Rebuilding Britain

Janet and John Shepherd look back at the transformations of 1950s Britain.

DO you remember icicles inside bedroom windows, cold linoleum floors, no television and outside WCS – at home and at school? Or bomb-sites, children playing in traffic-free streets, trolley buses, horse-drawn milk floats and sweets coming off ration?

If you do, you are probably one of the 1950s generation – born or raised in homes after the war when Britain moved gradually from austerity to affluence.

The1950s brought key changes in housing. Millions of homes had been bombed during World War II.

Over 2.5 million people were rehoused in new council estates or new towns. Council housing accounted for about half of all homes built after the war. Single-storey prefabricated dwellings, known as “prefabs”, constructed in factories and assembled on site, appeared across the country. Prefabs provided a decent home – two bedrooms, living-room, fitted kitchen with a prized refrigerator, bathroom, toilet and hot and cold running water.

For many, this was their first experience of indoor sanitation.

In the popular TV series “Foyle’s War”, Sam and MP husband Andrew start married life in a prefab.

In 1953, millions of televisions, often nine-inch Bush sets, were bought or rented for people to watch the Queen’s Coronation at home for the first time.

Called “palaces for the people”, prefabs were intended to be temporary but were unexpectedly popular, lasting in some instances into the 21st century.

Tall blocks of council flats composed of concrete slabs rehoused thousands of families.

However, the isolating effects of high-rise living, especially for young children, went largely unrecognised until the 1960s.

Amenities on new council estates varied. Poplar’s “show-case” was the Lansbury Estate. Named after the popular local MP George Lansbury (grandfather of the world-renowned actress Angela Lansbury) and constructed for the 1951 Festival of Britain, it provided well-designed houses, flats, churches, old people’s homes and schools.

A few miles away in North London, Woodberry Down Estate, Stoke Newington, built between 1946 and 1962, was close to two large Victorian reservoirs and the New River.

The 2,500 families who first moved in were rehoused from neighbouring boroughs like Shoreditch, Hackney and Islington.

It boasted a parade of shops, a world-famous health centre and one of the first purpose-built comprehensive schools. Woodberry Down remains a council estate today, albeit with a recent mixture of private as well as public accommodation.

Some local authorities preferred to create new towns rather than rebuild inner cities.

Many were constructed between 1946 and 1955, with eight alone encircling London, including Harlow, Crawley and Stevenage.

Comprised of low- and highrise housing, new town planners were later criticised for overlooking people’s needs. Rehoused families appreciated the improved amenities, but missed the supportive community spirit of the closely packed inner cities.

Inside the home, simpler designs began to replace elaborate pre-war styles.

The traditional “front parlour” disappeared in favour of merged dining/living areas. Furniture became smaller and lighter, more suited to modern homes and lifestyles.

Households began to rely on electricity, rather than gas, to light and power their homes.

This, plus more available cash, led to an increasing demand for modern electrical appliances like refrigerators and washing machines, often bought on hire purchase (HP) – the “nevernever”.

A major improvement in amenities, indoor bathrooms and toilets revolutionised people’s lives.

Home ownership and private housing increased. Rows of neat, privately built bungalows, previously popular in the 1930s, mushroomed again.

These 1950s bungalows, “homes with no stairs”, retain their popularity among today’s pensioners.

The 1950s also brought a new phenomenon – “teenagers” rebelling against their parents and spending money on vinyl records, clothing and make-up.

Now in retirement, those first modern teenagers of the 1950s are known as today’s fortunate “Baby Boomers”. n

Sales of TVS and electric heaters soared in the 1950s. Gothic Street, Cambridge. Few cars and gardens meant children played in the street. This 1950s London prefab is still occupied today.

“The 1950s Home” by Dr Janet Shepherd and Professor John Shepherd is published by Amberley, (ISBN 978-14456-6568 9). Priced £8.99, it’s available online and to order from all good bookshops.