The Osborne Hotel Victoria Road, Freshwater.
The other day I discovered on Facebook an advert for the Osborne Private Hotel . This set me off on a project to find out more about the hotel which was located not far from my house in Everard Close.
I knew that a good place to start would be Google Earth as this has a "Time Machine" feature that shows images of a location at various dates, then to a few web sites with old maps. The result a video that merges:-
- A postcard with an aerial view taken in 1941
- A Google Earth image from 1945
- A 1942 OS map
- A 1970 OS map
- A Google Maps image from 2019
Images
Click on each of the pictures below to open a larger image, then close that tab when done.
The original advert found on Facebook. Thank you to the lady who uploaded it.
Here I have cropped the main image from the original advert
This image is from Google Earth. Dated 1945. From the top; the Camp Road field, then the field that became Everard Close. Note: the line of trees below that, still a footpath today. Below that, I guess is the grounds of the hotel. The hotel building in the lower right of the plot. Showing as a white blob.
An OS map from 1942. This map agrees with the image above. Note: the hotel is shown but not marked as a hotel. Bowlings is not shown.
An OS map from 1970. I understand that Everard Close was build in 1962. The early phase is shown here and Bowlings with its long garden. The hotel is shown but it has lost much of its ground to two new houses in Victoria Road. I may have got that wrong.
This image is from Google Maps, dated 2019 The hotel has been replaced by Victoria Court and four new properties build on the south side of Everard Close plus infill in the north side.
An aerial photograph taken in 1941 showing the barbed wire perimeter fences of the 6 pounder gun and other temporary defence structures in a field to the left of Gate Lane.
I have cropped the image to point out the Camp Road field and the area around the hotel.
- When was it built ---- I don't know.
- When was it demolished ---- The 1970 map shows it still there.
- What is there now ---- Victoria Court
- It's interesting to see that the footpath is a consistent boundary but the Bowlings plot has been reduced over time as has Stourbridge at the top of Everard Close
There follows a series of anonymised comments from the Facebook page, makes interesting reading.
My Mum used to work at the Osborne What years would that be? A waitress in the evenings in about 1959
My husband Keith and his brother Michael demolished the Osborne
We live in what was the tennis court still has some of the wall round our garden
When you go along Victoria Rd towards Freshwater (starting Orchards end) it was just along on the left. Next to Everard Close.
Their tennis courts were next to the lane that went up to Bedbury Lane. I used to play with the A children as a child and played tennis on their court.
Next to the bowling green? The Bowlings?
I think if my memory serves me right, that the Bowlings is or was in Bedbury Lane.
Jacks relatives with the noisy peacocks.
Yes, that's right, garden goes down to Everard Close.
I played in that area back in the 1940s
The bowling green was behind Osborne house on Bedbury Lane where Mr C had his house built.
Osborne faced Victoria road with car park and gardens going over Everard Close with the footpath through
It's now where Victoria court is.
My house is located on the corner of Everard Close, with the flag pole. I am on what was the car park.
Does anyone know if there was a swimming pool?
No I don't think so. We'd have played in it if there was.
The children slept in a caravan in the garden in the summer and we used to go round to play.
Hi there was a swimming pool put at the back of bungalow that Terry H built in the ground at a later date. Which I noticed has another bungalow built over where it was
This page was updated on 10 April 2020
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