The OPZ - Caterham

This is another post I never wrote due to writer's block. It's also what would have been the final OPZ post if I published it at the time.

Caterham is another one of those Surrey towns that's easy to forget about - it's very residential, with a limited retail market, and not obviously touristy. But you can get there by bus, and if you're like me a few months ago, you can therefore get there for free. Buses have made their way down to central Caterham, also known as Caterham Valley, for nearly a century, so it's not like the area is disconnected from the rest of the world.

Whyteleafe South station

I started my trip just north of Caterham. This is Whyteleafe South station, which is one stop down the line from Caterham station. Both opened in 1856 (albeit the original Caterham station was replaced in 1900), with the line itself built to transport firestone from the quarries that existed in Caterham at the time. You won't be surprised to learn the railways also ended up bringing people to Caterham (and Whyteleafe), growing the area from a small village into a decently-sized town. It also had the side effect of changing what place people thought was Caterham.

Caterham station

The lucky people of Whyteleafe actually have three stations - alongside Whyteleafe South, there's also Whyteleafe on the same line, and Upper Warlingham which is opposite Whyteleafe. Only 5,000 people live in Whyteleafe, so that's around 1,500 people per station. 

This here is Caterham Valley - it's a typical-looking town:

 

I didn't hang around for long because there wasn't much to see here, aside from the interesting East Surrey Museum. 

As the name suggests, it's a museum chronicling eastern Surrey, from its prehistoric days right up to wartime and the present day. I'd arrived a few minutes before it opened, that's how early I'd arrived in Caterham. There are various antique finds from different historical eras, as well as this interesting railway display they had at the front. Did you know Coulsdon Town station was named "Smitham" until 2011? The old sign is proof!

   

Old Smitham sign

But aside from the museum, there isn't much else to say about the place as it is today. In the past, I'd have more to mention. For instance, this is where the Caterham 7 car was first manufactured by Caterham Cars. It's a fairly vintage sports car nowadays, but I imagine it seemed cutting edge when it burst onto the scene in the 1970s. Speaking of Caterham Cars, they once had a Formula 1 team called Caterham F1. They raced from 2012 to 2014 before folding, and never scored a single point.

 

Either way, I made my way along a main road to the original Caterham, better known as Caterham-on-the-Hill. The area from Caterham-on-the-Hill right up to where Caterham station is today, along the road that travels uphill, is where the former village stood, dating back to the days of King John in the early 12th century.

 

The walk isn't long, it's just you spend lots of time walking uphill. You can find St Lawrence Church along the way, which dates back to 1095. It sits opposite St Mary the Virgin Church, which merely dates back to 1866, and which was meant to replace St Lawrence, but that never truly happened. At the time, St Lawrence's was in disrepair, but it was renovated in the 1960s. I could have photographed both, but opted for St Mary's (without knowing which was which), because it looks much better; it has a very cool spire.

St Mary the Virgin Church in Caterham-on-the-Hill

Queen's Park, the local park with the lovely clocktower, can also be found here, as well as the local hospital, Caterham Dene. The park's been around for 125 years, whilst Caterham Dene's existed for 150 years; half of that time was spent as a school, training boys for studies at institutions like Eton, before World War 2 saw the site converted into a military hospital which the NHS later took over.

Queen's Park clocktower

The walk from here becomes duller, aside from the homeopathy joint and the pub which hosted a psychic event a while back. I wonder what it is about Caterham that makes so many believe in pseudoscience and the supernatural.

But in the end, I'd made my way to Westway Common, which is a very typical green space. Not much more to say other than my bus was here. TfL buses have been running to Caterham-on-the-Hill since 1994, I believe, and this is where passengers are left behind. There isn't much here specifically, but I do believe there are actual shops up the road from here. 

 

Onwards towards home I went, not realising this was the last time I'd ever use the OPZ to my advantage.

Although, that's not quite right. I mean, I have a travelcard right now, which does mean I pay for travel every month - and it's quite an amount - but it does also mean I effectively have free bus travel again. Is it finally time to go to Dorking etc?