The Highams Park Prefab Estate

This editorial has been written as a follow up to the previous article about Highams Park on the edge of Epping forest which briefly mentioned the Prefab estate, a once thriving community within the grounds of the park. The intention this time is to bring together the memories of the people who knew the Prefab estate best and called it their home, the former residents themselves who very kindly agreed to share their stories.

The Prefab estate was built after the war by Walthamstow Borough Council on agreement with the landowners on the hillside overlooking the lake at Highams Park and consisted of 176 Prefabricated homes. Many east end families had lost their homes during bombing raids and housing was in short supply. The prefabs built in the park provided much needed homes for families from the surrounding areas. This estate remained a tightly woven community until the homes were demolished in 1960/61. Although the estate was only ever intended to have a limited life span, the friendships forged then have lasted a lifetime and what follows are the memories from some of those close friendships which continue today.

Told in their own words, this is the story of the Highams Park Prefab People. A group of friends brought together through circumstance and for whom the forest became a much loved home and refuge to a weary community only just emerging from the end of the second world war.

Rob Rance’s parents were the first family to move in to the estate in 1947

150 AIROH aluminium and 26 ARCON asbestos clad prefabs were built on the Highams estate during 1947. Using copies of the original council plan, plus Hale End ward Polling District records, I was able to add road names and numbering, to produce an estate plan that now hangs in Humphreys Café. This hall was our Sunday school/ community hall and appears to have been associated with an AA gun emplacement there during WW2. There was an air raid shelter next to it, and our son Scott said that during renovations of the old hall, rail tracks were found when digging the floor up. There is a photo of a 1953 Coronation party behind Troubridge Ave, where you can see the old hut and shelter. This is also in Humphreys along with various old family photos.

My parents, William and Rose Rance, were the very first family to move to the prefab estate during 1947, into No.1 (of 6) Troubridge Avenue. I was born early 1948 and remained there until I was 5. You could run straight from it, across the grass down to HP lake, where my older half-sister did go swimming in, despite cows going into it as well. Many of my cousins would visit, as they lived in flats in Walthamstow. My brother made dens to hide in and carved a giant footprint in the dirt to scare other kids away. My father ran a darts club in the community hall and there is a photo of his cups and shields, me as a cowboy, my brother, sister and a cousin, dressed as red Indians, outside our prefab. We could get lovely ice cream, lollies and drinks at the ’Boat House’, as well as hiring a boat to row around the lake. My sister dug up a small object in our rear garden, which I found in a draw when I was about 10. It turned out to be a Roman coin, so there may have been an encampment there. We moved to an Oak Hill council estate house, but it was only a few hundred yards away, so we still played around the lake and in the forest. It was a wonderful place to have grown up in.

In 1942, a new Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Troubridge, was adopted by the community of Walthamstow and the name was used for two of the street names on the estate.

My now wife Mary, moved onto the estate in 1954/5 and lived at the other end of the estate. She used to go fishing with her father and her mum would bring them a cooked breakfast by the lake. She and friends used to go ‘scrumping’ the fruit trees in the back gardens of the ‘big houses’ behind where she lived. She remembers ‘Pop’ selling groceries from his old estate car and letting the kids sit on the tail gate while he drove around. There was a van that sold vegetables and also a man, who would cycle around selling ice cream from a large box on the front of his bike.

By 1961 many families had moved/been moved into Walthamstow council houses, and the prefabs started to be demolished. The last people to leave were Eleanor and Edward Tomlin and their dog Paddy, from 8, Troubridge Road. They wanted to stay in Woodford Green, so refused to be re-housed elsewhere. There was an article in the local paper showing her walking their dog and just a few prefabs still standing behind them.

Robs sister has since told him she once became very ill after swimming in the lake and another young boy spent several days in hospital.

Stan Bamber moved to the Highams Park estate in 1953

This is the story of how we became part of the Pre-Fab people in the early 1950’s. I was born in March 1947 at Thorpe Combe Hospital. My mum Doris and sister Gloria lived at 13 Nettley Road Walthamstow E17, just off the high street. We stayed there until 1952/1953 when we then moved to the Highams Park prefab estate. We were lucky, it was number 4 Troubridge Avenue on the front row directly facing the lake. I always thought we had the best view from the front of the prefab waking up every morning to fresh air and outstanding views. The prefab was full of mod cons of the day, bathroom kitchen etc. This made mums life a lot easier, not having a dad to care for us made life that little bit harder, but everyone around us on the estate made sure we weren’t left out of anything.

