The Bungalow

From the recollections of David Phipps, born 1929, the son of Robert Phipps the baker in Lower Green from 1927 - 1937, the owner of the Bungalow in his childhood was initially Mrs Gladys Rawley. She was a member of the Plymouth Brethren but was particularly of interest to the Phipps boys because she drove a motorcycle with a sidecar and wore a leather helmet.

Mrs "Kip" Shipleywith her two daughters Mary (on left) and Ann (on right) in the garden of the Bungalow, Lower Green around 1938. The three lived in the Bungalow for about five or six years until just before the start of World War Two. Ann remembers being taken into the garden one night to see the glow of Crystal Palace burning.

Brenda and Arthur Lewis, the current owners, moved to the Bungalow in 1970, buying it from Mr Tangrove, the last baker in the village. Mr Tangrove only ran the bakery in Lower Green for a few years and retired from the business because of declining trade and ill health and moved next door from the Old Bakery to the Bungalow in about 1962 (ie living in the Bungalow for about eight years). His son is still alive and living locally, having married Jack Lucas’ daughter.

The Lewis’ are fairly sure that Cyril Cheeseman lived in the Bungalow before Mr Tangrove, prior to moving to Lealands Avenue.