Who lived in a house like this? Explore some of the last 1940s prefab housing in the UK.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 มิ.ย. 2024
- Join me as we take a closer look at some of the last remaining 1940s prefab housing in the UK. These unique homes were built after World War II to address the housing shortage and provide quick and affordable accommodation to cover the shortage in housing caused by extensive bombing in the Cities and to also provide homes for returning soldiers and their families. From their innovative construction techniques to the community spirit they fostered, these prefabs hold a special place in British history .. a history that many people who lived in them are not ready to let go of.
Come along on this journey with me as we step back in time and ask the question, "Who lived in a house like this?" Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more places I find interesting and PLEASE feel free to share your memories if you lived in a prefab home, I absolutely love hearing from you. I enjoy making videos for real people! Like, share and subscribe for more and if you enjoyed this video check out my others. Thank you so much!
To visit the prefab at Avoncroft museum you can find out more information on their website : www.avoncroft.org.uk
The row of prefabs currently under renovation can be found on Wake Green Road on the Hall Green / Moseley border in Birmingham. Please note these are private homes and not available for visits. Occasionally the Birmingham Conservation Trust holds open days so keep a look out for them.
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“service comes before profit - prevent privatisation”. This BT poster made me very sad…and angry. We are all now paying SO much, too much, for our utilities because GREED has taken over service. It’’s sickening. 😡
A kindred spirit .. I was very much drawn to that poster ….
Yes, a very poignant and incredibly prophetic poster in hindsight.
I grew up in a house that bordered a small prefab community in Nottingham that was built around a cul de sac. Some of the people there had come from slum clearance programmes and almost every man who lived there had done something in the war, from serving in the RAF to landing on Arnhem.
Perhaps because of that, it felt like heaven and everyone was invested in the community. I had a million not-aunts and not-uncles there and it would have been possible to walk down the street and have a cuppa in pretty much every house you came to.
I have no idea what did for this way of life, but I think the injection of the 'I'm alright Jack' sensibility in the eighties and the idea that, unless something made someone, somewhere some money, it was bad seems to have been to blame. The prefabs were contrary to that - they were housing that was an instance of the state taking care of its people.
@@Hartley_Hare Absolutely. The 80s it went to hell, government mandated selfishness. Glad I got to experience a decade and a bit beforehand,
@@StratoszeroI only experienced a tiny bit of it, and there's much that was wrong, but also a fundamental decency and a belief in certain things that now seem enormously positive.
You can imagine how these would be luxurious after living in the homes pre-war, and they were a lifeline to those who had lost their homes during the war, bless them x
I was born in a prefab in 1954. My mum and dad thought they`d gone to heaven: moving from a tenemant block with a single toilet between two other families in a Bltzed East End to a detached "bungalow" with its own garden with nearby open fields for their children to play in.
There everywhere they not even close to the last remaining Leicester is full of 3 bed tin houses and every one is private ex right to buy they go for 290 k
Absolutely. People were happier too because of the community spirit which prevailed.
Me and my Mum squatted in a prefab in Battersea South London in the early 70's when I was a kid, diving into the built in or hiding behind the sofa when we heard someone coming up the path. Now I'm lucky enough to live in a Grade 2 listed Tudor house in a lovely little village which is a world away from my younger years in rough old South London, so this video has been a bit emotional for me remembering back to those uncertain bygone years, thoroughly enjoyed it though, thanks ever so much.
I love stories like this, our childhoods can make us resilient and strong even though troubled times. Your current home sounds AMAZING! 😍
My husbands aunt and uncle also lived in one in Rotherhithe South London until they were pulled down and were rehoused in a block of flats and stayed till they both passed away. Me and my family lived in the tenement buildings S tanhope Buildings, Redcross Way in the Borough, South London from 1956 to 1966. The buildings were Victorian. In 1966 we were moved up the road to a flat where my mum still lives. Lots of families still have friendships from all that time ago as the families were all moved with the Borough and still talk about the good times. The buildings were pulled down in the 70s/80s and a school was built.
I was watching a documentary on here last night about them demolishing estates in Southwark, it made me cry! People really didn’t want to leave because of the community. I understood.
@throughlucyslens yes it's people we miss when things happen like this. My parents are irish and there was a big irish community there. So many different nationality lived in our buildings all different colours and everyone got along all in the same boat. Happy days even though they were tough.
Yes and the guy coming to collect the money for the tick stuff ,my mum would buy stuff on credit from a company who loaned people Monday to spend on clothes in certain local shops and you'd. Pay back an agreed amount each week only we had to skip some payments because we didn't have the cashanyone else remember the provident man ? And those provident cheques? That you would never admit you used
Prefab housing would be a good solution for today's housing shortage. My family lived in a prefab house in the 50s. They had many facilities that many people didn't have in those days such as a bathroom and inside toilet. The kitchens were modern with smart built-in units and a fridge, which many people didn't have in those days. A large garden where my father grew a lot of the veg for the house. I would be happy to live in a pre-fabricated house now. We later got a council house which was very basic compared to the prefab.
