Heaton Park Prefabs

[aggiebagwash]

Hey!! Annie you've never said you were a prefabby like me. What a small world.

Margaret

[tony h]

Oh dear Ken's memories have opened up a whole new can of worm's St Margaret's and places where he grew up But not for tonite

Cheers everybody
Tony
 

[liverpool annie]

Hey!! Annie you've never said you were a prefabby like me. What a small world.

Margaret

They were my "wonder years" Margaret !! 

Lots of wonderful memories ..... I didn't realise till I started reading that Scouse site that we were the largest prefab estate in England !! 

You don't think of these things when you're growing up !!

My sister was the Rose Queen one year ..... and my Dad was in the Gardening Club !! ..... we always had dahlias and roses in our garden ..... and I used to love sitting on the back step when it was raining 'cos of the noise it made on the tin awning !! 

Playing rounders in the street ..... ticking off Mrs Reid .... 'cos the ball ALWAYS went in her garden !!  ......... walking for miles in the summer with a jam butty and an old milk bottle of water ..... ( with no top .... !! ) to last you all day .... we used to play games in seasons did you ? I don't know exactly WHO decided it was time for skipping or go carts or a book on a skate down the hill or two balls or " the big ship sails through the alley alley o " !!

Lovely days ..... everybody helped everybody else ..... people shared what they had .... without being in everybody's business !! All Catholics and Protestants together .... which was unusual in Liverpool then !! ....... Sunday school treats .... parades .... any excuse for a parade !!

I had a wonderful childhood ! ..... I'm so lucky .... we didn't have two pennies to rub together and not the easiest of lives but we had a lot of love in our house and we made it through !!

[Aulus]

Was also remembering this morning what we did at the 'experimental' school and a pattern emerged. We made hot air ballons out of coat hangers and tissue paper, and used cotton wool and meths burners to send them up.

Reminds me of a tale I was once told of the school chemistry lab and gas mask filters being used to remove the dye from red diesel during WW2. 

[Barbara.H]

Its a wonder you survived your school days Aulus & Tony - Annie's dahlias and roses sound a bit safer!     

I remember at my school, you were allowed a sparkler each around November 5th We all stood in a circle in the hall with them. One boy got bored with his sparkler and put it in the bin. Trouble was, it was a wicker bin ... No sparklers allowed and only metal bins in school after that

Doesn't the prefab photo look like a sort of holiday village though - makes you feel happy just to look at it    Its as if the planners had a moment of collective sanity. Then it left them and they went and built concrete blocks instead  . 

[Mr. MIGKY]

Margaret, i think you were right about the shape and design of them. My uncle and his wife lived in one around late1950's Early 60's. My mother lives across the road from where they were, that been from half way down Sheepfoot lane to the corner of Middleton road. There still is a sort of school in Heaton park  on Sheepfoot lane side again. I think they use it for a day nursery? I believe there were also some prefabs along Princess parkway around the same time frame and know we had a relation who lived in one, but i am not 100% where they were i just know they could have been around Mauldeth road?
Migky

Oh! forgot , there use to be a cycle speed way there too, but i am not to sure if it is used any more? In Heaton park that is

[Barbara.H]

The Princess Rd ones are pictured in the Manchester Image Collection, it does say they were by Mauldeth Rd. I don't know that area so well.  There's several photos of that estate and one in Moston too, but not the Heaton Park one!

It s clear from all these fantastic replies that my memory is up the swanee and my grandad did not live in a nissen hut   .  Sorry grandad. It must have been the round shaped coal sheds that Annie & Margaret mentioned that I was thinking of.  Daft thing is, I have a memory of looking out of his prefab toward the neighbouring one. I can see in my mind that hers was a rectangular shape, so why I thought grandads was different  must be going barmy

Thanks everyone, keep the memories coming!

  Barbara

[kooky]

Still in Heaton Park, could I ask if anyone knows about the tram museum?
Kooky

I won't go on about sailing round the lake on the Heaton Belle!

[uk2003]

Kooky

This site might help you

http://www.mtms.org.uk/

Another good read

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaton_Park

Ken