0:00:02 > 0:00:05We Brits have a passion for property and, of course,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08our national obsession is house prices.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10How much to buy?
0:00:10 > 0:00:13You're looking at about 1.7 million for an apartment like this.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18But housing is about so much more than bricks and mortar.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Look at the smile on my face.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It's about who we are and how we choose to live.
0:00:26 > 0:00:2975 years since the Beveridge Report vowed
0:00:29 > 0:00:32to rebuild Britain's housing...
0:00:32 > 0:00:33Slums must go.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36..we're opening the door to Britain's home truths...
0:00:38 > 0:00:39..from council houses...
0:00:39 > 0:00:41..to suburban semis...
0:00:41 > 0:00:42..high-rises...
0:00:42 > 0:00:44..to country pads...
0:00:44 > 0:00:46..in fact, anywhere we call home...
0:00:46 > 0:00:50..to find out if, three quarters of a century later,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53we really have built a better place to live.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06The great British suburbs.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08What do you think of when you hear that phrase?
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Is it the mock Tudor houses?
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Is it neighbours obsessively washing their car or mowing their lawn?
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Or maybe it's twitching net curtains,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24behind which all sorts of saucy secrets lie.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Perhaps it's even got some eccentric characters, like this guy,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29living at the end of the cul-de-sac.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33Generally, I find the standards in the country dropping
0:01:33 > 0:01:36but the standards in my own environment
0:01:36 > 0:01:38do not appear to be dropping.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Everything I want is in Cheam.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43And let's not forget that in the suburbs
0:01:43 > 0:01:45there's no place like gnome.
0:01:53 > 0:01:54Well, in this episode
0:01:54 > 0:01:58I want to convince you that there's more to the British suburbs
0:01:58 > 0:02:01than those cliches. Whether it's in Cheam,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05or Didsbury in Manchester, or even Milltimber in Aberdeen,
0:02:05 > 0:02:10over half of us live in the cul-de-sacs and avenues of suburbia
0:02:10 > 0:02:12and many more of us were brought up in it...
0:02:15 > 0:02:17..including me.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19Little Alison Steadman.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22I was raised in the Anfield area of Liverpool
0:02:22 > 0:02:25but suburbia has followed me throughout my career,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30especially in the roles I've played on stage and screen,
0:02:30 > 0:02:32whether it's Beverly in Abigail's Party...
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Would you like a little gin and tonic, Sue?
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Cos me and Ange are drinking gin and tonic, actually.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40..Mrs Bennett in Pride and Prejudice,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43or even Pam from Gavin & Stacey.
0:02:43 > 0:02:44I did love playing Pam.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48I've done the lot. Pilates - doesn't work. Can't do the cabbage soup
0:02:48 > 0:02:49cos Your Lordship don't like the smell,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51and now I can't even have a steak.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54So, looking at these characters, you think,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57"Well, where did I get that from? What was the influence?"
0:02:57 > 0:03:01And was it my suburban background?
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Did it make me the actress I am?
0:03:05 > 0:03:07I don't know. It'd be good to go back and find out.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13So, let's do that, shall we?
0:03:13 > 0:03:17First up, I want to show you why my suburbia is so special,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21so I'm on my way back to Sherwyn Road in Anfield,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24where my suburban story began.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27This might get a bit teary because, although my house is still there,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30my parents are sadly no longer alive.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34It's been over 20 years since I visited and, if I'm honest,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36I'm not really sure how I'm going to react.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I think it'll make me really sad that my parents aren't there.
0:03:43 > 0:03:49I've only seen the house once since my mum died over 20 years ago and
0:03:49 > 0:03:52it made me so upset because my mum wasn't standing at the door...
0:03:52 > 0:03:54SHE LAUGHS ..with her arms out,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56the way she used to.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Oh..
0:04:10 > 0:04:12And here we are. I'm back home.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Built in the 1930s, we lived in this classic suburban semi.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18It's smaller than I remember
0:04:18 > 0:04:20and there are certainly more cars around here
0:04:20 > 0:04:22than when I was growing up,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25when we could play in the street all day long.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29It was a very, very nice road to grow up in.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33It was very safe and there was a good community feeling.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Everybody knew everybody.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42I was born in 1946, just after the war and a time of austerity.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45We weren't exactly poor but nobody had much money.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Family roles were pretty traditional, too,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Mum in the kitchen and Dad at work.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55- Hello, Daddy!- Hello, son!
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Hello, John. You're soon back!
