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Chrism
Posts: 1828
Joined: Sun 20 Jan, 2008 8:26 am

Post by Chrism »

I live in the Midlands now and I've asked a few folk if they know what BTB's are and they're stumped! Are they a strictly Northern house or what?
Sit thissen dahn an' tell us abaht it.

Trojan
Posts: 1990
Joined: Sat 22 Dec, 2007 3:54 pm

Post by Trojan »

south of the river wrote: i lived in zoar street at one time.....in olden days that area was wooded..hence the name st mary in the wood church which is at the top of zoar street..on coffin corner as the locals call it..Zoar is the old name for wood..its a remarkable street..houses were built out of morley stone...and have blue slate roofs....most are in very good condition..they dont build them like that anymore do they..there is date carved into one of the properties on zoar street..i think its 1905 from memory..Also its the last street in the leeds a to z....its unique in more ways than one...... I didn't know that Zoar was the old name for wood - I thought it was biblical - what are now the Labour Party rooms on Commercial Street, was formerly the meeting rooms of the "Zoar Particular Baptists" then believe (d) in total immersion, and in the main hall of the room are two trap doors with steps leading down, presumably into the tank for total immersion. So I always thought the name had some Biblical connection (like Bethel, Ebenezer, Bethesda, Rehobeth etc)As for back to backs- there are plenty on King Street in Morley, I was brought up in no 55, opposite St Pauls Church, when I lived there they were kitchen, living room, small bedroom, large bedroom, cellar, coal place. Toilets outside around the back. 55 at least was modernised in 1974 and a bathroom and toilet construced out of part of both bedrooms.
Industria Omnia Vincit

The Parksider
Posts: 1581
Joined: Sat 10 Nov, 2007 3:55 am

Post by The Parksider »

Chrism wrote: I live in the Midlands now and I've asked a few folk if they know what BTB's are and they're stumped! Are they a strictly Northern house or what? If you check back to jf's post he outlines that back to backs were cheap "social housing" that were essentially "insanitary" because they had no airflow and therefore were outlawed a heck of a long time ago.Somehow Leeds didn't outlaw them when other cities did and even allowed them to be built very late on when they really should not have been because they had permission pre-outlawing.The Thoresby society (darn you lot come on here and help us out - especially Mr. Beresford who wrote "east end - west end") note that propertry developers often got permission but took years to finish developments.Which left Leeds rich in back to backs when other major sities had pulled all theirs down.So I'm fascinated on the oldes back to back AND JF which may be the "newest"!!!My wife was told in Nottingham on a local history course that back to backs were outlawed and none existed today. That was in 1976 and there's still thousands in Leeds.I too would love to know the oldest brick (hey stone buildings last forever) built back to back in Leeds because it's probably t'owdest in t'world.My great Aunt lived at 2. Tender Street which is still there. You went in (you still can if the incumbents are welcoming) and there was a staircase in front of you. A tiny triangular kitchen to the right and a tiny living room (table under window, setee against wall, rug, fireplace on other wall and sideboard on back wall)Having painted a picture of a matchbox there was also a cellar, there were two bedrooms upstairs and two more in the attic.So I'd have the place in preference to some of the places they are building even today. In Pearl House Wakefield I saw a modern "flat" which was ONE ROOM and in the corner was a setee and TV, in another corner a sink and cooker, in another a bog and in another a bed.Little boxes made out of tickey tacky (name that tune) still exist today.

