This view taken on 21 October 1908 shows a man in a dinghy in Hardwick Street.
The Park District, reclaimed from the Backwater was always likely to flood and was originally to be laid out as the Royal Victoria Park. This never materialised and was let out for grazing. A scandal in which certain civic leaders were hoping to profit from the sale at a low price was averted after a whistleblower made the proposals public.
After the railway came in 1857 land was sold to the Conservative Land Society and the area was developed, the streets being named after Tory politicians of the time.
In living memory the area was again flooded in July 1955 following heavy rain in the River Wey. The writer remembers that Holy Trinity School, which he attended, was closed for a few days to act as a rescue centre for people particularly in the Marsh Road area.
