An eagle-eyed spot, Viv - the washing-line pole on the left, indicative of a back garden. There is at least one pole in the garden of the barge-boarded house, too. Like you, I am trying to follow the path that leads away from the photographer's vantage-point, along the side of the broken fence. It seems to do a sharp left, running between fences, but what happens when it approaches the white fence? A dog-leg to the right towards the central tree, then left again, parallel with the rest of the terrace? Note also the brick lean-to with a corrugated iron roof, centre-left; again, would be unusual in a front garden.
The plot on the left foreground, which may be overgrown or reserved for vegetables, doesn't appear to be connected to the terrace. Could this be attached to a house behind and to the left of the photographer? Those recessed windows intrigue me, too. They, and the pointed-arched door, seem too fancy for the usual artisans' or factory-workers' cottages. I like your theory about a philanthropist, or a benevolent industrialist...