{"id":1561,"date":"2013-04-08T19:58:08","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T19:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/wp\/?p=1561"},"modified":"2013-04-08T19:58:08","modified_gmt":"2013-04-08T19:58:08","slug":"agm-followed-by-palaces-for-people-post-war-prefabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/2013\/04\/08\/agm-followed-by-palaces-for-people-post-war-prefabs\/","title":{"rendered":"AGM, followed by ‘Palaces for People; Post-war Prefabs’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Thursday 21st March may well have been a miserable evening of rain and recession, but queues of anxious people formed in Stroud Old Town Hall with money ready to renew or take out new membership of the Civic Society and coins poured into the bowls for Tim Mars\u2019s illustrated talk: \u201c – <\/span>Post-war Prefabs: Palaces for the People\u201d. <\/em><\/strong>This was to be another of the many vibrant and informed talks given by Tim \u2013 either on foot\u00a0<\/span>marveling<\/span>\u00a0at Oxford old and new, with a tour of Worcester College thrown in – or along old London alleys and huge new shopping malls in Birmingham or Bristol.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, however, came the Civic Society’s AGM, while behind us glittering glasses and bottles of good wine waited.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Chairman Juliet Shipman opened the meeting \u2013 and instantly we knew why the room was full. \u2018We are\u2019, she said, \u2018members of the Civic Voice which brings us up-to- date information on planning issues and new legislation.\u2019 She also told us that help and advice with local planning and connected matters was at hand for the Committee boasts a Conservation Builder, an Architect, a Planner and freethinkers of every kind.\u00a0 Tim Mars made a passionate plea for an iconic building at the public enquiry into the McCarthy and Stone development at Timm\u2019s garage while Juliet, with amazing energy and commitment heads the team; uncovering letters, articles, plans – new and old – as evidence for a multitude of proposals and questions that concern the Civic Society.<\/p>\n

At the other end of Juliet\u2019s line of duties, she organises amazing trips – to houses, galleries, museums of every kind, from \u2018Downton Abbey\u2019 (Highclere Castle) to local tucked away treasures like Bradley Court or to more distant London or Birmingham.<\/span><\/p>\n

She moved us on next to David Austin\u2019s Treasurer\u2019s Report showing the Society\u2019s funds as balanced and healthy and then on to Guy Williams\u2019s Membership Report, where we saw on his clear, coloured chart that Civic Society membership has risen in a way the Tory party might well envy!<\/span><\/p>\n

It was then Hugh Barton\u2019s turn to step up and prove the efficacy of the Society. He explained lucidly the Society\u2019s stance on two pending major applications – Baxter\u2019s Field and Rodborough Fields and how the Society has dealt with these controversial proposals.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Prefab,<\/a>
Prefab, St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff, Wales. Pic by Robert Snowden - click picture to see original<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, having enjoyed glasses of wine, talk and fruit juice, we sat as the lights dimmed and the projector screen lit up, ready to revel in Tim\u2019s talk. A clean, bright \u2018prefab\u2019 filled the screen with a large archetypal grandmother, custom-made merry baby in her arms, firmly in front. The image symbolic of his talk in praise of flat-pack homes, that were <\/span>really <\/em>homes. Inside the \u2018prefabs\u2019 ducks flew across walls cosy couches and rugs added warmth and comfort, and delicate designer nets gave privacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside we saw a proud couple looking over their large garden, \u2018prefab\u2019 behind, all neatly planted up in rich allotment rows. We learned then of the 1944 Temporary Housing Programme which resulted in 156,623 prefabricated house (or \u2018shabby sheds\u2019 as Tim said they were sometimes called), being erected to a number of standard designs on sites across the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

They were like flat pack goods from Ikea and in fact some 19<\/span>th<\/sup> century cottages were similarly made up on site.\u00a0 The tin tabernacle flat- pack was shipped round the world. We saw photographs of a huge lorry outside the Tate Gallery with doll\u2019s house-like exposed rooms including a fitted kitchen, with fridge and cooker that must have delighted people.<\/span><\/p>\n

They were, Tim explained, very modern with room heaters – the equivalent of an Austin Maxi car. They went off to Camden Town, London, Aston Gate in Birmingham, Bristol where there were, Tim added, \u2018seas of prefabs\u2019 and all over the country \u2013 including Cam, Leonard Stanley and Cashes Green. Several, having outlived their predicted 10-year life span, and being hugely popular, have been listed, and many tenants are now resisting attempts to demolish their beloved \u2018bungalows\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

These post war prefabs, were ,Tim\u00a0 concluded, phenomenal, and it is well worth making a visit to Avoncroft Museum<\/a> in Stoke Heath, Bromsgrove, where much on the history of prefabrication may be found.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question time brought wonderful memories of visits to Aunts and Grandparents in their \u2018prefabs\u2019, and indeed of living in these amazing homes. By the end, as people began to leave I think many were congratulating themselves on having joined the Civic Society and the few who\u00a0<\/span>hadn’t, were surely thinking \u2013 \u2018Next time I will!\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PS The development at Timm\u2019s Garage will now proceed as McCarthy and Stone have won their appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next meeting of the Civic Society is on Thursday April 25<\/span>th<\/sup> at 7.30pm at\u00a0 the Old Town Hall\u00a0 the speaker is former Bath Conservation Officer David McLaughlin and he will be talking about Bath during the war years \u2013 as seen through the eyes of John Piper and other artists.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday 21st March may well have been a miserable evening of rain and recession, but queues of anxious people formed in Stroud Old Town Hall with money ready to renew or take out new membership of the Civic Society and coins poured into the bowls for Tim Mars\u2019s illustrated talk:[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}