Reply With QuoteI used to manage one in Canterbury, it was an ugly thing, green painted metal cladding.
I've known the prefabs pictured below all my life, there has never been time they weren't there. Although only intended to last for 15 years, these are approaching 70 years and are immaculately maintained. I think they have now been given Grade II listed status. Are there any prefabs still standing in your area?In order to meet the housing shortage as World War II was coming to an end, Wilson Churchill announced a Temporary Housing Programme in 1944.
The program planned to build 500,000 prefab bungalows in Britain over the next four years. They were expected to last for fifteen years. In fact just over 150,000 were built.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
I used to manage one in Canterbury, it was an ugly thing, green painted metal cladding.
My old man lived in one when he was a kid in the 1940s, long gone now and replaced by nasty 1960s/70s blocks of flats. I'm pretty sure there are none left in Aberdeen :(
I lived in one when I was a bairn in the late 50s/early 60s, but they were demolished probably 70ish.
F.T.F.A.
There is one in the Welsh museum at St Fagans just outside Cardiff.
There were quite a few where I grew up in Irvine & they were very popular. They went when Irvine became a new town. There used to be hundreds of
them at the east (Celtic) end of Hampden Park too.
As an aside, when Van Morrison was a window cleaner in Belfast in the early sixties, his nickname (allegedly) was "Prefab" because he didn't like
going up the ladder...
______
Jim.
There were loads of them in Rotherham when I was a blubby (kid) and I was always interested in them. Haven't been back up North for donkeys years so I have no idea if they are still there - anyone know?
There's over 700 still standing in Bristol.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/pro ... -four.html
I think the local council tried to replace nearly half of them about 5-6 years ago but they met with strong objections from the owners.
Cheers,
Gary
None ever around here but I know there are quite a few still in Southwark S. London in Lordship lane and Evelina road.
Cheers,
Neil.
Barnsley still has a few.
The council has faced alot of them up now with bricks
& Re-Roofed them too..
All of the North East ones are long gone now.
Little white boxes with flat rooves.
It's still a major talking point during my asbestos awareness safety presentations.
The fact that we were so desparate for houses after the war, that we made them out of Asbestos sheet.
I'm guessing the ones in Sheffield are plywood.
There's a row of prefabs by me also now listed.
Google streetview link below
http://g.co/maps/5zv5x
Less than 20 now Gary and they are in the process of demolition (Shirehampton) as newly-built homes are completed for the residents. SWMBO had an elderly friend who used to live in one in Horfield and that was the penultimate area of prefab housing to be demolished earlier this year.Originally Posted by Omegary
As an aside, we had a class-mate join us belated at our school one year as he had been badly burnt by electricity whilst playing in a prefab in Litherland, Liverpool during the summer holidays: lucky to be alive but with some awful scarring to his arm and upper body.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
There are still a lot of them in Beech Avenue, Swindon.
I didn't realise the Telegraph article was nearly 10 years old
I'm guessing that the the prefabs that used to be in and around Dorian Road (off Gloucester Rd by Horfield Sports Centre and leading to Southmead Hospital) have now been demolished in that case R. Shame as there was a real feeling of community there.
I don't know when Google maps last updated their arial photography but most of the prefabs are still on there.
Cheers,
Gary
Horfield prefabs:http://www.bristol.gov.uk/sites/defa...202011_0_0.pdfThe last on site tenants have now moved out so we will carry out the demolition of the last 5 prefabs during July/ August.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, near Bromsgrove, has a prefab in period condition, including furniture etc.
I grew up in one back in the late sixties.
@Gary google earth for my area (Yeovil) shows my house as it was in summer 2006
Thanks for the link R. I walked past the Sports Centre only a couple of days ago, maybe next time I'll go down Dorian Road and see what the new houses are like.
It's a shame not to keep at least one original prefab on the site just for sake of local and social history :(
Cheers,
Gary
There are still some around. Depends what you consider the North East though. There are still a couple of rows of them in Seaton/ Billingham that you can see from the train and plenty of two story "tin houses" up the other end of town. I live in what I would guess is the modern equivalent, a timber framed, they seem to just throw them up in a couple of days then the brick exterior is just cladding. That being said it is the warmest house I have lived in :)
I don't live near them but there's still some left London way. Saw it in the news a while back, fascinating looking place
http://www.nothingtoseehere.net/2008...te_london.html
The councils insistence on ignoring the potential historic value is depressingly familiar, but that's another debate.
