The Media Archive for Central England is the public screen archive for the East and West Midlands. An independent charity and company based at the University of Lincoln, MACE acquires, catalogues, preserves and makes widely available moving image materials that inform our understanding of the diverse cultures and histories of communities between the Lincolnshire coast and the Welsh border.
This film is part of Free
Low Level Housing
What's happened to the Castle Vale estate? Once one of the jewels in Birmingham City Council's housing policy, why do families not want to live there?
From the collection of:
Overview
The Smith family talk frankly to Wendy Jones of ATV Today about the problems they faced living in a tower block on the Castle Vale estate. Five years after their construction the high rise concept of Castle Vale appears to be doomed as the Smith family, like many others, decide they'd rather move out of the clouds. The paper thin walls, lack of a garden and the inheriant dangers of having small children anywhere near balconies has turned the planners' dream sour.
Castle Vale was built on the site of Castle Bromwich Aerodrome. Many of the flats were demolished in the 1990s when the estate came under the control of a housing action trust.
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