The Droveway

James Gray: This formed part of an ancient footpath leading from the Chalybeate at Wick, over the railway and across the Old Shoreham Road, through farmland later Hove Park and ending at West Blatchington. For many years this stretch west of the Park was enclosed between high hedges but was fenced when the Greyhound Stadium was built in 1928. When the Alliance Building Society bought this site for their new head Office, Hove Corporation had to give authority for the public right-of-way to be expunged. jgc_36_003

2018: The first of three photos taken in 2018 shows the section of pathway sloping north-west from Hove Park Gardens down between Nos 17 and 19 Goldstone Crescent, and across that road into the east side of Hove Park. The second one shows the main section in Hove Park, with the southern entrance to the children’s playground on the right, and the Riptide Health and Fitness Club building on the left, next to the abandoned bowling green. The third photo shows the path leading towards the children’s artificial climbing boulders  (left) and the open-air basketball court (on the right). The present path ends here, but it is possible to continue directly ahead on the grass, through the trees to the high railings forming the boundary of the park at the Legal & General property in City Park, close to the British Engineerium in the Droveway. This would have been the approximate viewpoint, looking north-west, for the original 1964 image which shows the Engineerium’s 95ft (29m) chimney in the distance. (Photographer: Alan Hobden)

James Gray: This formed part of an ancient footpath leading from the Chalybeate at Wick, over the railway and across the Old Shoreham Road, through farmland later Hove Park and ending at West Blatchington.

James Gray: This photograph taken on 12 August 1874, shows the civic dignitaries on the occasion of the inspection of tunnelling. Many well-known Brightonians of this period can be identified in these photographs, including Alderman JL Brigden, Mayor of Brighton (both photographs), Alderman D. Friend, AH Cox, H Martin, the Vicar of Brighton, Revd J J Hannah and Sir John Cordy Burrows. jgc_36_007

James Gray: This photograph of 8 September 1963, shows this lane within a few yards of where the car was standing. Although the surface of the road is different the width is the same as it always was and it seems unlikely that it will ever change because the road now ends at the entrance to the Park. jgc_36_014

2018: James Gray would have been surprised by the changes to this road since 1963. In 2018 the flint wall is still there on the left, but a Waitrose superstore service vehicle and customer entrance is now on the right.

James Gray: The approach from the south-east 1898. The pumping station was established here in 1865 when a shaft was sunk by the Brighton, Hove and Preston water Company. In 1873 the water undertaking was taken over by Brighton Corporation and in 1876 a second shaft was sunk and another pump installed. One pump is in each of the two buildings. The path in the foreground is there to this day, the twitten that crosses Hove Park from the Goldstone Crescent. King’s Dairy, shown on the signboard, was ½ mile away across the valley, where the cottages still are, in the Droveway. jgc_36_017

James Gray: A photograph of the 1900s when this was little more than its name implied, a droveway from the west over the hills to London Road and to Lewes. The farm buildings formed part of King’s Farm and Dairy, but before long this became Hole’s Farm and the buildings were modernised to their present form. The existing workers dwellings were there then but are hidden from view, partly by the narrowness of the road. Residential development started early in the 1920s and as this gathered momentum the farm, as such, ceased to exist, becoming a depot for the Dairy. jgc_17_136

James Gray: Two recent photographs (jgc_17_138 and 139), of May 1994, of what were at some time farm cottages. Together with three other houses on the opposite side of the road they were part of Preston Farm, operated by Kings and Sons for many years. Some of the farm buildings still remain. There were reports that they were likely to be demolished and replaced by semi-detached houses. I do not know when they were built but the farm was in existence in the 1892s and is listed in local Directories.

James Gray: Two recent photographs (jgc_17_138 and 139), of May 1994, of what were at some time farm cottages. Together with three other houses on the opposite side of the road they were part of Preston Farm, operated by Kings and Sons for many years. Some of the farm buildings still remain. There were reports that they were likely to be demolished and replaced by semi-detached houses. I do not know when they were built but the farm was in existence in the 1892s and is listed in local Directories.

James Gray: Three photographs of the Avenue Lawn Tennis Club in the Droveway taken in December 1958. These hard courts were opened in 1927, at a time when the Shirley Drive Estate was being developed, and to the north of the Droveway was mostly open agricultural land. jgc_17_140

2018: In 2018, this site is occupied by a small housing development called The Paddock. There are six pairs of semi-detached houses but the two detached chalet-style properties at the north (Droveway) end are numbered as 38 and 40 The Droveway, despite the fact that their entrances are accessed from The Paddock.

James Gray: The courts remained in use for more than 30 years but were given up in 1958. The site, including the clubhouse, was cleared during the following year and the present cul-de-sac, the Paddock, containing 13 houses was built in 1960. jgc_17_141

2018: The Paddock looking north. The Clubhouse has gone, the house on the left is on the far side of The Droveway, the flint and brick gable is part of The Dairy, the boxy electrical substation still exists, concealed behind the houses. (Photographer: Helen Glass)

James Gray: This was established in 1865, by the Brighton and Preston Water Company, and was second only to the Lewes Road Pumping Station which dates from 1853. Originally there was only one engine, but when Brighton Corporation took over the undertaking in 1873, a second well was sunk and another engine installed which started working in October 1876. This is an original photograph of the well-sinking operations, in 1874. jgc_36_006

2019: Originally opened as the Goldstone Pumping Station, this complex of listed Victorian buildings is now known as the British Engineerium, but currently closed and up for sale since 2018. Following the sinking of the second well in 1874, No 2 Engine House was constructed by 1875. The main 2019 photo, taken from the edge of Waitrose car park looking north, shows No 2 Engine House in the centre, with the original engine house to the left, next to the tower. There is a boiler house between the two virtually identical buildings, and another listed building on the extreme right. The second photo shows the wonderful architectural detail on the No 2 Engine House building. (Photographer: Alan Hobden)