I don't know when exactly this picture is from, I'm dating it only based on the fact that it's black and white. It does however look quite a nice place to live.
In the 70s/80s, slowly the area changed. Travelling gypsies who wanted a more permanent place to live moved in, with house prices being low because of the motorway outside their back doors. As more of them moved in, the gypsies 'claimed' it as their own territory.
Slowly, the area got more and more rough, locals didn't dare go in there, and there were often conflicts. Eventually, the council evicted everyone living there, and burned/knocked down the whole area. It's lay derelict and sealed off like this for at least 15 years now. Three attempts to regenerate the area (one by the government, one by a tv program and one by the council) have all been forgotten.
The area is still on maps, despite being sealed off and beyond repair:
Me and fellow goon TheGoatFeeder went today to have a look around, some of the photos are a little weird..
This is a view down the main road (Gorsey Bank Road on the map):
Looking from 'Bank' across towards Foremont Grove (maybe, the named cul-de-sac), through where houses would have been:
Looking up the first (unlabeled) sidestreet, the entrance to which was completely overgrown:
A rather over-optimistic looking tree for the area, by the roadside:
Stood in the middle of Wirral Crescent, where it loops back to Gorsey Bank. This road again was completely blocked off:
An open area off to the side of the main road. This area seemed far less overgrown than anywhere else:
There weren't as many possessions as we'd expected to find there, although they could be buried under the growth, seeing as it's slowly taking over the roads. There was this child's bike, which seemed to be half buried fairly securely:
This keyboard, which was now home to a tribe of ants. We immediately thought it was from a BBC, but looking again it's clearly not. Ideas on a postcard:
There was also this pile of clothes half buried in the undergrowth, along with a toothbrush and McCleans toothpaste:
