How conversion of military camp to ‘garden city’ turned into a proper mess
Markeaton Park was used as an Army base during the Second World War and then homed hundreds to help meet a housing shortage. But, as NICOLA RIPPON explains, things didn’t blossom quite as expected
SAVE for a couple of large wartime huts, Markeaton Park bears little evidence of the military camp that once thrived there – or of the temporary housing estate that provided emergency accommodation for 200 Derby families at the end of the Second World War.
Although it had escaped the worst of Nazi Germany’s bombing raids, like many towns and cities across Britain by 1945 Derby had a significant housing shortage.
The damage and destruction of a number of properties had made worse a pre-existing shortage of affordable housing.
Recently demobbed ex-servicemen returned home to find their wives and children living in two rooms of a shared house.
One solution, which had been adopted in several towns, was the conversion of disused military camps to temporary residential use.
In Derby, the most obvious location for such a settlement was Markeaton Park, where a hutted camp had been established over more than half the parkland.
It was decided that ex-servicemen and their families would be given priority, and, once the Army moved out, and the conversion was sanctioned by the Ministry of Health, work began.
The Derby Telegraph called it “Derby’s new garden city settlement”, and it certainly boasted good facilities. There was a canteen and a concert hall, a dance hall, a gymnasium and two messes, indoor space for children to play in rainy weather, and ready-made allotments that had been established by the troops.
It was estimated that the former camp would be required for no more than two years, after which it could revert to being a public park.
While the camp had housed 1,200 troops, it was expected to cater for only 200 families.
According to the Derby Telegraph: “Some of the troops’ huts could be converted into two homes, and there are Nissen huts which would be suitable for one family.”
The borough council believed that residents, aware their stay was only temporary, would be prepared to share many amenities.
“The housewives will have to use tact and forebearance and, like their menfolk in the services, will have to learn to live together … in a spirit of understanding.
They may find that the time they spend there will be a very happy period of their lives,” noted Derby MP, Group Captain Clifford Wilcock.
To ensure that only those given priority used the huts, there was a caveat: anyone who decided to move in without permission, and effectively squat, would not be considered for the tenancy of any council house; their names would be struck off the waiting list.
The first “Markeaton Hut Homes” were ready for occupation in September 1946, and the first 50 families moved in during midOctober, with approximately ten more homes being occupied each week. Among the neat signposts was one bearing the name “Fifth Avenue” which the Derby Telegraph reminded envious readers was “a strictly ‘utility’ one compared with America’s most elegant residential thoroughfare”.
The new residents were told they could have the first week rent-free and those with children were promised that they would be provided with a permanent Corporation council house “within twelve months”.
The Derby Telegraph spoke to some of the delighted new residents. Among them was Mrs N Groves, wife of ex-Staff Sergeant Henry Groves, of the Royal Artillery and the REME, who never had her own home.
She said: “I think the Corporation has made a fine job of the conversion and I know we are going to be very happy here.”
However, by February 1947, the Derby Telegraph was reporting tenants’ dissatisfaction. Many of the residents were threatening to withhold their rent unless the Derby Corporation Housing Committee agreed to meet with them to discuss the many grievances they had.
Chief among their complaints was the belief that the Corporation had bypassed camp tenants in the first allocation of new council houses.
There were also concerns about
poor sanitation and inadequate street lighting, while during the worst winter in living memory, snow and ice had not been cleared from the main roads, deterring tradesmen and causing housewives to have to fetch barrows of coal from the entrance of the park.
There were also arguments about the enforced installation of electricity meters, and a complaint from one father that general dampness had caused mildew to form on his child’s pillow.
This type of complaint continued for another two years with one housewife claiming that condensation had caused mildew to form under the oilcloth in her bedroom and to warp the wood of her bedroom suite.
In September 1947, the Derby Telegraph reported on the “rust, decay and dilapidation that now meet the eye in the once spotless kitchens of Markeaton Camp”.
By December, Councillor Alec Ling had taken up the tenants’ cause. He told a meeting of the Town Council: “I have medical evidence that some [properties] are not in a state to house adult people, let alone children.”
It transpired that, by agreeing to sign a lease of 18 months minimum, each tenant might well have to wait longer for their permanent house.
Borough Housing Manager, Mr E H Gregory, noted that before signing, each tenant “is advised that if he is comparatively comfortable where he is – in rooms perhaps – it would be advisable to remain and get an earlier chance of a house”.
Did you grow up in the “garden city settlement of Markeaton Park?” Let us know. You can contact us at bygones@derbytelegraph.co.uk