Tracing the War of the Worlds

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

HG Wells wrote the War of the Worlds more than 100 years ago yet many of the places he described still exist to this day, largely untouched and much as he would have known them. This document describes the path of the Martians through modern England with words and pictures.

• “But very early in the morning poor Ogilvy, who had seen the shooting star and who was persuaded that a meteorite lay somewhere on the common between Horsell, Ottershaw, and Woking, rose early with the idea of finding it. Find it he did, son after dawn, and not far from the sand pits.” - The War of the Worlds

A large area of parkland just outside of Woking, Horsell Common is about 750 acres in size and is largely undisturbed, natural land. This area is criss-crossed with walking and horse paths.

In Woking, they now have a statue of a Martian in the town, celebrating the fame that the novel has brought the area. Created by Michael Condron, the statue took 2 months to create this masterpiece out of chrome steel.

The inscription reads:

• By Michael Condron * 1998 * The Woking Martian
• This sculpture is the artist's interpretation of a 'Walking Engine of Glittering Metal'. It celebrates woking as the birthplace of modern science fiction and marks the centenary of H.G. Wells' first edition of 'The War of the Worlds'. In this pioneering novel humanity is saved from an overwhelming martian invasion by earth's smallest creatures, bacteria. This sculpture was unveiled by the mayor of Woking, Cllr Mrs Irene K. Matthews, April 1998.

Michael Condron's web site can be found at www.mcondron.co.uk.

Note: All quotations from the 'War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells are taken from the Gutenburg Project's version of this text.