In the aftermath of the Great War, Prime Minister David Lloyd George urged for the need to make Britain ‘a country fit for heroes to live in,’ where ex-servicemen could enjoy improved living conditions. In July 1919, the Housing and Town Planning Act received royal assent. Despite having initial doubts about the idea of building new homes through the Great War, Bristol City Council purchased 700 acres of land in late 1918 to build high quality housing estates. On the centenary of the Act’s passing, Peter Malpass’ article examines its impact on town planning in Bristol and explains why the Act should be celebrated.
Tag: local government board
‘Slandering the Poor’: Maud Davies and Life in an English Village
"The title of this article was the headline in the Warminster & Westbury Journal, January 1910, for a report of a recent meeting of Corsley Parish Council. Most places would be delighted if anew book was published about them, but when in 1909 a young scholar produced a study of this parish on the edge of the Longleat estate, between Warminster and Frome, the council tried to suppress it and have it withdrawn". Jane Howells provides an insight into the controversy, and why the council attempted to keep it quiet.