The Little Books 5

 Recently, a brief collection of small format books containing collections of photographs, mainly of St Albans views and street scenes, featured on this blog.  

Many of the four titles are now out of print, although copies can be found in the secondhand book market, including Abe Books.  One bi-product of each blog was to assess the usefulness of each little volume for lauding the East End of St Albans.

The title page of the first, 1949 edition.

The second edition was the first ring bound and with a coloured card
combined cover and title page.

The final edition introduced more design into the now-yellow cover.

One book omitted earlier is a title many residents of the post Second World War period will have recalled; it was titled St Albans: the story of the city and its people.  First published in 1949 by St Albans City Council there have been subsequent reprints in 1956, 1963 and 1974, each with a different cover design.  What set this title apart from almost every other book was its spiral binding.  It is thought that only the 1949 printing was hardbound.  Several copies of at least three of the editions is currently available on Abe Books, but certainly not at the 2/6d price of the original!

Edited by Lord Forrester in 1949, of the family Earl of Verulam – probably the same individual in subsequent reprintings. The printing was undertaken by Gibbs & Bamforth, printers and publishers of the Herts Advertiser at the time. Other printing processes were undertaken in this town of printing, including scraper board panels to introduce most of the sections.

This photograph, included only in the first edition , shows an employee at work
in the St Albans Brush Company building then on the corner of Ashley Road
and Hedley Road.

It should be confirmed that St Albans: the story of the city and its people differs from the earlier series of books in not being entirely a book of photographs.  It is essentially a guide to places, a history by none other than Elsie Toms, and chapters explaining the importance of Verulamium, St Albans at Work, St Albans Teaches St Albans at Leisure, the Abbey, Local Government and guided walks to and around the parishes of St Peter, St Michael and St Stephen. The book also includes three maps.

A rare image from the workbench inside Service Headwear, as it was then
named, in Hatfield Road.

But the stories are embellished with 29 full page photographs, most of which are unique to this publication.  The East End benefits from the inclusion of study images from some of the factories extant at the time: ELEC (Engineering & Lighting Equipment) of Campfield Road, Sander's in Camp Road, The Herts Advertiser Printing Company which moved to Camp Road from Spencer Street, Heath & Heather, on the edge of the East End at the City Station, Nicholson & Co, headquartered in Sutton Road, Marconi Instruments Ltd, and Ballito Hosiery Mill.

Two of the advertisements originate from the East End: this one
from Nicholson's Coats in Sutton Road; the other in the
first edition was a double page advertised Rodex Coats from
W O Peake in Hatfield Road.

Today we would describe the publication as "Sponsored" or "Supported by Advertising", On the cusp of the post-war world a classic collection of full page advertisements completes the book; regrettably the majority of businesses are no longer trading.

For its time the concept of the mini guide by the Council was commendable, and while most towns and cities have introduced their own versions since, it is disappointing that the St Albans title has not been updated further (as far as I know) or a more modern presentation introduced.

However, the book deserves its place on the shelves of St Albans people, and not just its historians.

Land for Sale?

 Regular readers of this blog always recognise when daily life becomes extra busy for its author.  And here we are within six days of the end of the month and no new blogs have appeared.  However, hopefully time will be made up with two before the end of day 30.

First up, a thought or two about a key section of the draft District Plan.  It's the question of additional housing, of course; such is the perennial issue which has been much discussed at least as far back as the end of World War Two!  For the first three decades the City Council used its collective magnifying glass in the earth for suitable blocks of land, large or small, which lay inside its boundary.  During the same period the Rural District Council found itself in a similar position, with a dire need for new rural housing.  The city's major constraint was the joint boundary between the two authorities; the principle constraint of the Rural District was the dominant straight-jacket of the Metropolitan Green Belt.

With the re-allocation of boundaries and the absorption of rural authorities into their neighbouring urban, town and city counterparts, the City Council bore the brunt of land searches for building on its own.  Since when the focus as been on re-use of previously developed land rather than prime green space.

The end for Butterwick farm came with demolition of the homestead, as the gravel which lay below was far more valuable.

It is probably not surprising that a sizeable chunk of previously used land (for gravel workings) remains dormant: the previously ancient manorial farm of Butterwick, which was first "interfered with" when the Hatfield & St Albans Railway Company first drove its path between the two towns in the 19th century and thus split the farm into two, leaving a rump between the railway and the Hatfield road;  the main acreage being swallowed for post-war rebuilding.  But it wasn't only Butterwick which was affected; its neighbour was Smallford Farm, adjacent to Colney Heath Lane.  

The delightful Smallford farm homestead.

At intervals came applications to extend the gravel workings nearer to existing homes in the vicinity of Colney Heath Lane; or applications to develop land for housing which would front onto the lane.  Which brings us to a recent push onto land "north of Boissy Close".  Now, if you walk along the short Close you will discover a gated end, so why would you not extend the housing?  Except, of course it is the gateway to an expansive open landscape which people frequently enjoy, and equally accept the greater landscape had been proposed for a small football stadium with parking, and more recently for a solar farm. No doubt other proposals too.

A small collection of homes off Colney Heath Lane at Bossy Close.  There was nothing to prevent the building of more homes beyond this gate, it appeared.  But that is not the same as the current planning potential for the land beyond.  Discussions continue.

Of course, there is plenty of finger-wagging because no-one appears to fully understand just what material had been dumped when the gravel pits were filled in.  Suffice it to say, the land is large enough to attract attention "because it is there".

Another much smaller block of land on the northern side of the former railway and accessed from Hatfield Road currently belongs to Glinwell Salads.  The main site at Smallford roundabout was first developed by Nielsons, a market gardening enterprise which moved from the upper Lea Valley, driven out by Victorian and Edward North London housing; this is the block now occupied by Glinwell Salads.  Whereas Nielson occupied the land sensibly and with a good margin all round, Glinwell's rebuilt glasshouses and have maxed out the site fairly effectively.  And as it still required more growing space a few years ago it acquired the land next door which had lain dormant since being vacated by Ballito Hosiery Mill's Sports Ground.

Behind the former fence at the old Ballito sports ground remained the  sign board until recent years.  
The sign board is believed to remain in the custody of St Albans Museums.

Quite who placed the concrete blocks in front of the turn in is unknown.  But possibly the council
felt the new green fencing was too temporary and may even have been to prevent unauthorised
work from taking place.

Aha, more glasshouses perhaps.  Through a part of the newly acquired site flows Smallford Brook, the southern extension of Boggy Mead Spring on the north side of Hatfield Road.  Early work soon after acquisition began on adjusting the stream course to maximise the ground available for growing. But if you are a regular traveller along Hatfield Road you will have observed its boundary fence has remained temporary and visibility from beyond the site is limited by a green screen mesh, quite unlike the permanent fencing further east.  More to the point, no further work appears to have taken place.  Is this the land which the company may wish to relinquish?  Twenty hectares are mentioned in the District Plan.  We wonder what will happen next.

Green District Plan

 If you have downloaded the file elements which comprise St Albans District Plan Consultation you will have discovered the wide range of component parts.  It is not possible to include a summary for all  these within a single post – and in any case no-one would make use of it to assist them in the consultation process, particularly the afternoon/evening sessions which are being held in various locations during September.

Treat this post instead as a series of observations if perusing the Open Space Study which is part of the package.  Remember, the Study includes comparisons in all of the districts of the city, although  this blog is mainly interested in content forming part of the city's own east end (generally – though not exclusively – the historic parish of St Peter).

