The Resident Number 206 - 2013
Croxley Green Residents Association
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Paul J O'Reilly - Restoration Builder
As a local restoration builder (Sarratt) I had been aware of the former Yorke Road School and believed that it would be a great project. When Yorke Road School came up for sale I managed to outbid developers and secure the building. The first job was to advise local neighbours of my plans and this is when I discovered the huge level of local support and love for the old school. My first week was spent tidying and securing the building and throughout the week I was visited by local residents and members of both the Residents Association and Parish Council. The support I have received from local residents and organisations has been much more than I could have wished for and it makes me even more passionate in making a lasting historical legacy for Croxley Green. I am keen to keep everyone updated on my progress and any updates will appear on the CGRA website. Rose Hanscomb - Former pupil and CGRA committee member It has been a long haul trying to save Yorke Road School. The building looked more like a bombsite than my dear old school, it seemed sadder with more of the roof falling in each time it rained. Then along came Paul O'Reilly. It was a miracle and a chance for all the old school's many supporters to get behind his planning application to restore it to its former glory. | ||
The Resident Number 2007 - 2013
Croxley Green Residents Association
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75 years ago... may well be the answer many of you provide to your insurer when asked how long ago your house was built. It was in the 1930s that most of the network of roads and houses that we now know as Croxley Green were constructed. Then, housing developers looked upon this area as a lucrative opportunity to build homes amongst farmland and woodland areas where there was a hinterland with numerous and varied job opportunities with new schools to be built and good communications soon to be enhanced by an expanding tube and rail network..... wait a minute - the same can be said in 2013! World War 2 was followed by a long period of rationing and shortages that brought further development to a halt. I believe this hiatus allowed time for the new residents to take stock, thank their lucky stars for what they'd got and what they wanted to preserve. This feeling was assisted by the benevolence and relative job security provided by John Dickinson's Paper Mill (which, in turn, spawned a thriving local print industry). The feeling of togetherness was maintained because the Green Belt Act of 1937 and the Town & Country Planning Act of 1947 set our green boundaries and insulated Croxley Green from what was then viewed as an inevitable intrusion and squeezing from Rickmansworth and Watford. The decline of Dickinson’s during the 1970s loosened deeply embedded social ties between neighbourliness and the workplace. In the early 1980s and in the aftermath of a decision as to whether Croxley Green should be administered to by Rickmansworth Urban Council (now Three Rivers D.C) or Watford Town Council......
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