The start of the Hilder period, 1927-1959

1927: In 1927 a local builder called Henry Herbert Hilder bought The Sycamores after the nuns had moved to Farnborough Hill. H H Hilder is still a very active company in 2007 run by Henry's grandson, Nigel Hilder.

The photograph below was taken in 1928 just after the nuns had moved out.


1928 Photo of The Sycamores
[Credit: Kathleen May, Nee Hilder Source Jo Gosney]

1929: Following in the footsteps of William Knell, Henry Hilder went on to build many houses in the Farnborough Park and South Farnborough. The map below, taken from a 1929 Farnborough directory shows how he wanted to build a "miniature garden city" in the south section of the The Sycamores estate. The L-shaped road eventually become Hilder Gardens in the 60s.

H H Hilder's "miniature garden city" [Credit: Farnborough Library]

Henry Hilder outside The Sycamores in the 1930s (Rushmoor Council Planning Department)

1930: The Sycamores was first registered in 1930 according to the London Gazette

1930: The map below shows that the northern parts of The Sycamores estate was starting to be developed by 1930. The Lodge can be clearly seen marked in red.


1930 Map of Farnborough Park [Credit: Farnborough Library]

1938: BY 1938, much of Farnborough Park was being built. Of course, many of the large houses with extensive grounds were later pulled down and replaced with smaller houses with less extensive ground. It just goes to show that nothing is new when it comes to building in back gardens!

1938 Map of Farnborough Park [Credit: Farnborough Library]

1935: The northern part of The Sycamores was lived in by the Hilder family, but the southern wing was converted into flats as the extract from The Times © on Tuesday, Nov 19, 1935 shows.

From on-line BT telephone directories, Captain Jacobs-Larkcom lived in the Sycamores from 1933 to 1938.

1938: The photo below shows The Sycamores estate in 1938.


The Sycamores Estate in 1938
(Credit: Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum)

1939: Major Jacobs-Larkcom is listed as occupying 1 The Sycamores in 1939 Aldershot & Farnborough Directory and 1939 Kelly's Hampshire & Isle of Wight directory.

1941: Here are some of the occupants of The Sycamores flats in 1941 from searching the on-line BT phone books.

Major Gale seemed to live in Fla2 from 1937 to at least 1941.

1946: The photo below shows The Sycamores estate in 1946.


The Sycamores Estate in 1946
(Credit: Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum)

1948: By 1948, the southern part of the estate was built up with many of the current houses in Sycamore Road showing up in a map of the time. It's interesting to notice that Canterbury Road, opposite to the Old White Lodge, was only a path in 1948. The junction of Canterbury Road and Boundary Road was not connected to Sycamore Road until the 1950s.

The 1948 map shows the outline of the now extended Old White Lodge, known just as White Lodge then.


1948 Map of Farnborough Park [Credit: Farnborough Library]

Through the fifties a number of family events concerning the occupants of 1 The Sycamores were seen in the The Times ©:

1949: An aerial photo taken on the 16th August 1949 - click to look at a higher resolution version. Unfortunately it looks like two photos have been overlaid and the join cuts right through the house shortening it somewhat.

1949: The Times ©, Wednesday, Mar 09, 1949:

1950: The Times ©, Tuesday, Mar 28, 1950:

1953: The aerial photograph below shows The Sycamores estate in 1953 - both the house and lodge can be clearly seen - click to look at a higher resolution version.


The Sycamores Estate in 1953
(Credit: Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum)

1953: Here are some of the occupants of The Sycamores flats in 1953 from searching the on-line BT phone books. We havn't searched beyond this date as there are so many new phones after the war. To find these occupants a manual scan of the whole 150-page Guildford phone book is required!

 

1959: The Times ©, Wednesday, Nov 11, 1959:

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