We are tempted to focus on the most well-known named open spaces such as Clarence Park. So let's begin there. The Study throughout quantifies the ranges of facilities in each space; if you like, the reason we might give for making a visit; and a limited range of support services, such as signage, bench seats and bins which form the basis of  an open space's percentage score compared with other local spaces.  Where it is deemed necessary (not only necessarily desirable) toilets are included, as are interpretation and other information panels.  But part of the assessment should probably have included the quality of the space's features.  Simply listing "toilets" does not help if they do not function to a good standard, are only open part-time or are not welcoming to use.  Yes, there maybe useful pathways, but they are less useful if sections are considered trip hazards.  A key feature of a park such as Clarence is its ability to foster relaxation, which might include a cafe or snack zone; and while there is certainly a restaurant eatery on the Crown boundary (a facility incidentally considered to be outside of the park even though it makes much use of the grassed space inside, a cafe more at the heart of family activity would place the venue much higher on visitors' satisfaction list, including a location where children can be supervised nearby by their parents.  There used to be such a refreshment kiosk many decades ago, but we are now left with a grassed triangle instead, presumably because that was cheaper.

But Clarence Park's quality and quantity provision is much enhanced in other ways – the courts zone is popular and busy, as is the popular Clarence Play children's zone.  Even above those the attractiveness of  tree cover which the park provides is a welcoming presence whenever visitors are drawn to the Park.

The same or similar criteria appear to be applied to smaller open spaces too.  Fleetville Rec these days is referred to as Fleetville Park, even on some maps, while Longacres is called an Open Space, Cunningham has Green Space in its title, while The Wick is just called The Wick, although maps name it Local Nature Reserve, even though a significant area serves the same function as other recreation grounds. William Bell is a Playground, while nearby is Sherwood Recreation Ground.  Why do many green spaces have such different descriptions in their titles?

Maybe there is some confusion about their functions, the expectations of their users and therefore the responsibilities of the authorities and any trusts who look after them.  Essentially, recreation grounds were created as open spaces for children or adults to breathe fresh air and engage in informal activity.  Historically they tended to be equipped only with a set of swings and the occasional cone (witch's hat)!  In more recent decades an area of hardstanding with a basketball/netball post and maybe a pair of goalposts may have appeared, or even a full multi-lined court.  A soft surfaced playdeck for young children may have been added, or sponsored, while the antithesis of activity space has occasionally arrived in the form of a youth shelter.  A store or changing room, and sometimes toilets my be provided but are far from universal.  In this feature level of open space the main maintenance issues are related to "unusual wear and tear", or vandalism.  

In the Study 'recs', as they are affectionally known, are graded on the same scale as other open spaces, so popularity, facilities and signage are often key to where they appear on the scale, even if that is not appropriate.

What is missing from the Study is the opportunity for any kind of open space, whether park, rough open space, pocket park, lane, footpath or even a forgotten piece of spare land between buildings, to appeal for what it offers towards our well being: calm, contemplation, reading,  conversation with a friend or other relaxing use of our time.  There are reasons why they are on a list but they  should not be graded uniformly with other open spaces for the provision or not of bins, benches and signage.

Next time we'll locate a number of more contemplative green spaces of value to us in our everyday lives.  In the meantime look out for them in your wanderings.

Happy Faces

Randomly search through your collection of pictures taken by various photographers – or people who took the pictures, who may not be the same at all – and two distinct groups stand out for their propensity for happy faces.  First off are the wedding pics; by which I am not including miscellaneous shots of the reception, but the bride and groom themselves; it was their most adventurous day after all.

The second group contains teams, especially if they were winners of an immediately preceding competition, and especially if they were excitable children.  So your collection may include several of each, and the latter group may contain a press photo from the local newspaper; how long ago will be revealed by the amount of yellowing the newspaper has endured even while hidden away in a shoe box inside a darkened cupboard.

Recently I received such a photograph from Ray who appears, along with his team mates from 1967. Naturally they are all happy; why wouldn't they be, as winners of a football competition.  The details of the competition are immaterial, but just for the record the entrants were third year primary (now called year five) 6-a-side from many of the St Albans' schools.  Biggest credit usually goes to what are euphemistically called "top class teams"; in other words 11 a-side or full teams, and definitely the players who represent their school for that year.  But of course, run forward a year, in this case to 1968, and most of these six players from Wheatfields Junior School will appear once again in the "top class" team photo, having further honed their skills. There may be a copy of that time too; only time will tell.

