Banstead Village

A Wintry Scene from Nork

You might be forgiven for not recognising the wintry scene but it was familiar to the many children who resided at Beechholme in the 1950s.
The image was photographed from one of the houses run by Houseparents, usually a married couple or sometimes two ladies, who were responsible for the children in their house.
The school, which occupied the site between the railway line and Fir Tree Road, was built in 1879 and, following its closure in 1975, it was replaced by the High Beeches estate.
Fifty years on we regularly get enquiries from the children’s descendants as well as ex-residents who are now in their eighties. Several well-known images of the school exist but occasionally we are sent an original photograph such as this one.