My greatest memories were of all the fun things and times we had concerning the lake which included fishing with tyres wrapped in cloth with bread bait and races around the lake, I think it was approximately 1 mile round trip. Acorn fights (a health and safety no go nowadays), the lake in the winter frozen over and trying not to be the bravest person to cross it in case the ice broke (my sister was the daredevil at this, always at the front of the queue), playing Cowboys and Indians on and over the top of the Nissan huts (fun times), carol singing at Christmas going round what we called the posh houses with my sister and getting paid not to sing, pennies and half pennies in them days, penny for the Guy in October/November in the village of Highams Park standing on the corner by the cinema, Saturday morning pictures.

Having a garden to play in and grow vegetables, me and mum doing it together. One day putting the fork into both my feet and ending up in hospital. (Little did I know that in the future it would be because of the injury, stopped me joining the forces when old enough). The free range cattle that used to roam the estate and the day they broke into the garden and ate all the veg. Made the local rag because of that photo as well (Guardian). Mum used to keep chickens in a run in the garden 3/4 at a time for eggs and sometimes for dinner. Waking one morning in the depths of winter and found them frozen to death. If I think about it I could have been the founder of frozen chicken as it is today.

Watching TV for the first time in mum’s and mine good friends prefab on the street behind ours. I think her name was Barbara Bastin, the first program watched was Quatermass, and hiding behind the sofa because it was so scary. Cubs and Scouts In the community hall and sitting round camp fires in the forest. I can still smell the sausages. The forest keepers bungalow opposite the boat house, and the keeper letting me pick up branches that had fallen to the ground and taking them home on my cart, sawing them up and selling to the posh houses for a shilling a bag. Never did become a millionaire like Dell boy, but what it did teach me was to become independent and realise if you worked at it there was always a money earning opportunity around the corner.

Going to school at Woodford Green primary, come rain snow or shine. Always remember the big open spaces around the school. Sports day, cricket and football games at break and lunch times. Lunch was always taken at the church hall opposite. Mashed potatoes, tapioca pudding and jam highlight of the school day. Milk at break time, so many happy times playing with friends. Great memories again.

One day Conker picking along Woodford high road stuffing them down my jumper, then finding one I didn’t want, throwing it across the road and my luck hit a policeman on his bike. Being chased downhill conkers flying everywhere and being caught and getting a good clip around the ear, being taken home getting another one from mum.

My biggest and one of the best memories was the boat house itself. Helping to push the boats out, occasionally falling in when forgetting to let go. My pay was to have free boat rides taking a single sculler up and down the lake, sometimes stopping off on the island and watching and listening to the wildlife on there. I have a vague memory of a group that sometimes strummed their guitars on the green by the lake and think they ended being called the band the Honeycombs?

The steam train ride from Highams Park to Hoe Street or was it St James Street on a Saturday sometimes to go shopping down Walthamstow market, putting my head out of the window and looking rather black with soot.

I could go on for hours reflecting on these treasured memories. I hope I have brought some back to you my friends. If so write some of yours, it may bring back more for me and others. Of course one if the saddest days was when they started knocking down the prefabs. Being one of the last to leave, it was sad to see go from a happy place for me to just rubble. Moved back to Walthamstow to Billet Road to a house with three bedrooms. Thanks for reading this and hope it brought back those fabulous days of sun, fun and freedom to you all.

Phil Slaney shared the following memories of life on the Prefab estate

In 1947 when I was 2 years old my parents were informed by Walthamstow Borough Council that they had been allocated a Pre-Fab, 21 Fishers Avenue on the Highams Park Estate. My mother and father Win and Fred were delighted as my mother was expecting my brother Steve who was born in October 1947 just after we moved into the new Pre-Fab.

