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Written by Damon Cox - 13 May 2007
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Location notes
Located between the towns of Farnborough and Fleet, Southwood lays on the main four-track section of mainline between London and Basingstoke.
Railway type and traffic
Class 159s diesel units operate half-hourly express services between London, Salisbury and the West Country, whilst Class 444 and Class 450 electric units operate the London to Basingstoke, Southampton and South Coast services. Typically trains will pass by around every 5 minutes. In the summer months in particular there are usually a number of steam tours that will pass by.
There is also a variety of freight services operated by DB Schenker, Freightliner and GBRf.
Environment
A fairly quiet business park in terms of noise but at the same time you are not isolated and there are a number offices nearby. You may wish to walk along Apollo Rise as there are a few different vantage points of varying heights.
Road directions
From the M3, Junction 4a:
Initially follow signs for Fleet to get you heading the correct direction. The road curves to the right before reaching a roundabout. Here take the first left and you will pass over the railway. Immediately beyond the bridge is a large roundabout at which you should take the first left. You will now be on Summit Avenue and you will come to a mini-roundabout with Nokia on your left. Continue straight across this roundabout and down the road. A short distance further on you will see a road on the right and a Morrisons supermarket. Once you have passed this you should take the next left turn (Apollo Rise). To your right you will see some large buildings with blue roofs. Once the road curves to left alongside Solartron Analytical you have reached the location. You may wish to continue further up the road for more photos however stop in the first parking bay as this is probably the best place.

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Southwood map co-ordinates
Parking
There are a number of free parking bays along the road, or alternatively you can use the free car park at the busy Morrisons supermarket (a few minutes walk).
Public transport
Route 73 operated by Countrywide Travel (Yellow and black buses) operates hourly and runs from Frimley Park Hospital to Fleet. Key pick up points include Farnborough Kingsmead shopping Centre (5-10 minutes walk from Farnborough Main railway station) and Fleet station. Ask the driver for a ticket to the Southwood Business Park or Morrisons supermarket.

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Amenities
The Morrisons supermarket is a 5-10 minute walk away. Simply walk back down Apollo Rise (from where you arrived) and take the walk-through. The supermarket is quite large and has it's own toilets and cafe.
Accommodation
There is:
Innkeeper's Lodge (near M3)
Premier Travel Inn
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Southwood

Googly map
Streetmap links
Southwood general view map
Southwood close up map

Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Southwood



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Railway Gen Group
Wessex Rail Gen [WRGen]
Photographic notes
Firstly to help get your bearings, when looking at the buildings with blue roofs you are looking towards London (East). For trains heading from London (West) you have around 15-30 seconds notice of a train approaching, particularly thanks to the bright headlights of the Desiro EMUs. For trains heading towards London (East) it is a similar story. The line is of four track throughout. The only real problem is in the evening when trains heading towards London can be obscured by sunlight.


General views - All photographs © Damon Cox unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking east


Fig 1 - Looking east


Fig 2 - Looking east


Fig 2 - Looking east


Fig 3 - Looking west


Fig 3 - Looking west


Location Video



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