Photos show new home standing in place of beloved cottage that burned down

And for Caroline Robinson it was part of her family's story - because not only was it for many years the home of her great-grandmother Mary Jane Robinson, but during the war her father Victor Robinson, who is now 95, was evacuated there from Coventry.

Although her dad is probably not now up to making the journey, Caroline was thinking of coming up from her home in the Bristol area to take a nostalgic look, but having heard the cottage burned down years ago sees no point if there's nothing left.

But following our story about the cottage a little while ago, we can bring news thanks to Emma Johnson who lives there now, although not for much longer.

"It definitely exists, but in a very different form," Emma tells us.

And Emma sent us a couple of photos, one showing an exact comparison view in which the same tree as in the postcard is on the left, although the building is hidden now behind the grown-up hedge. Her second photo from a different angle shows the building on the site now.

"It's called The Fallen Oak. I'm assuming there's a fallen oak somewhere."

Emma, who has lived there since 2015, is selling up and moving to Wem. She doesn't know if it is the same building, albeit much altered, or a ground-up rebuild after the fire.

"It looks very different. It's a bungalow now with a UPVC conservatory and solar panels and you would never in a million years know that it was a thatched cottage. It has no original features or anything, nothing in the bungalow which suggests it was once a cottage.

"I don't know whether it was completely rebuilt when it burned down.

"I've been told it used to be a school and when I have looked on old maps it is called the Old Boys' School. Somebody also told me it used to be a doctor's, but I have never found anything about that.

"I have mixed emotions about leaving this house. There have been some really happy family times here. It's a lovely property. You are surrounded by trees and you are not overlooked, yet five minutes down the road you are in Whitchurch town centre with everything you need."

Emma had not actually seen our story, but learned about it when Mike Beach, who was a firefighter based at Whitchurch who attended the cottage blaze back in the 1970s, went round and had a good chat.

"From my memory this was in the early to mid-1970s and involved the thatched roof," said Mike.

"We had to remove the thatch in order to completely extinguish the fire, which took a number of hours. The main structure of the building was left standing but, obviously, without any roof."

He added: "The picture in your article shows a tree on the far left side which is still there today, with the hedge, which fronted the old cottage, now being much higher. Part of the existing building is behind this hedge which makes me suspect that the old cottage, as shown in the picture, has been incorporated into later renovations or made part of the new property but built on exactly the same footprint."

An aerial photo of the property included in sale details shows that the extension has now give it a T-shape.