The Pre-Fab was a detached single storey property with its own garden and even a shed with a corrugated roof. We had two bedrooms, a lounge and kitchen and an indoor toilet and bathroom. We had electric heating, hot water and a cooker. The only problem was the winter of 1947 was one of the coldest on record. It was freezing inside the Pre-Fab and I remember scraping ice from the inside of the bedroom windows!

There were 176 Pre-Fabs on the estate and it was mostly young families who moved in after the war. I think there were around 200 children on the estate. I remember the ice cream vendor visiting the estate in the summer on his tricycle. His cooler was full of Walls ice cream cornets much to the delight of the children.

My mother was a Sunday School teacher and she would take my brother and me with her every Sunday afternoon. The Sunday School classes were held in the Community building (which is now Humphry’s Cafe). I can remember singing choruses and my mother would accompany us on the piano. This building was also used for estate community events and Christmas parties.

Living on the estate gave easy access to the forest and Highams Park lake. In those days you could hire a rowing boat from the boat house and my father would take my brother and me on the lake in the summer months. I often go to visit the Highams Park and on a hot summer’s day I can still see the foundations of our Pre-Fab and that brings back many happy childhood memories!

Chris Oliver recalled an incident with an abandoned car

One young guy was always up to mischief. On the other side of the lake in the street opposite the river Ching near the waterfall, there was an abandoned car.

He got four or five of us to help push it while he was at the steering wheel, down the hill with the idea of jumping out before it plummeted over the very steep and very high river bank and went into the water…. Just for a laugh.

Getting the car up to a high speed was not very hard because it was all down hill until the end of the road where he was supposed to jump clear, which he tried to do however just as he jumped the door slammed shut on his shirt sleeve and he got dragged along at great speed until just before the drop off down to the river, when luckily for him the sleeve ripped off at the shoulder….phew!

Trish Gardiner and her best friend Chrissy Hopwood both grew up on the estate

I was born 3rd May, 1948, in Walthamstow, we moved to Highams Park prefabs in 1951, when I was 3. Living in the prefabs was a wonderful experience, some of the happiest days of my life.

Our prefab had two bedrooms, mum and dads and the other I shared with my three brothers. There was a fire in the living room and although we had a bathroom, in the winter us kids would have a bath in a tin tub in front of the fire, the fire was the only form of heating apart from the cooker in the kitchen. In the winter I used to grab my clothes from the bottom of the bed and run to the kitchen, put my clothes under the grill for a few moments to warm up before getting dressed. My brothers and I used to surround the cooker for warmth before going to school. The windows would have ice on the insides and the curtains used to stick to them but it was still heaven to live there. We had so much space and freedom, such a large playground, all the trees to climb, the open fields and the lake.

The cows used to roam freely often coming into our gardens and peering through the windows, sometimes we had the odd horses coming round, one of the horses ‘Sally’ gave birth to a foal at the end of Troubridge Road, the road in front or our prefab. My mum was the one who everyone came to with sick or injured animals and this particular day mum came to help Sally deliver her foal. There were many little animals that we helped, once we had a baby thrush, we called it ‘Brownie’. It had broken its wing or something, anyway mum did all she could for it, giving it food and water, it got better and learnt to fly again, so we released it back into the wild, it came back everyday after that to see us. We had an Anderson shelter in the garden. One day my brother Peter had put a horse in there, dad asked where it came from and Peter said it was one Dan Burgess (the forest ranger) said he could have as it had no mark on it and didn’t know who it belonged to. Needless to say we had to give the horse back. Behind the shelter we had a little graveyard that we used to bury all the little animals that sadly didn’t make it.

My dad also had an aviary in the garden where he kept his canaries; it measured about 10’ x 6’. When dad gave up the birds he transformed it into a playhouse for me, it had two rooms, I had a table and chairs and a little cupboard. I spent a lot of time with my friends playing in it. Dad also made us jiggers (soap box carts), which we used to take up to the top of the hill at Navestock Road and ride all the way to the bottom by the Air Raid Shelters, gathering speed all the time, it was great fun. Another game we all loved to play was at the end of our path, Warrens Avenue, marbles and that was the official marble pitch, several games used to be going on at the same time.