I agree, I would live in one too, there are some great ones being put up in Scandinavia on a flat pack basis. I love them.
The big problem with housing in the UK is the land cost, not the build cost.
@@dewexdewex Yes, Greed and shortage of land plus the migrant factor have made prices soar.
We don't _have_ a housing shortage. We have a housing _affordability_ problem because of Right to Buy and state encouragement of private landlords and private ownership through debt.
@@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx I am sorry to say, we do have a housing shortage. I live in the North East of England, I am disabled and I have been trying to get a rental property for 12 years. Councils here would rather give vacant property to migrants and asylum seekers, they are even paying private landlords a year's rent in advance if they will house the migrants. Yes, they are building a lot of new private houses, if you can afford the exorbitant prices, which I can't.
Said to be damp originally. Within 6 months, all issues had been resolved and proved to be a great alternative to concrete tower blocks.
Proper ventilation and heating deals with that. As long as as the structure is weatherproof.
It looks way more of a home compared to the concrete high rises ❤
Those prefabs were way better than the slums of the 1950s to the 1970s they even had gardens.
Amazing how one stamp of a form by a stranger in an office can change the course of someone's life, hell in the slums or minimal country living. Luck of the draw. Not that the prefabs were luxury of course. Many would have been absolutely Baltic in the winter. Damp and constant upkeep. Not an easy life either. But less brutal on ones soul.
I was born in the kitchen of a prefab house in Stafford, 1962.
My parents moved us to another house soon afterwards, but my Mum always said how much she`d loved her litttle home in Exeter Street.
The prefabs are still there, but sadly my parents are gone now.
Thanks for sharing this lovely video. It bought so many lovely memories of my Parents and Grandparents.
You are so welcome and thank you for sharing your lovely memories ❤️
I was born in a prefab in Birmingham !
That 'carpet' is a handmade rag rug. People often made them to be hearthrugs, partly to protect the carpet or floor from damage from hot coals falling out from the fireplace.
This reminds me so much of the Lustron homes in the USA! Ironically they are probably better made than current new houses which are utterly crap! In a town called Ellesmere Port near me there are some prefabs from war time that are still in use today! Superb video and love these alternative homes - thoroughly enjoyed the back to back homes too! And it’s so true about the strong emotions brought up with homes and how they remind us of grandparents and where we visited when we grew up! That phone ring was a proper sound from my childhood!
I will check them out. I just can't get enough of them! Thanks for your lovely comment, I want to go up to Port Sunlight so a little detour to see those is possible.
I was born in a prefab in Bristol in 1948. It’s not there anymore but my cousin still lives in one. They were wonderful. My mum was heartbroken when she had to move….they had washing machine etc. I lived in there til I was 7….. fond memories.
So sad they couldn’t save them. I bet the houses they have built on top wouldn’t have lasted as long!
There are lots in Chelmsford. All lived in
I remember as a child visiting relatives living in a prefab it was a lovely little house all on one level housing like this would be welcomed by our older residents no stairs private dwellings as opposed to dingy restrictive flats that shuts them away either with noisy neighbours who have no thoughts for others or it’s full of dangerous stairs not suitable for older people. Seeing this prefab being refurbished is a joy.
Thank you. And I totally agree ❤️
Such a lovely tribute to the family that lived. Thank you, Lucy for honoring all the people who lived in working class housing.
I love it Mary, it's so important to me xx
The prefab I was brought up in was different from any of the ones in your video. Ours was constructed in aluminium, with built in aluminium cupboards in the dining kitchen, bathroom and living room. We had a coal fire, which was the only heating in the house, so it was difficult to keep warm beyond the living room. Overall, it was very well designed and our bathroom was very spacious with an airing cupboard and various other cupboards and shelves. The bedrooms had spacious wardrobes. There was a large window between the kitchen and living room, which enabled Mum or Dad to keep an eye on the rest of the family when preparing meals. Outside, there was a double aluminium 20:44 shed; one for the coal and a larger one for whatever else was needed for our huge garden. My parents were told that our prefab was a permanent home and not one of the ten-year ones. It lasted for over 30 years and I was so sad 😞 when the council decided to demolish the prefabs in our area.
Thank you so much for sharing this, I would have loved to have seen it - I bet it was very chilly in the winter with all that metal and just the one fire. I feel very sad for the people that lost their treasured homes - and of course communities.
@@throughlucyslens It certainly was very chilly 🥶 in our Scottish winters! I remember the lovely patterns in the thick ice inside of our windows! The front door would often be frozen, leaving it unable to open for days at a time! 😯 At one time, Dad would light the ‘Tilly lamp’, run on paraffin, which gave us a little more warmth, but the fumes from it were not good. Then we had a variety of small electric bar heaters. Eventually the council installed a gas fire which was a bit warmer for us, but still didn’t really have much affect in the bedrooms. Cold as it was, I still feel a considerable amount of nostalgia for it and I would love to have a more modern, maybe warmer, version of it now, just to be able to reminisce. 🥹
@@dollybearzz8401 I used to draw on the frosted windows inside my childhood home- then Mom would tell me off as she had to clean all my greasy little fingers off the windows. We had just the one gas fire too and I remember us all cramming around it - but not so close as the story about the little girl whos nighty caught fire was told again! It's weird I don't remember cold, just love - we are the lucky ones, this was in the 1980s.
