This is a picture of one of the farms in the area owned by the Umpleby family. They also owned Primrose Hill which I know is no longer and another farm which I don’t know the name of, maybe California farm which is still there today.
Image and details courtesy of Jacqui Lewis.

Shame it became derelict. Looks great c.1947 in other photo on site but when I was a Newtown School in 50s it was derelict; broken windows and overgrown; We used to call it ‘the haunted house’. Wonder what happened?
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Yes, Primrose Hill was on the Durham Road/Londonderry Road corner. California Farm was on Letch Lane at Carlton and the other farm the Umplebys had at the time was Dog Hill Farm at Portrack which they left when it was bombed in WW2.
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California farm still exists, as mentioned it’s off Letch Lane
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Thank you for that info. I didn’t know the name of the other farm only Primrose Hill farm and California Farm. I was lucky enough to visit California farm when I came to Stockton on a trip from Australia. The current owner use to go to the farm as a boy with his father who worked for the Umpleby Family. Which was my great great grandfather family
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Dog Hill Farm can be found on this map:
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=54.57166&lon=-1.29400&layers=168&b=1&marker=54.571524,-1.294829
… and this 1935 image:
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW049491
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Thank you much appreciated cheers
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Thank you so much for that info cheers
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I am related to the Umpleby family through a great Aunt and Uncle, I recall a conversation many years ago that California Farm was on Letch Lane in Stockton heading towards Carlton Village.
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Hi Graham was your man Doreen if so we had a great aunt Sarah Umpleby. I am Christine. Me and my husband Richard and uncle Tommy used to be good friends with your mam, Tommy was her cousin.
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This looks like this is a photo of the house that was on Londonderry Road, as seen here:
https://picturestocktonarchive.com/2004/08/02/londonderry-road-c1947/
Does this mean this is a picture of Primrose Hill Farm?
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=54.57325&lon=-1.32268&layers=168&b=1&marker=54.573087,-1.322926
Is this the California Farm mentioned?
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=54.58265&lon=-1.37854&layers=168&b=1&marker=54.582333,-1.380619
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Like you, Peter, I remember David Umpleby from Richard Hind. The gossip was that he got married as soon as he left school.
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Name seems familiar, think he was in my class at Newtown in 50s.
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I went to Richard Hind in the mid 60’s and there was a Dave Umpleby in our form, was he from the same family?
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When I was a child in the 1950s there was a derelict, overgrown old house that looked like this where the glass house now stands on Londonderry Road. Wonder if this was it? Where is the California Farm?
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My husband remembers this property it was in Londonderry Road, Newtown if his memory is correct!
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