The village of Leeds made of wooden houses imported from Sweden 70 years ago
After the Second World War, homes were destroyed all over the country and therefore the government imported prefabricated buildings from Sweden.
Some of these still exist today, including some in Pool-in-Wharfedale, one that has existed in a single family for 50 years.
Gillian Midgley still lives in the old Swedish house that originally belonged to her parents and describes it as a wonderful place to live.
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She said: “I came back here to take care of my mother for six years and I just could not bear to leave because I love it so much.”
She went on to say: “How it feels, the design of it, I have never been anywhere really like it and I have been in nicer, more expensive houses. I have been in all kinds of houses there are but I sit here in my living room , it’s not huge but it’s just so nicely laid out. ”
Sweden remained neutral during World War II and when the war began to end, in 1944, the British government authorized the Ministry of Labor to buy 30,000 prefabricated log houses that would be suitable as permanent houses in the countryside.
The homes were distributed in small numbers to the countryside and their wooden construction makes them stand out among the more traditional brick houses in the countryside in England.
According to research conducted by Neil Midgley, Gillian Midgley’s brother, alongside the Prefab Museum, the houses only had a lifespan of about 60 years.
Almost 80 years after the end of World War II, many of the homes still stand.
Many of the inhabitants of the houses originally thought that the houses were gifts from the Swedish government, but about 7 million pounds were paid to Sweden for the houses.
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Historic England also reports that almost 160,000 homes were built under the Temporary Homes Scheme with only 2,444 Swedish houses built, making them rare nationally.
The Swedish houses at Pool were officially inaugurated on October 3, 1947 and Neil and Gillian Midgley’s parents moved in with them in the early 1970s.
As housing becomes increasingly expensive and the construction of new housing across the country is a priority for the government, Midgley says that there is much to learn from these Swedish homes.
She said: “I think people look at them and think they can not be good because they are made of wood, but if you look abroad at countries like Finland and Sweden, they still have lots of wooden houses.”
She added: “They can be manufactured, transported and set up so it is very practical and they are attractive.”
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