A History of Blythe Vale: Part 2

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 At this time all the land around was farmland, much of which belonged  to a farmhouse called The Elms, located in the present Elm Lane, known during  the nineteenth century as Sabin's Lane.  

  The Land outlined in green belonged to Stephen Sabin, including The Elms,  which is where he resided, and the nearby remains of Place House. Sabin's  ownership explains why Elm Lane was once called Sabin's Lane.

The land outlined in orange belonged to Samuel Forster. This comprises  most of the land to the east of Blythe Vale, extending close to the River Pool. 

The land outlined in purple belonged to other landlords whose names I  do not know.

The photograph below shows The Elms farmhouse in about 1910.  The  owner, his family and dog are standing on the porch steps.  The house  still exists, but the original porch was lost and a replica has been put  in place.  It is quite rare for a farmhouse to survive in an area so   close to central London.. The house is now divided into flats.

At this time, the early nineteenth century, Blythe Vale existed as little  more than a country track running all the way from the village crossroads  at its south end all the way up to Blythe Hill to the north. It was at the  time known as Stoney Lane.

Here below is a nineteenth century map that shows Blythe Vale named as  Stony Lane. Note that this map marks The Elms as Perry Farm.  Also,  there is a large Market Garden at the north west side of Stony Lane, the  road that would become Blythe Vale. Two small houses are drawn as part of  the market garden, the only two houses in the road. The larger of these   two houses still exists and can be spotted because it is off line with the  modern road.

 The Market Garden became the property of a Mr John Laing, who grew flowers,  particularly Begonias, for which he became famous. Here below is an image  of John Laing taken from one of his catalogues. 

At the present north-west side of Blythe Vale there is a pathway leading  to a group of garages. It is a depressing grey area of lockups and concrete. However, this is the area where there used to be the greenhouses of John  Laing and where he grew his Begonias.  It would have been overwhelmed  with flowers.  He was proud of them and set up displays that everyone   was invited to, calling them "The Grandest Floral Display in London".   He even went to America and set up exhibitions in New York, making himself  world famous. 

Here below is a detail from the Ordnance Survey map of 1894-6 showing the north end of Blythe Vale.  It shows the greenhouses and coldframes  of the Stanstead Park Nursery, which John Laing renamed Laing's Nursery.  

 John Laing was keen on advertising, encouraging both Londoners and "American and  Colonial friends" to come and view his begonia exhibitions. Here are a couple of  his adverts 

Towards the end of the nineteenth century all the farm land was sold  for property development and Blythe Vale was straightened into a road of suburban houses, the place we live in today.  The photograph below  shows the junction at the south end of Blythe Vale as it appeared in the   late Victorian period, about 1890.  Blythe Vale is the turning to the  right.  In the right background is the Victorian St. George's Church,  which was demolished in about the year 2000 and replaced with the present  modern church.  The shops that form St George's Parade still exist,  though less attractive and under different names.