Pollution-hit terrace now demolished
BRITAIN'S most polluted street outside London has been demolished – because it was too dangerous to leave families living there.
The row of 23 terrace homes was ordered to be flattened due to choking fumes from queues of traffic going up the steep hill.
Woodside Terrace has vanished – and now all that remains of the oncebustling strip of family homes is an empty muddy bank next to a tree-filled mountainside.
The decision was made to knock down the terrace in Hafodyrynys, near Crumlin, after nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels consistently breached world health rules.
The levels were recorded as the highest in the UK outside central London – and were caused by passing lorries and cars climbing the hill.
Neighbours now say it is emotional to pass by the empty land and see no trace of the former homes.
One woman said: “It's sad driving past and seeing the houses gone.”
Another said: “I keep thinking of all the previous residents who had wonderful memories living there, I'm sure.”
Another said: “I understand it being the most polluted street, but it was still people's homes. Not just a house.”
Emotional families returned to the street to watch the work begin to tear down their homes in October last year.
Martin Brown, 74, lived in the row for 50 years with his beloved wife, Pat, before he was finally moved out.
He said: “I don't know how it has affected my health, but it's worrying.
“There are families who lived here, one in particular, a woman, told me her two children were having breathing problems. Is it linked? We don't know. I've got problems now with my eyes and I wonder if it is as a result of all of this.”
Bob Stebbings, 77, returned to the street to watch the work begin. He grew up there.
He said: “I lived here for 23 years and it was my childhood home where I had the best childhood you could imagine.
“I'm very sad, it feels upsetting and I will feel sad not to see the house there anymore. But I know it needs to happen. It always was a smoke trap, this place.
"When I lived here it was all coal fires and in the morning, when everyone lit their fires, you could see the air was blue. It held in here.”
Traffic surveys revealed that up to 21,000 vehicles used the road every day, while a canyon effect was created by polluted air trapped by the houses with nowhere to escape.
Those living in the street were paid to leave by the Welsh Government when their houses were bought above market prices in a £6m deal.