If a single estate can be taken to encapsulate the social, political and planning history of council housing in this country it is probably Knowle West in Bristol.
Thank you for your comments. It's always the impressions of those who lived the history who bring it to life best. I can think of one or two estates across the country which, though objectively were similar to others, were created as 'slum clearance' estates and retained a negative reputation for decades to come.
This is so interesting (and bleak) to hear how one estate became so associated with poverty, in comparison to others. My grandfather grew up on a different council estate in Bristol, and to this day considers Knowle West a 'no go' area - I always thought his judgement of it was at odds with the fact that he grew up on a council estate himself, I'd never thought to question why he thought that.
It's interesting to try to piece together how things might have been for families in light of the comments on feckless mothers (that still echo down the generations these days). I remember my nan saying that grandad was an exception in the 30s, because he brought his wage packet home to her and took a small amount of money for his expenses. I know this is anecdotal, but she talked of a lot of women having to put up with whatever was left after the Friday trip to the pub and it wasn't always much. Mum also remembered being the only girl in her class with shoes.
Thank you for your comments. It's always the impressions of those who lived the history who bring it to life best. I can think of one or two estates across the country which, though objectively were similar to others, were created as 'slum clearance' estates and retained a negative reputation for decades to come.
This is so interesting (and bleak) to hear how one estate became so associated with poverty, in comparison to others. My grandfather grew up on a different council estate in Bristol, and to this day considers Knowle West a 'no go' area - I always thought his judgement of it was at odds with the fact that he grew up on a council estate himself, I'd never thought to question why he thought that.
It's interesting to try to piece together how things might have been for families in light of the comments on feckless mothers (that still echo down the generations these days). I remember my nan saying that grandad was an exception in the 30s, because he brought his wage packet home to her and took a small amount of money for his expenses. I know this is anecdotal, but she talked of a lot of women having to put up with whatever was left after the Friday trip to the pub and it wasn't always much. Mum also remembered being the only girl in her class with shoes.