General Chat

Can anyone help me. In the 1980's, there was a documentry made on White City Gloucester. It was a bout two roads, Southfield Rd (the posh end) and Northfield Rd, a council road with houses that were white and made of concerte in the late 1920's. I think it was called 'Them and Us'. I would be so pleased if anyone knows where I could get a copy from and if anyone can remember it being filmed. Thank you.

Jackie, can I suggest that you contact our local paper The Citizen, they have a web site This is Gloucestershire.co.uk. I don't remember the film because we didn't live in Gloucester from 1981 to 1992 but I am sure somebody there will help you.

It doesn't mention the film but I did find this:

Although the area had its problems and the name "White City" does not appear on a map, there was a sense of community among longstanding residents who did not want to lose their homes and sense of place.
Mike Lawlor, who was chairman of Gloucester City Council's housing and regeneration committee at the time, remembers some fairly heated discussion but reckons the neighbourhood is better off now as a result.
"There was a lot of apprehension in the community," he said.
"Some residents wanted to stay and others wanted to come back.
"But it was a good example of how local people, a council, a developer and residents' groups can work together.
"It gave the estate a new beginning, as it did have a reputation.
"There were some people who wanted to stay in their own homes but it was not about taking a legal position, it was about working with them to find alternative accommodation to meet their needs."
New names appeared on the map like Barnfields and Broadway. Other names remained but look very different now.
Bibury Road has a mix of the old and new, while Sapperton Road's brick built council homes, now managed by Gloucester City Homes, were modernised.
Gloucester City Council effectively handed over land the demolished homes stood on to Oxbode Housing Association, who with Beazer homes, built new houses. Some are privately owned, and Oxebode rent out 154 homes.
In Sheena's case, it meant a permanent move, along Sapperton Road by a few dozen doors.
"It was about 1990 when it started and mine was modernised in about 1994," said Sheena, who volunteers at the White City Neighbourhood Project and is vice chairman of the area's residents association.
"I remember that if you lived in a council house that was being demolished, they gave you £500 and found you somewhere else to live, and you could move back if you wanted to.
"If your house was modernised, you got £30 for a rug, for where your fire place once was.
"It was fantastic – the old houses had no central heating, no double glazing, so when most people moved back in, it was quite a change.
"It really transformed the estate.
"It did have a reputation, some of it not deserved, but people want to live here now. That's the difference."
n For more news from White City log onto www.thisisgloucester shire.co.uk/whitecity



And this:
White City was built between 1926 and 1928, one of the first "Dwelling For the Working Classes" in this country. It is still surrounded by 'better quality' housing a design feature to hide the Working Class from those passing throught out City. It is now 2008 not 1926,