hi everyone, i am wondering if anyone can tell me any History on the woods in eastham, now i mean the woods opposite thornleigh ave behind the little chef.when we were kids we used 2 play in the quary , was that a bomb site" plus there was iron spiked fences round the woods. and opposite number 78 thornleigh ave,there was 2 big sandstone pillers that had gate bars on, i went down there with my m8 not so long ago. and we found one piller just a bit of it.what was there years ago.been bafflin me for years.i have just spoke to a friend who said ther was a mill their behind the little chef but what was in them woods,why the big sandstone pillers and the iron spiked fence

what was there in the time before the millpark estate was built i have no idea (apart from farm land), the gate pillers and railings sound like it was a large house at one time. The position of the post's are quite a way from Eastham Rake where you would think they would be in the day's before the houses of Millpark and Thornleigh where there !.
There is a picture of the windmill in a local history booklet but i can't remember which one off hand.

"Mill Hey" and its gardens were roughly where Bramhall Drive is, with the house under the cul-de-sac end.

The only other nearby old house was "The Oaks" which is now the Oakland Business Centre on Hooton Road. If you dig deep enough in the woods there, you will find remnants of the gardens with streams and an old tennis court.

The windmill was located on the "sticky-out" bit along the north side of the nurseries (if they are still there).

I have no record of a quarry so it must have been fairly recent, although I think they did some trial bores there for water and/or oil.

The woods (and most of the fields) were associated with "Mill Hey" mentioned above and are very old.

I have nothing for the gateposts, not even a path crossing Thornleigh, so again they may be fairly recent or moved from "Mill Hey" for decorative purpose.

Here are a c1875 OS map and a modern map for comparison.

Sorry to dig this thread up, but as i had my map's out !.

Eastham area.