Arborfield
Local History Society

 1946 Aerial Photo of Molebridge Farm

Detail from RAF aerial photo of part of the parish of Newland, dated 10th July 1946, ref. 3142, reproduced by permission of the National Monuments Record, English Heritage.

This view shows Molebridge Farm and Mole Road. The Mole brook snakes its way from the bottom of the picture to the top, passing just to the right of the farmhouse.

Note that Molebridge Farm (shown in the close-up on the right) was known in 1946 as 'The Poplars' when it was Lot 7 in the 1947 Auction Sale document:

'A Picturesque old-fashioned brick and tiled house containing four Bedrooms, two Attics, two Sitting Rooms, Kitchen, Scullery, and Bathroom fitted with bath and basin. The Outhouses comprise Wash-house, "Elsan" Closet, Store and Trap House. Estate Water Supply'. No doubt the bathroom now includes a water-closet...

There was a hump-back bridge by this smallholding, which stood the weight of tanks and other military vehicles during WWII, but was later condemned as being unable to take the weight of normal vehicles. The photo on the left is a detail of a postcard from the Collier Collection; click on it to see an enlargement.

The structure was replaced by a flat bridge, which had the effect of speeding up the traffic. Click on the photo to see the whole picture - there were two poplars to the left of the bridge.

There is still one Poplar tree opposite this property, as seen on the right in June 2007. There are a few tree-stumps in the same field; were some of them ancient Poplars?

The remaining Poplar can be seen here on the left. Before it died-back, its girth must have exceeded 6 metres circumference . Although the trunk is now a hollow in the shape of a sickle, the tree was still very much in leaf.

Click on the photo on the left to see just how much of the trunk has died back, yet it could still support its branches in 2007.

The photo below shows the view towards  the farmhouse from the Poplar tree.

No doubt this tree dominated the view from the farmhouse.

Click here for another view of the farmhouse and the Poplar tree, as seen in 1994.

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