I searched Bob Bridle and Duncan Burgoyne's book A 100 Years: a History of Schools' Football in St Albans, a remarkable reference source, though no longer in print.  Amongst the copious details for results of the Slade and Marconi trophies in 1966/67, was a little paragraph for the third year competition in that year: "Wheatfields beat Killigrew 2–0 in round one, and Oakwood by the same scoreline in round two.  In the semi-final they knocked out Skyswood by two goals to one and their final, against Windermere, ended goal-less.  Wheatfields won by virtue of gaining two corners against Windermere's one."

There is one further interesting piece of information nested in the Herts Advertiser article:

WINNERS WHEATFIELD (sic): THEY WIN SCHOOLS SIX-A-SIDE

In an entertaining tournament London Colney took the Dearman Trophy for fourth-ear teams, and Wheatfields won the Lyon Cup for third year teams in the St Albans Primary Schools six-a-side soccer competition at London Colney Primary School on Saturday.

The two long-established trophies for the "top teams" are Slade and Marconi.  Slade after a well-known St Albans business family, and Marconi naming the nationally known electronics company which started up in St Albans in 1939.

But what about Dearman and Lyon?  John Dearman was a locally known retailer who began his ironmongery business near Keyfield, London Road c1960 and then moving to a shop near Camp School in Camp Road less than a decade later.  Getting a schools trophy named after you is good publicity for later young grown-ups and their aspiring first homes.

Ronnie Lyon was another relatively new name on the map in St Albans.  He was more widely known, having acquired cheap industrial land in the immediate post-war period and turned them into  serviced factory buildings ready for leaseholders to move into and start trading on day one.  You would recognise the estates anywhere because the access road was inevitably named Lyon Way, as it is in the St Albans version between Oaklands and Smallford.

So, here we are, six smiling faces from Marshalswick in 1967: David Dobbie, Nigel Hiskett, Andy Smith, Peter Robinson at the back; and Ray Bradstreet, Stuart Carter and Malcom Evans up front!

Anyway guys: rather belatedly, congratulations on your school winning the Lyon Cup in 1967!

Not Unique Then

 Many readers will already have some idea of the story behind the Comet Hotel at the end of Comet Way, Hatfield, and its connection with the de Havilland Aircraft Company which moved from Stag Lane to Harpsfield Hall Farm in the early 1930s.

Neo tudor in Bristol Road South, Birmingham

Solid decorated brick approach o the Oxford Road.

But there is also another story which needs to be related and that is about Comet Way itself.  This highway arrived on the scene, though  initially as a single carriageway, as one element of the national arterial road expansion following the First World War.  The road as a whole was known as the North Orbital and this section as part of the Barnet Bypass.  In order to connect the road now known as Comet Way to the Great North Road (A1) and avoid causing traffic being funnelled through old Hatfield, land was acquired from the Great Nast Hyde estate to build the road from today's Comet roundabout down to the Roehyde interchange.  

Ernest Musman's design for The Comet at Ellenbrook, Hatfield in 1936.

The restored The Comet completed in 2019.

Land left over was targeted by Benskins Watford Brewery, one of several brewery chains taking advantage of potential sites along the new highways for what were then labelled roadhouses: an amalgam of the traditional public house, restaurants serving popular fare and basic hotel accommodation.

Many chains were attracted by the comfortable Georgian-style  structures – brick and exposed beams, snug fireplaces and bold chimneys, which shouted out warmth and comfort.

However, Benskins wished to strike out in a different direction for selected sites it acquired and engaged the services of architect Ernest B Musman.  Musman's new roadhouse properties include the Berkeley Arms at Cranford, the Myles Arms at Perivale, and the Bull & Butcher at Whetstone.