Trojan
Posts: 1990
Joined: Sat 22 Dec, 2007 3:54 pm

Post by Trojan »

[quotenick="The ParksiderI too would love to know the oldest brick (hey stone buildings last forever) built back to back in Leeds because it's probably t'owdest in t'world.The back to backs I was brought up in were stone faced - that is the houses on King Steet are stone fronted, but the sides and the houses at the back are brick.There were rules about such things -all the houses on King Steet in Morley are stone faced - presumably "somebody" insisted upon it. I know for a fact that the houses on Leeds Road Woodkirk between the Babes in the Wood and Shaw Cross are stone faced because they are (were?) built on land leased from the Earl of Cardigan's estate and either the earl or his estate insisted upon stone facings. - My uncle, a brickie worked on them in the thirties and he told me this.
Industria Omnia Vincit

simong
Posts: 722
Joined: Sat 08 Sep, 2007 6:17 am

Post by simong »

The Parksider wrote: My wife was told in Nottingham on a local history course that back to backs were outlawed and none existed today. That was in 1976 and there's still thousands in Leeds. My Mum was from Nottingham and I have a quite a few books of old photos of the city and it knocked its last back to backs down in the late 60s, in the area that is now the Broadmarsh Centre. What's interesting is that the pictures of Starkies Field on Leodis very much resemble the pictures of Broad Marsh that I've seen from the same period. I don't think it's any coincidence that both Yeadon and that part of Nottingham were involved in the textile trade. I would guess that it was a need for a lot of people to be near their place of work in what was a heavily staffed, low income industry.

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chameleon
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Joined: Thu 29 Mar, 2007 6:16 pm

Post by chameleon »

When I first met my wife she was sharing a rented back-to-back off Harehills Lane. Not somewhere I personaly would choose to live (Prefer more open space!) but that little house had a really 'comfy' feel to it.Coincidentally it was just the same as one my Grandmother inherited a few streets away in the late 50's - that sold handsomely for £565, just a little different to today - and they are still standing and generally in good nick!

Lilysmum
Posts: 531
Joined: Fri 28 Mar, 2008 12:31 pm

Post by Lilysmum »

When I got married in 1979 we bought a terrace house in Guiseley,the row consisted of two back to backs at the end and then alternate through and "through by light"(just one door in and out but had a window on the other side) houses and then another two back to backs at the other end.We paid the huge sum of £7850.00 for it and last time it was up for sale a few years back I think it was in the region of 160k! wish I'd kept it now.

The Parksider
Posts: 1581
Joined: Sat 10 Nov, 2007 3:55 am

Post by The Parksider »

simong wrote: My Mum was from Nottingham and I have a quite a few books of old photos of the city and it knocked its last back to backs down in the late 60s, in the area that is now the Broadmarsh Centre. What's interesting is that the pictures of Starkies Field on Leodis very much resemble the pictures of Broad Marsh that I've seen from the same period. I don't think it's any coincidence that both Yeadon and that part of Nottingham were involved in the textile trade. I would guess that it was a need for a lot of people to be near their place of work in what was a heavily staffed, low income industry. Simon, in the seventies I went to se my Wife at Poly and we did a "trip" underground in the nottingham sandstone caves around Broadmarsh??Fascinating - you recall that? Anyone else know about this???

Samson
Posts: 93
Joined: Tue 25 Mar, 2008 5:53 pm

Post by Samson »

I wonder if one way of checking would be to use the OS Maps from around 1854-1890?? This might indicate when back to back streets appeared?Some of these are online I think.http://www.old-maps.co.uk/
Born in East leeds, then lived in Halton and aged 20 moved to Tyneside

Si
Posts: 4480
Joined: Wed 10 Oct, 2007 7:22 am
Location: Otley

Post by Si »

Yes, Samson. There are plenty of back-to-backs on the 1846 large scale Godfrey OS Leeds centre maps.There are two parallel rows of b-t-bs in Otley, on Orchard Street and Carlton Street. They have a broad ginnel running between them, and are of a unique design. They are stone-built and they have room-width tunnels between every second house. Every other house also has a large gable-end facing the street, with a round headed window, and originally, a fancy carved barge-board complete with spiky finial. They have a kitchen in the cellar, ground-floor living-room, first floor bedroom and bathroom, and one or two bedrooms in the attic. The stairs run up the back. One of them has recently had a pair of outsizes dormers built which have become known locally as the "twin towers!"    

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