Here is one that has been baffling to say the least, when we left the Daneliegh flats in Crumpsall at the end of 1977 we moved to Harpurhey, on the new Hadfield estate, soon became known as the ‘200’ estate (so called after the ‘200’ pubic house which was built on the estate, commemorating Boddingtons 1778 – 1978 ) anyway, we use to play quite a lot on the weird flats on Lathbury Road / Monsal Road, they had a very unusual design, very unusual almost like a krypton factor puzzle or more sinister muggers ally, with walk ways with a labyrinth of passages. As you can image this was fantastic fun for kids and even though we played on there for several years I never fully knew my way around it.
These flats had a couple of names, the official ‘Turkey Lane’ Flats, another Lathbury Road Flats, the most common name ‘White Flats’ and some locals and all the kids called them Lego-land after the large white block style design… these flats wasn’t built for long before they was demolished in the mid to late 1980s as a bad idea, but for some very strange reason I can not find any reference to them on the internet and certainly no pictures at all anywhere, does anyone have any pictures or stories of these flats, would love to hear of any?
I have recently been told that these flats was known as the Turkey Lane Estate, these flats had their own Turkey Lane (wooden) Adventure Play Ground which bordered on to Queens Road, and after all these years I thought the flats themselves was the adventure playground, unfortunately they also came down, the flats was pulled down about 1986, I thought it was slightly later but I was not sure, also to add to the unusual design, here is an odd bit of info, when entering these flats you had to go upstairs to the living room and once there you had to go downstairs to the bathroom, the bedrooms was above the living room no wonder they come down!
Sounds interesting. But of course, the 'upside down' concept is back and part of the design of the houses in Langworthy, currently being developed by Urban Splash! I'd be interested in finding more information about these Turkey Lane flats. Does anyone have any pictures.
In these less glamorous parts of Manchester, with less notable architecture, a whole era and stage of development has been completely forgotten. Maybe not one photo exists of the demolished flats, because nobody thought to photograph them at the time, as they weren't considered 'interesting' or 'photogenic' enough?
I lived in those houses in Langworthy as a kid, and have many fond memories of Salford. The flats in Monsall area I remember passing on the bus every so often, and thinking it was a kind of open-plan multi-storey car-park or something, and finally realising one day it was actually homes. When I listen to certain music now it still reminds me of those weird constructions!!! Very psychedelic, methinks...
i think you can just get a glimpse of them in the back of this pic
i think the new monsall housing office is now on this corner where this pub once was but i could be wrong!
Hi we were one of the first to move into the flats, after our old house on cardiff street was demolished.
the design was strange you entered the entrance lobby in our flat then went down stairs to two bedrooms, then down stairs to the toilet bathroom and living room, finaly down again to the kitchen and dining room.
the next door neighbour went from the entrance hall, up stairs to dining and kitchen, up again to living room bath and toilet up again to two bedrooms and up again to one bedroom and a storage room. these were the ground floor flats on the next floor everything was reversed, the three bedroom flats went down, the two bedroom flats went up
Hi we were one of the first to move into the flats, after our old house on cardiff street was demolished.
the design was strange you entered the entrance lobby in our flat then went down stairs to two bedrooms, then down stairs to the toilet bathroom and living room, finaly down again to the kitchen and dining room.
the next door neighbour went from the entrance hall, up stairs to dining and kitchen, up again to living room bath and toilet up again to two bedrooms and up again to one bedroom and a storage room. these were the ground floor flats on the next floor everything was reversed, the three bedroom flats went down, the two bedroom flats went up
what end of cardiff st. did you know george hyde
who lived off lathbury rd. moved about 1962
what end of cardiff st. did you know george hyde
who lived off lathbury rd. moved about 1962
Hi George I lived at the top end of Cardiff street where Willow street crossed, There was a factory called Neon Installations at the bottom with a neon sign lit up at night.
I was born 1961 and lived there till they pulled the houses down, then moved to The white flats,
After living in a two up two down I thought the flats were the hight of luxury,having a real bath was wonderfull!
I am vice-chair of Harpurhey remembered group who meet once a month, sharing our stories and memories of Harpurhey.
We hope to get a book together because so little is written about the area, and soon no one will remeber what Harpuhey was like not that long ago.
11/12/06, 07:56 AM
The White Flats aka Lego-Land
Linear Mode