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Ha-ha! That didn't take me long, my dear.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02And children knew their place as well,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05which, for me, was usually in the garden, working.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10And there used to be a privet hedge at one time here and it was like the
0:05:10 > 0:05:13worst job. I used to get the job of cutting the hedge.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16And I used to hate it.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Oh, these shears and the sweeping up the leaves.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23And I have weeded this garden and the back garden
0:05:23 > 0:05:25so many times for my dad.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28'Unfortunately, I never got the reward I craved
0:05:28 > 0:05:29'for all that gardening,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33'the one thing most little girls in suburbia want.'
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Cos I was never allowed a dog.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37The only thing my parents wouldn't let me have was a dog
0:05:37 > 0:05:41and so all the dogs that lived in the road,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43I used to bring into the house
0:05:43 > 0:05:47and keep them for as long as I could and then, obviously,
0:05:47 > 0:05:48they'd have to go home.
0:05:48 > 0:05:53# Something tells me something's gonna happen tonight... #
0:05:53 > 0:05:57So, my home truth about the suburbia I grew up in is that it gave me a
0:05:57 > 0:05:59safe and grounded childhood
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and maybe even laid the foundations for my career.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07But, now, let me try to convince you about why the wider British suburbs
0:06:07 > 0:06:08are simply superb, too.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14To help give me some perspective on things,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18I'm going to the top of Liverpool's iconic radio tower with local
0:06:18 > 0:06:21historian, Melissa Conboy.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25First things first, though - can I see my old house from way up here?
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Right, so, that's Anfield ground, the football ground,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34and I used to live about 10-15 minutes walk from there.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37When Liverpool were playing on a Saturday, my mum would say,
0:06:37 > 0:06:38"Ooh, they've scored!"
0:06:38 > 0:06:41- Cos we could hear the cheering. - Because you could hear it?- Yeah!
0:06:41 > 0:06:45'OK, I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear I'm not just up here to talk
0:06:45 > 0:06:46'about football.'
0:06:46 > 0:06:50I also want to find out when Liverpool's suburbia first began.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Liverpool grew from the Docklands.
0:06:52 > 0:06:53You can see the Albert Dock right there.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57- Yeah.- But right along this stretch of the Mersey,
0:06:57 > 0:06:58you had Docklands throughout.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And this was where the working classes lived,
0:07:01 > 0:07:02in small, low-lying areas,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05back-to-back kind of terraced housing.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08But the middle classes wanted to get away from kind of
0:07:08 > 0:07:12the busyness, the dirtiness, the smelliness of all this.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16So the middle classes moved slightly out and all around the Anglican
0:07:16 > 0:07:19- cathedral that you can see there... - Mmm.- ..was where the Georgians first
0:07:19 > 0:07:23set up their new, kind of, affluent houses.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27They are the ones that really start this idea of an aspiring,
0:07:27 > 0:07:28suburban middle-class.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34And this was true all over the country, not just in Liverpool.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38So we've hotfooted down from the tower to check out what this
0:07:38 > 0:07:41old-school suburbia looks like up close.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Of course, when people talk about Georgian architecture,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50it's cities like Edinburgh and Bath that come to mind, but actually
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Liverpool has one of the best-preserved
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Georgian districts in the UK.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Imagine a horse and carriage coming along here, stopping,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05elegant ladies get out in their dresses...
0:08:05 > 0:08:06With their big hair.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08And there's a shoe scraper.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- Exactly.- I like a shoe scraper, yeah.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13"Don't bring that mud in here, darling!"
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Of course, the doorway is elevated off the street
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and surrounded by these cast-iron railings.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24These, again, were kind of the signs of the grand
0:08:24 > 0:08:26nouveau-riche middle classes.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Yeah. A bit like today, with flash cars and...
0:08:30 > 0:08:31Yeah, absolutely.
0:08:31 > 0:08:32If you notice at the top,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35the windows are actually smaller on that top floor.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37And that was cos that was probably
0:08:37 > 0:08:39where the servants would have lived.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Well, you notice here there's steps going down,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45so there'd be a separate entrance, like a tradesman's entrance...
0:08:45 > 0:08:49- Yeah.- ..for supplies, like food, coal.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51So it would come in from the street and go directly down
0:08:51 > 0:08:54- into the basement.- And through this gate.- Exactly.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59I've got a delivery!
