Clocktower Cars runs licensed taxis, minicabs and private hire cars in Ripley, Surrey, GU23, twenty-four hours a day. The number is 01483 301 000 — our Guildford office, under seven miles away. Or book online and we will confirm the car and the price before you travel.
People search for this more than anything else on this page, so here it is plainly.
Both are real offices with people in them, not a diverted mobile. If a driver is running late you can ring and speak to someone who can see where the car is.
All the same thing in ordinary speech. A minicab and a private hire car are the same vehicle — “private hire” is the legal term, “minicab” is what people say. Both must be booked rather than hailed, which is what a hackney carriage, the black cab, is licensed for.
We are a private hire operator, so every Ripley taxi, Ripley cab and Ripley minicab we send is pre-booked and priced before you travel. In a Surrey village nobody flags one down anyway. If the distinction interests you, we have written it up: minicab versus black cab.
Worth settling early, because it causes more confusion than any other place name we cover.
This is Ripley, Surrey, GU23 — the village on the old Portsmouth Road, 6.2 miles south-east of Woking, 6.8 miles north-east of Guildford and 22.5 miles south-west of London. Its neighbours are Send and Send Marsh to the south-west and Ockham to the east.
It is not:
If you are booking from outside the area, say “Ripley, Surrey” or quote the GU23 postcode and there is no room for doubt. It is the single most useful thing you can add to a booking made from a distance.
Ripley’s biggest neighbour is not a town. RHS Garden Wisley is the second most visited paid-entry garden in the United Kingdom after Kew, with 1,255,706 visitors in 2025, and the Grade II* listed gardens sit immediately north of the village.
That produces a particular kind of taxi work, and some practical advice worth having:
We also run to Ockham, the village immediately east of Ripley that starts just the other side of the A3 and runs west to the River Wey, and to Send and Send Marsh on the Woking side.
Ripley sits close to the M25 at a point that suits both airports, and Heathrow especially.
| To | Route | Distance | Typical drive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | M25 | 17.6 miles | ~22 min |
| Heathrow | M25 and M4 | 19.5 miles | ~22 min |
| Gatwick | M25 and M23 | 27.4 miles | ~28 min |
| Gatwick | M25 | 24.5 miles | ~33 min |
| Gatwick | M25 and A23 | 25.3 miles | ~35 min |
Heathrow in about 22 minutes makes Ripley one of the best-placed villages we cover for an early flight. A 6am departure with a two-hour check-in means leaving around 3.30am rather than the small hours.
The Gatwick rows are the interesting ones. The longest route — 27.4 miles — is the fastest at about 28 minutes. The shortest, 24.5 miles, takes 33. Nearly three miles less driving costs you five minutes. That is why we quote the journey rather than charging by the mile: a per-mile rate would bill you more for the quicker road.
All four Heathrow terminals on our airport transfer service, and Gatwick has its own page. On the return we track the inbound flight number and set the pickup by the actual landing time rather than the scheduled one, so a delay does not turn into a waiting bill or a driver who has gone home. Meet and greet puts the driver inside arrivals with a name board instead of in a car park.
Luton and Stansted are the long M25 runs and are quoted as such. We also cover London City, Southampton and the cruise ports — closer to Ripley than either London airport — and the Eurotunnel terminal.
Five things, and only the first is distance.
Give us the journey and you get a figure before you commit. That figure is what you pay; it does not move because the M25 did.
Ripley has no railway station. That single fact accounts for a large share of the work we do here, because every rail journey from the village starts with a car.
The usable stations are all a drive away — Woking for the fast Waterloo trains, Guildford for the south-west and the coast, Horsley and Effingham Junction on the New Guildford line, and West Byfleet. Which one is right depends on where you are going rather than which is nearest, and the office can talk it through with you.
A village without a secondary school has a long school run by definition. Ripley children travel out towards Guildford, Woking, Effingham and the Horsleys, and much of it goes along roads that were laid out for a great deal less traffic than they now carry.
We run school taxis in Ripley as standing term-time bookings: same pickup, same time, same named driver wherever the rota allows. For a child making the same journey 190 mornings a year, a familiar driver is worth more than a marginally cheaper fare.
Drivers carrying children are licensed and DBS-checked. Child seats and boosters are provided when you tell us the child’s age and weight at the time of booking — not on the morning. If the school needs a named driver on a list, we will supply the details.
Two or three families going to the same school at the same time can share one booking and split it. In a village this is the normal arrangement. Parents sort it out between themselves; we run the route and invoice whoever you nominate.
We run wheelchair-accessible vehicles with ramp access, proper restraints and drivers trained to use them. There are fewer of them than saloons and they cover a wide rural area, so a day’s notice is comfortable and an hour is optimistic. For a course of appointments, book the series in one go.
The Royal Surrey County Hospital on the edge of Guildford is the district general for this area — 520 beds, rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission along with its maternity services. It is a straightforward run from Ripley and one we do often.