@@throughlucyslens 😅 I also drew on the frosted glass, hoping it would help with thawing it so that I could see what was happening outside. 🥶 Wishfully thinking of the chance to make ☃️⛄️❄️ 😁
Brilliant video Lucy - my Grandparents started their married life in a prefab and were so happy - for all the reasons you pointed out - the thought and design behind them. That looks a great museum, I will certainly try to visit if I'm ever up that way!
Please do visit if you can, it's a lovely, relaxed place, you will enjoy it ❤️
I wish I was living in a prefab house , but Greenwich council chosen to BURN them out and gut them out witch upset me and my grandmother that really upset us , thank you for the memories.❤❤❤
You are so welcome: it makes me cross that "progress" is often destroying things that were more than fit for purpose and making people happy, thanks for sharing x
My aunt lived in one and it was like a little cottage. I was jealous. Those who lived in them loved them and many were really unhappy to give them up. It’s nice to see those being restored. Thanks for sharing. I love social history. I’d not heard of Avoncroft so looking around the prefab was very enjoyable. Brought back some memories.
Thanks for your lovely comment. Avoncroft is lovely, worth a visit if ever you are in the area, I believe a small charity so not very well known.
Lucy, i’ve just found your channel, completely by accident. Your videos are superb. You have a lovely way about you and describe things so well! I used to live in Coseley in Wolverhampton, so lovely to hear your accent as well. Very best wishes. Neil in Southport.
Thank you! That’s made my day, I just genuinely enjoy making them and it’s great to find a group of people interested in similar things even if it’s through a screen, means a lot x
@@throughlucyslens Bless you, and long may your channel continue. Its superb x
I grew up in a prefab in the NorthWest...whilst it was home it was absolutely freezing in winter. When I was going to school and college I used to get dressed in my clothes and go to bed in them so I didn't have to get dressed in the morning as it was so cold. Even electric blankets couldn't really help, the walls were so thin... I used to wake up to ice on the inside of my window. The council installed central heating at some point but it never worked properly, the radiators never got warm. It used some kind of back boiler from the fire but the fire never drew properly...someone else commented that all the heat went up the chimney.. very true. We had to use fan heaters, electric fires and a calor gas heater. I was so jealous of school friends who had normal brick houses that were nice and warm. Maybe some models were warmer than others but all I remember is the cold 🥶
I can understand how they were probably freezing! I remember the ice inside the windows in my first home as a kid - Mom would tell me off for drawing in it with my greasy little fingers so she had to clean the windows again!
I was brought up in an Edwardian house [North West], we had ice on the inside of the bedroom windows in the winter, majority of houses did.
we also had a back boiler for hot water in the kitchen fire, the living room fire was lit late afternoon and the front room was used at Christmas, my mum put a paraffin heater in the hall to help keep the house warm..
We had an estate of prefabs not far from us and I had a friend who live din one, they were knocked down in the late 1960s, they were the ones made from concrete slabs
I too lived in a brick council house but it was just as cold in winter. Scraping ice off the inside of windows was the norm! At the age of 11 I visited Germany for the first time and couldn’t comprehend how their homes were so warm and well heated. I wondered at that time how they lived so well, just after WW2, but as I matured, understood that it was down to better building and heating standards laid down there from long before either of the world wars.
@@missmerrily4830 Single-glazed windows freeze over quite easily and lack of central heating doesn't exactly help keep houses warm. The Germans had plenty of single-glazed windows until modern double glazing appeared after the first oil crisis in the 70s but they did adopt central heating quite early, much earlier than neighbouring Austria, where coal, wood or gas stoves remained the norm even in new builds well into the 1960s. Every historic account I've read mentions bedrooms being freezing cold even if they could in theory have been heated because that was considered wasteful.
New viewer here and loved it! Emotional for me too at the age of 75. My family lived in a council house but many of my friends lived in prefabs and I was a frequent visitor. They were really spacious and new too! I was envious! But the tears fell when I unexpectedly heard the speaking clock! Thank you, this was lovely and I’m now duly subscribed.
Thank you so much, that's really touched me this morning, there is something about the speaking clock that really touches me too, sounds of a bygone time brings you back to an exact moment x
I remember seeing these houses about 45 years ago (we had been to Edgbaston, Cannon Hill Park back to Solihull) and my Father saying they were prefabs. Surprised they are still there.
It’s odd how you never forget them - they are so out of place inbetween all those big detached houses.
There's a whole street of these still lived in and very well kept, in my old hometown of Crumlin, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. They're affectionately known as Tin Town. Ill tag you in a community tab post and put some pics for you to see ❤
Amazing. Thank you! Appreciate that a lot .. and love the name!
I have.lived in one of these prefabs for over 20 years now. Its amazing to see the original fit out. I'm in Derry, Northern Ireland.
