"Behold the only thing greater than yourself"

OK in "Roots" the baby was raised up under the African night sky and told "Behold the only thing greater than yourself" - but we were in Surrey - so it was the Devils Punchbowl...

On the way home from the hospital my parents brought me here for my first sight of the outside world - I was born 50 years ago today

The view today

Then

and now

The A3 now runs in a tunnel - here they are filling in the old cutting with spoil saved from the tunnel dig

It has only been a few months since the tunnel opened - and here is the main London-Portsmouth Road

Former A3 - Devil's Punchbowl, Hindhead

I went for a bit of a run - it was cold and windy - and the hills were steep - but there were folks to talk with and to share the story of my first visit.  In return I learned about the local history - there is a LOT - this has been a special (and dangerous) place for centuries.

Then it was off to Haslemere...

Wow - its my nursery - SatNav took me this way and I recognised it 46 years later.

Still a nursery school - bet they don't still have a wind up record player (music and movement was fun when it ran slower-and-slower), nor a very strict and severe lady in charge.

...If this is the nursery then "Glovers" must be opposite - I don't remember the shop being like this but it is here my mother used to buy dress patterns, funky pinking shears and stuff to make Seamus O'Shaun - I had this EP as well:

And here is where it all started - Haslemere Hospital.

 You can tell it is Surrey - cottage hospital, no charge for parking, lovely grounds, peaceful and quiet - the NHS as its most affluent