b'Recollection by Peter Hunta traumatic experience for vendors to have someoneto the property at some stage and, therefore, every time poking around their property and for those obliged toI heard a car I had to rush to the radiator in case I then In 1975 the Clarke Gammon firm evolvedsell out of necessity, a sad time. However, in all but aheard the front doorbell! I have visited many hundreds again with the amalgamation of Raymondvery small minority of cases, I have been accepted asof properties and had the good fortune to meet generally Wood of Godalming, taking Bob Harrison intodoing a job and refreshed during my inspection. On onemost charming and interesting people. An uncanny partnership. The firm became Clarke Gammonoccasion an elderly gentleman insisted that I must joinexperience with which I was involved concerned a and Raymond Wood with offices at Guildford,him for lunch which was served to us by his housekeeperyoung lady who had come to the firm for a weeks work Godalming, Liphook and Midhurst. on an immaculate white tablecloth.experience. Together we arrived at a property where I The amalgamation was not a particularly happy one andhad to undertake a building society valuation.When undertaking property surveys unfortunately the firm parted amicably some 4 years later. Soon after,one does not always have the advantage of a warm fineOn entering one of the rooms she looked at some Roger Lawson who had joined the partnership in 1970,day. On one occasion inspecting a property on the topframed photographs and explained that she believed left the firm to start his own practice in Haslemere. of the Hogs Back in driving rain, my trousers becameone of the ladies was her fathers mother. She had not In the meanwhile, a new surveyor had been appointed,saturated. The property was vacant but the heating hadseen her granny since her young childhood as her father namely Peter Hunt, who soon joined the partnership inbeen left on, so I decided to remove my trousers and dryhad some years previously divorced her mother. She 1972, the firm having rebranded as just Clarke Gammon. them on a radiator, leaving me to inspect the property inwasnt sure whether to say anything to the lady of the my underpants. I knew that my clients would be cominghouse, but I said there was no harm in asking. It turned I joined Clarke Gammon in 1972 having recently passed my final exams to become a Chartered Surveyor. I was fortunate to have been given the position of junior1970-surveyor, assisting one of the partners. It was not intended that I should sit at my desk too long but should be out and about helping with residential property surveys and building society valuations in the lovely Surrey countryside. As it is said Surveyors do it in other peoples houses1999most of my professional work revolves around intruding and investigating peoples private property. It is, I accept,'