Returned To Life

Introduction

Set in the gentle quietness of the Essex countryside, yet just two miles from the M25 and Brentwood, and seven miles from historic Ongar, is the living concept of the phrase Dickens coined for A Tale of Two Cities.

Dickens used it as a watchword to illustrate the way a political prisoner had been rescued from the Bastille and was being rehabilitated by people who cared. He would have approved of it being used to describe the transformation that gave old farm buildings a new future, also by the people who cared.

Ten years ago, Ashwells Farm, in Ashwells Road, Brentwood, presented a very different picture from today. A ramshackle barn, worn and uneven cobbled yard, flanked by stables and outbuildings whose "olde- worlde" Tudor style charms were largely obscured by the smells and disorderliness that goes with the daily use and honest toil of horse and man. The original farm buildings (which go back several hundred years) have been lovingly restored and thoughtfully refurbished and given a new lease of life to provide a setting of immense charm and a facility well in keeping with the needs of the modern world.

We know that it took a family with vision and great determination to transform such an unpromising relic, into the smart, and very busy facility known to members and visitors today as the Ashwells Sports and Country Club.

Because of the existence of Ashwells, John Evans and his family rebuilt the old hay barn which now serves as the main focal point for members with its reception area, bar, lounge, restaurant area and TV lounge.

Together with the club's heated pool and courtyard, (dug out of the cobbled stone yard), the gymnasium and Business Centre, which once housed farm tools and horses, wedding / receptions room, and the landscaped gardens which include tennis courts and running track, it provides the backdrop for a scene of immense charm well appreciated by members and their guests of the club.

Opened in 1987 the club has gone from strength to strength, despite the recession . . . Its ever-expanding membership list points to that success; it more justifies the family's dream and the vision they had which brought past and present together in such splendid style.

By night, or by day, Ashwells Sports and Country Club is not just a photogenic masterpiece. It is one of energy and relaxation, of leisure and business - a venue to celebrate, exhibit or to meet in, or simply to enjoy dinner with friends. It is a place to just enjoy.

Best of all it is, once again, part of our heritage.

It has been . . . Returned to Life.