 community grant. It had been running an urgent appeal to stay open since May.
HEADS UP
No trains through Guildford on Sunday 18 October. Engineering work closes the lines between Woking and Haslemere and between Wanborough and Guildford. Waterloo trains stop at Effingham Junction, and buses replace trains to Woking, Haslemere and Aldershot. Saturday is normal. Details below.
👨👩👧 Things To Do
Kids & Family
Pop-up Play, Yvonne Arnaud (River Room), Fri 16 October, 10am–12pm. A free weekly session for pre-schoolers and their grown-ups, with toys, colouring-in and dressing-up. You can buy hot drinks and snacks from the Riverbank Kitchen.
The Last Wolf with Rob Biddulph, Guildford Baptist Church, Sat 17 October, 3pm–4pm. The pick above. Tickets →
Watts Gallery – Artists' Village, Compton, all week. The Art of Wallpaper: Morris & Co. runs to 10 January and A New Paradise to 15 November. The half-term programme ("monsters, magic & mischief") starts on Tuesday 20 October.
Adults · Date Night
125 Years of Jazz Piano, G Live, Mon 12 October. James Pearson, artistic director at Ronnie Scott's, and his trio take you from ragtime and stride to boogie-woogie and big band. Tickets →
Swan Lake, Yvonne Arnaud, Tue 13 October, 7.30pm. Imperial Classical Ballet dances Tchaikovsky's score with a full live orchestra. 2hr 20 with interval, from £40. Tickets →
Jim Al-Khalili: On Time, Guildford Baptist Church, Tue 13 October, 8.30pm. The physicist and broadcaster on whether time is real, in conversation with Dr Noelia Noel. (Elif Shafak is on at 7pm the same evening, but it's on a waiting list.) Tickets →
The Phantoms starring Lee Mead, Yvonne Arnaud, Wed 14 October, 7.30pm. Former West End Phantoms and the Any Dream Will Do winner sing the musicals. 2hr 10, £40. Tickets →
Voices of Valjean, Guildford Cathedral, Wed 14 October, 7.30pm. A concert with a full live band, from the Concerts by Candlelight series. Tickets →
Mary Portas in conversation with Rosie Nixon: I Shop, Therefore I Am, Guildford College, Thu 15 October, 7.30pm. The retail expert, in a town where the High Street is the main local talking point. Tickets →
Scummy Mummies: Hot Mess, Yvonne Arnaud, Thu 15 October, 7.30pm. Comedy, songs and sketches on menopause, teenagers and online dating. 18+, £30. Tickets →
Duke Special, The Boileroom, Thu 15 October, 7pm. The Belfast singer-songwriter's theatrical piano pop, with cabaret and folk in it. Tickets →
The Music of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons by Candlelight, Guildford Cathedral, Fri 16 October, 7.30pm. Seated tickets from £35 plus booking fee. Tickets →
Weekend Events
Anything For Love, G Live, Fri 16 October. Steve Steinman's show of more than 25 Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman hits with a ten-piece band. Tickets →
Arthur: A New Life with Amy Jeffs, Watts Gallery, Sat 17 October, 10.30am. A Book Festival talk in the Artists' Village, in conversation with Ana Sampson. Tickets →
Sebastian Faulks: Farewell to Eden, Guildford Baptist Church, Sat 17 October, 6pm. In conversation with Patricia Nicol. Tickets →
The Orb: Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld, The Boileroom, Sat 17 October, 7pm. A night of the album that helped define ambient house. Tickets →
Caroline Quentin and Jeremy Wade, Clandon Wood Nature Reserve, Sun 18 October, 2pm and 4pm. Drawn to Nature and River Monsters, outdoors at the Festival's woodland venue. Both were on waiting lists when checked. Waiting list →
Alison Weir: The Boleyn Secret, Guildhall, Sun 18 October, 6.30pm. The Tudor historian; on a waiting list, but Melita Thomas on 1,000 Tudor Women follows at 8pm with tickets available. Tickets for Melita Thomas →
Looking ahead: The bEAT with The Selecter and Rhoda Dakar at G Live on Mon 19; Jenny Seagrove in The Anastasia File at the Arnaud from Tue 20; Watts Gallery half-term from Tue 20; a free Family Fun Day at the Cathedral on Thu 22; Nish Kumar at G Live on Thu 22; General Levy at The Boileroom on Sat 24; phase two of the bus station works from about Mon 26; and the Ash Neighbourhood Plan referendum on Thu 29.
