Norlands Farm
Churchill Close

How it looked in the early days
(picture from SWOP website)

The Norlands Farm area today


This land was part of Norlands Farm
Though long forgotten now,
It's many years since it last saw
A turkey or a sow!
But cherries grew a-plenty here
From orchards up and down,
Their blossom such a lovely sight
Folk came from miles around.
It's sad to think we'll never see
The sights these people saw,
Instead we've got our gardens
But no orchards anymore.



Norlands Farm disappeared under housing in the 1960s and 1970s. The land extended from Straight Bit to Green Dragon Lane and was farmed by William Jennings who lived with his family in a farmhouse on the site. Due to building restrictions after WW2 he modernised his farmhouse by building a newer one around the shell of the earlier one but it was later demolished when the four 'new' houses were built in Norlands Drive, off Straight Bit. William provided pork for Jennings Brothers Stores and his son Roy helped him with the turkey farm which was where Juniper Hill School stands today. The school's nature area was once an orchard owned by the Gibson family who lived in two old cottages on Straight Bit. See Jennings Field on new map for further information.
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