22/06/2026
If you're into turnips, witches, or 17th-century probate inventories, you'll be well at home at Springbourne Library on Saturday 27th June, when local historian Alex McKinstry will be giving a talk on the history of Iford. It isn't widely known that there are records of a bridge at Iford from as far back as 1162; that the deeds of the pub date back to 1709; and that a Georgian mansion house once stood on the site of Bridle Crescent - the latter shown here in aerial view shortly after it was laid out in 1936. William Windham Farr, who owned the property, was responsible for selling "the Springbourne Estate" to developers in the 1860s; Windham Road is named after him. Iford Farm was later purchased (1898) by the Cooper-Dean family, whose realisation of the estate from 1923 onwards netted the family the approximate equivalent of £40 million. All will be elaborated upon - with entertaining autobiographical divulgences - at Springbourne Library on Saturday 27th June at 11 am. Free talk, followed by free Q & A session, all welcome.