More photos here
http://jim-blackender.webs.com/apps/...?albumid=10116
Cheers,
P
There are quite a lot still standing in Beeches Rd, Chelmsford and in well looked after condition. Makes me wonder why we can't build modern equivalents of these today. Love that picture of the one dripping with creepers, bow fronted window and the green fence, looks like it been there forever.
I've seen these two storey ones in New Addington.There are still a lot of them in Beech Avenue, Swindon.
The ones still owned by the council have been refaced and reroofed but the private ones still have the metal looking fronts and corrugated roofs as in the pic.
Cheers,
Neil.
I often pass this little lot on my way to Heathrow; can't seem to find anything about them from the net but they must date to the beginnings of the airport. An interesting counterpoint to Terminal 5 n'est-ce pas?
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
On the University of Reading campus there are some "Temporary Office Buildings" (TOBs) that were originally prefab barracks built in WW2.
They are now some of the oldest buildings on campus.
"Temporary" is altive, it seems.
Cheers,
Most of the MOD sites I've ever worked at had such buildings complete with metal-framed windows.I often pass this little lot on my way to Heathrow; can't seem to find anything about them from the net but they must date to the beginnings of the airport. An interesting counterpoint to Terminal 5 n'est-ce pas?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I lived in a small village called Marske-by-Sea and remember them. They were well built and some of my mates lived in them. In fact I think they were only demolished in the early 2000's.
Rod
Edit, just been on Google Maps and they are still on there in Satellite mode (Southfield Road). :D
I used to cycle past a row of prefabs in Hartlepool when I had a student job in the early '80s. I'm sure they're gone now though, as you say.
We are in the process of selling my Aunt's as she sadly passed away last year.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Cartha+ ... 01,,0,7.01
There's a fair few in the Heathrow area ....
http://g.co/maps/v98y6
Yep, very close to me in Newtownabbey, Co.Antrim.
Great houses and the locals take great pride in them. I spent many a happy day in my childhood playing up there.
Still have small pockets of prefabs in Wolverhampton, although a number have added a facing brick facade.
I'm still harbouring an ambition to develop a modern iteration for mass market use. One day.
Bristol has more prefabs than any other City:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/pro ... -four.html
Why don't they start building them again to alleviate the housing shortage?
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
No idea. All of the ones near to me in Bristol are always well presented and very tidy. Unlike a lot of the towers blocks that are a real eyesore.
Loads still near us in Newcastle
Most houses are now "pre-fabs". Councils don't have land or money to build on the scale they used to. "Right To Buy" has made us a nation of
home-owners or wannabe home-owners.
______
Jim.
Surely prefabs would provide more affordable homes for the wannabe home-owners?Most houses are now "pre-fabs". Councils don't have land or money to build on the scale they used to. "Right To Buy" has made us a nation of
home-owners or wannabe home-owners.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
There are kit houses available at the moment; although it's a very niche sector currently. I've got contacts who can and do build prefab buildings in either timber or concrete, but there is a general distrust for anything new or different looking / feeling. From experience it is usually considered briefly before being dismissed for something more traditional and / or familiar.
There are a lot more up front costs with this type of construction too, and in the current climate there are a lot of brickies, joiners etc that are willing to price work at cost, so currently it takes a very determined client to go through with an off site option.
Basically there are plenty of people working in this sector, but until more of the money men buy in to the idea it will remain a niche. The problem is without it becoming more mainstream the economies of scale won't alter much, and most money men aren't considering much beyond immediate cash flow just now.
there are still loads in fife in scotland. most have been bought by the tenants . the local authority renovate a whole housing scheme of the two up two down. the bungalows have also been renovated with bricks to the outside. i remember friends of my parents lived in one in the 50s and it had a gas fridge and a coal fire with a glass front
http://uktv.co.uk/home/dgiped/kw/254
Theres lots of very very nice flat pack homes.
