Addlesnowed in, in Twenty-Thirtin

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 

in Aaad-dleee-styne.

Happy New Year Addlestonians! What a turbulent beginning to 2013 it's turned out to be in these parts. I speculated before Christmas that the people of Addlestone might witness some snow yet, however sadly this wasn't to be the case during December. In fact, the climate we experienced remained largely temperate throughout the end of the year; a far cry from what Attel, our original Addlestonian friend would have experienced 900 years ago as he waded through the frosty valley carrying a spear in one hand and a drinking-horn of supermarket value mead in the other. Although, that's no consolation for the proportion of Addlestonians who were repeatedly affected by power cuts from 22nd December, leaving them with no heating at all and causing chicken kormas to stand cold and motionless in microwaves all over town. Of course, it wasn't all plain sailing (or, should I say, skating) outside either, with temperatures dipping to the unrelenting lows of -4°C, giving rise to some precarious driving conditions.

With the New Year came a bout of exciting weather when, from 17th January, Addlestonians were hit by flurries of snow with snowflakes the size of cornflakes, leading to the closure of schools and paralysing our local public transport. The disruption began with a unique variety of snow - a silent, invisible kind specific to Addlestone that led to the outright cancellation of rail services through Addlestone the day before any snowfall could be seen with the naked eye. Such is the imperceptible nature of Addlesnow. 

Needless to say, unlike the snow, reactions came in thick and fast on Twitter:

"So no trains for the people of #chertsey and #addlestone then!"  

"I might understand a reduced service but no service at all even before the snow has arrived seems a little extreme" 

"How can addlestone station already of cancelled their trains tomorrow and not one drop of snow?" 

"Are you joking there isn't even snow yes pt and they canceled addlestone trains all ready omfg HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA"

Courtesy of @MilesPerLitre

"06.55 Addlestone station. No snow at all. No @sw_trains either, all cancelled"

"Err my car's not iced up or anything. Yet no trains from #addlestone??!! What a joke"  

"No trains running from addlestone, looks like I can't get in for my exam, brilliant" 

"Update on my week of unluckiness: stuck in addlestone with no trains running to Guildford" 

"Emergency timetable has been extended until tomorrow so no trains for Chertsey/Addlestone on Saturday either #surreysnow"

"Looks like taxi into and home from work again today. No 51 bus and no trains again. Why is #Addlestone being singled out?" 

"S***. No @SW_Trains from Addlestone tomorrow. How the feck am I supposed to get to work? Looks like a long walk to weybridge tomorrow"

There was one train that paid us forlorn Addlestonians a visit, chuffing past in all its glory not just through a snow storm, but at the precise scheduled time of 13:29 as pointed out by @CoxeyLoxey: 

"Due at 1329hrs....went through Addlestone at 1329hrs...only train today & tomorrow @ClanLine28 pic.twitter.com/ffDUDxXu"

Seize this chance to re-live that majestic moment which was filmed and posted by @BritishRailTV:

Forced to abandon work and school, some Addlestonians took the chance to capture the action and get creative:

Courtesy of @garyshield73

Courtesy of @chrissiespics

Courtesy of @SurreyAd

Thanks to a few unlawful Addlestonians it was business as usual for the Police who were robbed of all chance to frolic in the snow, but did get to smash a door in:

Courtesy of @rogernield2703

Courtesy of @SurreyPolice

In other news, Addlestone's very own Domino's Pizza opened at 144A Station Road (@AtownDominos), taking pride of place opposite Dominic's Pizza and gathering a loyal customer base within days:

"Me and the fam just destroyed several dominos pizzas. Addlestone dominos is so good. (Maybe better than Weybridge?!)"

An Addlestonian poll revealed a relative lack of support for Domino's, what would become the town's fourth pizza supplier, with 31% for and 68% against (out of an admittedly small sample of 16 people), however we Addlestonians, the forgiving people we are, were willing to put our differences aside and embrace the newcomer with open arms, and mouths. That gruelling one-and-a-half mile journey to the next outlet in Weybridge is no longer a trip we need to make, although I can't help thinking the biggest sigh of relief will be coming from the Weybridge delivery drivers.

In January we also had to bid a sad farewell to the short-lived Nobby's Nibbles only four months after saying hello (that is, those of us who noticed it was there in the first place). All please welcome Luigi's Sandwich & Coffee now occupying the same building on 212 Station Road, east of the station.

What else has been going down in the hood in January 2013: 

Parking Change Plans

Long Haul Pledge by Jubilee Head

Merchant Navy Medals Stolen

Stop the Concrete Jungle! 

And lastly, a look at what rocked the Addlestone of a decade ago.

Do you have any left over photos from The Great Addlesnows of 2013? Share them on Twitter with @TheAddlestonian.

Welcome to Addlestone

This post marks the beginning of what will be a comprehensive guide to the small, sedated town of Addlestone in north Surrey. To refresh your memories of exactly where Addlestone is, see the following diagram:

Until now you might only have read about Addlestone in H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, first published 114 years ago. In the captivating science fiction novel, Addlestone Golf Links (today known as Abbey Moor Golf Course) is the second location to be invaded by a ship of Martians. Take a stroll along the high street today and you might be left with the impression that some of them decided to settle.

However, the reputation that Addlestone and her citizens have acquired isn't entirely fair. With the aim of dispelling this unflattering perception, The Addlestonian will cover everything from Addlestone's ancient heritage to its future developments, community events and shocking local stories (dependent on there being any), keeping fellow Addlestonians as well as those from across the borders informed in equal measure. Having said that, despite my best efforts to quash any unpleasant myths, I aim to provide a truthful portrayal of the town and can't perform miracles.

The story begins with a Saxon called Attel who upped sticks for a pleasant valley in the area today known as Addlestone. You may have hastily jumped to the conclusion that the town's name for some reason refers to a solid aggregate of minerals (i.e. stone) but you'd be wrong. Attel's valley came to be known as Attel's Denu (Anglo-Saxon: 'valley'). What valley he was referring to is quite beyond me, but then he did live several centuries before the advent of glasses.

As the centuries have gone by, so have Addlestone's names and functions changed. Known as Attelsdene in the Late Middle Ages and Adleston by the 17th century, the village remained little more than a small cluster of cottages around The George Inn (at the northern tip of modern Addlestone) until well into the industrial revolution.

The mid-19th century saw the small village begin to blossom (or wilt) into the place it is today, beginning with a brand-spanking new railway station on 14.02.1848 - that's right, Valentine's Day - paving the way for more industry and providing the foundations for a high street fit for the likes of Woolworths, and, still in business to this day, a Wimpy. We can only imagine young Attel's reaction if he could see the place now. He'd probably wonder where his valley got to.

By following the regular updates on this page you can continue to observe the town's story unravel - past, present and future - and see for yourself that Addlestone is simply an agreeable little community in the leafy environs of Surrey. Or, a characterless satellite town on an irreversible downhill spiral. Either way, you can be sure that save for following in Attel's footsteps and upping sticks for Addlestone yourself, if there's an interesting fact to be learnt about Addlestone, you'll learn it here first.