It was meant to be a temporary haven, a safe place for evacuees away from the endless bombardment and ruins of wartime Portsmouth.

But Broadway Park became a permanent home for many while it remains a popular place to live eight decades on from its humanitarian beginnings.

Residents will party like its 1945 this weekend as a celebration to mark 80 years of the estate on the southern approach to Petersfield will take place this Sunday.

The park home development has doubled in size over the years and is now home to more than 180 residents, but it’s been overseen by the same family since the beginning.

The story began in 1936 when Alan Broadway purchased the Fairfield Farm site off The Causeway, but the foundations were truly set during the second world war according to his grandson, Roly Foster.

“During the Second World War my grandfather Alan bought a lot of trams, brought them from London to this farm and turned them into houses for evacuated people from Portsmouth.

“The thing is, most of the people who were evacuated here didn’t want to go back to Portsmouth afterwards.

“Can you blame them? They had fresh air, a home in the the countryside and peace?”

Over the years Broadway Park has grown from a smattering of second-hand trams to a community for retired and semi-retired people, while the estate is currently in third generation hands.

Mr Foster added: “It’s been a success and it’s still a sought-after place to live in Petersfield.

“This Sunday we’re going to have a party that ties in with VE Day and I think we’ll have about 90 residents attending. We’ll also have people from generations two, three, four and five from the Broadway family, so it’s a really good chance to remember and reflect.”