Sci-fi classic's alien invasion site revealed

Fans have struggled to locate the sandpit where Martians landed in HG Wells' novel The War of the Worlds

Every year, science fiction fans from across the globe visit a nature reserve in search of an alien landing site.

A sandpit in Woking's Horsell Common features in HG Wells' 1898 The War of the Worlds as the spot where Martians descend in their attempted invasion of Earth.

More than a century after the novel was published, fans often struggle to find the cylinder's landing site among the multiple sandpits.

But Prof Peter Beck, author of The War of the Worlds: From HG Wells to Orson Welles and Beyond, has revealed how to find its exact location.

Prof Beck told Secret Surrey: "In many ways it's easy to walk by it and think it's just part of Horsell Common... ordnance survey maps at the time show you the location of the map, and if you juxtapose the ordnance survey map with the 1940 map, you'll see the difference in locations."

Horsell Common looks markedly different compared to when Wells was writing the novel, he said.

"This was common land, clear of trees... and the landscape today which is full of trees, is all a product of the last century," he said.

Prof Beck said he feels that the manner in which Wells blends fact and fantasy is at the heart of the novel's enduring appeal.

He said: "Part of what makes the story so realistic is that Wells is into science fiction, which is fantasy, but Wells' quality as a science fiction writer was to place it in real and commonplace areas.

"This, he felt, gave it [the novel] that edge."

There is also something suspenseful about how Woking changes as the novel progresses, he added.

"You read the book and things are very peaceful, Woking is just like a normal, suburban town, and then all of a sudden Wells changes it.

"There's a Martians landing, the invasion, the burning of Woking, you've just this juxtaposition of peace and quiet and action."

Professor Peter Beck says the trees that are now in Horsell Common are "hiding a secret battlefield"

Prof Beck said that fans of War of the Worlds could be easily forgiven for not knowing where the actual sandpit is.

"In many ways it's easier to walk by it, and just think that it's just part of the Horsell Common," he said.

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