The Old Rectory, Now Called

The Church And Rectory c1955
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It was Dec 1965, and my sister Ellen Blackham and I sailed to England  from Perth, Western Australia, to spend time with my sister Doris Whitby. Doris and her husband Roy had purchased The Old Rectory in the late 1950s. It was no longer required as a rectory and was therefore put on the market. I will never forget driving down Station Lane on that grey afternoon in December and seeing Beechcroft (my sister named it that because of the huge Beech tree that was growing on the right of the building) for the first time. Christmas was approaching and we were excited to be celebrating it here at Beechcroft with the possibility of a white Christmas as well. We walked through the village singing Christmas carols, and then people came back to Beechcroft and in the huge kitchen we had fruit mince pies and hot cocoa. Wonderful memories!!
Ellen and I stayed for 18 months. Our memories of Beechcroft and the village of Asfordby will remain in our hearts forever. Summer days on the lawn with our nieces Jenny and Maureen, clearing out the old fish pond on the front lawn, our washing frozen stiff on the line, returning home from work and walking down Church Lane, coming through the gates and being greeted by this magnificent old building.  Yes, we were told that it had a ghost, but unfortunately we never had the pleasure of meeting it!  
Sadly Roy died not long after our return to Australia, and years later Doris married Roy's best friend, Bruce Brotherhood. Doris and Bruce sold Beechcroft in the 1980s, so I will never get to walk through those rooms again, but I do still visit it when I go to England for holidays, and it still looks wonderful.