Ikea even got in on the act in 2007:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -home.html
Nice but you had to pick it yourself on your trolley from the warehouse :wink:
are they in Ecclesfield Eddie? if they are my father in law lived in those as a youngster
A few housing associations have been looking at creating accommodation using shipping containers; one in Manchester and at least one in London are considering it. The idea possibly doesn't sound that appealing, but the results can be quite impressive and attractive - http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green ... ouses.html
The ones I remember were at Murton, in County Durham.There are still some around. Depends what you consider the North East though. There are still a couple of rows of them in Seaton/ Billingham that you can see from the train and plenty of two story "tin houses" up the other end of town. I live in what I would guess is the modern equivalent, a timber framed, they seem to just throw them up in a couple of days then the brick exterior is just cladding. That being said it is the warmest house I have lived in :)
My parents have just bought one in South Birmingham. It's part of an estate that was built by Herbert Austin for the workers at his car plant. They're going to treat it right, and will try to getting it looking original from the outside. (This will mainly involved sorting out the windows.) They're happy with it. Here's a pic, excuse my sister & BIL standing outside the front!
I'm not sure there ever could be an excuse for those bell bottoms. They look like they came straight out of the 70s... ;)
They are indeed, on Mill Road backing onto the park. An old schoolfriend of mine lived in one years ago, Dave Jowett.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
No longer, Steve: that article is nearly 10-years old. :wink:
How's your pre-fab coming on?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
There's a whole area of pre-fab housing in Luton locally referred to as 'Tin Town' and all painted in various colours. They actually look nicer than the usual 3 story brick boxes that seem to get slung up by house builders these days.
1950's Air Ministry buildings transferred in the 1960's to the Ministry of Aviation, sound the same but different organisations, passed onto the BAA and BOAC/BEA (now BA) and later to other businesses. These buildings have preservation orders upon them to protect them from Heathrow Airport Ltd who would prefer to see them demolished and replaced with a revenue earning project. The BA building behind is Technical Block C (TBC) which was built in the 1970's for wide bodied aircraft maintenance. Not far from TBC at Hatton X is Technical Block A (TBA) otherwise known as the Big House where in the 1960's/1970's the BOAC disposals section would sell unwanted Corporation property at heavily discounted prices in the staff canteen. Amongst the items sold were watches that originally had been issued to the by then redundant navigators, sad to think that I probably held a BOAC issued IWC or whatever in my hand with a price tag of £10 or £15 on it but put it back as I could buy a new Timex for about £3, still with a BOAC apprentices first year pay of £1. 1/- & 6d a week a tenner was a lot of money.I often pass this little lot on my way to Heathrow; can't seem to find anything about them from the net but they must date to the beginnings of the airport. An interesting counterpoint to Terminal 5 n'est-ce pas?
In the 1970's these buildings and the people in them narrowly escaped being engulfed in an aircraft fire thanks to a WW2 air raid shelter mound which deflected the fire and explosion upwards and away from them. The aircraft, a Boeing 707 caught fire during an on wing engine run when it was on the engine de-tuners for test purposes, of the three engineers on board two lept to the ground from the front exit point of the aircraft and the other who was on fire from head to foot cart wheeled down the aircraft boarding stairs. I was standing outside TBC with several other engineers at that time waiting for transport to the Central Area of Heathrow, we ran over to the guy who had been on fire expecting to find the worst only to discover that apart from a minor burn to his hand and having had his overalls quite literally burnt off of him he was in good shape. It was my first experience of an aircraft fire, it was not to be my last.
Both BA and the BAA have Heritage Centres (museums) at Heathrow which can be visited by appointment, run by former employees they are interesting places to visit. If interested just search for BA or BAA Museum. Groups rather than individuals are preferred as the 'old boy' or mature lady who shows visitors around has to come in and open up the place, and at one visitor at a time it gets a little wearing.
Now working out of and living in Cyprus and still in aviation I've seen similar buildings at the old Larnaca airport, where the original RAF control tower still stands and Lakatamia military airbase just outside of Nicosia. I've also spotted them in the Yemen, Qatar and other Gulf States, most seem to be still in use.
During WW2 Heathrow was a supply airfield with not much in the way of permanent or prefabricated buildings, when handed over for civil use at the end of WW2, Heathrow or London airport as it was better known then consisted mainly of tented structures, from check in to maintenance tents were the answer. Heathrow for a long time was known amongst the staff as Tent Town or Tent City.
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