Farnham isn’t the most pleasant town for pedestrians these days thanks to its narrow pavements and bustling A-road running straight through the town centre.

We heard recently that major works are to get underway to rectify this in January. But as this 1960s photograph demonstrates, the town didn’t always seem so cramped - even at its pinchiest of pinch points.

In those days even the narrowest part of The Borough accommodated two-way traffic - and a cyclist can be seen happily sharing the road space with the smaller vehicles of the day.

Of course, today’s much larger vehicles are a different matter entirely - to the extent that Surrey County Council’s town planners consider the only option is to make the road single lane.

The photograph, part of John Cripps’ collection, shows Courts furnishers on the corner of Bear Lane. This later became the Alliance & Leicester office and is today occupied by Roman’s estate agents.

Next door, all shuttered up, is today’s Headmasters hair salon and formerly Carlton’s Cards, but I believe at the time of photography it had just ceased to be Sainsbury‘s Farnham branch with the company‘s move into larger premises in the then-newly built Woolmead complex across the junction.

Barclays Bank is on the left but this is not the same building as today, even if it looks superficially the same. The building was demolished almost totally and rebuilt during the 1970s.

Notice, also, how far the traffic lights are set back from the junction which I assume was to make the turns easier for large vehicles.

Another puzzle is what became of the magnificent clock attached to the old Sainsbury‘s store. Was it removed and used elsewhere or did it succumb to a high-sided vehicle? Can any reader enlighten us?

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