Lordswood Area Hotel Riding Stables

A Memory of Lordswood.

I remember growing up in the area beyond the sport's centre at Coxford road was no more than a dirt track that lead down to the forestry commission.The woods before the houseing estate a were immense you could literally get lost a child's play heaven.The Lordswood Hotel then later a night club of sorts in its hay days had a riding school. Locals would learn to ride there going into the woods and forestry commission tracks. You could go from soap sure alley in Rownhams
to the driove in chilworth .Called soap suds alley as the washing was done there from st Evox house by local women who lived in the cottages .The stables were built around the core buildings of the stables and carriage house to the hotel when it was a large private house.At the back of the stables was the old grooms house / room.When the M27 was being built we would ride along its length at the week end when no work was taking place Health and Safety didn't exist then.Sadly the stables and grazing and orchard to the rear became housing estates growing to swallow up aldermoor farm and then the establishment of lordshil estate up to Rownhams .