Thirties class war reignited as ‘rich’ end of road is resurfaced
Work opens old wounds in neighbourhood where 9ft spiked walls once divided wealthy and poor
IT WAS nearly 60 years ago when the wall that separated the rich and poor residents of a suburban road in Oxford was torn down.
But now angry local residents have accused the council of reigniting “class war” after it only resurfaced the wealthier end of the road.
Oxford City Council paved only as far as the intersection where the more affluent Wentworth Road meets the less welloff Aldrich Road in Sunnymead, Cutteslowe – the area where the notorious Cutteslowe Walls used to stand.
The decision has exposed tensions between the communities, with residents on the poorer side claiming the council has given priority to their richer neighbours. One enraged vandal sprayed the words “class war” in bright blue paint on the fresh tarmac.
Naomi Langlais, who lives in the “working-class” part of the road, said: “It was around April or May time that they decided the ‘middle-class’ side deserved to be resurfaced.
“So we waited patiently for our end to be resurfaced too, and thought it was just taking time as they had run out of money or something.
“But we soon realised it was just the one end they were doing. Apparently we should put up with potholes and uneven surfacing.”
Miss Langlais said that the “class war” was a long-running joke among residents.
The Cutteslowe Walls, nine feet high and topped with spikes, were built by a private housing developer in 1934.
Clive Saxton, of the Urban Housing Company, wanted to separate his new development from a council estate. But his tactics proved hugely controversial and started a long feud between locals and the city council. There were several unsuccessful attempts to bring down the walls, including in March 1936, when campaigners armed themselves with pickaxes to try to knock them down.
The walls were eventually removed in the late Fifties, and a blue plaque now sits on a house which stood beside one of them. It reads: “Here stood one of the two Cutteslowe Walls, erected 1934 and finally demolished on March 9 1959.”
Decades on, however, anger remains among the residents of Aldrich Road. And for some, the council’s latest actions seem to have unpleasant echoes of another time.
Referring to the old and new road surfaces, Miss Langlais, a mother of four, said: “We have not moved on at all – now we have a visual divide.
“It is just so weird that it stops at the exact spot that used to occupy the wall, halfway down the road.
“The resurfacing is desperately needed on our end as well.
“It does make you feel second-class. And it is no longer a council estate – people have paid a lot of money for houses this end.”
Oxford City Council said that the only reason its services company had only resurfaced one side of the divide was that the two streets were still classed as separate roads.
A spokesman said: “Oxford Direct Services resurfaced Wentworth Road earlier this year. The decision to resurface this road was purely based on need.
“The structural condition was far worse in Wentworth Road and this led to the decision to resurface this road first. Wentworth and Aldrich are different roads and the need to resurface Wentworth was greater.”
The spokesman promised: “Oxford Direct Services will be inspecting Aldrich Road to assess the need for pothole repair.”