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Straight in. You wouldn't have to deal with the elegant family
0:09:02 > 0:09:03that live there.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Looking at these elaborate houses
0:09:07 > 0:09:11you really get a sense of how much money must have been around in
0:09:11 > 0:09:13Liverpool at that time.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18Back then, a furnished townhouse could rent for around £200 a year
0:09:18 > 0:09:20and there were plenty of takers.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23In the 1800s, Liverpool, with its mighty port,
0:09:23 > 0:09:28had more millionaires living here than anywhere else in the UK outside
0:09:28 > 0:09:30of London. Today,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34most of these houses are now split into rented accommodation,
0:09:34 > 0:09:35flats and offices,
0:09:35 > 0:09:40but if you did want to buy a whole one, it would cost you £600,000.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43That's a lot of house for your money.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47But there is a place where you can experience the luxury without taking
0:09:47 > 0:09:49out a mortgage. Here,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52in one of the city's most well-preserved boutique hotels,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56where the interior design is pretty much how it might've been
0:09:56 > 0:09:57back in the day.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00OK. So, this would've been one of the early Georgian townhouses
0:10:00 > 0:10:02of Liverpool.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05And see how that kind of ornate decoration on the outside
0:10:05 > 0:10:07carried on right inside.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09- Yeah, lovely. - Again, a show of wealth.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11- Yeah.- They want to show off.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12I love the floor as well.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15- Beautiful. - Yeah, beautiful tile decoration.
0:10:15 > 0:10:16Ah-ha!
0:10:19 > 0:10:21So, this would have been the drawing room,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24a place perfect for entertaining in Georgian times.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Still very elegant feel to it, hasn't it?
0:10:26 > 0:10:29- Yeah.- The lovely windows and the cornice.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Although this is a really
0:10:31 > 0:10:35important and aspirational place to live,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38but, throughout the century, we see a gradual move out,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40away from the bustling city centre,
0:10:40 > 0:10:45where the population doubles, and places like this, which has now,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47by definition, become the inner-city,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49start to get a bit run down.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Throughout the 19th and early 20th century,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57urban populations were growing at frightening rates
0:10:57 > 0:11:01all over the country as the Industrial Revolution took hold.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05The result was inner-city slums, smog and pollution.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08For those who could afford it, getting out somewhere cleaner,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12fresher and altogether more leafy became a priority.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14- ARCHIVE:- Builders, house-buyers and land speculators,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18please take note that the Southern Railway company are opening for
0:11:18 > 0:11:21traffic on the 9th of July 1928.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24The growth of railways provided middle-class commuters
0:11:24 > 0:11:25with an escape route,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28allowing them to live further from the centre of town,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31and new communities grew up around the stations
0:11:31 > 0:11:33of main commuter routes.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35It's fresh air you need, old man.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37Live at Croham Heights, South Croydon.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45The type of houses that were being built in these new suburbs weren't
0:11:45 > 0:11:47nearly as glamorous, or, indeed, spacious,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50as the elegant townhouses I've just seen,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54but they were to become Britain's most popular house type -
0:11:54 > 0:11:56the suburban semi.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01The heyday of their growth was, without a doubt, the 1930s,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03when more than 4 million of them were built.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07I've come to Woolton, on the outskirts of Liverpool,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10where the imprint of these times is clear to see.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Put it bluntly, this place is full of semis.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20As you can see, the typical design was a real mishmash of styles,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24mixing retro pebble dash, brickwork and oak panelling,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27with more modern Art Deco front doors.
0:12:27 > 0:12:28Inside, meanwhile,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32these houses were built for practicality more than style.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Out went the grand staircases and bedrooms of the Georgian townhouses
0:12:37 > 0:12:41and in came kitchens with lots of cupboard space, a pantry,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45two reasonable-size bedrooms and a box room, all very sensible.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51In the 1930s, one of these would've cost less than £800.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Today, in a place like Woolton,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57you'd be lucky to get change out of 250,000.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00- Hello.- Hello, Alison.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Hi. 'But in my experience,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06'it's the people who live in these semis who really give the suburbs
0:13:06 > 0:13:10'its soul. They have a quiet, gentle charm.'
0:13:10 > 0:13:14People like Jed, who's been living here since before the war.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15What was life like
0:13:15 > 0:13:19when you were growing up as a child in the village?
0:13:19 > 0:13:21It was magical, in my opinion.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Cos you're young and you've got your life ahead of you.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27I come from a big family.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30I had five brothers and three sisters.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Now, as luck had it, my father was never out of work,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38so we didn't have much money but we weren't really poor.
0:13:38 > 0:13:39You always had a meal on the table.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- That's right.- That's important.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45My bedroom window overlooked
0:13:45 > 0:13:48- where the allotments are now down Vale Road.- Mmm.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50And of a night or an evening,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53I'd sit in my bedroom and watch the sun set.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57I grew up in Anfield but I went to school in Childwall,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00I went to Childwall Valley High School.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03And I suddenly, at 11, started horse riding
0:14:03 > 0:14:08and of course a lot of that area was still countryside.
0:14:08 > 0:14:09And I can remember being so excited,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13seeing my first fox and going home and telling my parents.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15And then, it seemed in no time at all,
0:14:15 > 0:14:19- all that land became housing estates.- Yes.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Has the village been spoiled, do you think,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24now by certain developments?
