Day 65, Kelvin Flats

Cue lots of stuff about 'streets in the sky', etc.

Here is a view from our balcony on Kelvin Flats.  This was 168 Edith Walk, the top floor.  As you can see the flats were still under construction at the far end.  I recall that the landing that continued on the other side of the lift and stair area was blocked by a hardboard wall with a door in it.  This must have been around 1970.

We were the first to live in our flat.  It had two floors, a kitchen, a sitting room, a hallway with stairs, and on the upper floor were three whole bedrooms, a bathroom, and a lavatory.  Those last two were luxuries that we didn't have before, the bath had hung on the back wall, and the loo was at the back of the yard previously.  It was in the last century so that was pretty normal back then.  We probably had rickets too, which due to current government health policy we appear to have again (fact check that please - ed).  

The nearest lifts and stairs to us were a reasonable sized open space.  Us kids used to have a kick about there.  One of my mates only had one leg, sometimes when he kicked the ball his leg would fly off.  His false leg was made of pretty hefty amount of metal and plastic, if it had flown off in the right direction it could have wiped out a family of four alighting from the bus stop just outside.

This more recent image should put the above photograph into some context.

Digital Image copyright © Sheffield City Council.


While Kelvin Flats were being demolished me and a another person got under the surrounding fence and clambered about on the building.  As the flats were being demolished in sections along the side where the houses/flats were it was possible to walk along the landings.  In some of the flats the hallway lead to empty space or you could get as far as the kitchen door before a huge drop to certain death.  We were ok though as the other person I was with was a trainee doctor, I'm pretty sure anything could have been fixed with on-the-spot medical help.

Hyde Park Flats and Park Hill seem to have more national notoriety than Kelvin.  While parts of the other two estates remain Kelvin was completely demolished, among reasons cited are the amount of trouble that there was on the Flats in later years.  I used to visit friends and family on Kelvin occasionally and I'd say the place was no more hazardous than Hyde Park or Park Hill - make of that what you will.

My own experience of it is that it was a decent place to live, although perhaps not an ideal environment for kids, one of my friends fell to his death from his bedroom window.  After that happened workmen visited every flat and drilled the aluminium window frames and inserted a screw in each so that they could be opened no wider than a fist.  Too fucking late.  I remember walking by the sand they put down to soak up what they couldn't remove.

During my last visit to the flats, via the 'under the fence' method, I made a point of visiting 168 Edith Walk.  I was the last person in there as well as one of the first.