The architectural style of modernism, an adaptation of the clean-cut art deco was used to good effect in the design of The Comet which Benskins opened in 1936.  Musman therefore adapted the ship bridge  concept often used for art deco frontages to the spread of an airliner, the new concept in passenger air travel.  The cockpit became a lounge, the fuselage became the restaurant, distance was placed between the saloon and public bars with shortened "wings",  and bedrooms spread out on the first floor.  A lantern and compass both adorned the roof above.  The purpose? To reflect the nearby location of de Havilland Aircraft Company's new site alongside the new highway, whose building frontages were also art deco in design.

The story all came together so well.  Especially as the traditional hanging signs in Benskin's new roadhouses were dispensed with.  Instead at The Comet stood what was thought to be a unique sculptural form, a pillar depicting outlines of eighteen different kinds of flight. Atop the pillar was a maquette version of the racing Comet used in the 1934 Air Race.  This would be visible the full length of the new highway.

But it seems the uniqueness of The Comet to its particular de Havilland  location was not quite – unique!

The Nag's Head in Bishops Stortford when new in 1934.

Recent image of the Nag's Head, the frontage looking remarkably similar to Musman's Hatfield counterpart.

The replaced entrance sign – compare with the
original in the monochrome image.

Travel a few miles north to Bishops Stortford and Benskins had used Musman in a, you might say, dress rehearsal.  Take a visit to the Nag's Head, at the town end of Dunmow Road and you might realise you have arrived at something familiar.  Now a McMullens establishment Musman created the design for Nag's Head for a Benskins opening in 1934.  The front elevation is almost a carbon copy of the Comet with its cockpit, fuselage, wings and first floor accommodation.  And where The Comet has its sculptural pillar with maquette atop, we are welcomed to Nags with a more formalised triangular pillar; although not the original it has been redesigned in similar style.

So, what was the story behind the plan for the Nag's Head that made both end up so similar?  Probably the reduced time taken – and therefore the cost – on The Comet's plans would have made it a less expensive project for Benskins.  When we discuss the story of The Comet we should also include references to the Nag's Head; after all, they have a common heritage.

This Way, That Way

 Wherever we live we have an address with a street name and of course we find our way by navigating the network of roads in the locality.  A small number of the streets have been in existence "for ever"; often the various routes by which people down the centuries have walked or ridden themselves to nearby towns and villages. But it wasn't until the late 19th century that the names by which roads were known were identified by plates fixed at one or both ends of streets. And in a few cases the correct names had to be established, sometimes by people living nearby, as to the name by which the road was to be known.

Since the publication of the two volumes of St Albans' Own East End there has been a list of street names with brief accompanying  explanations.  But before continuing this discourse we should define our boundaries: where the East End of St Albans is and is not.  For the purposes of research for the books the city's boundary follows the Midland Railway line between London Road and the King William fiveways junction at St Albans Road.  The approximately Southern edge is London Road.  The northern border and the mainly eastern limits follow the historic St Peter's parish even though modern parish boundaries may now be at variance and of course not very obvious.  Unfortunately the listing excludes villages such as Colney Heath and London Colney, not because they were outside of the notional East End, but because they were previously published communities in their own right and therefore were not included in the research for St Albans' Own East End.  Eastwards the parish does, however, extend to parts of Hatfield north of the A1(M) as far as Hatfield Garden Village.  It is a very rough and ready enclosure which will suffice for this article.

Within that area exist 378 named roads as of 2023, although a small number of these are names which are no longer in use and have subsequently been updated or replaced. 

Road names broadly fall into one of five groups.  Historical roads tend to be those which we might have described as, for example, the road to Hatfield and which we now formalise as Hatfield Road.

The eponymous category includes the many names which appear on street plates in recognition, commemoration or celebration of someone who had a connection with the district or the nearby land.  There are many of these in St Albans, especially members from large landowning families.

Geographic location – the names of places – might be anything from a building previously on the site, to a nearby village, former field or farm name.  It is also possible that such a name has been invented for effect!

