THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Tizer]

We distinguished ourselves at St Paul's by having a choir boys strike against the discipline.We locked ourselves in the church tower and threw pigeon muck at the Vicar, verger and choir master from the top.

Perhaps Islam could learn something from that - allowing dissent is better than allowing radicalism.

Now for something different. A brief video of vintage buses in Exeter! LINK That reminds me - I read recently of a British town where all the trams were open-topped but unfortunately I can't remember where it was. They couldn't risk using closed-top trams with their higher centre of gravity because they could have toppled over on the sharp bends.

[Whyperion]

- I read recently of a British town where all the trams were open-topped but unfortunately I can't remember where it was. They couldn't risk using closed-top trams with their higher centre of gravity because they could have toppled over on the sharp bends.

http://home.btconnect.com/margatemuseum ... ramway.pdf
Margate's 60 Trams were al open-toppers. didn't stop them toppling ar excess speed around bends.

I remember the building of Exeter Bus Station (late 1970s / Early 80s?- Concrete, I think the coach station was less altered). Plymouth was a Post WW2 build - 1950s concrete.

[Stanley]

A Stockport tram. Reckoned to be one of the longest uninterrupted routes in England, Piccadilly in Manchester to Hazel Grove on the South side of Stockport.

[Stanley]

One thing I noticed this week was that the trams which used to run at the Black Country Museum at Dudley have vanished (as have most of the tracks).



The overhead wires are still in place so I suppose they could run trolley buses......

[Stanley]

This last week I have seen a lot of sun. 40 years ago this would have been the signal to rag off and get as brown as possible. Things change.... This is the lad on Catalina Island in about 1980, no sun block and I just went more and more like an old block of mahogany. In later years I have favoured what they call in the Mid West 'a farmer's tan', just your face, hands and the back of your neck. I realised last week that my forearms hadn't seen the sun for over twenty years! They didn't burn but I think they are a reasonable colour now!

[chinatyke]

A Yorkshireman at the seaside without his knotted hankie? Nay lad, tha's half naked. Cover thissen up.

[Stanley]

You're right China.... but that was forty years ago and I think we still had an ozone layer..... I certainly wouldn't do it now!

[Stanley]

One of the things that stands out when I look back almost eighty years is the fact that our attitudes towards the police have changed fundamentally. Whilst I recognise that in many ways the new force is more efficient and there were many aspects of old fashioned policing were questionable, we were comfortable with their presence and as far as I was concerned, crime was at a very low level. "If you want to know the time, ask a policeman", they were approachable and in many cases the local bobby was a kindly and respected figure as long as you kept your nose clean. The modern police, festooned with the tools of their trade, are intimidating to many, especially if, as is more common today, they are armed. It's a progression that I regret.

[Stanley]

Another thing that strikes me as I fight my way towards LPA is how much more complicated inheritance is today. No problems at all with my parents, I told the bank and the lawyers they were dead and that was it!

[plaques]

My tip for those who I might describe have having led 'complex' lives is to have a look at some of the websites about "How to contest a Will". These show some of the pitfalls and unintended consequences of not thinking things through. Some of the things in the far and distant past can easily sneak up on you and upset the inheritance apple cart.

[Stanley]

Good advice P. Very few families escape the 'skeleton in the cupboard' syndrome. There have been numerous examples. There is a good one on the site, If you have a look back at the history of the demise of the Bracewell partnership in 1885 you will find a splendid example of an ill-thought out agreement prior to the Billycock will which torpedoed all his carefully laid plans and left the cupboard bare.



Elizabeth Bracewell, the widow of William Metcalfe Bracewell who pursued her rights in Chancery and broke the partnership. A formidable woman with a good case and the guts to pursue it. It's all on the site......

[Stanley]

One thing that struck me looking at that picture is that there have never been any contested wills in our family because nobody had enough money or property to fight over!

[David Whipp]

Brother, sister and me, the only recipients of our dad's modest estate, set aside his will as we thought it disadvantaged one of us. Instead, we divided the inheritance equally between us. (We are all still talking...!)

[PanBiker]

Brother, sister and me, the only recipients of our dad's modest estate, set aside his will as we thought it disadvantaged one of us. Instead, we divided the inheritance equally between us. (We are all still talking...!)

Same here but no wills, dad and mum died within four months of one another. My brother and sister both live away so it fell to me to organise the probate, (fairly painless with a bit of ID). Estate split three ways.

It was a hell of a lot more complicated when we had to sort our Dan's affairs. You seem to have to provide more proof for someone who was only 32. An ongoing administration for us with his daughter Ruby's financials, something we have to do but not a happy place to be. It has a knock on for us and Dan's siblings.

[plaques]

Always a problem with multiple marriages and children. Mine, thine and ours some of which may still be dependent on their parents even if they have technically come of age. Get it done properly and see a solicitor.

[Stanley]

That's my solution P..... We start on Monday!

[Tizer]

When Stanley is back on form I might suggest to him that he writes one of his history articles on the subject of `The Council House'. As well as the historical aspect there is much of relevance to today's housing problems, in terms of social housing and the quality and energy-saving performance of buildings and sites.