🏙️ What's New in Guildford
Shopmobility has reopened, with council money. Guildford Borough Council gave the service a £44,874 community grant, and it reopened on Friday 2 October after the campaign to save it that began in May. The Guildford Dragon called it a "true community effort".
The new West Surrey council has a recommended home. The proposed headquarters for the unitary council that will replace the borough and county councils are Guildford's Millmead offices and Woking's offices and Victoria Gate. The shadow councils are also asking residents what they think of the proposed council tax levels.
The Electric Theatre's operator search has a date this week. Consultants Blue Horizon Ventures are testing the market for running the Onslow Street venue, as a cultural or "hybrid" venue or for purely commercial use. The online briefing for would-be operators is on Wednesday 14 October, and expressions of interest close on 30 October.
No new openings or closures confirmed this week. The Cornish Bakery at 84–86 High Street is still billed for November, and nothing has been announced for the former House of Fraser.
🚧 Useful Guildford Updates
Trains: a normal week, then a closed Sunday. National Rail lists no engineering works at Guildford from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday 18 October the lines through Guildford are closed, between Woking and Haslemere and between Wanborough and Guildford. Waterloo–Portsmouth trains run only Waterloo–Woking and Haslemere–Portsmouth, and Waterloo–Guildford trains stop at Effingham Junction. Buses run Woking–Guildford, Woking–Haslemere, Effingham Junction–Guildford and Guildford–Aldershot. On the North Downs line, GWR trains from Reading turn back at Ash, and buses run from North Camp to Guildford and on to Gatwick and Redhill. Allow a lot of extra time. Check before you travel →
Roads: Woking Road at night, and the A3 at Hindhead.
Woking Road (A320), every night Monday to Friday, 9pm to 6am. This week's work is on the southbound side, upgrading the existing pedestrian crossing, with signed diversions. Next week the work moves to the northbound side. The roundabout at Hazel Avenue and Woodlands Road is being replaced by a crossroads with traffic lights, due to go in from late November.
A3 southbound, Hog's Back to Longmoor, closed overnight until Friday 30 October (9pm to 6am) for maintenance in and around the Hindhead Tunnel. The tunnel hasn't been resurfaced since 2011. Check National Highways before an evening trip south. Closure report →
Buses: nothing new. We found no new notice on the Friary bus station refurbishment. Phase two is still pencilled in for about Monday 26 October, subject to change.
Planning: a quiet list, with a few signals. In the week beginning 28 September the council validated 42 applications and decided 43. Nearly all were extensions, trees and conditions. Worth watching:
Four new homes are proposed on the Palm House Nurseries site at Glaziers Lane, Normandy, replacing the existing nursery buildings.
A listed building consent application for 248 High Street includes an internal, dual-sided digital screen at the shopfront. It's an early sign of a retail fit-out, though no tenant is named.
Surrey Sports Park has another application to vary the planning permission for the Harlequins Training Centre, plus a run of condition discharges for the University of Surrey's new performance centre, approved last month.
COMING UP THIS WEEK
Mon 12: Book Festival continues (to Sun 18) · Woking Road overnight closures begin, 9pm–6am (to Fri) · 125 Years of Jazz Piano, G Live · Transformative Power of Art panel, Cathedral, 6pm · Open Stages, The Boileroom · Wettest day: rain likely by the afternoon
Tue 13: Swan Lake, Yvonne Arnaud, 7.30pm · Elif Shafak (waiting list) 7pm and Jim Al-Khalili 8.30pm, Baptist Church · Wet morning, drier afternoon
Wed 14: The Phantoms with Lee Mead, Yvonne Arnaud · Voices of Valjean, Cathedral, 7.30pm · The Story of Guitar Heroes, G Live · Arthur Snell, 6.30pm, and Powerplay, 8pm, Guildford High School · Electric Theatre operator briefing (online) · Driest, mildest day of the week
Thu 15: Mary Portas, Guildford College, 7.30pm · Scummy Mummies, Yvonne Arnaud · Duke Special, The Boileroom
Fri 16: Pop-up Play, Yvonne Arnaud, 10am (free) · Frankie Valli by Candlelight, Cathedral · Anything For Love, G Live · Gary Stewart presents Graceland, The Boileroom
Sat 17: Amy Jeffs, Watts Gallery, 10.30am · The Last Wolf, Baptist Church, 3pm · Sebastian Faulks, 6pm · The Orb, The Boileroom
Sun 18: No trains through Guildford: buses · Caroline Quentin, 2pm, and Jeremy Wade, 4pm, Clandon Wood (waiting lists) · Alison Weir, Guildhall, 6.30pm · Melita Thomas, 8pm · Book Festival closes
Every night: A3 southbound Hog's Back–Longmoor closed 9pm–6am (to 30 Oct).
HIDDEN GEM OF THE WEEK
Guildford Museum, Quarry Street. Most people climb to the Castle and never go into the little museum beside it. This week is a good time to change that. A free exhibition on Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932), the pioneering garden designer who lived near Godalming, runs until 24 October. It shows her own artwork and belongings, the objects she collected from cottage life, including kitchen implements, sheep and horse bells and a Jacobean cradle, and her boots. It also touches on her crafts, from embroidery and photography to wood carving and silversmithing. Admission is free. The museum is open Wednesday to Saturday, noon to 4.30pm (last entry 4pm), so Wednesday to Saturday are your days. Wednesday is the driest day of the week, so pair it with a walk round the Castle grounds.
WEATHER THIS WEEK
A wet start, then drier and mild. Monday is 18°C, with the chance of rain climbing through the day to 70% by around 4pm, and staying at 50–60% into the evening. Tuesday is the warmest day at 20°C, with showers likely in the morning (up to 60%) and drier from the afternoon, dry again by 8pm. Wednesday is dry and 18°C, the best day for the Castle grounds and the Jekyll exhibition. Thursday is 19°C with only a 10% chance of rain until the evening, when it rises to 30%. Friday is cooler at 15°C, with up to 30% overnight and showers easing through the day. The Met Office's regional outlook says Monday and Tuesday mornings could bring heavy rain at times, with breezy conditions and above-average temperatures.
The weekend is beyond reliable range, so treat it as a rough guide. The daily forecast has Saturday and Sunday at 15°C with a low chance of rain (10–20%), and the long-range view shows highs of 14–17°C and no rain hours, but with low to very low certainty. If you're heading to the outdoor Book Festival events at Clandon Wood on Sunday afternoon, check again on Friday and Saturday and bring a coat.
Forecast from the Met Office Guildford page, updated 8pm on Friday 9 October, and the London & South East regional outlook, updated 4pm on Friday 9 October. Retrieved Friday evening 9 October.
👀 WORTH KNOWING
Free art from HMP Coldingley closes on Monday 19 October. Guildford Cathedral's Transformations exhibition shows artwork by men at the prison, on the power of art to bring hope and change, and entry is free (open daily, until 7.30pm on Thursdays). On Monday 12, 6pm to 8pm, a panel hosted by the Dean of Guildford, with the prison's chaplain and a former art tutor, discusses what creative work can do for people inside. £5 for adults; free for students, the unwaged and under-fives. Book the panel →
Know someone who'd enjoy this?
Published by Getbrief, a trading name of RJP Group Ltd