Life in a Prefab at West Cross

Prefabs at West Cross, 1968/9

By Carole Walters (née Gorman)

It is 1947 or 8 and the war had not been over long when we went to view our new home in West Cross.

Oh! It's wonderful' said my Mother, throwing her arms up in the air, as we walked into our 'Prefab'. My Nan and Pop were with us, as my father was in hospital, due to injuries from the war.

Prefabs at Kenilworth Place, West Cross

Plan of prefab

Mum made for the kitchen with its built-in cooker, refrigeration and wash-boiler and there were fitted cupboards in the bedrooms. It was a great success all round, so much so that Nanny and Pop put in for an exchange from their council house in Townhill to a Prefab in West cross.

We lived in Kenilworth Place next to the Bernards and the Williamses lived the other side. All very pleasant. Keys were exchanged with the Bernards. I shared the big bedroom with Mum, as Dad needed a room on his own, as by now he had TB and died soon after.

Another one at Ambleside Place

Nanny and Pop got their exchange and moved to Ambleside Place where Nanny died shortly after. So what did we do? We moved in with pop. We had gardens at the front and a big one to the rear which backed on to the T.A. Centre.

There, the neighbours were the Longmans (with whom we exchanged keys) on one side and the Williamses on the other. I remember that if you went into the bathroom and stood on the fitted clothes bin, you could see the train at the Mumbles Pier and run down to West Cross Station in good time to catch it to Swansea

Pop died in 1959. By then I had married in 1963, my lovely husband moved in with us and our baby was born at the end of 1964. We continued to live in Ambleside until 1970, when we had to move out as the Prefabs were due for demolition.

There are many memories, both sad and happy