
The Langley Vale Centenary Wood is over 600 acres of land acquired by The Woodland Trust in 2014 as part of its First World War Centenary project to establish woodland areas in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
It is a fantastic open space for the community to visit but has been difficult to access. For the past year The Woodland Trust has been building an equally fantastic car park which will improve access considerably once it is open. But sadly, that whilst it appears complete, it is still closed to the public.

The car park is equipped with a coach bay, six electric charging points and cycle racks in addition to normal car parking spaces. There is a paved road from the car park to The Regiment of Trees (Stone soldiers standing in a grid of 80 trees representing the day that Lord Kitchener inspected 20,000 troops on Epsom Downs in 1915).
We tracked down a Woodland Trust representative who told us what the problem has been. First they had difficulty getting power to the site. A special cable had to be laid from the nearest junction point which was way down the hill in Langley Vale. This was installed back in September but there is still an issue over earthing the power system and as this could be a serious safety issue Mole Valley District Council will not allow the site to be opened until it is rectified. But rectification requires the road outside the car park to be dug up and Surrey County Council will not allow the road to be closed during the winter months.
But hopefully, when Surrey allows the road to be closed the work can be completed and our shiny new car park will be open to the public. As soon as we have some news, we will let you know.
If you want to know more about the Centenary Wood you can read our earlier article here.
