A quick tip for when they are ripping up the railways. If you can get to Surbiton there's a bus stop one minute walk from the station that will take you to Twickenham. (281 from memory, bus stop is by Waitrose.) I quite often come in that way. It is be a bit slower than doing it by fast trains, a bit quicker than doing it by slow trains but quite a nice way to do it.

I'd echo what has been said about Woking, it's a reasonable enough place with excellent transport connections. (Buses to Heathrow from the station for when you are off on holiday too.) However, if you fancy a quiet pint on a Friday or Saturday night chatting to friends then Woking town centre ain't the place for you. It's bouncer central, not much trouble but not really somewhere for a quiet pint with friends.

Cheers for the advice guys, I've had another look at the trains and time wise they don't seem to be too bad, but for some reason their really expensive (I got a return from Clapham to Woking the other day and it cost me £12?! With a railcard!).

I did get the impression that the town centre is a bit dodgy in terms of nightlife. If anyone knows of any nice, reale-ale selling pubs, let me know (also, anywhere I can persuade landlords to put the Rugby on?).

I'm aware of Woking literary and cultural heritage, since I'm going to be an English teacher, the HG Wells stuff might make a good school trip idea (also heard they have quite a good theatre there).

I have also heard that Guildford is really nice and I'll probably end up spending my weekends there

To be fair to the place it does have a fair amount of culture these days and a great theatre which has off London runs as well, Guildford again is a lovely place especially down by the river on a summers day, again a great theatre there.

Woking also [iirc had the first Mosque in the UK although I think it was called a college for oriental studies which is still in place on Oriental road and can be visited, it also off Monument road had a cemetery in the woods for the Indian soldiers killed in WWII but if got vandelised badly in the 70's and the graves were moved out to Brookwood cemetary just outside Woking, which in itself is well worth a visit, both sides of Cemetery pails road, private one side with fantastic history, and all other faiths/Military on the other side.

Waterloo station used to have a platform 1, which was dedicated to trains running out to Brookwood cemetary, loads of history there.

Oh and don't mention the house in the woods and the murder



Which school you going to?

If there is no football on a Friday night I get the RL put on in Corkers wine bar in West Byfleet (right by the station). Come and join me some time. Also free comedy nights once a month - next month 3rd August.

Cheers, I'm going to be teaching at Woking 6th Form College. It's located on a dodgy council estate but is apparently a decent small college.

Have visited the Shah Jahan Mosque as the wife is a Muslim, very beautiful building (and actually quite small inside).

Cheers, might join you, only other RL person if encountered so far was a Cumbrian friend of Sean Lunt's working in one of the estate agents (very random). Dumping all our stuff in a storage unit in West Byfleet next week so I'll get an idea of how far away it is.