Woodlyn

Woodlyn was built  in the mid 1950s largely on the strip of land that can be seen on the following plan running down the side of Plot Nos 332, 333 and 334.  This was Plot No 335, Hill Ground, and was owned by the Duke of Norfolk at the time that the Inclosure Act came to Norton in 1807.

Built on land that was an orchard belonging to James and Vera Cooke of Church Farm, Woodlyn was built by Robert James ‘Jim’ Stubbs, formerly of Norton, then of Twigworth.  One of the conditions to the build was that the property was not visible from the main Gloucester to Tewkesbury Road. This was helped by there being a row of tall elm trees to the rear of the property that are now, unfortunately, no longer with us. During construction someone stood with a pole held up to the height of the proposed building whilst someone else checked its visibility from the roadside.

The property has first been identified by name in 1957 when Alan and Vera Topham were here.  Alan Charles had married Vera Florence Elizabeth nee Poulton at St Catherine’s, The Leigh, in 1956.  Vera is the brother of Kenneth Poulton who was the first occupant of Four Winds and who lived with his wife Margaret on site in a caravan during construction.

Alan Topham died in 2009 and was buried at St Mary’s, Norton, and Vera was still in residence in 2022.