A few nice redwoods lodging images I found:

Redwood Lodge Country Club

Image by brizzle born and bred
We look back to the time when Redwood Lodge was the Ashton Court Country Club

I wonder how many club members who go swimming there, or use its extensive modern gym facilities, know that Redwood Lodge Hotel and Country Club on Beggar Bush Lane was originally built as a lodge for Sir Greville Smyth’s ornithological collection.

The wealthy Smyth family, who had lived at Ashton Court mansion for some 400 years, were forced to sell their extensive estates just after World War II, and John Ley, the then owner of the popular Glen dance hall on the Downs, jumped at the chance to start a country club in the lodge.

This and many more interesting stories about the early days have come to light during a £15 million refurbishment programme by present owners Folio Hotels.

They tell us exactly what John Ley got for his money and the changes he made to make the club one of the most successful in the country.

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www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/4259907307/

Built in 1898, the “Bungalow”, as it was known, was quite stylish in an Arts and Crafts sort of way, with carved stone fireplaces and wooden panelling.

Luckily, it’s still very much intact and still an integral part of the club’s facilities.

Next door in 1950 was a plainer wooden building, built in the Twenties by Lady Smyth’s daughter as a children’s wing.

In the countryside but just outside the city, the location on Failand couldn’t have been better, and some 20 years later the club, still run by the same family, could claim to be the largest of its kind in the country.

The cost of membership, at present £120 a month for a family, was just over £10 a year.

But visitors were also welcome to play a game of tennis for between two shillings and sixpence (12p) or use all the facilities on a Saturday for 10 shillings (50p).

Fifty years on the attractions on offer seem very old-fashioned.

In fine weather, you could go for a leisurely stroll around the rose walk or the deer pond, later to become an outdoor swimming pool.

On the front lawn, for the more active, there was a choice of putting or tennis.

Inside, apart from the lounge bar and dining room, could be found a sun lounge, a ballroom, a card room (later converted to a dining room due to lack of use) and a television room.

Scantily-clad students from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School found temporary work here as cigarette and flower girls and cloakroom attendants.

Ten years on again and there was parking for some 200 cars.

There was also a new entrance porch, a new ballroom bar and a new bandstand, plus a dining and cloakroom extension.

Outside could be found a new greenhouse, teak garden furniture for sun lovers and a cedar wood tennis pavilion for more active members.

There was also something of a novelty – a “tuck shop” extension for snacks and the like.

By 1970 – something of a heyday in the club’s membership – there was parking for 700 cars.

As well as relaxing and being entertained, members wanted more activity, and the club, moving with the times, offered a choice of two open- air pools, one heated indoor pool and 10 tennis courts, three of them floodlit.

There were also 10 squash courts, four badminton courts and an indoor bowling green, opened by Clevedon’s bowls champion David Bryant.

A big treat was saunas in the changing rooms.

If this wasn’t enough, there was table tennis and a four-table billiard room. For quieter times there was a 10-table bridge room.

The Ranch House with its classic Sixties wood-slated ceiling (it’s still there but painted white) offered both early evening cinema and later a disco.

The ballroom, which hosted cabaret, was also available for dinner dances and private functions.

Local singer Anita Harris, Terry Hall’s Lenny the Lion, comedian Derek Roy and Welsh singer Ivor Emmanuel were just some of the stars gracing the cabaret stage throughout the Sixties and Seventies.

Conferences and other corporate events were also catered for.

Lunches and the occasional cabaret were available in the sophisticated Garden Room along with self-service buffet plus entertainment.

In the evening you could enjoy an international cordon bleu menu which included such delicacies as caviar (45 shillings – £2.25) and turtle soup (five shillings and sixpence – just over 25p).

A cup of coffee here wasn’t cheap – it would set you back two to three shillings (10p to 15p).

The Sports Room was open from noon to midnight with liquor licensing for the club being until 2am, something unheard of by the city’s pubs which were kept to strict licensing arrangements, even for Christmas and New Year.

The room had been designed by none other than that much esteemed local architect Raymond Stride.

For those wanting a quieter, less active life, there was a relaxing lounge with a colour TV – a rare treat in the early Seventies.

Dave Young, a 59-year-old maintenance worker from Bedminster, joined the country club – then owned by local entrepreneur John Pontin of the JT Group – in 1977 as part of a team of six.

Their brief included looking after the 16 acres of woods and gardens – something now done by a contractor.

“I originally came as a temporary worker recycling the bottles, but stayed on,” he told me.

“I’m now the longest serving member of staff.”

Had he seen many changes?

“There was very much a family atmosphere among the workers in the Seventies. Now with changes of ownership, its more corporate.

“I remember the big snooker tournaments we used to have here, along with the big names in the sport such as Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins.”

The snooker hall, which could hold 200 and really put the club on the map, is now a restaurant.

“We’ve also had big stars staying here,” said Dave.

“I remember Bruce Forsyth arriving in his Rolls-Royce – he used to play golf over the road – and comedian Jim Davidson when he was with HTV’s Alison Holloway. Tommy Banner from The Wurzels is also a member.

“I get some perks – I’ve got club membership and I can stay at cheap rates at other hotels owned by the same group.

“With people’s changing lifestyles there are more members here in the evening than there used to be and more families.”

Roy Rahamn, now 72, is another club old-timer.

“I originally came here in 1976 as head waiter,” he explained. “Then I left, but I came back and now work part-time as a casual in the catering section doing breakfasts.”

The current club manager, Gordon Riddell, arrived here from Dublin a year ago after 20 years in the hotel business.

He’s now overseeing the refurbishments which will see the number of bedrooms increased to 175.

In the past, the country club has belonged to both Whitbread and Corus.

Have you any memories of Redwood Lodge when it was the Ashton Court Country Club?

Redwood Lodge

Image by trishylicious
I think this was on Benson Highway