87 years ago, my Aunt was born in a rented
Edwardian terraced house on this street in
the East End of London. She has vivid
memories of hiding in the cupboard under the stairs with
her Mother, as the bombs of The Blitz rained
down just a couple of miles away and she also
recalls the euphoric street parties thrown at the conclusion of the War. When she married at the
start of the 1950s, she and her husband moved
upstairs, while her Mother lived on the
ground floor. My Aunt and Uncle started their
own family in the house. They all shared an
outside toilet and had no bathroom.
In the late 1950s much of the
area was condemned and the terraces were
slated for demolition. The rental
tenants were given the option to either take
a flat on the new estate that would rise from
the rubble, or move out of the area
altogether. My Aunt and Uncle secured a sixth floor flat and my Aunt's Mother took a small ground floor apartment in the new development.
For the first time in their lives, they were
each able to enjoy their own indoor private
facilities and wash in something more than
the kitchen sink or a tin bath on the living
room floor. My Aunt still lives in the tower
block overlooking the spot where her house
once stood and appreciates these luxuries to
this day.
In the early 1960s, halfway through the redevelopment and after a local government
rethink, demolition was halted and tenants of
the surviving terraced housing were offered
the chance to inexpensively buy their own
properties and receive substantial financial
aid to improve them. Those that weren't
purchased by the sitting tenants were snapped
up by property developers. In recent years,
much of the area has gone through a period of
gentrification. One of those small terraced
houses in the photo, considered unfit for
human habitation 60 years ago and only saved
from the bulldozer by a hair's breath,
recently went on the market for in excess of
£1,000,000. Meanwhile, my Aunt's tower block
and the estate within which it sits, are
scheduled for demolition within the next
couple of years, to be replaced by another,
newer, version.
Very poignant and thought-provoking... it all changes, doesn't it?
So nice to hear that your Aunt has been happy in her flat for so long, especially as we often hear stories to the contrary. I hope too that her future rehousing will be positive.
I was just thinking the other day how they don't seem to build many new residential high-rises, at least not in the places I know. I think of all the 'Towers' in the new town where we lived and worked for a while... very characteristic of its development in the 60s, whereas now there are hundreds of new homes being built but they sprawl outwards rather than upwards!
The things they did to communities years ago...OK, many areas needed lots of improving but some places had the hearts ripped out of them. It's good that your aunt has been happy in her flat, though. Are they actually going to replace the block with one just like it? I thought the days of the high-rise were over. A million quid for a terraced house in the East End? We live in a mad world.
My Aunt is very pragmatic, refusing to bemoan the fact that she missed out on the chance to buy her own house. She well remembers the tough times in the East End and remains resolutely grateful for having had the chance to live in comfort all these years. Her estate is crumbling though, while those terraces look like they'll last forever. I'm not sure what form the new development will take, but it's bound to be quite an upheaval when it comes.
Lovely Post TS...bought my first house in '79 for £25,000 sold it in 2003 for £240,000 and only made about £60,000 and still had debts of about £25,000. I am and still are usless with money....don't know where it all went! A friend of mine went abroad with me and saved quarter of a million I came back with £20,0000 in debt. Oh well!
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4 comments:
Very poignant and thought-provoking... it all changes, doesn't it?
So nice to hear that your Aunt has been happy in her flat for so long, especially as we often hear stories to the contrary. I hope too that her future rehousing will be positive.
I was just thinking the other day how they don't seem to build many new residential high-rises, at least not in the places I know. I think of all the 'Towers' in the new town where we lived and worked for a while... very characteristic of its development in the 60s, whereas now there are hundreds of new homes being built but they sprawl outwards rather than upwards!
The things they did to communities years ago...OK, many areas needed lots of improving but some places had the hearts ripped out of them. It's good that your aunt has been happy in her flat, though. Are they actually going to replace the block with one just like it? I thought the days of the high-rise were over. A million quid for a terraced house in the East End? We live in a mad world.
My Aunt is very pragmatic, refusing to bemoan the fact that she missed out on the chance to buy her own house. She well remembers the tough times in the East End and remains resolutely grateful for having had the chance to live in comfort all these years.
Her estate is crumbling though, while those terraces look like they'll last forever. I'm not sure what form the new development will take, but it's bound to be quite an upheaval when it comes.
Lovely Post TS...bought my first house in '79 for £25,000 sold it in 2003 for £240,000 and only made about £60,000 and still had debts of about £25,000. I am and still are usless with money....don't know where it all went! A friend of mine went abroad with me and saved quarter of a million I came back with £20,0000 in debt. Oh well!
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