Anne: We moved into 9 Cedar Chase, the show house, in the spring of 1967. Our eldest son, Jonathan, was nearly two years old at that time. As he is now known to many of you, I will not mention his current age - but it's not difficult to work out if you have a mathematical bent!
We moved directly from another Span development in Blackheath, which we had very much enjoyed. We needed to move house due to a change of job for John and were therefore pleased to find another conveniently located Span development. The main elements that had originally appealed to us about Span were their high-quality houses of modern design, set in carefully landscaped surroundings. We also liked the community aspects of the Residents’ Society running the estate for residents’ mutual benefit and protection, and the social contact with neighbours which this encouraged. These aspirations were certainly borne out in Cedar Chase. We also particularly liked the warm-air heating with dual thermostats, the large windows looking out on the garden and many other of the design features in the house.
One of the greatest benefits was the extensive grounds where children could safely play from an early age with minimum supervision. During our time, there were dozens of children providing a source of playmates and friendships, some of which still survive.
We also enjoyed participating in the various communal activities, garden working parties, annual bonfire and firework parties and other more ad hoc events. John was Chairman and I was Secretary of the Residents’ Society for some time, and the first Cedar Chase representative on the Committee of the Hitcham & Taplow Preservation Society. This was most welcome after rather strong initial local resistance to the development!
Eventually in 1975 we reluctantly had to take leave of Cedar Chase. The house had become too small, or rather the inhabitants had become too large and too numerous! By then, we had three sons and a living-in nanny. It was very difficult to find a satisfactory replacement. Well-designed modern houses had become a rarity, that is if you don’t care for mock-Tudor or mock-Georgian. However, even more important, large gardens with safe playing and bicycle riding facilities were even more rare. After a considerable search, and some misgivings, we settled for a house with no architectural pretensions, but large, safe grounds. It also happened to be just round the corner so friendships for both us and the boys were maintained. We also still have the benefit of a view of Cedar Chase. We look back on our time there with pleasure and fond memories. It obviously had a continuing effect on Jonathan, who now lives at number 17, so I’m going to pass over to him to say what he likes about it and why he chose to live there.
Jonathan: I lived at Cedar chase with my parents from the age of two until ten. It was a great place to grow up and I have plenty of memories of playing in the grounds with my friends and brothers. When we where small, the area available to play in seemed huge, a whole world to explore. The firework displays were always a cause of great excitement. I don’t know why but afterwards we used to spend days scouring the grounds looking for the spent fireworks and rocket sticks.
I continued to live in Taplow even after leaving home, and when Jane and I were looking for a house, Cedar Chase was a natural choice. I’ve always been a fan of the bold design, which still looks modern 40 years on. The design of the whole place has clearly had considerable effort put into it, from the orientation and placement of each of the houses, to the trees and landscaping. Inside the houses, the large picture windows provide plenty of light, making the garden seem part of the house, almost like an extra room. I guess it says something about modern life (or me), but two of us have no problems occupying and using the same amount of living space used by six people 30 years ago! I value the communal aspects of living in Cedar Chase as well, it’s great that people are willing to put time and effort into looking after the place and the interests of the people who live there. I really do find it hard to imagine living anywhere else.
Anne and Jonathan Hanford