Our wee estate was built to house USA servicemen in the war. All are semidetached, 3 bedroom bungalows built on concrete pads. The outside walls are the same as the first houses you showed. Originally the roofs were the same aluminium panels. The last original roof here was replaced only a couple of years ago. Brown metal tiles to match all the rest. Most were replaced in the 80s when we had our last major fit out. Insulation in the walls, double glazing, kitchen cabinets, rewiring and the single open fire fitted with a coal fed stove to supply the new central heating.
Big rooms except the bathroom which is about the same size.as the Yardley house and also contains the toilet. I've seen bigger ensuites in modern houses, but as you said, indoor toilets and/or bathrooms were a luxury 80 years ago.
The layout is similar to the Yardley house, big central hallway with 2 large bedrooms to the party wall side with built in corner storage, not the original wardrobes you showed. Bathroom at the back around the electric/storage cupboard. Small bedroom on the other side behind the living room. The living room is the 6th door at the front of the house. Takes up almost half the length of the house and half its depth. The door to the kitchen is at the far end of the living room, as in the Yardley house. Back door is actually in the side end with an orginal, unlined porch that I'll lose soon. Very useful for keeping messy stuff out of the house but at hand.
The original inner walls have been replaced with timber frames and plasterboard. I'm sure that cut down on a lot of the noise. The metal sheath and the meccano type framing still in the roof expands and contracts with ourside temperatures, particularly in spring and autumn. In the wee small hours you'd swear someone was breaking in as the house cooled. Took me a couple of years to never get up to be certain. Lol.
Over a decade ago those noises stopped as we had the fire taken out and a new gas system installed. The roof insulation was also greatly improved to the point that I could no longer store anything in the attic.
Good to large gardens to 3 sides that are better than many standard modern houses.
We're all waiting for the contractors to finally start another refurbishment. The metal sheath is being removed, along with the existing insulation. Better insulation and a new sheath finished with render will go on so the fond tin shack label will no longer apply. New kitchen cabinets, bathroom fittings, total rewire, new windows and external doors too. Keep the house warmer than ever and no longer liable to sway in gales. That last is an odd one. Sofa against an outside wall and you can feel the force of rare wind gusts on your back.
The houses are now almost 50:50 mix of social and privately owned. Once the refurbishing scheme is done they'll be good for another 30 years. Not bad for the USA military expectation of 12 years maximum. I consider myself fortunate to live in one, even though I have lived in allegedly better.
Very long post. I'm caught up by your enthusiasm. USA left the housing as was due to the pist war housing crisis. Also, as you came out of the Yardley house I noticed the Anderson shelter that you didn't mention. My mother got an English brick built council house 50 years ago. It still had its Anderson shelter used as a garden shed. Sadly, my mother knocked it down as she hated the memories it brought up.
Hey! Thanks for your lovely comment: not only me but others will enjoy reading this too. It's so frustrating about the Anderson shelter - my camera did a weird thing and the footage was gone. We had one in our garden as a kid and it was sunken and full of boggy water .. and frogs! We were fascinated by it. Genuinely loved reading this and so appreciative. ❤️
Hey who wouldn't get excited opening the dish pantry (or China closet as my Grandmother called it - yet she never owned any 'fine china' LOL) to find it full of beautiful fine/fancy antique dish & serving ware. I would've opened the wardrobes to see if there were clothes & how it was arranged on the inside (only if allowed that is!). I really want to be able to imagine what it would be like day to day when I'm at a historical place. But the amount of day to day items they had on display here, & how it was displayed already gave an excellent impression of what life would be like & how they used that space. So good, & good to know & remember. Thank you again!
I love museums that let you explore. Like obviously you wouldn't be able to rifle through wardrobes in a big country house - and I think that's why I love the history of normal people so much!
I grew up in a prefab late 50's early 60's. My mum loved it. Happy memories of great parents & a happy childhood.
I love this! Thank you so much for sharing x
Brilliant channel. I love seeing how the ordinary people lived . You' re doing a great job. So interesting.
Thank you very much! I love ordinary people too. - they are usually very extraordinary! X
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I’ve spent a few nights at my friends prefab in the 60s. I was amazed how big it was inside.
And I remember these telephones. My dad was a policeman in the day of the blue police box. I actually went in one with him. A brilliant post bringing back lots of memories. TFS❤
Very welcome
Hi Lucy, I love Avoncroft museum. It's not far from me, I live in Worcester. My late father along with my two sons and myself used to visit there together. We went when they had a second world war weekend and their was a staged war wedding and even a wedding buffet with recipes from the times. You could even try the food and I was given recipes to try. I love the prefab and I've often said its about time they were used again in modern times to help with the housing shortage. I love all the old lace cloths and the kitchen enamel ware. I have the green beryl woods ware dinner set and I use it. On the weekend we went they had Jones's butchers van from dads army and I have precious photos of my darling dad stood with my boys by it. Have a look out for the war time weekends and have another visit then, you will love it. I really do love social history. I must make another visit with my grown up sons very soon. Thanks for sharing and bringing back very special memories. Kind regards Angeline ❤️ xx
Thank you so much Angeline! I absolutely LOVE Beryl ware. It's just got such lovely connotations and feels comforting. I will look out for the war weekends and pop along, like you it isn't far from me :)
Preston Lancashire 🌹still has the two story semi detached prefabs, which were built in the 1948 era. Two of the three bedrooms were heated from a wood burning stove in the dining room. They have full bathrooms and an outside porch with a second toilet. They also have an integral shed including a coal shute, accessed from the porch, so all undercover. Most have good sized front and back gardens and are now mainly privately owned. Lots of happy memories of the community spirit where lifelong friendships were formed.🍀
l am thoroughly enjoying this series so thank you.💐
These sound incredible, thank you for sharing - and such amazing facilities in them too!
