Community Life
The Span Vision
We have described what a wonderful place Weymede is and will continue do so throughout this website. On this page I would like us to look at the original vision when designing these Span estates and what was put in place to achieve these aims.
At the risk of over-simplifying the subject, I am going to separate this into two parts: the estate and the residents.
The Design of the Estate
There are a few possible designs of Span property. Properties of the same design are situated in neat rows, resulting in all the properties in each area looking the same and covenants are in place to ensure this remains to be the case.
The benefits to this principle are many, but I will attempt to do justice to a few here:
The clean continuous lines look simple, fresh, timeless, 'neat' and uncluttered and give no room for competition since all are equal, thus serving to increase a feeling of community spirit. No-one 'stands out' and no-one wants to stand out. The whole purpose, feeling and character is about oneness and union within the estate, which is what separates Span from other private estates. Here life is as much about one's neighbours as about one's self. Span is about Community.
This is further enhanced by the large green areas which many properties face onto, giving children a safe place to play and families a central point to meet, be it for parties, picnics, or just socialising.
The wide footpaths which lead people past the doors, and in many cases even past the large living-room windows of one's neighbours, also encourages interaction. The whole design of the estate is with unity and community in mind. On this note it is therefore clear, as you can see, if you were looking to move onto a Span estate and put up a satellite dish, change the look of the windows or erect a conservatory, this would be far from acceptable.
The Residents
Here is one young resident's view of life on
Weymede:
"My name is Felix Berning and I live on Weymede. This is why I like it so much: First because of the space and freedom to play, secondly because there are a lot of kids to play with and have fun with, thirdly because of friendly people and community, and finally because in the summer it is great when my mates come round and we play in the river and on the grass." Felix Berning aged 12.
When looking at the genius of the Span design and how vital it is to protect the uniformity throughout, we must not forget the community the estate is here to serve.
The estate is about the people. It's about bringing people together in a society where neighbours may often not even know each others' names, let alone have drinks together. It's a safe place for children to play well away from speeding cars, where everybody still knows everybody and keep an eye out when the children are playing outside, even if not their own. Where it is well known who does what and who has what skills. Services are 'traded' and residents assist each other to make life as easy and stress-free as possible. Is this all a pipe dream? It's Span!
Of course, having said all that, you can see that if you wanted to come to a Span estate to get away from people, you may have difficulties. It is indeed a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of 'normal life' or from the loneliness of living on a 'normal estate' where people hardly speak, but it is designed as a Community place, for communicating.
Having read the above, you will understand too why one of the covenants contains the rule that a property should not be rented out for more than three years. How does renting your property out and moving away serve to benefit the Community? There is a sense of non-permanence about renting and, in this vein, having people who have no knowledge of Span or even interest in the 'Community ideal' does not help the dream of Span and the continued unity of the Comm-un-ity?
Times have of course changed. Some properties are rented out for longer periods, with the Committee's required approval, and the jury is still out regarding the future of this practice in this 'Buy-to-let' current mentality.
I would like to say though, we do need to watch out to ensure we do not just become a 'normal' estate of individual home-owners, who have purchased a nice looking house on a nice looking estate with a few restricting covenants which are a pain, but we put up with them for now. Please do not forget what we have here. This is about you knowing your neighbours; about us living on a beautiful estate and sharing, not taking.
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Here are a couple of emails from long term residents of Weymede.
I came to live on Weymede in 1983 after my
divorce. As we used to live in a large 'distinctive' house in Weybridge, I
enjoyed the anonymity of Weymede with the rows of similar type houses. Living on
my own has held no fears for me. Before I retired I used to baby-sit/house-Dog
sit and do 'Live in Mum' jobs, which meant I arrived home at long past midnight.
Locking my car away in the block behind my house and the short walk to my house
didn't bother me one bit in the early hours of the morning. As I have grown
older I really feel safe here. I have been tempted to go and live in a
Retirement flat from time to time, but I have a love affair with Weymede. I love
having the children playing around and try to make friends with them. The
beautiful surroundings in which we all live is a great joy to me and the peace
and quiet is balm to my soul!
As I have become disabled I appreciate Weymede more and more. Being able to park
my car outside my front door is a great asset and the neighbours are quite
understanding to my need. Everyone seems to pass the time of day, only my
shyness stops me from taking things further.
Everyone on the Committee (no matter who)! seem to work so hard for the good of
us all and I for one appreciates their efforts.
A RESIDENT OF WEYMEDE
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"I spent very many happy times with my children on that stretch of the river as well as many times in the river from that point after parties."
It was a bit like living in a holiday camp during the school holidays. Many’s the time I found a completely strange child in one of the bedrooms just reading a book or chilling. We never locked the doors and our two used to wander off everywhere on the estate. I never worried, we always knew they would magically appear for tea as soon as ‘Neighbours’ was on the TV. Of course in this day and age everyone is more cautious.
Yes, society sure has changed. It’s like another
era when I think back to what Weymede was like when we arrived in 1987.
Babysitting circles for one. We even ran our own playgroup. Four of us had one
child exactly the same age, so we each had the other 3 one morning a week, which
gave us 3 free mornings.
I do realize why the sandpits were filled in. We used to have a rota for raking,
sweeping and covering every night, with a ‘winterisation’ when the clocks
changed. Sadly as with everything, it ended up being just a handful who did it,
then one, then none. Ditto the ‘beach’. There seems to be a lot more children on Weymede now. I did notice
the river bank area was used quite extensively this
summer, especially compared to previously. Do you remember how ‘Weyday’ used to
be?
Kind regards
Weymede Resident
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