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Some buildings in the village were just demolished and modern buildings
0:14:28 > 0:14:31- were put up, which didn't fit in with the village, you know?- Mmm.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32Not so much I think, anyway.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36- No.- But, er... - But nothing stays the same.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39- Oh, no. No.- Things are always moving on, moving forward and changing.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41But we don't like too much change, do we?
0:14:41 > 0:14:42If you live in an area...
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- I don't, I don't! - No! Well, I don't myself.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49But change was coming
0:14:49 > 0:14:53and it was the war that was to have a huge impact on British suburbs,
0:14:53 > 0:14:58particularly in cities like Liverpool, Hull, Bristol and London,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02as millions of kids were evacuated because of the Blitz.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04- ARCHIVE:- Children leaving the great cities for the safety
0:15:04 > 0:15:08of the countryside, leaving parents for foster parents.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10When they return, they will have grown up.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Separation but safety.
0:15:14 > 0:15:15Safety but...
0:15:16 > 0:15:17..separation.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24In the immediate post-war era, meanwhile,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28as the incoming government vowed to clear the war-ravaged slums
0:15:28 > 0:15:29and rebuild Britain,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33the plan was to find permanent homes for those in need.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36I'd like a nice self-contained house,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38with a bathroom, and scullery, and a back and front garden
0:15:38 > 0:15:42where the children can play, where I know where they would be,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44and it would be a godsend.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48A lot of them ended up in places like this, including one little boy,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51who, in 1946, moved in to be with his aunt,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55before he went on to change the world.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57OK, it's confession time.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02This isn't any ordinary semidetached suburban house
0:16:02 > 0:16:08because 251 Menlove Avenue is the house where a certain little boy
0:16:08 > 0:16:12moved in when he was five years old, to live with his aunt Mimi,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and that little boy was John Lennon.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20And, in the wake of the Liverpool Blitz in 1946,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24that room there on the left was John's bedroom.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Now, I would love to give you a guided tour
0:16:32 > 0:16:35but, unfortunately, access is closely controlled
0:16:35 > 0:16:38by a certain Yoko Ono
0:16:38 > 0:16:40and she doesn't want us to film inside.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44No. Can't come in.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47'Yes, that's right, Yoko Ono says no, no.'
0:16:47 > 0:16:48Not allowed.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Maybe the reason she doesn't want us to see in is that far from being
0:16:56 > 0:16:58the working-class hero he claimed to be,
0:16:58 > 0:17:02our John actually lived a relatively well-off middle-class lifestyle,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05hardly in keeping with the image of a rock and roll band.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15And, yet, without the suburbs, the Beatles may never have happened,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18because this is also where John met Paul,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21at their local church fete in 1955.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Now, you can't get more suburban than that.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28There's even a ghostly reminder of the place they met
0:17:28 > 0:17:30in the very churchyard.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Here lies one Eleanor Rigby.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37This was also my era, of course,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39and back in my old street
0:17:39 > 0:17:42I've arranged to meet a few of my childhood chums.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45They're arriving by taxi - now, that is posh!
0:17:45 > 0:17:46Oh, this is weird.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51'I've known both David and Brenda for over 60 years.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53'Here come the waterworks again!'
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Hello.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Lovely to see you.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I don't think the grass has been cut since we moved out.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06- In our house.- How do you feel, Bren, when you look at your house?
0:18:06 > 0:18:07It still upsets me
0:18:07 > 0:18:11cos I remember the day when we gave it up and I had...
0:18:11 > 0:18:15- I was the one who had to come and give the keys up to the landlord. - When your mum moved out?- Did you?
0:18:15 > 0:18:17When my mum moved into the home.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Anne couldn't do it, she was too upset, so they made...
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Gave the keys over, came outside,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24sat in the car and cried my eyes out.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Jeff and Roger, they had a cable, they strung a cable across the road.
0:18:28 > 0:18:29I know why they did that.
0:18:29 > 0:18:30Midnight messages.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33At the time I was in love with Roger Thompson.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36And they did. And Roger and I used to send messages across from his
0:18:36 > 0:18:38- window to mine. - What, little love notes?- Yeah.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40- HE LAUGHS - Yeah.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43I don't know if you remember but you were my first date.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45I don't know if I was your first date but you were certainly
0:18:45 > 0:18:48- my first date.- Oh, probably.- Yeah.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51A little film at the Abbey Theatre in Wavertree.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- A real date? - Expresso Bongo with Cliff Richard.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- Oh.- Pre-Beatles. - Well, I chose well, I think.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59- Yeah.- The film I'm talking about, not you!- Oh!
