Moor Lane Allotments

In 1990/1991 the allotments on one side of Moor Lane were built on to make Pear Tree Close, which is a mixed development of flats and houses, built as a joint venture between Southampton builders Hall & Tawse and Kingston Council.

The road is on a lower level from the path behind Moor Lane School Field which is a Right of Way, so is separated by a wall and railings.

Original plans were for a roundabout at the junction of Moor Lane and Guilders Road but this met with local objections as it may have altered the nature of local cul-de-sacs by making them through routes, so the road was designed as a cul-de-sac accessed only via Chessington Hill Park.

Pear Tree Close under construction

When the road was built it was called ( ) but the name was changed soon after to reflect the previous rural nature of the site, with the blocks of flats called Thyme, Basil, Parsley Court etc and the road renamed Pear Tree Close. One name under consideration was "Helen Sharman" Close to commemorate Surbiton's resident astronaut, but this idea was dropped as she originally hailed from Sheffield.

I remember picking blackberries on wooded land where the Chessington Hill Park houses now stand.

For many years an unfinished building known locally as "Colditz" stood here - it was voted on national TV as one of the ugliest buildings in Britain

132 Moor Lane - Padleys Nursery

Moor Lane (between Station Road and Romney Close)

Moor Lane had small trees and shrubs along the section between Station Road and Romney Close, making a mini-wood with a well-worn path through, made by generations of children who detoured through the trees when walking along Moor Lane with their families.

There was a woodyard on the Moor Lane railway embankment by the bridge - ground that has recently been cleared. No popping to a DIY Superstore - if we needed a piece of wood we used to chose it in the woodyard. The yard was run by two brothers, and they had a small garden there too.

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