Lords
Worship
People
Places
People
Contact
Huts
With thanks to Martin Harper
The park had been considered as a replacement to existing military barracks in Manchester in 1906 however it wasn't until War broke out that the soldiers moved in to the park. In 1914 the initial tented camps holding the Manchester Pals were replaced with huts, each accommodating 30 men. On the field along Sheepfoot Lane over 40 such huts were constructed.
These huts, along with ancillary buildings were built to accommodate the 3rd Battalion Manchester Pals, also known as the 18th Clerks' and Warehousemen's Bn. The Bn were recruited by Lord Derby for "clerks and others engaged in commercial business who wish to serve their country and would be willing to enlist in a Battalion of Lord Kitchener’s new army if they felt assured that they would be able to serve with their friends and not to be put in a Battalion with unknown men as their companions"
Also in 1914, the White Heather Camp was established next to the huts of the 18th Bn. The Charity provided holidays for children from the poorer areas of Manchester by selling bunches of white heather (a symbol of good luck in Scotland) on the streets to raise funds.
In 1915 the soldiers were deployed to the combat zones of WWI and the use of the camps changed to provide medical treatment for the soldiers that returned from the fighting. The original military Infirmary had been located on the what's called the "blind field", next to the Garden Centre today, but the injuries the men were returning with required more specialised treatments.
The officers huts, which stood down a path from the huts of the rank and file men, were joined by a covered walkway and a boiler house has was built.
This was to create a hydro therapeutic centre, the first of its kind.
Heating apparatus and a water storage tank were installed, and the huts adjacent to the boiler were used as a dressing-room and office, a douche, needle and shower bath room, a slipper bath room, a pool bath room, and a pool with a current, each also contained massage departments.
In 1916, the neighbouring White Heather Camp started to raise funds to construct a hall for the recuperating soldiers, allowing them to participate in handiwork or skills that may prove useful for employment, as well as a place for music, singing and entertainment. The people of Manchester donated £1,200 towards the hall, which was titled "The White Heather Military Hydro".
Over 170 troops were treated each day, out of a population in the park of about 4,000 soldiers. Economies of scale were used, treating 12 men at a time in the current pool, which was kept at 33°C (92°F) and shaded. After an hour in the pool the men then slept for a similar time in the next room. Their day was kept entertaining but calm in an attempt to address the shock they had suffered from. After about 1 month of treatment, some men were able to proceed to perform minor physical duties, and maybe back into service (on lighter duties - freeing up soldiers for the harder challenges of warfare).
Hydrotherapy was also used to great success to treat amputations, trench foot and forstbite, as well as general wounds.
Initially the White Heather camp had took accommodated children for weekends, but after it's 10th year the camp opened took groups for whole weeks.
After WWI Manchester council had been considering building 200 houses on sections of the Park along Sheepfoot Lane & Middleton Rd to address a housing shortage which had actually started in 1909. Instead the hutments were re-purposed and this became known as the Lint Settlement.
The hydrotherapy blocks were then put to use as part of the White Heather Camp.
The hutments were demolished in 1932, and after WWII became the site for one of two estates of prefab houses constructed inside Heaton Park.
See an interactive map of Heaton Park WWI locations, photos and videos
Sheepfoot Lane Prefabs
Fifteen years after the huts were removed, aluminium prefabs took their place. Originally expected to last 10 years to meet the demand for post-war housing, they were constructed by workmen and prisoners of war who had volunteered as co-operators - they were identified by bright yellow squares on their jackets.
Britain’s housing had been severely impacted during the war, with about two million homes destroyed by bombing.
By summer 1946 around 40,000 people were living as squatters
in former army camps and abandoned airfields.
Not only bombed-out families but ‘displaced persons’, such as Poles, who could not
return home as it was now controlled by the Soviets needed housing.
In 1943 the government began the Temporary Housing Programme, earmarking £1m (£50m today) towards prefabricated homes. These were created on former Vickers Armstrong aircraft factory production lines, and by 1948 some 125,000 ‘prefabs’ had been built, with 280 "Phoenix" prefabs placed in Heaton Park.
Bury Old Road Prefabs
The prefabs were still in use 20 years later.
Parkside Primary School was constructed to serve the families in the Park.
Between the Sheepfoot Lane prefabs and the School, the site of a Heavy anti-aircraft battery during WWII, a Territorial Army Center was constructed.
Popular with the residents, having air heating, electricity, indoor toilets and set in parkland they were a great improvement from the gas lit terraced housing the people had come from.
The kitchens were 'fitted' and had a boiler for washing, a gas cooker, a 'drying rack, and a fridge. The bathroom had a conventional 3 piece suite. As you entered the bathroom from the hall there was an 'airing' cupboard on the right. The sink had cupboards underneath as well. There were two bedrooms the largest had fitted cupboards on the right as you went through the door with drawers underneath.
Read more on Rootsweb
But the temporary estates hadn't been built with the wide spread adoption of the car in mind, the roads were too narrow, and the residents petitioned for a crossing on Sheepfoot lane which had become too dangerous.
Many prefabs have survived into the present era, as did the housing shortages, but the Heaton Park estates were demolished in the 1960's, with the land returned to the park.
Parkside Primary was converted into an 'experimental school', pupils and some staff were brought in from two Schools from socially different suburbs for a fortnight, to mingle and work together on themed projects with the Parkside Staff. On the final day of each course parents were invited to attend, and pupils put on exhibitions and playlets, and displays.
