What lies beneath the old golf course
Gillian Livingstone digs into the background of the old golf course and the town dump that preceded it
The summer issue of Guardian Angel included Sally Cunningham’s vivid account of a childhood experience when – while exploring with her friends, and dog – she made a gruesome discovery: a death pit used to bury animals affected by foot and mouth disease. Her article reminded me of the power of memory to open up the past and regain knowledge that might be relevant today.
The freedom to roam, to have adventures and to embrace risk were themes that emerged in a recent audio history project conducted as part of the campaign to save the former golf course. Volunteers interviewed members of the community who had lived near the site before it was a golf course. Then, the area was known as the ‘old dump’, a description used in the current campaign to remind us of the site’s less verdant past. Their histories, with audio files, can be found on the website: keepitgreenboa.com/blogfeed
Jeff Parsons lived in Bradford on Avon from 1970 to 2003, and worked as a surveyor for the urban district council from 1964-1974. In the audio history he describes the waste management of the site as ‘primitive’, noting that until the late ’60s there was no machinery to distribute the waste properly. As a result, combustible materials were a constant hazard, and locals were used to hearing the noise of fire-engines rushing from the station near Westbury House to deal with yet another fire.
At the time he was concerned the tip was accessible after business hours with no apparent restrictions. This explains why it became such a playground for children. Judith Christensen, now in her 70s, grew up in Avonfield Avenue. She and the other children made dens behind their homes – a tradition that continues today- and later when the tip was closed, they would gather with their toboggans to navigate the hilly terrain. An idyllic childhood.
But there were hygiene problems, and illness too. The waste dumped in the old, galvanised dustbins encouraged rats and swarms of flies that invaded the homes and gardens nearby.
The infestation eventually led to the dump being closed and its amenities being located elsewhere. At the same time, Judith recalls how her mother suffered from breathing problems and bloating of the arms and legs, which was later linked to large flies emerging from toxic waste.
Julian Derrick, who grew up on St Laurence Road, also enjoyed having the run of the site. He and his friends would find old prams and use the wheels to make improvised go-karts. If caught, they would scarper and hide in the mounds of waste. However, all this ended when they learned about what might be buried there. The dump had been used to dispose of dead cattle contaminated by anthrax; sheep culled after contracting foot and mouth disease; cyanide, toluene, naphtha and industrial cleaning fluids, banned by the EU, all potentially still present. There might even have been ammunition dumped by the American GIs based at Upper Westwood towards the end of World War II.
GIs also featured in Julie Sherman’s audio history. She was born in 1952 and came to Bradford on Avon when she was 19. In her interview she shared a story from her neighbour about GIs ‘dumping’ goods – but in this case it was tins of fruit every Saturday night, as a way to lighten their baggage before returning home. The local children would intervene and make off with the unexpected booty.
Julie’s stories give an insight into Bradford on Avon’s recent commercial past. As a girl, she worked weekends at the mushroom factory at Elms Cross and recalls that the spent growing medium was left at the dump each week. Later she became part of a cottage industry of home workers finishing tennis balls for the Spencer Moulton Rubber Company. It was hard work – they were given boxes of 10 balls or ‘smalls’ which had to be covered in felt and then hand rolled to seal the joins. The adhesives were unpleasant to touch, and the smell of glue permeated the house. The women continued late into the night, working to exacting standards and to meet deadlines. Her husband helped out when he wasn’t doing night shifts on the assembly lines producing rubber hoses and windscreen wipers.
Many of the participants recollected how frequently lorries visited the site. Joan and Terry Allan have lived in Bradford for more than 60 years. They remember the lorries arriving every hour, including many from outside town. Terry also worked at the mushroom factory and Avon Rubber and remembers that the waste from the rubber factory was managed by a contracting company and there were concerns about the safety of the chemicals, even on the factory floor.
So much speculation about the nature of the deposits in the old tip and yet there is some historical evidence of what was considered normal practice. In his interview, architect and local historian Martin Valatin shared knowledge gleaned from the late Pete MacGregor, who worked as an industrial chemist at the Avon Rubber factory.
“Large amounts of asbestos, carcinogenic chemicals including aromatic amines and drums of cyanide (used for chrome plating and steel hardening, in the manufacturing of motorbikes) were disposed of at the dump in the period between the 1940s and the 1960s.” Martin believes the toxins still exist and yet because the disposal was ‘surreptitious’, locating them is a challenge. Lacking any formal documentation, they have become a time-bomb for any future developer.
Since the blogs have been published, the developer, Cala Homes, has withdrawn its plans to build houses on the former golf course. The background to their decision is not in the public domain, but it is just possible that the insights gained from the shared memories of local people was a contributing factor.
