New Accommodation
In 2006 work began on the provision of new accommodation for staff and the building of apartments and houses for private sale.
A large portion of land was given over to the developer Lovell's. Existing flats were to be demolished along with the main nurses home. The main Heatherwood house would also be divided into private apartments for sale.
The provision of staff accommodation would be handled by Thames Valley housing whereas previously this was controlled in-house.
The portion of land used, was a stretch running from the end of the Emi unit building behind ward 4 and 5, to the existing Heatherwood house. In the process the staff tennis courts and blocks of existing flats would be demolished,( No photo's available of their existence. )
When the the land was cleared, a view of Heatherwood house which had not been seen since the 1920's was captured.
When the work is complete, Heatherwood house would be renamed EdenBrook Place.
The league of friends interest in the development was the provision of a new laundry which the league would manage. Monies raised from the laundry, are used to support patients and staff projects.
The league of friends were already providing a laundry service in Heatherwood house for staff but under the new development this could not remain in it's present location.
The name of the development and subsequent naming of the access road was chosen as(Brook Avenue)Ruby Brook, which the league of friends are probably responsible for the name, as the profile of her work at Heatherwood, had been carried on these web pages for some years.
A distant relative of Ruby was invited along for the official opening of the development.
Over the next two years I paid regular visits to this development to capture the changes. This section of the web site captures the changing views of buildings and progress on the site, during the construction.
The dates of the reviews; are not the exact dates individual developments, may have been completed.
P.J. Davidson-Smith
