45 Spath Road ('Victoria Lodge'), 1973

It is thought that this charming and unusually shaped property may have once been the lodge that was used by the Ford Bank farm and estate manager and may have been built later in the 19th century. It lies at the end of the original 19th century drive that extended from near Ford Lane to Spath Road near its junction with Victoria Avenue. This would explain the direction in which the house is facing. Interestingly, the property is not shown on historical maps, such as the Ordnance Surveys of 1907, 1923 and 1931. The reason for this may be that it was a pied-a-terre, a small property not used as a primary residence.

The property appears on a map for the first time between 1935-38, although only small in size. There was no census during the war but in the Ordnance Survey of the 1950s it appears as much larger in size – suggesting therefore that it was extended post-war and turned into a delightful house ideal for permanent residence.

At one time the building was called ‘Victoria Lodge’ and was also the home of Mr Romesh Chandra Roy, builder of all the other houses on the Ford Bank estate pre- and post-war.

A further clue to its past is the fact that in the 1980s a clock connected to an old-fashioned boiler in the kitchen contained a document which included the words ‘Last inspected in 1901’.