Can anyone tell me anything about the prefab estate that was somewhere between South Church Road and St Andrews Road? I remember cycling through it as a kid in the late 60s but we didn't hang around as clearly we had encroached on someone elses territory and were greeted by quite a few flying stones.

Presumably they were built in the immediate postwar years but when did they disappear and what replaced them ? Were they just used to accomodate an expanding population or were they used to rehouse people from elsewhere in the town ?

Thanks in anticipation.

Hi Mark.

my mum and dad lived there just after the war. in snowball road. they were apparently built to house returning soldiers and their family's after the war.
They lasted longer than they were designed for and were still there in the seventies. i remember moving some of them towards the end.They were replaced by mostly old peoples bungalows and some names changed. i believe to such as st aidens being one?
i have a photo of mum and dad standing at the front door of theirs.
they were eventually re housed on the woodhouse estate when it was in its infancy.
jeff

Was told they were rebuilt in brick 1970s, Gent road being the longest road through them most inhabited bye eldeley and disabled.

hi
i remember them my brother lived there ray simpson and remember bondfire noght being one of the biggest bonfires in the area..happy days
ken

alot of the people that lived down the prefabs went there when south church was knocked down,instead of going up to woodhouse close estate.but they ended up there any how cos the prefabs came down afew years later.as for the kids,they were like kids any where when strange kids came into their area.it happened to us when we strayed up to woodhouse.i remember kenny's brother,and he's mam and sister joan and e's dad,ken ,.ray's family live near me up on woodhouse.he's children,who i don,t believe you've ever met,live on woodhouse with families of their own.even though you don't know me i DO know of you.so nice to here from you and i'm pleased you found this site to keep in touch with your roots.bye

Biggest bonfire? Ha! Thats a dirty lie. Ours was. Not yours. On the green near Cockton HILL school.
If you dont agree, get your gang round any time you like. We`ll sort it out. You`ll have to bring your own clemmies though, cos there aren`t any lying around these days. Or sticks.
Dont tell your mams your coming either!

Biggest bonfire indeed!

i can not see hou you can say that cos every year we nicked yours. daren't have a bonfire now adays.hasn't things gone to pot .no pride in the communities now.just like the bon fires, WE all had the biggest.some places were rougher than others but the community spirit was there.i mean i wouldnt want to go back,but as a young kid growing up,times seemed alot better.

ye im hopeing to catch up on lost years and contact as many family as possible ,i usually only get uo to bishop once a year ,but this site has got me in touch with some long lost friends ,i to remember as a kid not wanting to venture onto the wrong estate ,the first time i went to woodhouse i got my first black eye ha ,it was all very territorial..

Bit to young to remember the prefabs, it was all a mud pit when i was growing up (born in 72)
Bonfires..hmm, the one behind the bus depot (and behind cockton hill school) on the old grownd use to be pretty big. fire engines were often called.
I was one of the kids that use to play in the buses, take the seats out and jump off the single decker busses. The Gadgy often would chase us but that was half the fun.

Loved the comment about clemmies..


Derek 'Ducksy' Siddle

I lived in the prefabs --- 7 Thompson Road until we were rehoused in Woodhouse close estate in 1950. I remember my parents talking about families such as the Milroys and the Hannans whose mum was Italian .I remember going to school Cockton Hill and walking up by a railway line to get there .
I went back to 7 thompson road a few years ago only to find all of the white prefabs replaced by redbricked ones .