The Sunday school was at the bottom of Troubridge Road, I suppose it was a community hall as well but that’s where my Sunday school was. Next to that was the communal Air Raid Shelters leading down to Tamworth Avenue, they were good fun for children to explore and play on, we obviously wasn’t allowed to but that made it more exciting. There were public toilets near them, just by the lake and the attendant used to shout at us to get away from them; we couldn’t see what the dangers were, although I do remember one of the boys getting stuck inside the dark, dank place, which was really scary even when there were a few of us together.

At the lake in front of the prefabs was a place we used to call the beach, us children used to paddle and the mums and dads used to picnic on the grass. There was an older boy, Martin Murray, from Henry’s Avenue, that played in a group; often they would play their music as everyone sat there. The boat house used to sell tea, cakes and ice cream and also rent out the boats, there were canoes, skiffs and family boats, all were well used and enjoyed.

In 1953 we had a street party to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II coronation, we had long tables with benches and seats from the hall and peoples homes, flags were flying everywhere and everyone joined in. There was a fancy dress parade for the children; I was dressed as a Salad Queen. Mum made a green shift dress for me and decorated it with real salad, lettuce and spring onions, I had a necklace of tomatoes and bracelets of cucumber, tomato and I think radish as well, which I did eat as the day progressed. It was a lovely day which was well remembered.

I can’t remember anyone having cars on the estate, I can only remember the coalman in his coal lorry and we also had a green grocer van come round. Other than that it was a long walk to either Woodford High Road or Highams Park Village to get the groceries.

Unfortunately, the prefabs were only meant for temporary housing and after so many happy years we were forced to move out in 1960. In 1961 the last family, the Tomlins, moved away from the 176 prefabs and they were pulled down. Like many people I still have my happy memories.

The lake is still there and the Sunday school is now a store for the council, our estate is now green fields with a park on it, which I take my grandchildren to and show them where my home used to be, I tell them all the stories from my childhood.

Chrissy Hopwood recalled the golden days at Highams Park

I have such rich memories of growing up on the estate with my best friend Trish, who lived directly behind us. Trish and I both moved there when we were three, and soon discovered our birthdays were exactly one week apart, and from then on we became inseparable.

I lived in Troubridge Road which is one of the few remaining roads, and leads directly to the little cafe now known as Humphries, but was then known as the Sunday School. Every Sunday afternoon between two and three, we all used to troop over there and sit on the wooden forms or chunky wooden chairs, have a story and sing hymns accompanied by the rickety old piano, all under the gentle care of Mr Brewer. The highlight was the annual Sunday School outing when we all used to pile on the coach and go to Maldon for the day. Other than that, the nearest we came to a seaside, which is what we counted Maldon as, was the short stretch of sloping mud leading down to the waters edge to the right of Troubridge Road which we lovingly called “The Beach”.

We did not realise it at the time, but we were unbelievably lucky to have such a rich environment to grow up in. Our whole lives were lived around the lake and forest. We fished for frogspawn in spring, made dens inside the Hawthorns or climbed like monkeys up the tree which soon became known as the Monkey Tree, and which is still there to this day. We were carefree and daring taking risks which would never be allowed for todays children. Trish and I once made a den, at the end of a garden, that backed onto Forest Glade next to the River Ching, and Trish’s mum, my adored Aunt Peg, used to clean for the owner. He was a magistrate, and we lived in constant fear of being caught and sent to prison for life if we were ever discovered trespassing. We even planted flowers outside our den, in what we regarded as our very own secret garden. We were very daring, and I wonder what he thought when he eventually discovered our den at the end of his garden where the fence had surprisingly broken down, and magically, a path had suddenly arrived leading into it.

I like to think he would have smiled, as one Christmas we went carol singing and knocked on his door with our rendition of Silent Night, and He opened the door. We were alarmed. But he smiled, and said – our faces were much prettier than our singing, and gave us half a crown, a huge amount of money for us. So perhaps he did recognise us after all, as the two den builders who had completely taken over, and transformed the end of his garden.

All happy, golden days. Trish and I still keep in contact all these years later and count ourselves as extremely lucky to have had such a paradise to grow up in.

