Ivywood

Opposite the entrance to the civilian side of the airfield stands Ivywood. Built in 1936, with later additions in 1961, it replaced 'Ivywood Cottage' that can be seen in the '1903 Property Book'. It was built on 1 acre of sloping land, which had outstanding views of the valley, which included landscaped garden, fish ponds, two large greenhouses and a full sized tennis court.

   

Tony Lewis


This is Ivywood today. It now has a pitched roof rather than the flat roof before and the black framed period windows have been replaced with modern double glazing. Due to building of houses on the land over the years all the features of the garden have gone, apart from a retaining wall and steps down to the grass. The tennis court (or part of) has also been covered with grass.
Tony Lewis



The reason I wanted to put this particular house on my site is because from 1963 to 1970 my wife and family lived at Ivywood. Joanna has many photos of the house and gardens and below are a small selection showing how it looked in the 60's compared to today.

This picture shows Joanna's family posing at the top of the steps that led down from the living room to the garden. At the bottom of these steps can be seen two pillars topped with decorative bowls between which is another small set of steps that led to a fishpond (see below). The first set of steps have now gone to make way for a larger balcony and garden shed.



This picture shows Joanna at the fishpond at the bottom of the steps. The pillar behind her, and the steps, can still be seen in the 'Now' picture although the wall to the right of her has long gone. In 1965 the steps led down to a path which went across the garden (see 'Now' Picture). Either side of the pond, now a lawn, use to be a rose garden.
   

 
This final picture shows Ivywood from the tennis court. The wall running along this side has gone and the remainder of the court, now a lawn, is only a quarter of the size it was originally.