Wow this is the second video of yours and I loved it. Pity the government doesn’t build these prefabs today, people were so proud of them and it would help the housing crisis. A big thank you. 😊
I totally agree! Check out the modern prefabs they build in Sweden and Denmark - they are absolutely stunning! Low cost and totally eco friendly too. I’d love one.
@@throughlucyslens
Ooo thank you I will look it up 👍
No profit for MP's if they actually built social housing !
I’m 42 and would absolutely adore living in a little place like this I bet they will be so comfortable and cosy I hope the tenants will all be very happy ❤
My mum was brought up in a prefab. They loved it.
People do seem to say they were a lovely place to live, it was certainly cosy and I even thought myself I would be happy living here! :)
Half my estate new parks Leicester is pre fab there not even close to the
Last remaining not one has been knocked down in Leicester all are ex council right to buy and they sell for 290k
I remember here in ottawa, they built temporary buildings during the war for offices and still in the 80s, my mum worked in 1 that was part of the federal court. They still used the same desks, chairs, filing cabinets etc, and even as a kid and teenager i found it so cool. The buildings are gone now 😢 😻😘😘💖💖💖💖💖
Such a shame isn't it. They are knocking down a lot of brutalist buildings here in Birmingham and although they aren't everyone's "cup of tea" how are we going to talk about them in future with a few sketches? Makes me sad!
I absolutely love your videos. You don't rush through and it makes me feel like I am there with you. Thank you 🥰
Thank you, that’s really what I hope to achieve! I really appreciate that x
These videos and your commentary make me so happy. I am in Australia and the older houses here are nothing like what England can show us - like you I love wandering around exploring things from the past, and it would be amazing to be able to see all the places you go! Watching your videos feels almost like being there myself...and for the ones with terrifyingly steep stairs, even better as I'm disabled and couldn't get to the second floors. Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with me!
You are so welcome, I love having you travelling with me. Thanks for your lovely comment and I'll keep searching for places to show you xx
Thank you for this lovely video. I lived in a prefab in Watford, Hertfordshire. It was on a small estate and the community was lovely. I still have some photos of the outside garden, coal shed, and myself with a collection of toys 😊. The prefab was tiny by today’s standards but it was well designed. My happiest days. I used to come home from school, make up the coal fire, put a half crown in the electric meter, before mum came home from work. It was pretty cold and frosty in the winters. There is a prefab at the Chiltern Open Air Museum which makes me so emotional to see. You have brought back happy memories.
Thank you so much for sharing them, absolutely lovely - really made me smile with my bleary eyed cuppa at breakfast x
I spent the first almost thirteen years of my life in a timber framed/asbestos sheeted prefab near to Send and Ripley in Surrey. One which had been built towards the end of the second world war, in part by my Grandad and great Grandad. My mum spent an early part of her childhood there after the family being bombed out of Croydon. For the first few years of mine and my brother's childhood my parents rented the rear part of the bungalow from my Grandad's sister. When I was around eighteen months to two years they bought it outright from her. It was in a small lane in the countryside, along with around a dozen or so other similar prefab bungalows, some of the which (including ours) had very big gardens running down to a pretty canal. The prefabs frames were painted black and the exterior walls white. They're all gone now. I have lovely memories of them. I've never been able to identify which model they were. As far as I know they didn't come with built in cupboards, bathrooms or kitchens.
Thanks for sharing your lovely memories, it sounds absolutely gorgeous! I will have a look at the models for you and see if I can find something out for you :)
My word what a trip back in time that second prefab is. My grandparents lived in the exact same model, it was demolished at the end of the 1960's and there's no trace of any prefabs having been on the site nowadays.
One thing that has always remained in my memory and I wasn't sure whether it was some kind of half imagined recollection of a time long gone is that all the fittings were green. The view of the kitchen with the gingham curtains and tablecloth plus the cupboard full green crockery brought their prefab and them back to life for a fleeting moment.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this video it means more than you can ever know.
Thank YOU for watching and it means the world to me it's sparked something for you. It did for me too, for a moment I was back in my grandads house, where everything seemed safe & warm. Lots of love x
I used to visit my Nan when i was a small child with my mother, she lived in a prefab in Orpington Kent i can remember it being warm snug and cosy this would have been in the middle to late 1960s
Id live in one given the chance , should build more of them now as affordable housing
Ahhh Great Britain as it was back then 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
I think they are a brilliant solution, there are some incredible prefabs coming out of Scandinavia, warm, sustainable with amazing solutions to heating and keeping bills down - i'd really love one!
