‘The Deeplish Study’ 1966

This case study of ‘environmental improvement’ (its subtitle is ‘Improvement possibilities in a district of Rochdale’) contains a number of examples of recalibration of 19^th century urban environments to provide open space in what we would typify as ‘internal reserve’ style. The area is known as Deeplish, in the south of Rochdale, Lancashire.

‘The houses are usually clean and neat… But unmade roads, ill-kept back alleys, allotments, derilect land, old broken walls, groups of garages, the dirty brook and some untidy buildings contribute to a generally run-down impression… it looks as though the people responsible for various parts of it have given up trying to make it look attractive’ (p. 2). There is considerable discussion of derilect and/or allotment land used for children’s play (p. 10 passim). The author(s) also state, tellingly, that when asked their opinion about ‘outdoor play facilities for children… they expressed the easily articulated demand for a children’s fitted playground… The mothers’ main worry was the danger to children from traffic. (p. 30).’

Having set up the problems inherent in a place such as ‘Deeplish’, the study then goes on to imaginatively suggest a range of redesign options. Many of these include what we would call (but it doesn’t) internal reserves. ‘For the smallest children,’ it says, ‘play space has to be very close to the houses and in a district where back access to the houses is common it can be combined with a broader and improved back walk’ (p. 49)’. This is reiterated on p. 61, in a discussion of one particular sector where ‘the opening up, paving and lighting of the back walks would render these suitable for toddlers’ playgrounds within sight of their homes’.

I have presented here two images of many. 

The image above may give you some idea of the areas that are being hypothetically improved, and some of the proposals for rear access paths behind houses, which are not per se internal reserves but which represent at least some of the conceptualized spaces. 

This image, which conforms more closely to the kind of space we’re interested in, is not really described in the text, although there is discussion of improvement of waste land generally, for instance thus:

‘An area may also be greatly improved by the planting of trees, the removal of unsightly fences and sheds and the landscaping of spare patches of land. The local authority can also take a lead in promoting a scheme for the particular benefit of a group of houses by agreement among owners.'

Another, very familiar trope is canvassed in this same paragraph: 

'But vandalism is a problem, and unless the vigilance of local people can be enlisted in looking after what is in fact part of their living space, the life of new trees, seats, swings etc., may be short’ (p. 50).  

Oh, and um...