Sherlockian Sojourns #3: Hindhead

 After a day spent in the footsteps of Peter Cushing, I decided to make another sojourn, but not quite so far this time. Despite it being only around an hour from my home address, I had never visited Undershaw, the house was built for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at his order in Hindhead, Surrey, to accommodate his wife's health requirements. Undershaw is where Conan Doyle lived with his family from 1897 to 1907, and from where he published many of his works, including his most famous, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. The final decision was made on learning that as part of the 'Haslemere Hogs' event, in which painted pigs were distributed at venues around the area, there was a 'Sherlock Hams' pig at the nearby Cookie Bar cafe.

All seemed to be going well, and I made my way via train to Farnham (and the station which Violet Hunter rode to and from each week in 'The Solitary Cyclist'), catching a bus to the Hindhead Crossroads. 

However, on exiting the bus, as soon as 'Undershaw' came into sight, it turned out that I had bought the wrong type of ticket, needing a Gold Dayrider, rather than the standard version. The driver advised me that I would need to request a single to Frensham on the way back.

Crossing the road, I stood at the top of Undershaw's long drive. After Conan Doyle sold the house, Undershaw served as a hotel, which closed in 2004. The property was then vacant, falling into ruin until 2014 when the house and grounds were purchased by the DFN Charitable Foundation for Stepping Stones School, a school for children with special needs. In 2016, having built a new extension to Undershaw (which purposely does not match the original building), the school opened. Not wishing to wander around on school grounds (even on a weekend), I took photos from the top of the drive, attempting to focus on the 'old-part' of the building.

I then walked the five minutes to the cafe, finding it dark and locked up. A sign in the window indicated that they were unable to open today, and peering it through the window I could not see the pig. As if to add insult to injury, it then began raining, after over a week of good weather. I, therefore, took the decision to catch the next bus back to Farnham, rather than go into Haslemere to search for more pigs (which would not be covered by my wrong bus ticket). When the bus arrived, it was the same driver, who sold me the single to Frensham (making a total £1 more than the Gold Dayrider).

On arrival, I sat down on a bench on the platform, to wait the 10 minutes until my train home. However, the fates had not finished with me. A member of railway staff appeared to state that due to signalling problems there would not be a train for another hour. Therefore, as the rain had stopped, I walked into central Farnham to browse charity shops for an hour, whilst checking on my phone whether the trains were now running. Back at the station, I finally got a train home.