Just had to put another comment up…when we got to the telephone museum…the old PBX…takes me back to working at the GPO. you had to know someone in the GPO to get an interview for a job there. I did. Wonderful place, so strict. But great training, loved working on 999 - the best. Thank you for this, you’ve made my day! And I’m going to subscribe…I love history.
Thanks for sharing that memory, I think it was the 90s there was a soap opera called “The hello girls” about women that worked in the exchange and since that day I’ve really wondered what it was like to work there and you just answered that :)
what a charming tour. i find ordinary stuff like these homes very touching, more important than government grand or mansions. this is the stuff that i've lived with .
Exactly, me too ❤️
I lived in a prefab from the age of 5 to 15yrs. All the internal walls/cupboards were metal, absolutely freezing in winter. Window frames metal too. So cold one winter the S-bend of the toilet froze and cracked open & my brother and I got wacked for peeing on the toilet floor until the problem was found. The living room fire sent the heat straight up the chimney not into the room. BUT it was home, I was sad to leave it. Hainault Essex.
Thanks so much for sharing - and making me chuckle about your brother!
We lived in a new one in London for 14 years all mod cons even a refrigerator that nobody had, coal-fired hot water but single-glazed with ice inside windows, happy days N19 Foxham road ❤️
Lovely memories, thanks for sharing ❤️
Oh my. My grandmother lived in a two story prefab house in Harrogate for many years. As a child, I remember being so impressed that she had a dining room as well as a sitting room. There were also radiators, although she never used them. Water was heated in a back boiler behind the coal living room fire. The windows had metal frames, and she hated them because they kept sticking. That said, they were huge, compared to other houses of the time.
My Nan never put the radiators on either! I was terrible as a kid leaning up radiators to warm my bum and I used to get a shock at Nans - ICE! Thanks so much for sharing your memories x
My dear old nan lived in a prefab and loved it. The council flattened them all then built an estate of slums called Nashville - everyone was on National Assistance.
Such a shame, and such an upheaval for the elderly who lived in them. I read that some died of a broken heart, it's not on is it?
Thank you, loved it!
My uncle and his family lived in a prefab at Ham in Surrey. We were really jealous, it had a hot water system, bathroom and indoor toilet. Our house didn't have any of those facilities.
Sounds silly but we’ve had no hot water upstairs for several months, I’ve had to beg & borrow showers from friends and family and boiling kettles - a very small taste of that and makes me feel very blessed it will soon be fixed again and shouldn’t really complain!
I can remember prefabs being near where I live.They were demolished in the 70s and bungalows built in their place.The museum was fascinating.The prefabs looked so big.xx
They are so lovely and spacious. I loved the big windows. All that lovely light! Thanks for your comment :)
This was such fun. I would totally go if I lived there. I love the volunteers looking for people to come. They want to share their love of a place too.
Absolutely: passionate people make interesting places. I'm glad you enjoyed the video x
Visited friends back in the 70s at a prefab estate in Catford, Shame they took them down, the houses were light & airy, sat in a large plot of land for garden. Any where in the country I always stop & look at the prefab estates and think about the family`s back in the 1940s..
They are so evocative aren't they. i just think they are lovely - all that land to grow your own food if you wanted and like you I love the light and airy interiors.
I was born in a prefab in Shady Lane (262) I think. It was really lovely inside, painted cream and a real dream after the back to backs downtown Brum. The place was warm and I can recall flashes. I was only 2-3yrs old at that time. Great to see them again.
Thank you for sharing that lovely memory and I'm so glad you were happy there. ❤️
I lived in one when I was a kid in the 60’s , it was in Mile End , Stepney , apparently they remained for many years after we moved out in the late 60’s 👍
It brought back so many good memories of my Nan and granddad's prefab in Tile Cross, Birmingham in the 1960s.l stayed there many times and was so happy there. I went to Central Grammar School For Boys back then. The prefab even had a gas powered fridge, l know ,it sounds impossible but true. I often wish l could go back in time and live those days again.
Wow! That’s amazing, my mom always said she never had a fridge until she married in 1978 - goes to show how “modern” they really were!
My nan used to live in one of those in Hurstwood Rd, Birmingham B23 and at the end of her garden was what we called the brook and it came from Finchley park and went all the way to Witton Lakes.
Thank you for sharing ❤️
Newfoundlander here that lived in Brum for 10 years. One of my loveliest friends grew up in one and loved it.
Aww that's smashing! Thanks for sharing! How did you find it here? Newfoundland being so beautiful full!
