Camping at Carpenders Park Farm

Before living in Oxhey I lived in nearby Hatch End and one of our Scout Troop's nearest places to camp for a weekend was Carpenders Park Farm in Oxhey Lane. We would pack everything we needed for a couple of nights camp on to the 1st Hatch End Scout Troop's "trek cart" and then we hauled two miles up Oxhey Lane. Its not until you pull a trek cart with a heavy load that you realise just how long the hills in Oxhey Lane are! A weekend’s camping gear seemed to weigh half a ton. Mrs Brazier answered the farmhouse door and showed us where to pitch in the orchard. The first time I went was with my friends Nicky Orpwood and "Tiddles" (Quentin Tildesley). Although Mrs Brazier let us camp in her orchard she failed to warn us there were cows and one shitted all over our frying pan which Nicky left overnight on the grass! Its hard to imagine pulling a trek cart along Oxhey Lane now with the busy high speed traffic but in those days there were few cars and not even a pavement! It was - literally - a lane.