back-to-back houses

[pinksmartie]

what were back to back houses like in london in the late 19th century? angd is there a website that tell you about it and gives a picture of the layout of the houses?

[pinksmartie]

P.S how many families would have had to share a room,a water pump and a toilet? thanks xxxxx

[B00]

Awww, my 1st home when I was married was a back to back, not in London though, here in good 'ol Lancashire.

It had 2 small rooms downstairs, and two upstairs, about the size of a dolls house really- lol.

[B00]

Found this

[B00]

PS- there's still loads of 'em round my area too!

[jno]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/westmidlands/series1/back-to-back-houses.shtml

[jno]

this one has a lot of info, click on the link on the page:

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/ELibrarySearchServlet?E_LIBRARY_END_USER_ACTION=10005&E_LIBRARY_CONTENT_ID=93

[raysparx]

Hello pink,

the easiest way to describe is they are the sort of houses in Coronation street, sometimes they had a little alleyway or gunnel (spelling?) dividing at the back otherwise the little yards at the back were the only division from the back of the the next terrace.

Don't know if what I have just said makes sense,it does to me!!!

[raysparx]

Forgot to say,the Toilet was always in the backyard, bloody cold in there to,and only cut up newspaper on a piece of string,no lovely soft andrex then, god your spoilt!!!

[jno]

you had yards raysparx? Luxury! According to this map, most didn't, because they were, well, back to back:

http://www.midlandspubs.co.uk/birmingham/maps/backtobacks.htm

[raysparx]

Hello jno,

Don't forget we were posh,we lived in the slums of london,the yard was the width of the little house and about 6foot deep, as I say Posh,with a big P

[jno]

pooh, raysparx, that's not back-to-backs, that's a garden suburb!

[raysparx]

could have a point there jno, suppose it was luxury having a carsey in the yard & we had windows with glass in,oh I nearly forgot the other luxury,we had lino on the floor in the bedroom,so there!!!

[Golden Shred]

The early '50's was the time of major back-to-back clearance and I had much involvement in the clearance of thoudands from Attercliffe and Tinsley. The standard blocks there were of 64 houses, that is 32 each side back-to-back. There were 2 single WC's at each end of the block, that is each WC served 16 houses. Each house had 3 windows and a front door, on the ground floor there were 2 rooms and a kitchen called a scullery. Upstairs there were 3 rooms, the stairs were exceptionally narrow and steep, and frequently a large dead person left by an upstairs window. There were no bathrooms, each person took their towels and soap and themselves off to the public bath-house once a week. There were no roof divisions between the houses and you could crawl from one end of the block to the other. If the site was sloping on a hillside the houses and roof followed the slope, they were not stepped. Front doors opened direct onto the public footpaths. The brickwork was all done in rat-trap. There was a very strong social bond between the people living there. Most houses were kept spotless with brown paint, standard furniture and polished lino. Each room (including beds) had an open coal fire. Coal deliveries were tipped on the footpath.

[raysparx]

hi pink,

in some areas that didn't have there own toilet,it might be shared by several families, I know some of the slum tenement blocks near where I lived had two toilets on the second floor of a 3 storey block so that was used by 6 families

I can remember them tipping the chamber pots out of the windows in the early morning when I was doing my paper round (only pee though) thank god. lol.!!!

[atoach]

I'm with jno on this one; if there is an alleyway, ginnel or yard at the back then it's not a back-to-back house ! I know 'cause I live in one ! I get the benefit of other people's heat from 3 sides, and there is no back door for security worries. The attics do run the whole length of the block though.

[raysparx]

Hello jno & atoach

The houses that we lived in were classed as back to back,they had a little yard but you couldn't get out of the yard cos it had a 6ft wall all the way round and at the otherside of the wall was another little yard then more houses so when you looked out of the back door all you saw was a bit of sky and houses,the ones you are on about were mainly from the midlands northwards weren't they?

[atoach]

Yes, used to live in one in the Hyde Park area of Leeds where there are still acres and acres of them. Now live in Bradford. In the two I lhave lived in the 'back house' was in a parallel street, but there are still quite a few about where what looks like two houses with an archway between is actually four houses, the back two only accessible through the arch and looking out on to a little yard.