Our medical appointment transport is built around how hospital days really run. Clinics overrun, discharges happen when they happen, and a car booked for a fixed return time is a car that leaves without you. We will hold an open return, and we would rather you rang to say you are two hours late than sat worrying about it. If the patient should not be left alone at the door, say so when you book and the driver will see them in.
Ripley is consultant and commuter country with Heathrow twenty-two minutes away, which is the profile an account suits: named bookers, nothing paid at the kerb, one invoice at the end of the month.
There is a corporate chauffeur service for client work and a same-day courier service for items rather than people.
Village, green, commons and towpath — this is dog country, and a dog is the commonest reason a booking falls apart at the kerb. We run pet-friendly taxis with drivers who have agreed in advance to carry animals. Tell us the size of the dog and whether it travels in a crate when you book, not when the car arrives. Assistance dogs travel as of right and need no notice.
The branch locator will tell you which of our offices is nearest to any address.
The airport run, the station car, the school contract, the hospital appointment, the wheelchair-accessible vehicle, the dog, the eight-seater for Wisley. One office, one account, one number: 01483 301 000.
Every car is a licensed private hire vehicle, every driver is licensed, and every journey is insured for hire and reward. Because the booking goes through the office there is a record of who drove you, when, and where — which matters most for children, elderly relatives, and anybody travelling alone at night on unlit village roads.
You get the figure on the call or in the booking confirmation. No meter, no surge multiplier, and no per-mile arithmetic that punishes the quickest route. If the job changes — an extra stop, an extra passenger — we tell you what that changes before the car sets off.
Card in the car, card over the phone, or on account. Account customers are invoiced monthly and never handle payment at the kerb.
We are a taxi and private hire operator. We do not hire out self-drive cars or vans, and we do not do servicing or repairs. If what you want is a car and a driver for a day — a day at Wisley and lunch somewhere, a funeral, a run of appointments — ring the office and we will price it as a day booking.
01483 301 000 — our Guildford office at Station Approach, London Road, GU1 4DQ, which covers Ripley, Send, Send Marsh, Ockham and Wisley. Answered by a person twenty-four hours a day. 01372 747 747 is the Epsom head office.
Surrey — GU23, between Woking and Guildford on the old Portsmouth Road. We do not cover Ripley in Derbyshire, Ripley in North Yorkshire, or Shipley in West Yorkshire, all of which get confused with it. Quote the GU23 postcode or say “Ripley, Surrey” and there is no doubt.
Yes, constantly — it is a mile or so from the village and the second most visited paid-entry garden in the country. Book the return before you go in rather than afterwards: on a warm weekend everyone leaves at once and every car in the area is already committed. If you are arriving by train at Woking, Guildford, West Byfleet or Effingham Junction, we will do the last few miles.
No. The nearest usable stations are Woking, Guildford, Horsley, Effingham Junction and West Byfleet, all a drive away — which is why station cars are such a large part of what we do here. Which station suits depends on where you are going, and the office will talk it through.
About 22 minutes for 17.6 miles up the M25, measured on 28 September 2026 — one of the shortest airport runs from anywhere we cover.
About 28 minutes for 27.4 miles via the M25 and M23. Note that the shorter route — 24.5 miles straight down the M25 — takes about 33 minutes, so the driver will usually take the longer, quicker one.
Yes. “Private hire vehicle” is the legal term and “minicab” is the everyday one. Both must be booked rather than hailed; a hackney carriage, the black cab, is the type licensed to be flagged down. We are a private hire operator, so every car is pre-booked and priced in advance.
Yes. The office is staffed around the clock and cars run through the night. The honest caveat: in a village at four in the morning a pre-booked car is guaranteed and an on-demand one is not, because fewer drivers are on and they cover a wide area. Early flights should always be booked ahead.
Yes, all three, on the same number. Ockham starts just east of the A3 and runs west to the River Wey; Send and Send Marsh are on the Woking side. Name the village when you book as well as the postcode.
Yes. We run wheelchair-accessible vehicles with ramp access, restraints and trained drivers. Give us as much notice as you can — a day is comfortable, an hour is optimistic — and tell us whether the passenger stays in the chair, what type of chair it is, and whether a carer is travelling.
Yes, with notice, so we can send a driver who has agreed to carry animals. Tell us the size of the dog and whether it travels in a crate. Assistance dogs travel as of right and need no notice.
It depends on the journey rather than the mileage, which is why we quote instead of publishing a rate card. The price is set by how long the journey takes, the time of day, the vehicle, whether the car returns empty, and any waiting or extras. Ring 01483 301 000 with the pickup, the destination and the time and you will have a fixed figure before you commit.
Call 01483 301 000, or book online and we will confirm the car and the price. Twenty-four hours a day, every day.
Ripley taxis, Ripley cabs, Ripley minicabs and private hire in Ripley, Surrey — taxis in Ripley and cabs in Ripley for Heathrow, Gatwick, RHS Wisley, the station, the school run and the hospital appointment, across GU23, Send, Send Marsh, Ockham and Wisley. Licensed drivers, and a price agreed before you travel.
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