Located on the River Mole, Leatherhead is situated in the south of England in the county of Surrey. Historically it would have been the centre of an area that was the junction of ancient east west and north south transport routes. It is believed that the name is from Saxon origin. The town’s importance increased with the construction of a bridge over the river during the medieval period.

At one time a lot of manufacturing was conducted around Leatherhead, but now most people are employed in commerce. Improvements and developments were made to the town when it was connected to the UK’s motorway system in the mid 1980s, though now you can often here reference to the town in the media in terms of traffic congestion.

Over the last decade a number of research centres have been set up around the town. These are focused mainly on engineering. Lately there gave also been a number of businesses start up that are focused on top of the range sports cars and racing cars.

Since Tudor times, Leatherhead has had an association with theatre. As early as 1890 a Victorian Hall was launched in the main High Street that put on performances of popular melodramas. In 1910 it was converted into a cinema, and since then others theatres came and went. The most recent facility is the Thorndike theatre which was opened in 1969 by Princess Margaret.

Whatever time of year you choose to visit Leatherhead you are likely to be able to attend a cultural performance of some kind. There are arts and drama festivals that attract performers from around the country and overseas.

Over the last one hundred years Leatherhead has had four different railway stations. Today it is still possible to reach London or Brighton on one of the regular daily train services.

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