Don’t be a Martian

It was a brilliantly sunny morning and my walk took me past the fighting machine in the town centre. In case you didn’t know I live in Woking where the Martians landed in HG Wells "War of the Worlds" and this is one way in which we remember this iconic story.


"They were described as “vast spiderlike machines, nearly a hundred feet high, capable of the speed of an express train, and able to shoot out a beam of intense heat.” Masked batteries, chiefly of field guns, had been planted in the country about Horsell Common, and especially between the Woking district and London. Five of the machines had been seen moving towards the Thames, and one, by a happy chance, had been destroyed".


The Martians all got colds and died of course. They hadn’t thought to use hand gel and wear face masks.


 Be sensible. Don’t be a Martian...