Aldershot

The name is likely to have derived from alder trees found in the area (from the Old English 'alor-sceat' meaning copse, or projecting piece of land, featuring alder trees). Any settlement, though not mentioned by name, would have been included as part of the Hundred of Crondall referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086. The Church of St Michael the Archangel is the parish church for the town and dates to the 12th century with later additions. There was almost certainly an earlier church on the site. Cistercian monks from the nearby Waverley Abbey established granges or farms on their outlying estates, including one at Aldershot by 1175 for sheep grazing. We do not know when monks from the…

The former Wesleyan church on Grosvenor Road has a 100-foot tower that can be seen for miles around the town and which is described as "the only significant tower in the town". Opened in 1877, the church served the Methodists of Aldershot for over 100 years and could seat 1,150 people until its closure in 1988. Today, the original complex of church, Soldiers' Home and Hall, has been converted into offices, a dental surgery, gymnasium and homes.

In 1894, a five-year old Charlie Chaplin made his first appearance on stage at the Canteen when his mother, a music-hall singer, lost her voice in the middle of a song and was booed offstage. Chaplin was taken on stage by the stage-manager and left to entertain the audience with singing, dancing and imitations, including of his mother. The barracks scenes in the 1968 film The Charge of the Light Brigade, starring David Hemmings and Trevor Howard, were filmed at the old West Cavalry Barracks (now largely demolished). The gates of the South Cavalry Barracks stood in as the prison gates for the 1960 film Two-Way Stretch starring Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Lionel Jeffries. Breakout…