By definition themed road names come in groups; several nearby roads might have the names of trees, for example.  Celebratory names might recognise major or memorable events, as in Royal Road.

And finally we might come across names which defy categorisation, as in The Avenue, or The Cinder Track.  It is what it is! 

Careful research has provided convincing or proven results for most East End roads, lanes, closes, avenues ... but not all!

One very early Fleetville road is Eaton Road, but several leads have not brought up a likely solution.  It is definitely Eaton, not Eton. There was no obvious connection with the land owner prior to development, but of course there were a number of Eaton families living in the county and the St Albans locality.  None, so far, appears to have a useful connection.  Inevitably when a knowledgeable local resident suggests a provable connection it will suddenly become too obvious, but until then ...

A development partnership of Ekins and Giffen in the early 20th century gave us the roads on the Camp estate, all of which were named after Arthur Ekins connections with the county of his birth, Cambridgeshire.  Mr Ekins was a chemist and had a role as the county analyst.  The chosen names were Cambridge Road, College Road, Ely Road, Royston Road (which just sneaks into Hertfordshire), and Sutton Road. But what was Mr Ekins' connection with Wellington that enabled him to name one of his streets Wellington Road?

Not far away on the boundary between the land owned by Giffen and Ekins was that owned by Alfred J Nicholson, who himself named two adjacent streets to his coat factory Hedley Road and Maxwell Road after family members.  On or very near the boundary is Guildford Road; which doesn't have an obvious connection with Cambridgeshire.  On the other hand the name hasn't been discovered among the research for A J Nicholson either.  Where might the name Guildford Road have come from?

On the "estate of tree names", Beaumonts, a recent new development which replaced the site of 1950s garages, has appeared Langford Close.  If you're looking, it joins Chestnut Drive.  So no-one thought of continuing the trees theme, then!  Langford is broadly based; not obviously local enough unless someone has discovered the right information.

On the face of it Gleave, as in the infill development off Woodstock Road North, called Gleave Close, sounds similar to a medieval agricultural term, but clearly is not.  Although it could be a family name.  And that is as far as I have reached!  Incidentally, the houses were built on land once leased to the nurserymen Messrs Sear & Carter who had a shop and little nursery next to St Paul's Church and a large nursery where Notcutts is today.

Catham Close, off Drakes Drive, does have a solution – or does it? Nearby, the 1840 tithe map shows a field named Catham Wood Field.  Catham could suggest the name of someone, but was he significant enough to warrant following up?

Finally an infill development off Blenheim Road is named Sefton Close. Is this related to a community in the north-west of the country,  or perhaps a 19th century race horse – or another connection altogether?  In either case what would be the connection with the location, or St Albans more generally?

If you have a lead which could be followed up on any of the above road do feel free to post a response.

After 78 years

 

The Beaumonts estate as first laid out. Much of Beaumonts Wood has gone to provide ground for the schools and their playing fields. The broken orange lines never saw the light of day – a short stub of the extended Central Drive is now Oakwood School's entrance drive.

This map was surveyed in 1939.  The Central Drive/Oakwood Drive corner
is on the far right.  It would have been a cross-roads.  A swathe of wooded
ground has already been carved out to make the extension of Oakwood
Drive towards Sandpit Lane, which never happened. There are
other roads with no homes yet behind them. They would appear after WW2.

The final tranche of land belonging to Beaumonts Farm was offered for sale in 1929 and was acquired by holding company Watford Land. The company set out the road plan which would connect with Sandpit Lane, Beaumont Avenue and Hatfield Road, and at subsequent auctions plots were purchased by a number of mainly local house-building companies.  Two spine roads, Beechwood Avenue and Oakwood Drive, were to connect Hatfield Road with Sandpit Lane.  A third one had already existed, and had done so for centuries, Beaumont Avenue.  Beechwood Avenue had been aligned  with the agreement of the council, to connect with Marshalswick Lane as part of what was then known as the Circle Road (ring road).

