GEC (General Electric Company) owned The Grove between 1950-1999. In those 49 years the company names
at The Grove changed quite a few times. At the beginning, in 1950 it was
GEC Laboratories name on the sign leading to The Grove in Warren Lane. By 1981 it was
the headquarters of Marconi Space & Defence Systems, later to become
GEC Avionics.
In 1999 came the merger of two giant British companies, GEC Avionics and British Aerospace,
to form BAE SYSTEMS.
By 2001 rumours were rippling around The Grove that BAE SYSTEMS wished to
sell The Grove Site and relocate elsewhere. The first site that was looked at
was the empty 'Lucas Aerospace' site at Hemel Hempstead. One statement
that was made by the company said that it would be a move to Hemel or we stay at The Grove.......funny
how we all ended up at Capability Green in Luton, Bedfordshire then!!!
An outline planning application proposing a residential development was submitted to Harrow Council
by BAE Systems, and the proposal was consulted with the Mayor of London by Harrow Council on the 8th Oct 2003.
See the Planning Report PDU/0857/01, dated 17th March 2004.
Even before staff at The Grove were relocated, 'the company' had 'changed hands'
again. BAE SYSTEMS had sold its Avionics business to Finmeccanica, and another
new name for the company was born....SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems.
In 2004 The Grove was purchased by a property company, Crest Nicholson, and in
mid-to-late 2005, all of the 50 plus buildings at The Grove were pulled down (except
one**), and the start of 2006 over 200 houses and flats were in the process of being built.
** The Grotto at The Grove was award the status of a Grade 2 listed building
in 2000 and can not be demolished.
As can be seen from the photographs below, the development of 'Bentley' Grove is
well under way, with some of the houses being occupied.
The development has been created in areas:- Myddleton Close, Brightwen Grove, Padelford Lane,
Capel Crescent, Jacob Mews, Casel Court, and Cunard Court,. 6 of the 7 names for the
development can be traced to the history of The Grove, one, Padelford Lane, I believe
was named directly from this web site and my reasearch into the life of Mrs Florence Cunard senior.
One thing I would still like to know is, I wonder if Crest Nicholson ever came across the remains
of the 3 arched grotto. I looked for it for 2 years while working at The Grove, and found it just before
we vacated in 2005 buried in a mud bank. The stone facings had been removed, but the brickwork into each
caven could still be seen very clearly.
