The Lord & the Letterbox

Part of Halseys (Park Farm House) was redeveloped in the mid 1890s. Jim Gale (EG grandfather) had decided to move the entire family into the front half of the house whilst the work was carried out. The rear half was rebuilt and the front half remained unchanged (until the 1980s).



During the 1920s Harry Gale (EG father) had a small 'lean to' built onto the northern side of the house to provide the first WC the house had enjoyed in all its time!

Up until that time, the Kitchen had been on the NE corner (currently the office) and was served by the tall chimney as seen in these pictures. Around 1983 the front of the house was reformed by moving the kitchen to current position, pulling down the chimney and removing the low grade construction across the front. A porch was built and two windows were installed where the chimney was.

The wall across the front of these pictures was built in the 19th century. At the yard end was a letter box which was famously demolished by Harry Gale (EG father) reversing his Standard Flyer through it. The letterbox ended up on the floor and Sir George Etherton came along and posted a letter in its horizontal state! This wall was eventually demolished during the early 1970s.

Brian Moore was employed as principal tractor driver during the 1970s and helped build the wooden shed seen behind the wall. This shed still stands today and is home to Warfields. The shed was one of the original RAF buildings at Shinfield and is the same as the one at Matthewsgreen Farm. These buildings were dismantled and removed from Shinfield to make way for the new M4 motorway.

All the pictures in this article were taken in the early 1970s on an early Polaroid camera and have faded over time.