This article signposts some of the stages in the development of Effingham’s communications, transport and utilities networks. From its historic situation as a relatively small rural agricultural village, the upgrading of these connections and services made Effingham an increasingly attractive location. This led to a notable surge in the village population in the early twentieth century, especially after World War I. By 1920 it began to attract such luminaries as the Ascrofts and then Teddie Gerard at Orchard Cottage – the earliest of a string of stars and bohemians to locate themselves here. The intention in this article is not to provide a highly detailed timeline of ‘events’, but to indicate through a collage of snippets and inferences yielded up by diverse sources the sorts of changes that began to be seen, and the general time-frames within which they occurred.