Keith Rayson moved to the estate aged 2 in 1948 and shared his memories

My parents were married in Italy during the war and returned to stay with Mum’s parents on Sky Peals Road. I was born there in 1946 and we lived there until 1948 when we moved into the prefab on Stapleford Path.

The prefab layout was very modern compared to the house on Sky Peals Road. We had a fully fitted kitchen with built in fridge and cooker. There was a fold down table and we had a hand cranked cine projector which sat at the end of the table and projected cartoons onto the wall. Pretty high tech for then! My Dad worked for a company called Barnet Ensign who made photographic equipment and supplies. He became interested and both took pictures and developed them. The bathroom was often festooned with rolls of negatives hanging over the bath.

At the back of the prefab was a narrow stretch of flat ground then a slope down to the bottom fence. Over the fence and we were into the forest. What a great playground. At the front, we had a small garden with a wire mesh fence. I recall we had lots of irises growing there. Some mornings cattle would come past and reach over the fence to eat the flowers.

Around 1949 or 50 I started going to Selwyn Avenue infants school. This involved me in walking from the prefab, through a long stretch of gloomy forest to the nearest bus stop to get the number 35 bus into Highams Park. Quite often after school I’d walk to my grand-parents place on Sky Peals Road and my Dad would eventually collect me. My grand-parents had lots of kids so there was always someone there for babysitting.

Not far away there was the Larkswood Lido. We went there one day and I recall a waiter who’d come out of the restaurant dressed in tail coat and carrying a large tray. He was walking along the side of the pool and for reasons unknown, fell in.

In 1953 we had the street party for the Coronation, lots of tables were brought out and flags were flying. I recall sandwiches, cakes and National Health Squash being served. This came in flat sided medicine type bottles along with cod liver oil.

Shortly after this we moved to Stockport. My Dad had joined another company as a salesman and his territory was the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This meant he was away from home for 2 weeks at a time so we eventually moved to his home town of Stockport. What a contrast. From living in the middle of a peaceful green forest then into a grimy, dirty, noisy and dark industrial town.

Trish Gardiner shared further memories of the estate

I remember the stage on coronation day with us all dressed up and in particular Dan Burgess’s [ the forest keeper’s ] house before it was demolished because of subsidence.

We were playing down by the black and white pole [that used to be at the bottom of Tamworth Avenue and the air raid shelters]. Workmen had left their vehicles there, well kids being kids, we were all over them, I was in the bucket of a digger and Barry was in the drivers seat. He pulled a lever, my right hand fingers, were on the edge of the bucket, bucket dropped, fingers got squashed, I was rushed to Jubilee hospital and they stitched my fingers, particularly my index finger, that’s an awful shape and I’m lucky to have it today.

I mention Martin Murray in my prefab memories, he was the founder of the Honeycombes band.

Chris Oliver recalled one particular fireworks night on the estate

I remember one year the younger Murray boy while sitting on the wall of the new toilet block by the lake, undid all his fireworks and had the gunpowder piled in a pyramid. Just as he struck the match he noticed another banger in his shirt pocket, so he put the still alight match down and undid the banger and as he started to sprinkle it onto the very high pile of gunpowder …Whoosh… Up it went in his face!

Lucky for him he wore glasses…it was the funniest thing to see his entire face as black as the ace of spades. Although his glasses protected his eyes, he still lost his eye brows, eye lashes and the hair wave on the front of his head.

The following day we couldn’t stop laughing as his entire face other than around his eyes that were pale white, was extremely red.That along with no eyebrows, no eye lashes and the front of his hair gone like a middle aged man with hair loss was so funny. The only person that didn’t laugh in our entire school was our blind music teacher, I think his name was Mr Thomas.

He was amazing. If a kid was playing up he would throw a piece of chalk with remarkable accuracy and hit the offender. One day I can’t remember what I was doing but he threw the chalk at me and I lifted the lid of the desk to stop it. After the chalk hit the floor he yelled ‘pick it up!’, while leaning over he threw the blackboard rubber that was half made of wood at me. It hit me on the shoulder quite hard. I remember thinking it would have hurt if it had hit me on the head.

Jacqui Groombridge remembered an old Oak tree which still stands today being struck by lightning

Oh that Oak tree if it was the same one was at the bottom of my garden just to the right. Oh memories. Mrs Blithe from next door came to our back door with a basket of laundry she had rescued from our garden for mum because of a storm.

