Wray Crescent

krappyrubsnif

Does anyone know the history of Wray Crescent open space? Was there originally an actual crescent of fine houses all the way round that got bombed in the war, or was it never developed? Since rediscovering it recently its becoming one of my favourite places to hang out on a spot of local flanêurisme, especially with the new bakery round the corner.

Kevoco

I can only remember it as being a bomb site which I used as a short cut on the way to/from Christ the King school but at that time the school was in a large house at the end of Wray Crescent rather than a purpose built school. The site was well used by the local kids for all sorts of activities, as were most of the local bomb sites, and was a focal point for the local Guy Fawkes night celebrations when all manner of items were collected in the weeks leading up to 5th November so as a large bonfire could be lit on the actual day.

A friend lived on Wray Crescent opposite what is now the open space and, from memory, lived in a 1st or 2nd floor flat but can’t remember if this was purpose built or converted from a large house but assume this would have been mirrored on the opposite of the crescent prior to the war.

Alas, the “short cut” was curtailed in the late 50’s when flat bed lorries started turning up with their cargo of pre-fabs on the back which quickly turned the site into a small housing estate that was still in-situ when we moved away from the area in the mid 60’s.

AtomGallery

In a thread about what was on the site of the Tesco on SGR (further down on this page) there is a link to a map apparently published in 1952 which shows Wray Cres as complete..?

graystar

If you want to lose a few hours check this site out.

It's a photo from the air in 1937 before the war. Left hand side you can see the houses on Wray Crescent.
If you zoom in really closely you can see the smoke of a locomotive coming down the old railway line.

https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW052782

krappyrubsnif

That is brilliant thanks