Three connecting roads also appeared on the development map: Elm Drive, Central Drive and Chestnut Drive. None was completed to their finished lengths.  For the next ten years house building continued, working from Hatfield Road and the southern end of the estate, until in 1940 everything halted because of the war. Most of Beechwood and Elm had been completed. So too had the southern end of Woodland.  Hazelwood south was largely finished on one side and Oakwood had almost reached the future Central Drive.

Oakwood Drive looking towards the corner with Central Drive and in the direction of Sandpit Lane (not, of course, visible).  The (cream) house straight ahead would make such an extension impossible
today.

But restarting such a development after hostilities had finished would financially and logistically be a challenge; many pre-war housebuilding firms did not survive the interregnum, and the post-war license system limited how much building each could carry out.  In part the council came to the rescue by purchasing the swathe of ground from Woodland Drive to the school playing fields boundary.  A revised road layout was devised which took the boundary up to the playing field fence, which would then prevent Oakland Drive from continuing from the Central Drive junction as far as Sandpit Lane. Which later enabled number 51 Central Drive to be constructed in the space of the redundant road line.

The council then built a number of houses for rental in Woodland Drive and Hazelwood Drive north.

Of course, since our home area was effectively a huge building site children of the 1940s and 50s were able to take the short route from Oakwood Drive to Sandpit Lane by walking along the western side of the chain link fence erected by the County Education Department; and once the Hazelwood houses were in build it was easy enough to hop over the fence and follow the same line along the inside edge of the school field.  You could wonder how the author knows that odd fact if you like!  You could even wonder how much is known about the oak tree part way along that walked path close to where the Verulam School's pavilion is located.

Blue circle: Oakwood/Central corner. Red circle: approximate location of oak tree near Verulam School changing rooms. Yellow circle: beginning of path along Eagle Way. Green broken line: intended path
from Eagle Way to Central Drive. Green dotted lines: informal pathways worn by children in the 1950s.

Almost as soon as we had climbed over that fence we were able to nip across the field to Oaklands Wood, still there behind Oakwood School's site but now much depleted.  The woodland wasn't in any sense public; we knew that because there was a large sign fixed to a tree which informed us to KEEP OUT.  But we ventured there anyway.

I have reached this far in the post to reach the connection between the 1950s and a decision made recently...

Standing out against the sky at Oaklands Grange.

... in the 21st century and at the new housing on the edge of  land belonging to Oaklands, called Oaklands Grange.  Now that the homes are largely all out of the ground an increasing number of people have become familiar with Oaklands Grange and its access to Sandpit Lane not far from the opposite driveway from Newgates, a former mini farm, and the access drive from the Verulam School field.

To leave the Oaklands Grange development residents must walk first to Sandpit Lane – ah ha, so quite close to the old informal route youngsters walked in the 1940s and 50s; seventy-eight years or so after a certain number of those young children found their own way between Sandpit Lane and Central Drive.  If they weren't going to build the extension road, we'll find our own way.  So, an informal path was gradually worn in.   

The future path begins.

The path from Eagle Way skirts outside the boundary of Oakwood School towards
Central Drive.

Children living today at Oaklands Grange are to be given an alternative to the walk along Sandpit Lane, Beechwood Avenue and Central Drive to reach their schools.  They will be able to take a short cut.  The formal start of the path is already prepared at the southern end of Eagle Way.  Pass a few trees westwards and you will reach the former KEEP OUT sign and pass to the outside of the Oakwood School boundary, now itself wooded to reach the school entrance at Central Drive.

Two informal footpaths worn by 1950s children not trying very hard to keep out of trouble, now become part of the 2020s story of families finding their way between home and school along almost the same footpath.  There is little doubt that the child evacuees who came to be part of Beaumont Schools during the 1940s also adventured along these two routes to reach Sandpit Lane and to explore Oaklands Wood and its KEEP OUT sign.

We will look out for the official opening of the new link path, hopefully soon.