Only found your wonderful channel this morning. I love houses and buildings full stop. Thank you for taking your time showing me around the prefabs😃👍. When I was young we had six in our village which stood until someone bought the land and put up hideous houses we nick named Noddy Land. I think that was in the early 80's. Thanks again😃👍
Thank you Lucy, this is an excellent video.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for being lovely x
I love your videos. They’re exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
You are so welcome Anne, thank you ❤️
Another really interesting video Lucy, Thank you so much for sharing with us.. x
You are so welcome! Thank you for your support x
Fantastic of you to show this, so interesting, I want to come for a visit.
Avoncroft really is lovely. You would have a fab day out x
I've just found your videos and I love them. Prefabs were the first houses built in my town in the 1940s. I love your enthusiasm for all the little details and thinking about what people's lives were like.
Glad you like them! I love people! So much.
Fascinating, thank you Lucy.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very enjoyable video to watch. Really enjoyed it. Interesting. Thanks Lucy for sharing it.
My pleasure 😊 thanks for your support x
Great video, absolutely fascinating. Thank you x
Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you x
Hi Lucy.
In the Arcon mk5, When you went into the bedrooms, had you looked above the bedroom doors, you would have seen a metal grille. Also the ceiling in the hall way outside the bedrooms is lower than the rest of the house. This is because there is a metal duct which allows heat from the airing cupboard to pass into the bedrooms. I never felt any heat but they had heat marks above so something came out! Also in the bathroom above the bath is a chrome plated pipe used as a towel rail, This actually heated when the coal fire was alight, this was connected to the hot water system.
We lived in Coventry and were one of the last people to leave our prefab, the floor in the kitchen had sunk in one corner, if you washed the floor it drained straight out through the gap under the skirting board. When my mother made a jelly for Sunday tea, it set in the bowl at an angle because the fridge sloped with the floor!
We loved it despite it's problems.
If they had the political will today, they could build the same again and have a massive impact on our current housing crisis.
Thank you for making and sharing this video, you brought back a lot of memories,🙃
Thank YOU for sharing. The jelly really made me chuckle. My mom had a brown Tupperware rabbit jelly mould that she insisted persevering with and it was always missing a limb when it came out .. sometimes head .. that was also because the rack in our fridge was wonky - happy days :) ❤️
i enjoyed the video 😀 and the one i watched last week of the back to back houses 😀 love history 😃thanks lucy 😃
You are so welcome! Thank you!
Loved this. We're now planning a visit!!
Aww brilliant! Have the best time x
So strange this has just popped up as my mum has got dementia and now can’t stop reminiscing about the prefab she grew up in in east London 🥹.I’m going to show her this next time I see her and whether she can recognise similarities with her childhood home.Great video ❤️
I hope she enjoys it and it sparks some memories for her. Send my love x
@@throughlucyslens Thank you ❤️
Born in the 60s, grew up in the 70s, first freezer i ever encountered, in my nan's prefab, in newport, S Wales, as usual good communities destroyed for profit. huge gardens, self sufficient, who would hate that i wonder, think about it !
I agree with you entirely! Kid of the 80s here and we didn’t have a freezer until I was about 12.. I used to dream of having a choc ice in the house 😅
I was born in a prefab in Erdington and lived there until the early 1960s. It was only demolished in the mid 1980s when it was still a good building that would maybe last many more years. But the council decided that the land could be used for new biulding, but the prefabs were built on the land belonging to Pype Hayes park, and the terms of the lease to build the prefabs meant that the land had to go back to Pype Hayes park.
It's such a shame so many went, I think they make fabulous homes and so many would be thrilled to live in one today I'm sure.
Hi Lucy, I’ve just found your channel (subscribed immediately) loved the back to backs and the prefab ones…now I’m going to watch the lock up one! Looking forward to joining you on many more adventures ❤
Thanks for subbing! It really means a lot, I’ve got a whole folder of ideas so hopefully I can continue to find interesting things for us all to enjoy together ❤️
Loved hearing your niece chatting on the phone ❤ too cute! Great video
I can see how sentimental visiting the houses was, it reminded me of my grandparents home as well. ❤
Yes it was! .. and my goodness did she love those phones? Wow! It was like a revelation to her.
Proper wild that that prefab has been sat in that museum park longer than it was sat in its original location. Mental. Love your videos. Reminds me of home.
Isn't it! Thank you so much, really appreciate that.
Thank you Lucy, an amazing explore. Loved the prefab, they knew how to build back in the day. And seeing how big it was inside, bigger than most places I have seen. Loved the old phone boxes, took me back to when I was young. The showmans caravan was spectacular, and the prison cell block, they are always spooky. Thank you again for a wonderful video, a trip down memory lane. ❤
You’re so welcome Cate, thank you so much for your support - and yes, certainly built to last x
Your videoa are so interesting. Your enthusiam is contagious. i love that you provide the overall history and the intimate touches.
Thank you, I really appreciate that. I am a people person, I always think "things can be replaced but people can't" it's the stories that take place that inspire me the most. x
Amazing video, Lucy. Thank you. Sending you best wishes from Buenos Aires
Thank you! You too! always lovely to hear from you Maria x
Thanks for showing us around. It was really interesting. and yes, quite emotional. How lovely of the couple to donate their old home to the museum.
Wonderful isn’t it. A proud legacy indeed.
