RaytheGrader
Brummie babby
Thank you for such a fascinating post Enrico - you have painted a very vivid picture of the area that became my home for 17 years. The golf course that you describe is Robin Hood Golf Club - my Dad became a member there in 1967. I never knew that the clubhouse was originally located opposite the Gospel Oak pub. For as long as I can remember, it has always been in its current location which is accessed from St Bernards Road. You were close to say Kineton Green Road I had no idea about Gunns Nursery greenhouses which, of course, explains where Gunns Way got its name from. I would love to see a photograph of what that area once looked like, but I doubt one exists. I am very intrigued by your mention of a hydraulic ram. When we moved into Swanswell Road in February 1972, the land beyond our back garden was still, as you describe, wild fields - we used to love playing there. There was a brook running through that area - I wonder if it's the same one that you describe, although I don't recall a hydraulic ram. Your date of 1967 for the completion of the estate ties in well with my own recollectionsI moved to this area in 1962 as a teenager and used to take my dog for a walk over the undeveloped land where the Langley Hall estate was later built. It is definitely a 60‘s development. The Golf Course clubhouse was opposite the Gospel Oak pub before it was relocated to the other side of the golf course off, I think, Kineton Green Road. The fields from the former clubhouse running down towards what is now Gunns Way had the appearance of derelict farmland with surrounding hedges but no sign of recent cultivation. The abandoned remains of Gunns nursery greenhouses were there
near to where Gunns Way is now, and I particularly remember the hydraulic ram which was located in the brook running through the fields. I had never seen one before and it took some time to find out what it was.
Later on in 1967 when I was looking for my own house , the Langley Hall estate was largely complete and I eventually ended up in a smaller development off Kineton Green Road