Arlingtonia in the Sixties
The Square pictured before its railings (removed in World War Two) were replaced in the 1970s. The figure to the right may be one of the two park-keepers.
They say that if you remember the 1960s, you probably weren’t there. But some senior Arlingtonians who definitely were here have been sharing their memories of our neighbourhood 50 years ago.
More than 100 terraced houses were torn down between 1963 and 1972 to make way for the Packington Estate.
Younger readers may find it hard to believe but this area was once considered a slum. Many houses were divided into flats and bedsits, and it was very difficult to get a mortgage on period properties. As a result the council knocked down a cluster of terraced streets and created the Packington Estate. (Interesting how those early 1970s council flats have now had to be replaced, while the early Victorian houses are still standing – and with selling prices that would have made their owners in the 1960s gasp in disbelief.)
The west end of Arlington Avenue viewed from Packington Street. In the middle, on the corner of Bevan Street, is the Clothworkers Arms (now flats). All the houses this side of the pub were demolished in the late 1960s.
But although Arlingtonia was definitely downmarket in the Sixties, even then a fair few celebrities lived here. The conductor Colin Davis could be seen pushing a pram along Arlington Avenue where he lived. At the time he was musical director of Sadler’s Wells Opera. He was knighted in 1980 and died in 2013. A near neighbour was John Culshaw, head of music for BBC TV, who had previously pioneered the new stereophonic technique for recording opera at Decca Records.
Unfamilar estate agents’ signs on the corner of Arlington Square.
Local visitors included a rag-and-bone man who came with his cart collecting scrap, and another chap who sold seafood from a cart on Sundays. It was possible to take a jug to the Rydon Arms on Arlington Avenue and New North Road and have it filled with beer to drink back home.
Long-time residents tell us that Arlington Square had not one but two fulltime park-keepers who looked after the garden and kept the children who played there in order.
And as a footnote to the feature on coalhole covers in the last Arlingtonian, one neighbour was reminded of happy childhood days playing marbles under local rules on the pavement, where the circular indentations in the John C Aston covers were an integral part of the game.
We are grateful for the photographs and reminiscences supplied by our neighbours. If you have anything to add, or you know someone who has memories of our area in bygone days, please drop us a line: arlingtonassociation@hotmail.co.uk.