Happy memories of life in prefabs

The rent was originally nine shillings and threepence – less than 50p in today’s currency – and with no local shops, vegetables and fish were sold from a horse and cart.

To those servicemen returning to Wolverhampton after the Second World War, the new Tarran estate, made up of 152 prefab bungalows, was idyllic.

Surrounded by fields and farmland, wild horses would gallop across Stow Heath. It was a short walk to shops on Willenhall Road but bread and milk were delivered every day.

On Sunday afternoons a man went round selling watercress from a large basket and most residents bought some for their tea.

Tenants’ evocative memories of living on the estate, which is being redeveloped as part of the £10 million regeneration of East Park, are contained in a book which has been produced with the help of local schoolchildren. The Story Of The Tarran Estate is the result of a collaboration between Deansfield Primary School pupils, East Park Management Group and the Tarran residents.

The students gathered material for the colour publication after inviting residents to a tea party at their school last summer.

Prefabs were erected in Britain to alleviate the housing shortage after the war. Mass produced by the Ministry of Works with an expected life span of around 10 years, they arrived at their destinations in kit form and were put up in a matter of days.

The book tells how after an exhibition of prefabs at London’s Tate Gallery in 1945, Wolverhampton Council chose the Tarran design which was slightly larger than the others. In the early days they were considered very desirable and there was always a waiting list for them. They had hot running water, an inside bathroom with separate WC, fitted cupboards and a fridge – the height of luxury in the late 1940s.

The stove pipes poking out of the corrugated roofs gave the bungalows a cottage-type appearance but not everyone found them cosy. With little insulation and just a coal-fired stove for warmth, some residents spoke of finding mildew on their clothes.

But there was a strong sense of community between neighbours, who tried to establish new traditions. Frances Pugh, who still lives on the estate, said that every January 1 her father used to bang metal dustbin lids in the early hours to herald in the new year.

Local writer Dymphna Callery, of Wolverhampton University, who worked with the school on the book, said: “It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.”

Pupils will now provide designs for the revamped estate.