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Like me, Brenda and David moved out of the area a while back.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15So we've relocated to the local pub,
0:19:15 > 0:19:21to talk about our memories over a classic suburban G&T.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24I found this and I just thought you might like to have a look at it.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28It's our family but it shows the houses in Sherwyn.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Anne, Geoffrey, Shirley, Brenda, John.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36I mean, the houses, they were all very much the same, weren't they,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39you know? They were all painted the same.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42- Yeah.- Everything about them was uniform.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48If suburbia was partly responsible for the Beatles getting together,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52it was also the driving force behind another cultural revolution -
0:19:52 > 0:19:53television.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56In the early 1950s,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00it was the must-have home accessory for every aspiring
0:20:00 > 0:20:03suburban living room, as the number of TV licences
0:20:03 > 0:20:07shot up from under one million to nearly four times that.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12And it was one event that fuelled the demand more than most.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15- ARCHIVE:- On the 2nd of June 1953,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18London saw the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22We got our television for the coronation, I remember,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26because I remember Fred Hart and Audrey came in our house to watch
0:20:26 > 0:20:28- the coronation.- Yeah. - As if it wasn't crowded enough!
0:20:28 > 0:20:31- Yeah.- And it was only a little, what was it, about 12 inch or something,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35- the first televisions? - Had to close the curtains. - Yeah, you had to close the curtains.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Well, we got our television for the coronation.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41I remember, there were so many people in the front room watching,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43all packed round.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44And there was people,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48I remember, when the Queen appeared in her golden carriage,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50which was so exciting,
0:20:50 > 0:20:54there was people with cameras trying to take pictures of the television,
0:20:54 > 0:20:55so they'd have a picture of the Queen!
0:20:57 > 0:21:00- THEY SIGH - Yeah...- I've got this
0:21:00 > 0:21:02that I thought you might like to see,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04bring back a few more memories.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06- See if you can find yourself on there.- Oh, the coronation!
0:21:08 > 0:21:11What a happy day that was.
0:21:11 > 0:21:12Oh, there I am.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15There. The photographer, I can remember it,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19he kept saying, "Say cheese, come on, let's all shout cheese".
0:21:19 > 0:21:22- Yeah.- I was like this... I went, "Cheese!"
0:21:24 > 0:21:25That's the exact expression.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27It is.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Of course, I also have these early TV memories to thank for sparking
0:21:31 > 0:21:35the acting bug that eventually led me to becoming an actress -
0:21:35 > 0:21:39not that we were in watching the goggle-box all the time.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43My memory of childhood is sunny days...
0:21:43 > 0:21:46- Yeah.- Yeah.- ..and being outside all the time,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50either on the rec or playing in the street or in the garden.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52- That's right.- I can remember my mum standing
0:21:52 > 0:21:56shouting me and me hiding behind a wall because I didn't want to go in.
0:21:56 > 0:21:57- That's right. - Pretending you weren't there.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01- Yeah, yeah, yeah.- Used to go and hide, that's right.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04We didn't think of it at the time, but it was a very special little
0:22:04 > 0:22:07- place, wasn't it?- Yeah, it was lovely.- Very safe childhood.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Yeah. Very, very, very fond...
0:22:09 > 0:22:11Come on, let's raise a glass.
0:22:11 > 0:22:12- Fond memories.- Fond memories.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14- To Sherwyn Road. BOTH:- To Sherwyn Road!
0:22:14 > 0:22:17- And all who sailed in her. - And all who... Yeah.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25But it wasn't just in our little corner of Liverpool
0:22:25 > 0:22:26that things were idyllic.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28These were exciting times,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31when Britain's suburbs were being rebuilt
0:22:31 > 0:22:33for a new generation of baby boomers.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36I think the Prime Minister summed it up when he said,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39"You've never had it so good."
0:22:39 > 0:22:44And, in suburbia, we had never wanted our houses to look so good,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46inside and out,
0:22:46 > 0:22:51from having the perfect garden, to our increased obsession with DIY.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54I'm not even going to look as though I'm doing this whole job
0:22:54 > 0:22:57because I get into quite enough trouble,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00wives telling their husbands that I did the job in ten minutes,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03why don't they get cracking! So I'm keeping off that one.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Yes, we wanted to create the ideal home
0:23:07 > 0:23:09and we knew exactly where to find it.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14- ARCHIVE:- Last week at Olympia in London, the Ideal Home Exhibition
0:23:14 > 0:23:16opened its doors to crowds of visitors.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24The Ideal Home Exhibition actually began in 1908,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27the same year as they began building the Liver Building.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34But it was the rise of the newly-affluent,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38suburban middle class that really cemented its popularity,
0:23:38 > 0:23:43clocking up a record attendance of 1.5 million visitors.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46The Queen herself has visited 11 times
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and, over the years, she would've seen
0:23:48 > 0:23:50up-to-the-minute interior design,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54the first fitted kitchens, and the latest in home technology.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56- ARCHIVE:- Views inside one of the houses on show
0:23:56 > 0:23:58reveal a number of novel features.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01For example, this built-in aquarium,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05and, come cocktail time, it's easy to fix a drink in this ideal home...
