South Western Railway’s fee-free ticketing platform for firms and organisations delivers info in three clicks for robust reporting
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Even in the sun-scorched conditions the UK currently finds itself in, following record-smashing heat and dryness in June and July, the Surrey countryside looks appealing when framed through the window of a mercifully air-conditioned train carriage.
Catching a direct SWR service from London Waterloo to Cobham And Stoke D’Abernon to explore a landscaped park on a day where the mercury was forecast to tip 33ºC in the shade, might not have been the most sensible plan.
But the train arrived as a welcome relief after the intense warmth of the Jubilee line from Canary Wharf and we were soon zipping through still-green forests past fields of horses.
Our objective was Painshill, a singular folly in every sense of the word.
Created by politician and garden designer Charles Hamilton on land he acquired and transformed between 1738 and 1773, the park is laid out as a series of scenes and views inspired by its owner’s travels on grand tours of Europe.
Follies were built and botanical specimens planted with the aim of creating a collection of living paintings around a central lake, fed by the adjacent River Mole.
an early success
It was a hit with visitors.
The future American president John Adams, wrote that “Paines Hill is the most striking piece of art that I have yet seen”, but the loans Hamilton had taken from university friends to finance the extensive project fell due and, unable to pay, he was forced to sell it in 1773.
Private owners then presided over its gradual decline until the Second World War.
After being requisitioned for use by Canadian forces, it was portioned up and sold at the end of the conflict and was used for commercial forestry and pig farming, with much of the park becoming overgrown, its architectural features left to decay.
Things might well have remained this way had Elmbridge Borough Council not got a grip on the situation in the early 1980s.
It took control of some 212 acres of Hamilton’s original park and embarked on an ambitious project to restore this landscaped curiosity to its original glory before opening it to the public.
pure escapism
Today, those travelling to Painshill are greeted with a swish visitors’ centre, a cafe and a gift shop before they set out into the park proper.
There the promise that striking views will unfold before them is made good.
There’s a vineyard, a ruined abbey, a gothic temple, a Turkish tent, a derelict arch, a gothic tower, a Temple Of Bacchus and several bridges to encounter, all carefully arranged to create and be the focus of a series of tableaux as walkers progress.
Perhaps most striking is the UK’s largest artificial crystal grotto, a delicately realised cave with shells on the floor and slivers of quartz, Blue John and feldspar lining its walls and manufactured stalactites.
Then there are the plants and trees, carefully selected and some of national significance – all contributing to a feeling that one has stepped into some sort of fantastical alternate reality, a wonderland conceived to generate awe, amusement and delight in those bearing witness.
This is a place of pure, marvellous escapism.
- Painshill is open from 10am to pm daily. Adult tickets start at £12.50 and child tickets (ages 5-16) start at £5.50. Kids under 5 go free.
Please note the crystal grotto is typically closed on Mondays for ongoing restoration work.
The park is a short bus or cab ride from Cobham And Stoke D’Abernon station.
key details: SWR Business Direct
SWR Business Direct is free to use and allows companies to book, plan and manage business travel across the whole of Britain.
There are no hidden fees or charges and no booking fees on tickets purchased via the service.
You can find full details of the platform on SWR’s website, here
dine – Bici Bistro, Cobham
>> Fuel is certainly necessary before embarking on a walk around Painshill and this newly opened all-day dining spot, in nearby Anyards Road, fits the bill.
Bici boasts artfully distressed walls, golden lighting and, perhaps most impressively, retractable windows that can raise or lower depending on the breeze or need for air conditioning.
This is a smartly realised establishment with a menu of brunchtime favourites for the morning and even more options for lunch and dinner.
I opt for the Cilbir – a dish of eggs, diced sujuk garlic sausage and creamy garlic yoghurt that comes with a plentiful supply of chilli-laced flatbread for £14.95.
My companion orders the Bici Choice (£15.95) from the venue’s “toast bar”, which arrives as a doorstep-thick slice topped with spinach, avocado, salmon, roast peppers and poached eggs.
The kitchen is on-song. Ingredients in both dishes perform in harmony via portion sizes that are almost overwhelmingly generous.
This is a venue that’s well worth a visit…
on track with SWR’s Joe Thurgood
Q
It’s important in any business to keep abreast of the details of operation. How does SWR Business Direct help companies report on their travel expenses and is this easy to do?
A
If we’re honest, nobody actually enjoys chasing down crumpled train tickets and building messy expense spreadsheets at the end of the month.
Yet, in business, keeping on top of the data is everything.
If you don’t know where the money is going, you can’t manage the budget.
That is exactly where the SWR Business Direct platform comes into play.
Think of this free-to-use portal as your company’s personal rail travel command centre. Instead of every employee buying tickets independently and filing separate claims, the platform centralises everything.
It tracks every journey a firm books across the entire British rail network, including the carbon footprint, any savings made and even reasons for travel (or whatever metric a customer chooses).
When it comes to reporting, it completely eliminates the administrative friction.
how does it help you report?
It lets you pull down-to-the-penny data instantly.
You can easily analyse exact travel expenditures, track custom fields like project names or client accounts and even log specific purchase order numbers.
Plus, for companies tracking sustainability targets, it automatically captures and generates carbon footprint reports.
It delivers audited, decision-ready data whenever you need it.
is it actually easy to do?
It’s incredibly simple.
You can run detailed expense reports in just three clicks.
Because the system captures the data automatically, your finance team won’t have to spend hours processing manual employee expenses.
It gives you full visibility and total control over your corporate travel outgoings, plus it still books all national rail travel, including TFL and PLUSbus products.
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