Friday, August 14, 2015

PARISH 14: Devils Lane



Lying between the M3 and M25 (orbital) motorways on the extreme western edge of London, and a ward of Runnymede Borough, Egham Hythe is north of Thorpe and south of Staines, to the side of Thorpe Lea (which is also a suburb of Egham).



(Hythe means landing place, and sure enough, Egham Hythe is very close to the Thames river, just across from Laleham on the Staines side.)

I walked to Egham Hythe today, visiting Devils Lane along the way.



In the morning I had gone for a run up from the direction of Thorpe and its lovely Hay Meadow Protected Area (where one can find the very rare flower Carex filiformis), emerging on Devils Lane, running from the meadow to Thorpe Lea Road.

There one finds The Compasses Pub and Hythe Fields Gospel Hall (on Tempest Road).


I'm wondering why do we have Devils Lane, Tempest Road, The Compasses, and the Hythe Fields Gospel Hall all at one intersection?  What is going on here?

Another interesting thing about Devils Lane is the number of crumbling walls and interestingly shaded garage doors.  There is a certain 'future archaeology' feeling to it, with crumbling brick underfoot, and multiple layers of paint, thorn, flower, shard, board, brick, and parapet all along this back alleyway in Egham.  Seriously, it's like a Rothko exhibit back there (in no particular order, but all along Devils Lane):










I'm certain there's something going on in Devils Lane, with its compasses, tempests, gospels, and mysterious bricks!