Goldings Today
 

Original Article revised on second Visit to Goldings Site, February, 2005.
Note: revisions are made at the end of respective paragraphs.

My object here is to talk about Goldings today. As you will probably know Barnardo's sold the site many years ago, and in the past three years it has been sold again, this time to a company of developers. Some of us took an hour off to look at the changes that are happening on our beloved school site - Goldings. [My object here is to go a little further, since I was given a guided tour of the site during January.]

The estate agents blurb reads: "A unique collection of luxury apartments within a Grade II Listed Hall and a selection of new houses located within around 110 acres of parkland. Goldings Estate provides a unique environment in which to live in rural tranquillity within easy reach of London."

So our beautiful mock Tudor home is to be turned into luxury apartments, prices from £300,000 to £950,000. Wow! I'll have two at that price! Presumably the lower price will be where the old kitchen was located, whilst the upper end will be Pinhead's luxury apartment up the sweeping staircase above the entrance hall. None of these apartments are as yet in use, none it would seem to have been finished so far. [Things are beginning to move. Some apartments have been sold, and it is expected that people will be moving in by late Spring.]

We wandered around the grounds freely, since it was a Saturday afternoon and virtually no one about. What has been finished are a number of houses, located on Mr. Embleton's gardens. The old long hut, down from the parade ground, has been removed. The wall behind it is still there, but the road behind it has disappeared, as has the low wall overlooking the gardens. You will remember the gap in the wall through which we passed to get to the gym and the trade workshops. That is still there. [The old wall now serves as the perimeter for the houses built on the old gardens.]

The new houses are very well constructed and attractive to look at, but in a city location we would call them tenements, i.e. not detached nor semi-detached. The starting price is £595,000 each, which is more than twice the price of my semi on the edge of the New Forest. We weren't able to go in to any of them, but two looked as though they were in the process of being set up for living in. The front of each could hardly be called a garden, but we weren't able to see the rear. I guess the asking price has more to do with the privilege of living in such a lovely place than the value of the house itself. It will be fascinating to see how the site is developed further. Incidentally the old workshops, specifically the printing and cobblers, have been turned into houses or flats. [A second look proved that the front gardens are bigger than I remembered. Also on this occasion we (Len Harpin went with me) were able to see that the rear gardens were quite adequate. Also I retract what I said about the houses. They are bigger than I remembered them, each being 4-bedrooms. We had only been able to see the front on our original visit, now I could see that while they are quite narrow from the front perspective, they go back much further than I expected.]

What shall we say of the site as a whole? It is very impressive. The sick bay has been turned into a grand building, but there is no indication of what this is going to become. The main building has been conserved in its original state, which means that the purpose-built WBTS dining room has been demolished. That's no loss, except perhaps for nostalgia! Much of the magnificent Tudor-style brickwork has not merely been conserved, it has been cleaned, so that it looks even more splendid than in our days. [Sadly the old sick bay is not going to be a public-type building, has in fact been built by the developer for his own needs. Lucky guy!]

Landscaping is just beginning. The old parade ground is in the process of disappearing, as you will see by the foreground of the new housing picture. There will be walkways, grass and flower beds. The lovely views from the front entrance (in typical stately homes style there is no driveway up to this, never was, and the real entrance is on the other side of the building). Nevertheless the show entrance is magnificent, giving superb views down to the river. We probably never knew this in our time, I didn't. But that was because we were never permitted to use this grand entrance. In their time this would have been the almost exclusive privilege of the Wheatley family.

"Front Door"
In a sense this is the back door! The front door in stately homes was usually a grander one, designed exclusively for family and friends, as Pinhead well knew! Note also that the plaque attributing the opening to HRH Edward, Prince of Wales, has been removed. OK, which one of you has it under his bed at home?

Sports fields? Good news lads. They have not been built on - yet! and I have no idea whether they will. I will keep you informed. [Bad news lads! Four houses are to be built up there. Given the size of those fields, it suggests that the four houses will be exceptionally large, with big gardens.]

