Council house anger
MOST people in Dewsbury and Batley, who had spent most of their lives in back-to-back houses, were delighted when they were given the keys to their new houses on council estates throughout the area. But Mirfield people in the 1950s, had higher expectations, and when they moved on to the new London Park Estate, they were full of complaints.
In fact they were described as the most dissatisfied council tenants in the district after they complained about the poor workmanship and accused the council of jerry building. With a population of 12,000, evenly scattered over 4,000 acres, and with very little heavy industry in their town, Mirfield people enjoyed much better living conditions than their neighbours in Dewsbury and Batley. They had fewer back-to-backs, the air was relatively clean and they also had plenty of trees, and there were many who described Mirfield as the “garden city” of the Heavy Woollen District. The majority of people in Mirfield were reasonably well housed, but there were many old-fashioned and out-dated houses which the Mirfield Urban District Council set about demolishing.
In their place the council built new houses, and adopted a radically different approach than that of other councils in the area.
While Dewsbury and Batley, demolished and rebuilt at a fast space because of their serious housing problems, Mirfield, which didn’t have a major slum clearance problem, could afford to rebuild at a leisurely pace.
But this did not mean their houses were the best in the district – far from it – and according to tenants on the new London Park estate, their houses were among the worst. Tenants were moved in before the estates had been finished and the gardens were in a shocking state with the whole estate having a ‘half baked’ appearance.
One of the roads, after having been properly surfaced for only a few months, had to be completely dug up in order to lay a new sewer. One angry tenant remarked: “Why couldn’t they have laid the sewer before surfacing the road? I hate to see the money I pay in taxes being thrown down the drain like that.” More dissatisfaction arose when the council decided to increase the rents and issued new conditions of tenancy whereby tenants were obliged to pay for all interior repairs. A number of tenants banded together, under the leadership of Mr CH Berry, and Mr PA Beals, and quickly formed a Tenants’ Association. Membership was not only confined to London Park tenants, but also residents from every council house in Mirfield, and pretty soon they had 50 members
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The best prefab estate in the area
THERE were 144 houses on the London Park estate with plans to build a further 83 along with 20 two-bedroomed flats. On the fringe of the London Park Estate was the Taylor Hall estate which contained 50 temporary aluminium “prefabs” built in 1947. It was described as the best ‘prefab’ estate in the whole of the Heavy Woollen district with all the houses neatly laid out in very pleasant surroundings, each enclosed by their own private hedge.
Mr F Garforth, who lived in one of the prefabs, said: “We would much rather live in this prefab than in a brick house, if only we felt sure it would be permanent.”
Taylor Hall tenants had a thriving and well organised community centre in a brick built hall which was a survival from the days when the Taylor Hall was an Army camp. Mr Garforth said: “The first tenants on the Taylor Hall estate had just been ‘demobbed’ from the Army and felt very friendly towards each other. Conditions were ideal for starting up a community centre.” The centre catered for a huge variety of interests, including whist and beetle drives, dances, pantomimes, plays, woodwork classes, quiz shows and agricultural shows.
Every Sunday, two members from the Community of the Resurrection held a Sunday School in the community centre for children up to the age of 10. Mr W Styring, council engineer and surveyor, said he was well aware of the faults on the London Park Estate, which he said was attributed to poor quality wood.
“These days timber is being cut far too young, and is not being given a chance to mature in the tree. Consequently, the timber in the London Park houses warps at the slightest provocation.”
He added: “We have just issued a £5,000 contract for the straightening up of grass verges and open spaces on the estate. This will put the finishing touches to it, and we will make this estate a much more pleasant place in which to live.”
