Research has been ongoing regarding the Solomon's Post Caravan Park off Ridge Road in Maidencombe. Photographic evidence is particularly hard to find but I have been able to locate an image taken circa 1960 when I first arrived in Maidencombe.
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Caravans at Solomon's Post c1960
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This was taken at the time when the site was unauthorized and living conditions were primitive and the winters hard to endure. A few caravans had been present since about 1930 and word of mouth resulted in a steady accumulation of these most basic forerunners of 'affordable housing'. In the photo (above) small, two wheeled caravans can be seen, cut into the slope of the field with the backdrop of the Stoke valley below. Tiny wooden sheds served as privies. A few years later, larger, more permanent mobile homes moved onto the site and water and electricity installed. These upgrades ultimately would result in the demise of the caravan park. I can remember that these later homes were towed onto the site and had concrete footings, making them permanent dwellings.
By the early sixties, the authorities took an interest and the owners were forced to make an application to the local planning authority to license the field off Ridge Road as a legally permissible caravan park. This was granted on March 4th 1963, but after objections and several legal rulings, the permission was withdrawn and the site was cleared in the late eighties.