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Not that this homeware revolution came cheap.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Washing machines in 1969 were over £1,000 in today's money,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17and a TV cost more than a month's wages.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26By the 1970s, there was even more temptation about.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29- ARCHIVE:- Emphasis is on ease of operation everywhere,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31you can even open the curtains in the dawn's early light
0:24:31 > 0:24:33without getting out of bed.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37And, so, suburban homes were offered a revolution in how to buy
0:24:37 > 0:24:38their household goods,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42when home catalogues started arriving through the door.
0:24:42 > 0:24:43As with rock and roll,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Liverpool was leading the way with the hometown company, Littlewoods.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Now these are the catalogues.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51'I've come to meet David Heathcote
0:24:51 > 0:24:53'at the Liverpool School of Art and Design,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57'to find out more about Liverpool's impact on the homeware revolution.'
0:24:57 > 0:25:01I remember my grandparents had the same furniture for years
0:25:01 > 0:25:02and years and years,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05and, then, suddenly, in the sort of '60s and '70s,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08everyone wanted, "Oh, no, we want this now and that now."
0:25:08 > 0:25:10So the choice was there.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15And, of course, things like this kitchen, this green kitchen, right?
0:25:15 > 0:25:18That was what hire purchase was about, really,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20to allow people to buy new things more often than
0:25:20 > 0:25:22they would have done before.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Well, it just suddenly made the world accessible.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And I like this idea that you can have a mattress
0:25:28 > 0:25:31that you'll never see, except when you change the bed,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33that's got a trendy pattern all over it...
0:25:33 > 0:25:35- A really jazzy...- Just so you know you're in a modern house.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38- ARCHIVE:- Hire purchase is one of the greatest assets of the modern
0:25:38 > 0:25:43community. It enables us to fill our homes with beautiful things
0:25:43 > 0:25:45we could never otherwise afford.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47It raises our standard of living.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50As people got used to the idea of hire purchase,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54they became more consumerist, they would think,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56"Oh, yeah, I can get rid of that now, I can have another one."
0:25:56 > 0:25:58But I think there is something immoral,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02certainly to my grandmother, you know, why get something new,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04- when you've got something already? - Yeah, yeah.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11This was an era when keeping up with the Joneses
0:26:11 > 0:26:13became a national pastime.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16As neighbours in suburbia used their homes to show
0:26:16 > 0:26:20just how well-to-do they were, no matter how ludicrous.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25- ARCHIVE:- When you're feeling sleepy, you simply pull a bed from nowhere.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30All aimed at saving space where space is at a premium.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36For the serious drinker, how about a bar with a built-in bed?
0:26:40 > 0:26:44From the high street, homeware stores popped up to meet the demand
0:26:44 > 0:26:47of those with a real taste for social climbing.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Very much in the spirit of Abigail's Party, we've got a fondue party.
0:26:53 > 0:26:54Ah, the fondue party, yes!
0:26:54 > 0:26:58I mean, you know, Habitat spotted there was a gap for young people who
0:26:58 > 0:27:00wanted to buy furniture like clothing.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02I mean, it was a brilliant idea.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Habitat whitewood furniture, the whole idea of that,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07as it shows you there,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10you're supposed to paint it a psychedelic colour yourself.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12Whereas at least in the Littlewoods one,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14it comes with a pattern on it already.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17- I like that, though. - Yeah, I think this said freedom.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20You know, that it's somehow my decision, I'm being me,
0:27:20 > 0:27:21I'm being individual.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23MUSIC: The Good Life theme tune
0:27:23 > 0:27:25By the 1970s, middle-class suburbia
0:27:25 > 0:27:29was very much considered the mainstream way of life in Britain.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33And this started to be reflected back in the comedy of the day,
0:27:33 > 0:27:37which began to poke fun at the obsessions and pre-occupations
0:27:37 > 0:27:40of those who lived in cul-de-sacs and avenues.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42From Butterflies...
0:27:44 > 0:27:47- Morning.- I was deliberately not reading my newspaper,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49because I consider it to be bad manners
0:27:49 > 0:27:50to eat and read.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53To The Fall And Rise Of Reggie Perrin, starring Liverpool's
0:27:53 > 0:27:55very own son, Leonard Rossiter.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56Morning Peter!
0:27:58 > 0:28:02And, of course, the daddy of all suburban sitcoms, The Good Life.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05All these characters lived in a certain type of street,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08one we came to know as Acacia Avenue.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10So, why is suburbia so funny?
