Fond memories of abandoned estate

Dudley's Priory estate was once considered the height of luxury but more than 70 years later, most of it is being demolished. Amy Burns reports

The streets were once filled with scores of friendly neighbours who would sit out in the summer to chat about the day's events and catch up on all the gossip.

Now Dudley's North Priory estate is a ghost town of abandoned homes and overgrown gardens.

For the few residents still remaining on the estate, there is an almost audible creak of empty homes echoing through the near-deserted neighbourhood. Stripped of lead, glass and fencing, the houses are littered with signs warning people to stay away.

Residents have been moving out of the predominantly council-owned estate ever since Dudley Council announced plans to demolish the homes and re-build the estate. And with the demolition deadline set for December, most residents are long gone.

But scattered among the streets of empty shells, 38 homes are still occupied – their pruned gardens, curtained windows and numbered doors standing out.

"It's quite strange at night knowing you are one of the last ones living in the street," said Marina Finch, aged 54, who has lived in Thornhill Road for 14 years.

"It's a bit spooky but I still hear the fire engines tearing up and down the streets – the empty properties are a prime target for kids starting fires."

Friends

For Marina, who is moving out in the next week, leaving the estate has been an emotional time.

"This was a wonderful estate and I have been very happy here," she said. "There has always been a really strong sense of community spirit and I have made some very good friends on the street. Everyone used to sit out in the summer and chat. I still have a neighbour who calls in every day for a cup of tea but she won't be able to do that once we move – we will live too far apart.

"Since the corner shop closed we have been taking it in turns to go and fetch milk from the shops on Priory Road.

"I will miss the little routines but I can't complain about the house I am moving to."

But while Marina is looking on the bright side, for some of the older residents moving is the last thing they want to do.

"I was born in this house 63 years ago," said Jack Yates, a lifelong resident of Thornhill Road. "This was a wonderful estate and I wanted to live here forever but it's not what the council wanted." Jack has watched the estate change from a flourishing family neighbourhood to a sea of properties, boarded up to keep thieves out. "I always loved living here because there was such a strong community spirit," he said. "It used to be all families and a lot of the older residents are unhappy about having to leave.

"I have lived here all my life and my memories are happy ones – I really wanted to stay on the estate but it's too late now."

And it's not just the residents who have to move on – the estate's community centre, the Local Action Centre in Pine Road, is also shutting its doors.

"We have to be out of this building by September 30 so we have started packing up," said Sally Johnson, who has volunteered at the centre for the past nine years.

"We are currently working with the council to find a suitable alternative. It's not as sad for us as it is for those people losing their homes but it is still very hard. Some of the elderly residents who have already moved out still return every Friday for our weekly bingo session. It is a very sad time for us all."

The redevelopment work on the estate will see 270 properties demolished to make way for 329 new homes, including a range of two-bedroom bungalows and two, three and four-bedroom houses.

Streets included in the plans are Berry Road, Heather Road, Pine Road, Thornhill Road, Castle Mill Road, Primrose Crescent, Fern Road and part of Priory Road. The work by Bromford Homes Groups is expected to be completed in 2012. A community centre, earmarked as the "focal point", is also planned. When news of the demolition was first announced, Alfred Surman told of his lifetime of happy memories on the estate.

He was one when he moved to Thornhill Road and said 72 years later the community spirit he remembered was still strong. "Everyone used to sit on the walls and chat in the summer time and on fireworks night we would light a bonfire in the middle of the road," he said.

Council spokesman Phil Parker said: "The regeneration of the North Priory estate is progressing well and is on target. As we have always stated we plan to have all residents re-housed by the end of December.

"Of the 264 houses on the estate, 38 are still occupied and 25 of those have accepted offers for alternative accommodation."