I have a crazy picture of a flash of lightning in the form of a laundry basket to the side of the tree as mum opened the door to her. I wonder if that is when the tree was struck. Strange the perception of children, I am convinced to this day of what I saw. I loved that tree. I was the original tree hugger and still am now.

Not been back for years. I’ve been dubious in case it has changed too much. Perhaps we should but my parents moved away in the early 80s and my mother in law to a home near Mick’s sister in the 90s, who at the time lived in Northampton (now in Norfolk like us).

Pearl Brown shared her own fond memories

Does anyone remember Dennis Randall? He had learning difficulties and used to herd the cows that roamed around the Prefabs. He knew all the cows and even named them.

I remember him so well. I remember him as always being happy. I think he was oblivious to ridicule. He used to play in the garden with me, Linda and Joan Stimpson. I had a wind up record player and the only record I had was Penny Serenade and Shrimp Boats Are A Coming. He loved to dance to them. Such lovely memories.

Maggie Pyne Still lives in a neighbouring street and remembers the final months of the Prefab estate

We moved to Montalt Road in May 1959 and there were still Prefabs in the park. Some were inhabited and others were empty. Our house was one that had access to the park and we firmly believed that the council would develop the site when they had finished demolishing the Prefabs.

Imagine our delight when the council cleared the site and moreover landscaped and planted it complete with barriers to exclude the wandering cows, very much a feature of the forest and frequenters of our front garden!

My three children loved the freedom of playing in the park. I organized a family play day in the summer holidays for the parents and children of the local primary school. As for sliding down the hills on sledges or tea trays, we did all that too. My piece de resistance was building an igloo with the snow. I got that down to a fine art!

I think the park is so beautiful now that the plantings and landscaping have matured and consider myself very fortunate to be living on the edge of the park.

What shines through all these stories is the deep connection the residents had with the forest surrounding their homes and the strong sense of community on the Prefab estate. It also permeates through these memories what an idyllic location these families found themselves in after the hardships of war. That fondness for the park and its surrounding forest land remains as strong today.

Many people remember various community events on the estate. Bonfire night was always keenly anticipated, with hot food made available to keep children warm. Some residents remember the penny bangers, jumping jacks, tuppenny cannons and walking around the estate the day after bonfire night looking for fireworks that hadn’t gone off. Others recall putting bangers under old tin cans to see how high they would fly in the air and collecting wood to build bonfires in the run up to the big night hoping it wouldn’t rain.

On the hillside above the lake some clues remain that there were once structures here. Some areas of tarmac which were once roads going through the estate are still visible and in dry summers the outlines of foundations of some buildings can be seen through the grass, as a result some residents have been able to locate where their own Prefabs would have stood. The once bustling community now a series of scars on the ground with only the community hall left standing.

Reunions are usually arranged yearly between former residents who meet up at Humphrys Cafe which once served as the Sunday school and community hall on the estate. Further information about the park and its fascinating history can be found in the previous article titled Highams Park below.

https://eppingforestforum.com/2021/06/25/highams-park/

The Prefab People

Once again I would like to thank Phil Slaney, Rob Rance, Trish Gardiner, and Chrissy Hopwood for their continued support with these articles. My thanks also to Stan Bamber, Keith Rayson, Jacqui Groombridge, Chris Oliver, Pearl Brown and Maggie Pyne for their additional contributions used in this follow up piece.

With special thanks to the ‘Highams Park Prefab People’ for kindly welcoming me into their online community and sharing this very special part of their lives and their memories with me for this article. These are just some of the shared memories of life on the Prefab estate but there are many more former residents spread near and far with their own stories to tell.

For a short time in history these people, their friends and their families were a part of the fabric of this small corner of Epping forest, one of the many forest communities. Although the estate they once called home no longer exists, the treasured memories of the ‘Prefab People’ are indelible.

More of these wonderful memories and personal family photos of life on the Prefab estate can be found on the group’s Facebook page at the following link –

https://m.facebook.com/groups/2105094413052367/?tsid=0.9365730377379535&source=result

The Highams Park Prefab Estate