Priceless - the perfect word!
Loved this, thank you
You are so welcome & appreciated ❤️
So so interesting, enjoyed your back to back vlog🐞
Thank you Carole, means a lot x
Thank you Lucy ! Really FAB ! Shared
Thanks for sharing Jane. So appreciated x
Beautifully presented Lucy. Just found your channel, so interesting! Love all the research you've taken time to do. Look forward to more of your explores. Regards from Perth Western Australia
Thank you Kathy,
Love back at you over to Oz x
I just found your channel. Wow, such a lovely trip down memory lane. As a child of the 60s, a lot of the things were the same for my childhood. There are a lot of updated prefabs where I live. My grandma had a prefab house and my sin lives in an updated council one now, so they still live on. ❤
Im loving hearing about all the prefabs that remain. I think they are great homes. I’d happily live in one!
Wow, my Nan had one of these, I’ve still got a photo of me outside it sat on the step. Some good memories unlocked thank you 🥰
Glad you enjoyed it and you are so welcome!
I love seeing your videos! The historical views and information are wonderful! Thank you!
Glad you like them, it really is my pleasure to make them and to have you travel with me.
@@throughlucyslens I rarely even get out of my house anymore, your efforts are really appreciated! Maybe in retirement in a few years, but it won't be that far probably; and my wheelchair will keep me out of many places. Makes what you do even more wonderful!
I lived in one in 1950s. Cold drafts in winter, hot in summer. One thing I remember is that it came with a refrigerator, a great luxury in those days.
Yes to the fridge! Thanks so much for sharing ❤️
As a younger adult, I have had older people talk about prefabs because they are shocked at the housing situation in the uk right now
So much of that furniture looks like the furniture in my nan's old home 🥲
I am SO asking my young people if they want to go here and my boss if i can take them
It’s lovely isn’t it. Same 🥹, my sister and I had to have a moment in that living room.
So cool! There's a row of about 5 of these just down the road from me that people still live in, I've always wanted to see inside! Great video 💜
Can’t believe I got to go inside the ones being refurbished! Right place right time 😅
Really like the social history aspect and the focus on affordable historic homes! Just started binge watching all your other ones, too.
I appreciate it so much, thank you
Fantastic! Subscribed and forwarded!
Thank you so much!
Just found your channel, very interesting! We still have quite a few prefabs in the South Ham area of Basingstoke. Still much loved and cared for with their neat little front gardens :)
Aww thank you, these used to have the cutest gardens when I was a kid with loads of sparkly sun catches,’you can really feel the pride of the people that live there can’t you?
I love your Who Lived in a House Like This? series, and I'll be keeping an eye out for more. In the meantime, have my sub! Thanks for the fascinating history.
Thank you so much! I'm loving doing them too! I have a couple more in the pipeline and I hope you enjoy them, thanks for being kind x
Aw Lucy this was great. Prefabs have always fascinated me too. Your film just popped up on my feed, glad it did. I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation you are so good at this..I have very fond memories of the prefab in Avoncroft.
Thanks Mike, I’ve just always been one of those people that has seen unusual homes and wondered what they are like - prefabs are some of my faves. I’d love to live in one!
Many of these type of properties in and around Wolverhampton have been so popular over the years especially with older folk that the council has refurbished the majority with new tiled roofs and a course of brick on the outside making them into very attractive homes. The museum house I noticed that roll of infamous Izal toilet paper, the same stuff we had at school back in the 50's.I'm sure they used grease proof paper as it was bloody awful stuff. We called it John Wayne tpoiletpaper, rough and tough and wouldn't take s---t from nobody
amazing vid growing up in peckham Rye we have a few prefabs around us they where a bit different looking but much the same set up my friends lived in one and i thought a prefab was great being all on one floor you are giving us some great content btw love it keep going
Thank you!!! I love it ! I've always been fascinated by prefabs, mad to think i've wanted to go in those ones around the corner for 30 odd years and a lucky moment let me go and have a peek inside! I guess most peoples bucket lists include tropical holidays but for me that was a MOMENT!
Lucy thank you for an amazing and emotional tour. Love seeing the house as it would have been back in the 40’s
( oh love the telephone boxes too ) ❤
Thanks so much for your lovely comment! I love them too x
@@throughlucyslens 🩵
This was GREAT and so informative! Thanks Lucy, 💕🇺🇸
Very welcome Linda x
Thank you so much another wonderful video am so lucky I found you.
Thanks Marie x
This is wonderful. So many thoughts as you were going round, all to the effect of what an amazing privilege it must have felt, compared to everything that had gone before and to be living with hot running water, an indoor toilet, warmth, etc! I really enjoyed watching. Subscribed
Thank you so much! So appreciated. I hope I can continue to entertain you. I love helping spark memories and emotions x
Thank you for your passion
❤️❤️❤️
And also the wooden clothes horse - we had one growing up in the 70s. It was often found out in the garden with a sheet over it and we all played tents!
You have just sparked such a memory for me - playing tents under the wooden clothes horse and catching my finger in it ... ouch!