2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the first passenger steam train, but it was a further 39 years before the railway arrived in Haslemere.

Drawing on his research for the 15 blue plaques that The Haslemere Society has erected in the last 20 years, Chris Harrison, Chairman of the Society explores the dramatic impact that the arrival of the railway had on the town, transforming it from a sleepy rural backwater to a magnet for artists, intellectuals and movements whose influence on the life of the town is still felt today. Chris will also share some of the drama during the construction of the railway line which temporarily doubled the population of the town.