Hyde Park Flats Question?

[muddycoffee]

I was once told in a lecture that the Hyde park tower, suffered from very poor construction with the windows not matching up properly with the floors. Some of the upper floors had windows that were set too low in the outside walls.

whereas Park Hill was built to a much better standard and why it was seen to be worth refurbishing.

 

I have made a personal study of Britain's post war tower blocks and it is well known that some of the later built examples were built very quickly to a poor standard by inexperienced contractors and this is why there were problems such as the Ronan Point Collapse.

It has to be remembered that the reason for building concrete tower blocks in the 1950s and 60s was to relieve the housing crisis. There were thousands of lost houses due to war time bombing and many people still lived in tiny back to backs. The governments in this era pushed forward these schemes to get people out of the old poor quality housing so the areas could be redeveloped.

 

Most tower blocks were only designed to be used for 15 to 20 years, they were a medium term measure to house lots of people until new suburbs could be developed at the edges of town where they could have gardens and fresh air.

This was exactly what happened in Sheffield with the expansion into North Derbyshire and the Crystal Peak townships.

[stpetre]

I was once told in a lecture that the Hyde park tower, suffered from very poor construction with the windows not matching up properly with the floors. Some of the upper floors had windows that were set too low in the outside walls.

whereas Park Hill was built to a much better standard and why it was seen to be worth refurbishing.

 

I have made a personal study of Britain's post war tower blocks and it is well known that some of the later built examples were built very quickly to a poor standard by inexperienced contractors and this is why there were problems such as the Ronan Point Collapse.

It has to be remembered that the reason for building concrete tower blocks in the 1950s and 60s was to relieve the housing crisis. There were thousands of lost houses due to war time bombing and many people still lived in tiny back to backs. The governments in this era pushed forward these schemes to get people out of the old poor quality housing so the areas could be redeveloped.

 

Most tower blocks were only designed to be used for 15 to 20 years, they were a medium term measure to house lots of people until new suburbs could be developed at the edges of town where they could have gardens and fresh air.

This was exactly what happened in Sheffield with the expansion into North Derbyshire and the Crystal Peak townships.

 

Wasn't the Ronan Point collapse because of a gas explosion?

[muddycoffee]

There were several reasons for the collapse at Ronan Point.

1) The panels that held the building together were not properly secured

2) A tower block had gas installed (not done any longer in the UK)

3) Something about - "The cooker which was the source of the leak should not have been installed in a high rise" - or something.

[jane2008]

I never, thinking about it, went into a flat on Hyde Park, where there was a gas cooker

[crookedspire]

Been reading a book about Park Hill and Hyde Park doesn't paint either estate as good . But given today's demand for housing they would have gone a long way in finding people homes for all their faults. Though getting used to living with ants and flying rubbish could be a challenge.

[Veritas]

My family moved on to Derwent Row when I was 6 in 1964. We had a 3 bedroom flat. There was presumably no gas because the heating was from the incinerator at Bernard Road I think so no need for gas central heating. Tv was connected to British Relay so we used to get local programming. I also remember the electric milk floats that used to access the veranda's via the service lifts.

[alan p]

I lived on Hyde Park flats first on Cricket Inn Gardens then onto Derwent row and Dacre Row when I got married. We had gas cookers in all. I first moved there in 1963 aged 13.alan p.

[quattro1966]

I was brought up on Hyde park flats ( Lord row ) and we lived in a 3 bedroom flat and they were very good apart from the pharaoh ants iirc , we moved out in 76 . I went to St. John's school as well as the church where my mum and dad got married , I found a wedding photo of them on their wedding day with the cars being Uncle Stans from Simpsons and Sons . My grandparents lived on Ropery Row until the mid 80s , again that was 2 bedroom

[fatrajah]

I worked under the flats in early 1966 when I was a BT trainee. The thing I remember was the fairly strong smell of poo. The blokes I was working were not too happy about it & thought they should get an allowance for working there.

[quattro1966]

Can't remember the whiff of poo !