The Steel Houses

A Memory of Southsea.

Having lived in Brymbo in a very damp two up two down house in 'The Green' my parents were 'over the moon' to be given a new three bedroomed house; 23, Bryn Hedd, Southsea, (which means peaceful hill) became their home for the rest of their lives although there was far too little peace to be had! Dad worked in the coal mine at Gresford and worked night shifts so he slept in the day - that is if he could get any sleep amongst the shouting by the boys playing football on the street outside and me and Maureen playing all the top ten hits of the hit parade inside! Never the less we all enjoyed living there and it was a lovely home to me and my sisters until we reached our middle teenage years; Maureen left to be married when 18 and stayed married forever - she and husband Vivian still live in the same house they bought before they married - I left about the same age but had five marriages, my younger sister Carol also left home at that age and was married twice, 10 years after me.
The houses were built of steel frames and were cheap and quick to erect, and had gardens to front and rear and indoor toilets! They were the government's answer to the need for housing after the 2nd world war and proved themselves good value and are still standing proudly after 60 years and they look as though they will stay up for many years to come. The people housed there soon gelled together and I remember mums going from one house to another for a cup of tea and a chat every day. In fact I often had to go out around the houses asking if my mum was there and when found, I would pester her to come home to cook dinner! There were not many children of my age, about 8 boys and half as many girls I remember Malcolm Davies who I saw as my best friend at that time, he now lives in Rhosddu, Wrexham, and his brother Elwyn who left to live on the east coast of England and never returned. Also remembered is George Jones, who lost one arm in an accident with a train, eventually he settled in Wrexham selling cars, and Raymond Jones who lived next door to me - they were a large family of 10 children at the last count, Mrs Jones lives there alone these days. Gordon Davies (unrelated to Malcolm) lived across the road, he was a simple and kind soul - and still lives in the area frequenting the Rollers Arms pub in the old part of Southsea.
We all lived in these steel houses, there were two roads, Bryn Hedd and 'The Ring', it was odd because I remember we had very little to do with the people from 'The Ring' even though it was just 50 yards away, I have never understood that. We were all working class, our dads mainly worked in the mines and steelworks and mums not working anywhere except in their house. We were a close-knit community; everybody knew everybody else's business and I disliked that. I particularly disliked the way that various people would call to collect money on a Friday night, the milk, the insurance, the savings man, the paper boy etc all would tap on the back door wait for a second then open the door and walk into the kitchen and take the coins left by my mother for them in neat piles. I resolved then that when I had a house no one would do that (and they don't!). I saw it as an invasion of privacy. Anyway, we all stumbled through life just about paying for eveything as we went along. It was a major event when the first boy ever from the steel houses qualified to go to university, Neville Whithead was his name, and he set the standard for us all coming up behind him. Nev went on to do very well indeed, winning a medal in the Olympic games in Rome as a sprinter in the relay team and later was awarded the OBE later and also met the Pope!
He was a non drinker, non smoker and lived a good life, he was still fit and running the year that cancer took him in his early sixties. He became a university lecturer and achieved so much. He moved to a very nice home in south west Wales, but he never forgot the steel houses in Southsea; often returning to see his own parents and would come across to talk to my mum and dad who thought the world of him. Everybody loved Nev (Nick to his other friends) and I was fired up by his example  and I like to think he inspired me. I realised that I didn't have to accept what the working class 'steel houses life' offered me and that I could achieve much more if I worked at it. I did all that and after much wandering around settled in a fantastic Victorian town house in LLandudno. University degrees and an international educational company which I founded 25 years ago all done, and I still remember the steel house of Southsea and those friends and family who helped me so much.

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