Meadow Close, Bridge, Canterbury, Kent, CT4

Lovingly cared for by the present owner since 1968 (and his first wife who died in 2018), the property (built as a small bungalow in 1953 and extended substantially over the years since) has six bedrooms and three bathrooms (two with walk-in-showers and one with a bath) and another shower in pool room, so offers plenty of flexibility for any family.

The owner’s love of railways(his granduncle built / managed the Snowdon Mountain and North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways) is evident throughout the property, such as the level crossing gate and railway signs and lamppost (ex Westenhanger) at the entrance. In addition to these, the owner is prepared to leave a large 00 gauge model railway layout set up in the large attic area, which needs a little restoration to bring it up to date.
The property is approached by a large brick-paved drive which allows parking for several vehicles and leads to a detached double garage (beside the back door) with cupboards and shelving. Behind the garage is a tunnel which the owner used for a 7¼ gauge railway which ran round the garden for some 30 years and this tunnel is now used to store tools and mowers etc.

You approach the front door up York stone steps and enter into a large entrance hallway with numerous built in cupboards and access to several rooms described below (a) lounge, (b) kitchen, (c) room with WC, (d) family bathroom, ( e ) study, (f) bedroom used recently as ‘sewing room’, and (g) main bedroom. A hatch in the hall ceiling with metal drop-down ladder leads to the attic with the model railway and plenty of storage space for suitcases etc. Cupboards in hall comprise 2 double-doored cupboards with shelves, one double-doored with hanging space, one single cupboard for hoovers etc and one airing cupboard‘
(a) Lounge. With Huntingdon 40 gas log-effect stove inset into stone fireplace, glass-fronted china cabinet, bar cupboard behind louvred doors, built in bookcase. Alcove with circular window. This room leads round to a separate dining room and on round to the kitchen which is also accessed from the hall.
‘ (b) The kitchen has a gas-fired 4-oven Aga, double sink, worktops, substantial storage cupboards and a walk-in pantry housing the electric meters and a water softener. It has a built-in modern oak wooden bench with storage below and currently has an oak chest and an oak table which seats six, and which the owner would be prepared to leave if required. There is currently a Miele fridge and separate Miele freezer (both removable if not required) and also a built-in Miele dishwasher. A door leads off the kitchen to the back door leading to the garden and also (below an under cover awning) to the garage There is another door into the utility room with Bosch washing machine and Hoover tumbler dryer, sink and storage cupboards for cleaning utensils etc
‘ (c ) room with WC, basin and bookcases, but not for coats as substantial cupboard opposite as mentioned
‘ (d) family bathroom with in-bath shower, basin and heated towel rail
‘ ( e ) study with built-in desk and bookcases (one glass-fronted) and large storage cupboard,
‘ (f) bedroom (‘sewing room’) with built-in cupboards. It currently contains two amazing large semi-fixed fully equipped dolls’ houses (which could be removed if not required)
‘ (g) the main bedroom has two built-in wardrobes and also has a large oak chest of drawers , headboard and blanket chest (which can be left if required). A door leads into an ensuite bathroom with large walk-in shower, basin, and WC and cupboards in limed oak.
A connecting door from the ensuite bathroom leads into a small bedroom with wardrobe cupboard, which then leads into a passage with door in from the hall beside the study. Stairs lead up to two further bedrooms (with wardrobe-cupboards) and a bathroom with shower and WC.
The passage then passes another small bedroom with bookshelves and substantial cupboards built in under the stairs. At the end of the passage is a glass door through which and down three steps is the large (28ft x 14ft) playroom with large windows looking onto the York-stone patio and back down past borders, a flowering cherry and Bramley apple tree to the entrance gate.
A door from the playroom leads into a room with a Swimtek Toriba fibre glass swimming pool (installed in 1996 and totally refurbished in 2023 - 16ft x 8ft x 4ft deep) with jets to swim against and beyond it is its plant room containing the Orion gas heater and dehumidifier, pumps and a shower and WC.
Outside, the property stands on a plot of approximately 0.9 of an acre mainly laid out to the front and rear with lawns and flower and shrub borders. On the east side of the garden is a wooded area with beech and yew trees (which has a Tree Preservation order and a no-building covenant on it). A gate leads onto a field across the other side of which is the 1976 Bridge Bypass and a public footpath passes the outside of the gate leading from Patrixbourne Road to Bridge Down, so this is a good outlet for walking a dog. As stated above, in front of the playroom is a large patio of stone brought down from a Yorkshire factory floor, and there is another seating area outside the ‘sewing’ room and main bedroom windows (beside which is the boiler room containing the boiler supplying the gas under-floor heating), Here there is a large rockery (there is another outside the dining room and lounge windows looking down towards the entrance). The rockery contains a small pond which has an electrically powered little river circulating up and down to and from it .
Outside the swimming pool room are two raised beds for vegetables, a raspberry bed and a timber and brick greenhouse. Beyond is a wooden garden shed and an incinerator. There is another shed at the corner of the garden above the top of the drive which was used as the booking office for the garden railway. At the top of the garden is a good sized summer house the back of which served as a station for the garden railway and is covered with metal advertising signs.
The property is situated on the south side of the village of Bridge on the east side of the ‘old’ A2 up a private cul-de-sac between it and the Bypass. St. Peter’s church (containing an amazing stained-glass window dedicated (by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2019) to the deceased infant son of the property’s owner) is a couple of hundred yards away. The village itself has a Medical Centre (one of the three surgeries of Canterbury Medical Practice), a Londis supermarket, a Coffee shop ‘Flo and Ted’s’, a dentist, two hairdressers (one also does massage etc ), a chemist, and two pubs, ‘The Red Lion’ (which houses a Post Office on Wednesday and Friday mornings) and ‘The Bridge Arms’ with a Michelin star. A few hundred yards towards Bishopsbourne is The Pig, which offers accommodation too. There is a highly regarded primary school, and two care homes ‘Saxon Lodge’ and ‘Bridge Haven’ which cares for dementia cases. There is a recreation ground with soccer field and tennis courts and an excellent children’s play area. Before long there may be a new Village Hall to replace the current one housed in an old building on the High Street. There is a small Farmer’s Market outside the Red Lion every fortnight.

The A2 road links southward to both the Channel Tunnel and the Port of Dover and London (65 miles) is a possible commute. Canterbury centre is 4 miles away and on the way in (down the Old Dover Road) are two Grammar schools and the Kent County Cricket Ground. Kent & Canterbury NHS Hospital and The Chaucer private hospital are within 3 miles. Trains from Canterbury West station by HS1 (high speed rail) via Ashford and Ebbsfleet take just under an hour to St Pancras. The nearest station (2 miles away) to Bridge is at Bekesbourne (unstaffed) on the line from Dover to Canterbury East, Faversham, the Medway Towns and London Victoria which is reached in about 1 hour 40 minutes. There are frequent buses along Bridge High Street to Canterbury, Aylesham or Folkestone.