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The Pre-fabs
In 1946, the council had bought Cottingley Hall Estate and were closing old 'rights of way' footpaths, in 1948 an old footbridge was closed over the railway at Farnley Junction and they were laying sewers, building kerbs and footpaths, making fences, planting trees and shrubs for 565 'temporary bungalows'. This was for the 'working classes' and to try and relieve the enormous House Waiting List created by the lack of building materials during World War II. In 1947, Cottingley Hall Farm was demolished and the pre-fab estate built, streching west well into Beeston Royds and up to disused land on Gelderd Road, then down south along the London, Midland & Scottish Railway line and to the Junction Dyeworks below Churwell viaduct. The pre-fabs were assembled on a circular radiating road layout (with the cemetry taking a quarter slice) with names of Cottingley and Dulverton used. By 1951, a parade of shops, the school and two temporary churches had been built and a bus route onto Cottingley was operating. The pre-fabs lasted long after their expected 'temporary' lifespan.
"I was living in the private houses at the bottom of Cottingley Drive", said Rev. John Oliver, "and as a child I was facinated at the development of the pre-fab sites, then their arrival on the back of lorries. They came in two halves and were simply bolted together. When the first Mission Church was erected, it was of aluminium sheeting like the pre-fabs and fabrics were donated and my mother, Mrs Mary Oliver and Edward Fell were the Church superintendents and when I was eleven we moved away from Cottingley".
Mrs Sonia Loveday of Cottingley gave me this full description of Cottingley pre-fabs and the new council estate, "Our prefab was detached in a large garden and as you went in the front door, on your left there was the front-bedroom which had a front window, the next door on your left down the hall was a slightly larger back-bedroom which had two rear windows and a walk-in wardrobe, with cupboards and drawers occupying the end of the hall. Opposite the back bedroom, there was the bathroom door, off the hall, with bath basin, w.c., airing cupboard and the room had a small rear window. Opposite the front bedroom door, there was the lounge door and the lounge had two front windows and a fireplace. There were tall built-in cupborads and a small window and a door through to the kitchen. The kitchen had tall built-in cupboards backing onto the lounge wall, there was a pantry, sink unit, boiler, cooker, fridge and a rear window and backdoor. They were nice and warm, all the cupboards were metal and when we had to move out, nobody told us that boilers, fridges, cookers, etc were not included, and we had to buy those then. Besides a church, there was a Sunday School building at the top of Cottingley Drive and the parade of shops consisted of a greengrocers, a co-op, a butchers, a chemist, the Post-Office and a fish and chip shop".
Mr Jack Parker, Cottingley shop keeper has many memories of Cottingley right up to present day but in 1946, "I was brought up in Churwell and saw the pre-fab estate built up and then finally watched every 'stick and stone' of it bulldozed away. We took our first shop in January 1951 and the Post Office section opened in 1953. We stayed until October 1972, when we transferred to the new shopping precinct called Cottingley Hall. The old prefab shops were a long parade, with a flat overhanging canopy, a carpark at the rear, with a dual pathway and grass at the front. There was a hairdressers - unisex in one of the units at one time, we, the Post Office occupied three (units), there was a cafe when clearing the prefabs began" .
There was still plenty of farmland and open waste areas (Farnley Railway junction had closed) in the 1960's. Many of the farms in the area were reducing their farming activity as grain and dairy products were now imported. They farmed rhubard, greens and root crops. The non-economic open coal pits, brickworks and tanneries and cloth industries closed apart from fat-refiners on Crow Nest Lane and in Millshaw. Ingles Leather Works in the far centre of the photograph above were demolished sometime after 1972, the reservoirs and shafts filled in, some houses and shops were demolished earlier in this area when the new Ring Road was built. Far right are Cottingley pre-fabs.
Mrs Sonia Loveday remembers Highfield Cottage farm close to where the Manchester railway line passes under Gelderd Road, "the large farmhouse was 'spooky', it was derelict just across the field from our pre-fab. Down the lane there were some lovely old cottages in the Royds with really nice, old people in their gardens who would always speak to you".
"I was living in the private houses at the bottom of Cottingley Drive", said Rev. John Oliver, "and as a child I was facinated at the development of the pre-fab sites, then their arrival on the back of lorries. They came in two halves and were simply bolted together. When the first Mission Church was erected, it was of aluminium sheeting like the pre-fabs and fabrics were donated and my mother, Mrs Mary Oliver and Edward Fell were the Church superintendents and when I was eleven we moved away from Cottingley".
Mr Jack Parker, Cottingley shop keeper has many memories of Cottingley right up to present day but in 1946, "I was brought up in Churwell and saw the pre-fab estate built up and then finally watched every 'stick and stone' of it bulldozed away. We took our first shop in January 1951 and the Post Office section opened in 1953. We stayed until October 1972, when we transferred to the new shopping precinct called Cottingley Hall. The old prefab shops were a long parade, with a flat overhanging canopy, a carpark at the rear, with a dual pathway and grass at the front. There was a hairdressers - unisex in one of the units at one time, we, the Post Office occupied three (units), there was a cafe when clearing the prefabs began" .
There was still plenty of farmland and open waste areas (Farnley Railway junction had closed) in the 1960's. Many of the farms in the area were reducing their farming activity as grain and dairy products were now imported. They farmed rhubard, greens and root crops. The non-economic open coal pits, brickworks and tanneries and cloth industries closed apart from fat-refiners on Crow Nest Lane and in Millshaw. Ingles Leather Works in the far centre of the photograph above were demolished sometime after 1972, the reservoirs and shafts filled in, some houses and shops were demolished earlier in this area when the new Ring Road was built. Far right are Cottingley pre-fabs.Mrs Sonia Loveday remembers Highfield Cottage farm close to where the Manchester railway line passes under Gelderd Road, "the large farmhouse was 'spooky', it was derelict just across the field from our pre-fab. Down the lane there were some lovely old cottages in the Royds with really nice, old people in their gardens who would always speak to you".
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Please ask any older people for their memories of Cottingley and add their comments to this page. thank you. Steve Morrell - author.
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