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Local stand-up and fellow suburbanite, Sam Avery,
0:28:14 > 0:28:18has a theory, so I'm meeting him in a real life Acacia Avenue
0:28:18 > 0:28:19here in Liverpool.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22So, I should really be on that side of the pavement, shouldn't I...
0:28:22 > 0:28:25- Yeah, you should, actually. - ..as a chivalrous male.- Yeah.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28- Let's get you on that side.- Yeah. - That's better, isn't it?
0:28:28 > 0:28:33So, why is it that suburbia is always such a funny subject?
0:28:33 > 0:28:36I think suburbia is certainly one part of the social mobility
0:28:36 > 0:28:40that became very popular in the '60s and '70s and
0:28:40 > 0:28:42certainly when you look at British sitcoms,
0:28:42 > 0:28:45where it shows characters out of their depth, maybe,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48or it shows characters who have got a very distinct aim,
0:28:48 > 0:28:52and sometimes that aim is to appear slightly classier than they perhaps are.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56I think it's the real thing this time, you can tell in her voice.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58I shall have to take her in hand,
0:28:58 > 0:29:00the benefit of my experience,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03could considerably aid her social advancement.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Their perception of themselves is here,
0:29:06 > 0:29:07and the world they live in
0:29:07 > 0:29:09is down here, and that's where the comedy lives,
0:29:09 > 0:29:10in that gap between the two.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14This is our downstairs, toilet. OK?
0:29:14 > 0:29:16I really get what Sam is saying.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20This gap between perception of one's social status and the reality was
0:29:20 > 0:29:24certainly at the core of playing Beverly in Abigail's Party.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27But, for me, it was always done with affection,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31showing that we in suburbia are able to laugh at ourselves.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33Oh, fantastic, it's Beaujolais. Lovely.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Now, you'll remember at the start, that I wanted to show you
0:29:37 > 0:29:40how suburbia wasn't all about the cliches?
0:29:40 > 0:29:42Well, now it's time to prove it.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46Sam and I are about to conduct a little door-to-door survey,
0:29:46 > 0:29:52to see how many of the stereotypes this Acacia Avenue conforms to.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Do they wash their cars every Sunday?
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Are they impossibly house proud?
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Do they own gnomes?
0:29:58 > 0:29:59We're about to find out.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02We've even got our own clipboards.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05Question number one, how often do you mow your lawn?
0:30:05 > 0:30:06Not often enough.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08- Never.- Never.
0:30:08 > 0:30:09- Have you got a lawn?- Yes.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11- Never.- Never? - I've got an artificial lawn.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Oh, you've got an artificial lawn, ah, great.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18Do you own a garden gnome?
0:30:19 > 0:30:22- No.- I can tell by your face, that, actually,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24you have owned one in the past.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Yeah, I did have a gnome, yeah, then somebody smashed the head off it.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29Oh, no! Un-gnome people!
0:30:29 > 0:30:32# And there was a little, old man
0:30:32 > 0:30:34# In scarlet and grey... #
0:30:34 > 0:30:37I'd love to know the statistics about garden gnomes and whether they
0:30:37 > 0:30:40- still sell as well as they did 20 years ago.- Mmm.
0:30:40 > 0:30:41If I was to enter your house now,
0:30:41 > 0:30:44would you insist on a shoes off policy?
0:30:44 > 0:30:45It's optional.
0:30:45 > 0:30:46It's an unwritten rule.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49OK. I was wondering if you leave loads of shoes lying about,
0:30:49 > 0:30:50people go, keep them on?
0:30:50 > 0:30:53- Yeah.- You could have smelly feet?
0:30:53 > 0:30:55I could have smelly feet, I do have smelly feet.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57Do you insist on coasters for drinks?
0:30:57 > 0:30:59- No.- Yeah.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Yeah. You've got to have coasters, you've got your coffee table,
0:31:02 > 0:31:03you don't want that damaging, do you?
0:31:03 > 0:31:07Do you usually open the door to people doing surveys?
0:31:09 > 0:31:11- Yeah.- You do? - And I try to be polite.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14Well, that was a bit of fun.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17And I think after crunching the data, it's fair to say
0:31:17 > 0:31:19that Acacia Avenue, Liverpool,
0:31:19 > 0:31:22manages to pass the cliche test...just.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25Everyone except one person was happy to do surveys.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27- Everyone?- Yes!
