The Brook, Wokingham

[Emmarine]

The map exactly matches your description-its amazing!.

[Emmarine]

What I meant to say was that I used your description of distances from the centre of town, the railway bridge etc to find the location of Brook House on the map.
It all makes sense as the details of the house and the family seem to fit. As I said the map also clearly shows the shape of the house before it was divided.

Chris

[Emmarine]

Hi,

Is this the correct location of the house as you described, from 1887?

link to oldmaps

[behindthefrogs]

Yes you have found the right place.

David

[Emmarine]

Thanks, David, I would not have been able to negotiate the map to find the outline of "The Brook" without your very specific instructions.  I hope to be able to visit the house in the future,

Best wishes,

[orak100]

I have an ancester who was a servant at The Brook in 1861 and would like to add my thanks for the link to the photo.  In case anyone is interested, her name was Mary Chaplin and she was 28.

Gary

[Emmarine]

Hi Gary,

Yes, this is very interesting. your ancestor must have worked for the Twycross family.  Do you have any other information, such as letters etc.
I have copies of photographs of the children.
Family members remained interested in the railways.

Chris

[behindthefrogs]

Hi Emmarine,

I realise that I failed to answer one of your questions.  On the Wokingham side of North Brook House there is an unmade road leading to a number of houses.  The first of these on the right is what appears to be the converted stables of Brook House.  There is not particularly a barrier but a reasonably sized gated private garden which I did not venture into.

You mentioned an interest in railways.  I can recount a bit of the history of the railway which runs past Brook House if you are interested.

David 

[Emmarine]

Thanks David,
this is interesting news. If you ever walk past there again, would you be able to collect an address of the stables, and I will write a letter to whoever lives there and see if they reply. In case I visit England in the future I would like a chance to see inside these places if possible.

As far as the railways are concerned I would like to learn more about their construction near where the house is located, as it appears that they lived in
the middle of  a triangle created by the railways, and considering their involvement with the wool business, were living in the age of the industrial revolution in England that must have seen many dramatic changes in the environment....


My grandfather and my father were extremely interested in trains. I have a lovely photo of my father with his toy set in about 1920 ,that was of German origin, and he still treasures it.

thanks,
Chris