Жители Апминстера в 1950-х отстояли общинные земли и сохранили деревенский дух при активной застройке

Life in 1950s Upminster was marked by new housing developments, a battle over a common, and even a cowboy performer. This week, the Recorder is heading back to the fifties in Upminster - a decade when residents countered major suburban expansion with a defence of their village identity. The area remained rural and predominantly farmland until the late 19th century, with new housing developments first arriving after 1906 when developer W. P. Griggs laid out the Upminster Hall Estate as a "garden suburb". But, yet more homes were built in the 1950s north of Upminster Hall, in a similar style to the garden suburb, including in Front Lane, Cranham. A "Front Lane Housing Site" plan from October 1953 shows 475 dwellings, with four north-facing maisonettes and "Cornish Units" - two-storey properties with concrete walls - added in 1954. Photos from the 1950s show some of these new streets, including Roseberry Gardens, Griffin Avenue and Brunswick Avenue. Elsewhere in the town, The Optimist Tavern opened at the corner of Hacton Lane and Little Gaynes Lane in 1956 - the only new inn to join Upminster in the entirety of the 20th century. Although Upminster station opened in 1885, new transport developments arrived many years later in the form of the new District line depot. Fully operational from 1959, it was the first completely new depot to be built for the Underground since the war and cost £1 million to construct. A total of 25 trains can fit in the depot at once for day-to-day cleaning and maintenance work. Despite Upminster's rapid expansion - including to its population which swelled from 5,732 in 1931 to more than 13,000 in 1951 - residents still fought for their village identity and open spaces. Do you remember life in 1950s Upminster? Share your memories in the comments below. This was most evident in the bitter dispute over Tylers Common in 1951, known as the Battle of Upminster Common, where locals fought Essex County Council’s attempt to fence and lease the common after wartime cultivation. The campaign was taken up in Parliament, eventually leading to the Minister for Agriculture ruling that the county’s enclosure was illegal. To celebrate the victory, a commemorative stone was erected opposite the common, which is still standing today. Entertainment also came to Upminster during the 1950s, in the form of Cal McCord "cowboy" who performed rope spinning outside the Roomes Store.