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Photos include memories of policing the miners strike
Former Woking Inspector John Walters has sent in some photographic memories of Woking in the 1970's reproduced here - thanks for sharing them John!
The Old Police Station at WokingExtracts from The working life of the Surrey Constabulary 1851-31 December 19921964 Richard Bond: When I see today’s Police Officers on duty with their stab-proof vests, personal radios, cell phones etc. I sometimes think back to one particular night duty in Woking in about 1964 or 1965. For various reasons after 2a.m. the total number of Policemen on duty in the whole of Woking Division was two, Vic Smyth, the Station Officer and me. Normally on a night shift there would be four or five out on foot and two in a car. This night there was no Sergeant, no Inspector, no crime car (J40); nobody from Knaphill, Ripley or Byfleet offices. Woking Division then stretched from Pirbright to Woodham, Byfleet to Mayford, West End to Ripley and included Horsell, Old Woking, Maybury, Pyrford, Horsell and Sheerwater. (Goldsworth Park was just a stretch of horticultural/agricultural land). I was not authorised, at that time to drive Police vehicles and communication was by the point system. Between 2a.m. and 7a.m. there were no incidents reported. (Not even a burglar alarm as far as I remember). Probably not a unique occurrence, but I wonder if anyone else remembers being outside on duty, on their own, unsupervised, in such a large Division. (There was of course cover by Chertsey Traffic Department, but Woking town rarely saw them in that era)!1970s Early Ann Carter: I wonder how many people who served at the Old Nick in Woking will remember the Divisional Office, which was housed upstairs in a very small office. It would not be allowed these days as I believe a person must have so much space but not in the 1970s. This office housed David Wakefield who was the boss with Pat Keating as his deputy and Pauline who seemed to do anything and everything including making Chief Superintendent Jackman’s tea. This, if my memory serves me correctly had to be Earl Grey. I was later to cross the path of Pauline long after she left the job at the police station. I walked into Horsell Middle School as it was then known and there sat Pauline having acquired the job of administrator. In my days as a probationer when first at Woking the divisional office was a mine of information and a positive emporium for all manner of forms. It also housed a copy of general orders or the Big Red book, as it was known. We were later issued with these books, which weighed a hundredweight, took up space and were a source of constant moans with updates occurring regularly. In my time in the women police office one of the sergeants’ thankless jobs was to check that each officer had correctly performed the task up updating their books and woe betide anyone who had not done so. Can you imagine them having the time to do that now? I wonder what became of all those books when they reached the end of their useful life. I would imagine that they were all melted down and became very posh toilet rolls, as they were printed on shiny paper! The vehicles we used have now changed significantly as when I arrived at Woking we had Morris 1000’s, an old Bedford Tilly that accommodated everything from a stray dog to confidential waste, and one or two Ford Anglia saloons. CID cars consisted of Morris 1000’s and I believe a Hillman Imp was there somewhere. The old bull nose Morris was quite good for batting along at about seventy if you were lucky and the wind was not in the wrong direction. Who would believe that they became most sought after! Later we were issued with the new Mini saloon, which was wonderful for doing enquiries, but hopeless if you arrested a tall person, or a ‘struggler’ as it was damn nigh impossible to get them inside a mini. The Mini was so low that a box arrangement had to be put on the roof to house the Police and Stop sign with the blue lamp on top of that so that it met the legal height requirement for flashing blue beacons! I remember arresting Willy Watson, a very well known miscreant in Woking who used to have a different mode of transport to everyone else – a dumper truck. Willy was six foot eleven inches tall and no way was he ever going to fit in a Mini. I had to borrow the Sergeant’s car, a two door Ford Anglia and I could just get him in by him sitting on the back seat with the front seat tipped forward. Willy had to have his shoes specially made as they were so large and it always caused problems when his shoes had to be ‘detained’ for forensic examination, as he only possessed two pairs of shoes. However Willy never stood a chance where a scene of crime revealed a very large footprint, as he was the only one in town with those size feet! At that time Woking had a divisional garage, which was the empire of one Don Vivers and he used to service the vehicles and ‘hide’ the odd dent or scrape. However, it always had to be determined as to whether it was a ‘little hammer job i.e. Don Vivers or a ‘big hammer job’ in which case it was HQ garage. The garage, in its heyday had been the coach house and the superintendent’s garage had been the stable. Don guarded this garage fiercely as if he had not I don’t think he would ever have had a spare bulb or fuse in the place! When the new Land Rover arrived he guarded that too!
Surrey Constabulary
'For those who served'
1851 - 1992
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