VERY RARE PICTURES OF POST-WAR PREFAB ESTATE NEAR BRIGG TOWN CENTRE

Here are some very rare Brigg pictures showing the estate of prefabs which once stood near Elwes Street - just a short distance from the town centre.
The demand for housing in the years following the Second World War far exceeded the supply available, and Brigg Urban District Council was one of the UK local authorities which responded with temporary prefabricated properties (cheap to build, quick to erect).
There was a large prefab estate (Woodbine Grove) off Preston Drive, whose site eventually became Woodbine Park following their demolition in the early 1970s.
As our family used to live in one of the Woodbine Grove prefabs (close to Hawthorn Avenue) we have many pictures taken inside and outside No. 16 and showing some of the bungalows, in neat rows, which stood nearby.
However, the Elwes Street estate, known as Ancholme Gardens, is another matter. Seen above are the only pictures we've been able to find which show them.
Dating from the early 1960s is a bird's eye view (looking north).
The other image, courtesy of Tony Instone, shows some of the Elwes Street prefabs behind Brigg Wolf Cubs during what is believed to have been a Space-related theme day circa 1965.
The UDC removed the Elwes Street prefabs well over 50 years ago, and today there is Ongo-run housing occupying this site.
There were various post-war prefab designs in the UK, and those on Woodbine Grove, Brigg, looked very different to the properties off Elwes Street.
However, the families who occupied either type were just glad to have accommodation - weekly rent being paid to the council.
Our local authority had a large housing stock and built more semis and terraced properties throughout the 1950s and 1960s and even into the early 1970s.
So when the UDC called time on both prefab estates, it was possible to offer tenants alternative brick-built accommodation on various estates across the town.
There are people living in Brigg today (other than us) who spent their early years as prefab dwellers and can still remember what they were like.
Those on Woodbine Grove had inside toilets (unlike many of the older Brigg UDC properties at the time) and neat kitchens with built-in storage units.
However, they had only two bedrooms. So with many 'Baby Boomer' era additions being made to Brigg families, they became unsuitable as the years progressed.
The prefabs were ideal for pensioner couples or people living on their own, but the council's policy was to give priority to families with children.
It was never intended that prefabs would have lengthy lives; they were short-term additions.