Frank Watts, Camp Farm, nr Littledean, c1939 (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Sunday, January 20, 2019, 17:11 (2135 days ago) @ MPGriffiths

Hi Sue, and welcome to the forum.

Thanks to MPG for confirming that Frank was Henry Francis Watts and was at Camp Farm, Elton Road in 1939. When this and other thread's first discussed the location of Grove Farm and Camp Farm back in 2013, we were unsure exactly which Grove Farm was relevant here as there were a few "possibles" marked on the old O.S.maps etc. Thankfully there appears to be no doubts when placing Camp Farm, which is clearly marked on several O.S.maps.

Since the 2013 discussions a new and far more user-friendly old maps website has come online, AND it's entirely free to use. This site can be used to view various editions of the Ordnance Survey maps, all have Camp Farm clearly marked. As posted by John Vaughan earlier in this thread, the maps prove that Camp Farm is indeed on the opposite side of road to the Greyhound pub on the road to Elton out of Pope's Hill nr Littledean.

(It's probably wise to open this and any other links into a new tab or window)
This one links to the most recently available O.S. map off the new NLS Old Maps site, c1924.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/101453418

Zoom into the top lefthand corner to find the main "Roman" road , under the word "Hill" (aka Pope's Hill), twixt Littledean and Elton Corner to the east. The Greyhound is marked "Inn", just above "Camp Farm", either side of the road. I'm ashamed to say that despite using this road many hundreds of times since the 60s I never realised until today and reading these maps it was next to an ancient hilltop Camp, hence the Farm's name. The Camp itself is towards Littledean village to the west, as shown on the adjoining map, link below.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/101453391

Between the Roman Camp and Camp Farm etc the maps show a wooded hilly area called "Morse's Grove", and to due west of this a few buildings labelled "The Grove". This applies to all the map editions on the website including the most recent one from 1949, see,
https://maps.nls.uk/view/101453388

In the 2013 discussions a few possible Grove Farms were identified in the area east of Littledean and Flaxley - there are a lot of wooded "groves" marked on the maps, presumably plum trees Blaisdon Reds etc, but I still cannot find Grove Farm marked as-such on any of these old maps of any era.
Slowhands' knows this area much better than I do, and posted a link to this Grove Farm which does seem to fit the bill. That said I'm still a little surprised as the maps seem to suggest the present-day farm was built post 1949 at the earliest as it's not marked at all on the old O.S. maps. However the Geograph link he posted, which itself links to a modern map, does show Grove Farm as being north of "The Grove" and nearer the main road (A4151).
http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=41827

Hopefully this helps updates/clarify things a little Sue, and if you visit Camp Farm then it is indeed the same location you recall from your childhood.

Finally, back to the Greyhound Inn, which as kids and even an adult driver always caught the eye due to their unlikely sculpture in their garden, which is my excuse for not spotting the ancient hill camp on t'other side of the road.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/whats-on/new-owners-pub-landmark-dinosaur-591627

Sadly I believe the dinosaur's no longer in residence and another great little country pub is now permanently closed.

Jeff.