I was born and brought up in a council house in Blackburn, not on a big estate but one of a small group of six semi-detached buildings on the edge of town. These small council house sites often had a high quality environment, built in elevated positions on the edge of the suburbs, out of the urban smog and with great views - the very locations were the mill owners previously built their mansions! Looking from our windows, on one side we had the lines of terraced houses of Blackburn, and on the other it was countryside as far as the eye could see. Allotments and hen pens, then meadows, woods, and hills.

Even now where I live in rural Somerset there are small pockets of council houses built on the edge of villages on high ground with terrific views. By comparison, our village is about to have a private development of `affordable houses' built on the edge of the village but they will be low down and next to a major trunk road which separates them from the village itself.

When first built in the early 1900s, the council houses were ahead of their time with cavity walls, indoor toilets/bathrooms, big windows, large rooms and large gardens. In fact, they make some of today's small and cramped `modern' estate houses look like rabbit hutches by comparison. The large gardens were a boon during WW2 when the space was needed for growing vegetables and later they often provided space for a garage while still leaving a large area for a lawn, veg or playing space for kids. We often had my pals from the terraced houses come to play out on the back lawn - it was begin enough for football or cricket!

Here's a photo taken on the back garden of our council house in the early 1950s showing Tizer sharing his tricycle with his mum. You can see the elevation of the house and the long views behind us - that's the old Blackburn cemetery on the hillside across the valley. Looking down into the valley we were able to watch the steam trains on the line to Hellifield. Happy days! No terrorists, no internet scams and we looked forward to a world at peace.

[Whyperion]

I'll chip in at some time on council housing, although in bits of the North it is sometimes difficult to tell difference (externally) between private build, and that built by the likes of pit owners and into NCB days too, plus other major employers - I think the Potteries companies around Stoke on Trent too had company built housing. In London pre-dating Council / Local Authority housing was the philanthropic types of Peabody, Guiness and the likes of The Industrial Dwellings Flats, plus around Woolwich and Eltham the Royal Arsenal Co-Operative Society built housing in a style not unlike some of the outer London LCC estates. Maybe other co-operative societies did so too, and some building societies- I think in the NE of England built houses to rent as much as buy using mortgages. What did happen Post WW2 and into the 60s aside from some grand schemes that were never completed were houses and flats built at a rush, going for quantity rather than quality, of 'system' types and oft in inappropriate locations ( atop a mountain in South Wales was one bleak estate). Accompanied by 'New Towns' developments where fronts and backs got hideously confused and estates where signage difficult to follow - I have been working around London's Barbican and Golden Lane estates a couple of weeks back. Selling off council houses existed in some Local Authorities pre thatcher - It made sense, reduce the municipal loan book - at a time of high interest rates - and/or expensive repairs and maintenance and the loss in rental income was not noticed, discounts may have been less generous than the main era of encouraging private ownership.

[Tizer]

As an illustration, here's an example of council houses with a wonderful view in a village near where I live. They are on a narrow ridge and there is a similar view from the other side too. What you see is the front of the houses - access with vehicles is via a track at the back. The only disadvantage is when it's windy it's very windy!

[Stanley]

That row of houses has a garden front similar to some in Barlick. Much quieter living.... My mother's council house on Avon drive in Barlick had an uninterrupted view over the canal of the town.
Thoughts go back to bottles of 500 aspirin tablets at Boots for about 3/-....... Those days have gone!

[Stanley]

Tiz, I've taken that suggestion about Council Housing on board and I'm thinking about it...... On first survey there are some interesting roots that go back much further than I first suspected. Interesting.......
We all know that memories can be suspect, I constantly remind myself of this when I am telling you stories and try to get some parallel confirmation to back them up, like my load books from when I was on the tramp. I have a very strong memory of being in the back of an open car in my mother's arms and her carrying me across to a set of railings where there was a long view over trees. 40 years later I mentioned it to my mother and she was surprised because she remembered it well. We were in the back of Reg Lawley's Diatto sports car in Derbyshire and she remembered carrying me across the car park. She remembered it so clearly because it was the only time in her life she was ever in an open car. I was less than 3 months old...... I don't know how common this is but just to be on the safe side never underestimate what your baby is taking in...... (LINK for Diatto cars)

[David Whipp]

When I was looking through some post WW2 BUDC minutes in the library I was impressed by that council's industry in getting council houses built (and contrasted it with today's situation of councils effectively being unable to build social housing).

Nationally and locally, there was a determination then to solve the country's housing crisis; a bit different today.

[Tizer]

I look forward to your council house article, Stanley. I don't know if I've mentioned this before on OG but at the end of WW2 my grandma in Blackburn ended up with her rented terraced house bursting with returning relatives. It got so bad she went to the local MP and berated him for not providing access to housing for returning servicemen. My dad said this is how he managed to get a council house. Granny power!

[Stanley]

That was an interesting period David and you are right, local responsibility and initiative produced marvellous results. I've started on the housing articles and that will be one of the key periods I'll be looking at. It's a very complicated subject!

[PanBiker]

I have related this elsewhere but my dad was trained into the building trade via a government scheme for ex servicemen. I think it was around 1948 when he started. He was grouped with 6 or 8 others and a fully skilled man who oversaw their training on the job. It entailed a day each week in the classroom and four days on the site. The three year project resulted in Brackenbank council estate at Ingrow in Keighley. They trained thousand in this manner into building and allied trades. It's still a model of operation that would work today in some areas if given funding.