Richmond Flats, Huddersfield - August 2013
Apologies it's another rooftop. Apologies it's another relatively small one from Huddersfield, too. I'd previously looked at this with Fudge, but we got spooked having set off alarms and bailed.
60s
Richmond flats was the second of three 11-storey tower blocks to be built at Southgate and were named after the Huddersfield Borough Council architect responsible, Sidney Richmond. The first tower, Lonsborough flats, were built in 1961. Richmond flats a year later, and Ibbotson flats completed the set in 1964. The flats have always stood out in my mind as rundown eyesores, and my brother and I have often commented on the impression they must give to travelling away fans as they pass the ugly blocks on the walk from the station to the football/rugby ground. In their day though, these were some of the first apartment blocks in Huddersfield to be built with underfloor heating and wiring for televisions. In 1961, rent for a one-bedroom flat was 36s 2d a week, that’s less than £2 per week in comparative terms.
70s
It seems worthwhile to point out that while Richmond flats are currently undergoing a £3.7 million make-over, the other two blocks, Lonsborough and Ibbotson, are being demolished alongside the Sports Centre to make way for a new Tesco supermarket. The demo of these buildings is overdue and much welcomed - but there is an interesting, hidden sub-story going on here. Anita Lonsborough, who grew up in nearby St Peter’s Street, was an Olympic Gold Medal winner in Rome in 1960. Derek Ibbotson set the world mile record in 1957. Two of Huddersfield’s sporting greats falling alongside the Sports Centre - how fitting. At least the town will have a new Sports Centre - currently being built at Spring Grove, the other side of town.
City planners in the 60s and 70s were changing the image of Huddersfield drastically. Incremental developments to the inner ring road were taking place throughout the 60s, the Borough Council clearly focusing toward the car economy with whispers of the M62 plans in the air. And many of the town's oldest and most-loved buildings and yards were seen as outdated and no-longer-fit-for-purpose... a half century later, and history is repeating itself. These developments at Southgate, the demolition of the St Peter's Building a stone's throw away, and the new flurry of plans and proposals regarding the Eastern edge of the town's boundary toward the stadium (currently dominated by baron, former industrial and gas works land) - all threatening to once more change the face of Huddersfield. Let's hope we've learnt something in the last 50 years!
tweek
Apologies it's another rooftop. Apologies it's another relatively small one from Huddersfield, too. I'd previously looked at this with Fudge, but we got spooked having set off alarms and bailed.
60s
Richmond flats was the second of three 11-storey tower blocks to be built at Southgate and were named after the Huddersfield Borough Council architect responsible, Sidney Richmond. The first tower, Lonsborough flats, were built in 1961. Richmond flats a year later, and Ibbotson flats completed the set in 1964. The flats have always stood out in my mind as rundown eyesores, and my brother and I have often commented on the impression they must give to travelling away fans as they pass the ugly blocks on the walk from the station to the football/rugby ground. In their day though, these were some of the first apartment blocks in Huddersfield to be built with underfloor heating and wiring for televisions. In 1961, rent for a one-bedroom flat was 36s 2d a week, that’s less than £2 per week in comparative terms.
70s
It seems worthwhile to point out that while Richmond flats are currently undergoing a £3.7 million make-over, the other two blocks, Lonsborough and Ibbotson, are being demolished alongside the Sports Centre to make way for a new Tesco supermarket. The demo of these buildings is overdue and much welcomed - but there is an interesting, hidden sub-story going on here. Anita Lonsborough, who grew up in nearby St Peter’s Street, was an Olympic Gold Medal winner in Rome in 1960. Derek Ibbotson set the world mile record in 1957. Two of Huddersfield’s sporting greats falling alongside the Sports Centre - how fitting. At least the town will have a new Sports Centre - currently being built at Spring Grove, the other side of town.
City planners in the 60s and 70s were changing the image of Huddersfield drastically. Incremental developments to the inner ring road were taking place throughout the 60s, the Borough Council clearly focusing toward the car economy with whispers of the M62 plans in the air. And many of the town's oldest and most-loved buildings and yards were seen as outdated and no-longer-fit-for-purpose... a half century later, and history is repeating itself. These developments at Southgate, the demolition of the St Peter's Building a stone's throw away, and the new flurry of plans and proposals regarding the Eastern edge of the town's boundary toward the stadium (currently dominated by baron, former industrial and gas works land) - all threatening to once more change the face of Huddersfield. Let's hope we've learnt something in the last 50 years!
tweek