Now here is the most fascinating info. The old chapel - remember it? It's where the Bishop of St. Albans used to come to place his hands on our greasy hair to confirm us at 14 years. It's also where some of you sang in the choir. I'm told that when Herts CC owned it, it was used as a squash court. This building has been completely reconstructed. The lower stone levels have been maintained to a height of about 3 metres, but the higher level is built of Tudor-style brick, to match directly the main building. It harmonises perfectly with the setting. However, it is now a two-storey building, the roof considerably raised. The windows are built in an ecclesiastical form, which serves to remind us of what it originally was. For me, it is a delight to behold, and I even think God might be pleased with it! As also my old friend Roy Dean, whose ashes were spread around in front of it.

What will it be used for? I don't know. It suggests itself as a social, sport or arts centre, or perhaps offices to serve the community which will exist when the transformation of the site is finished. At present it seems to be in use as offices for the architects and builders now working on the site. I'll check this out. [Ouch! Sorry, it is not going to be any kind of social club. It has been built to the requirements of the individual purchaser. Put simply it is a private dwelling.]

Some landscaping has been done to the farther side of the former chapel. There is a glass or plastic roof on the top of an earth and grass mound. Looking down into this one can see a large armchair and other forms of relaxation. There is an approach on one side which gives to an entrance door. Again, what is the purpose of this? I have no idea. But I'll find out. [I did! It is in fact a swimming pool, belonging to the purchaser mentioned in the preceding paragraph. It has an entrance from the front of the mound, which gives entry from the outside grounds, but another from inside the house, obviously the exclusive use of the family. Some people have all the luck!]

I had the pleasure of visiting the site in company with my old friend Len Mott, friend I say, in spite of the fact that he once gave me a black eye, which he doesn't even have the decency to remember! As we were leaving Len said, "To think that I lived in these amazing surroundings, but never appreciated them. The only thing I wanted to do was to get up on the field and kick a piece of inflated leather around!" Or words to that effect. I suspect we would all say something similar.

Now I also suspect that some of us will be a bit narked to think that what was a home to 200 orphans for 45 years, is now to be a home for the super rich. Come off it, lads. If it had been turned into a low income housing estate, which to some might seem more appropriate, it would be changed beyond all recognition, and soon become run down. All our memories would be lost. As it now is, it's just possible that the future owners, who will undoubtedly have their own association, might just invite us to have our annual Reunion at Goldings! [Again I have to modify my thinking. The two buildings which I had eyed as possible social centres for those living on the estate, are nothing of the sort. They are both private dwellings, and no allowance has been made for a social centre. In the short term any possibilities of GOBs using (renting?) a social centre on the site are out of the question.]

Conclusion on Second Visit.
Briefly - there will be 54 dwelling units in the park. These will hold a variety of units. One apartment has already been bought by a single man (are they still called 'bachelors'?), while others are of all types, through to full families. They are of any social, ethnic or lifestyle use. The only thing required is MONEY! I wonder if any GOB will be in a condition to buy one?

Finally, once the site is complete and the buildings sold off - freehold in the case of houses, 125 year leaseholds in the case of the main building - the inhabitants will obviously have their own association for the use and development of the 110 acres of ground. It may be that at that stage we could approach them to at least permit us a 1-hour wander around the grounds, by which to remember our youthful years.

I do have just one major complaint. The entrance had for very many years a plaque over the door, which stated that HRH the Prince of Wales (later briefly Edward VIII) had opened the building for Barnardo's in 1922. This has disappeared. If this has been intentional it is very sad, and one would question the right to do this on a Grade II listed building, and also to one proclaiming a royal act at that.

© Bill Cotton 1st December, 2004

There are four of these figures around the building. When I was at Goldings I never thought of them as having any significance, merely decorative. On one of our reunions I identified one by the posh entrance as being Shakespeare, so I'm certain the other three are recognizable people of his Age. There is one just above the kitchen entrance, another on the wall facing the old chapel (that's the one figured here), and the fourth is on the tower, covered up by the tall tree by the tower. Can you identify them? I want to mention them in my Barnardo's days autobiography, which is now 2/3 along the way.

From information received these figures are listed in the Herts County Council portfolio of properties as members of the Able Smith family members of past years.

If any old boy can add any further information Bill would like to hear from you.