Potters Bar, Oakmere House And Lake c.1953
Photo ref:
P131015
More about this scene
Built around 1800, the original Oakmere House was destroyed by fire whilst being extended. The new building was occupied in the period leading up to the Great War by the Forbes family; Eileen Baillie recalls old Mrs E M Forbes 'lying on an elegant couch ... having her beautiful hair dressed by her maid in a silvery crown over her head'. The winters during the Great War were particularly cold, and when the lake froze over Mrs Forbes gave permission for the local people to skate there. In 1916, the L31 Zeppelin was shot down and crashed in the farm estate of Oakmere House. The local people rushed to the house and woke Mrs Forbes, who appeared at the door in her night clothes. The excited people told her what had happened; but annoyed at being woken, she replied, 'All right, we will see to it in the morning!' and slammed the door in their faces. Parts of the Zeppelin can be seen in Potters Bar's fine museum at the Wyllyotts Centre. In the 1980s, Oakmere House was converted to a Beefeater restaurant.
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Memories of Potters Bar, Oakmere House and Lake c1953
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. These memories are of Potters Bar, Oakmere House And Lake c.1953
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