0:31:31 > 0:31:34But if the 1970s were all about suburbia laughing at itself,
0:31:34 > 0:31:39in the 1980s, we were about to see them taken very seriously indeed
0:31:39 > 0:31:42as one woman climbed to power.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44- ARCHIVE: - As leader of the opposition,
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Margaret Thatcher leads a busy political life
0:31:46 > 0:31:48but she keeps her finger on the domestic pulse.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51She calls herself a career housewife.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56As a grocer's daughter and, yes, self-confessed housewife,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58Mrs Thatcher wanted to appeal
0:31:58 > 0:32:01to the quiet majority living in the suburbs,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04even going so far as canvassing support in places
0:32:04 > 0:32:07like the Ideal Home Exhibition.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09- ARCHIVE:- Conservative leader, Mrs Margaret Thatcher,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12meets a young couple and their children who have bought the 5,000th
0:32:12 > 0:32:16Victorian house to be converted into a modern dwelling.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18When she was elected, it's fair to say,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21she wanted to expand the suburban dream for all,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25bringing in policies such as the right-to-buy scheme,
0:32:25 > 0:32:27so council house tenants could own their own home.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29The design of houses, meanwhile,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33reflected this supremacy as the mock Tudor style came into fashion.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37This was an age when the Englishman's home
0:32:37 > 0:32:42really was his castle, as this documentary from 1984 shows.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44I've always had the feeling that this house
0:32:44 > 0:32:47is the safe place I return to.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50I can, if I want, lift up the drawbridge
0:32:50 > 0:32:53and I can cut the rest of the world out.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55Yes, in the '80s,
0:32:55 > 0:32:59Britain's middle-classes really did have something to sing about.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02# ..dwelt a miner forty niner
0:33:02 > 0:33:04# And his daughter Clementine. #
0:33:07 > 0:33:09And yet there was another side to this decade,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12one that takes us back to the place where I started my journey.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18The old Georgian and Victorian suburbs.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22Here, a more diverse working class community now lived
0:33:22 > 0:33:25and Mrs Thatcher's housing revolution
0:33:25 > 0:33:27left many feeling left behind.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29This was especially true in Liverpool
0:33:29 > 0:33:31and the area I'm off to now.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33MUSIC: Two Tribes by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
0:33:33 > 0:33:39The old suburb of Toxteth, where, in 1981, riots broke out.
0:33:39 > 0:33:40# When two tribes go to war
0:33:40 > 0:33:44# A point is all you can score...#
0:33:46 > 0:33:48- ARCHIVE:- One of the worst and most terrifying nights of rioting
0:33:48 > 0:33:52ever seen in Britain began just after 9 o'clock.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Youths hijacked several milk floats
0:33:54 > 0:33:58and drove them straight at the police lines as they began
0:33:58 > 0:34:01to form with their riot shields at the end of Upper Parliament Street,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04the scene of the previous night's running battles.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07In essence, those who now lived in the old suburbs,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09which had become rundown and neglected,
0:34:09 > 0:34:13were pitting themselves against the politics of the new middle-class,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16living in Mr Thatcher's version of suburbia.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18What do you think of what's happened in this street last night?
0:34:18 > 0:34:22What do I think? I think the war's started again.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25A declaration of war. It's a war.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Yes, the suburbs were at war.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30But what was it like to live here at that time?
0:34:32 > 0:34:35- Hi, Derek.- Hi, Alison, how are you? Nice to see you.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37'I've come to meet a famous Liverpool face who,
0:34:37 > 0:34:39'Derek Hatton, who remembers it well,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42'and Mike Boyle, who grew up in the area.'
0:34:46 > 0:34:49So, Derek, you were a councillor at the time?
0:34:50 > 0:34:53What was it like for you when it happened?
0:34:53 > 0:34:58I don't think any of us were really surprised that something was happening.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01I think we all knew that there was a bit of a build-up.
0:35:01 > 0:35:02Almost like a tinder box.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Then, when it happened here,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07I don't think we quite expected it to be at the level that it was.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10- No.- You know, you looked around and each way you looked there was
0:35:10 > 0:35:12blazes, there was things on fire,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15there was police cars, sirens, around.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18- ARCHIVE:- The rioters, black and white,
0:35:18 > 0:35:20reigned a constant barrage of stones,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23bottles and petrol bombs at the police,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25whose casualties mounted every time they charged.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30It upset me, the average Scouser, whether you were black or white.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Your city was in turmoil.
0:35:32 > 0:35:34For the white young men on the streets rioting,
0:35:34 > 0:35:36it was that feeling of helplessness,
0:35:36 > 0:35:38because they couldn't get jobs either.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40That's what lit the touch paper here.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43- ARCHIVE:- Reinforcements arrived from Greater Manchester,
0:35:43 > 0:35:47Lancashire and Cheshire but time and again they were forced to retreat.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50The police were ill-equipped to deal with this.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52I mean, it wasn't riot gear by any stretch of the imagination.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54No. No.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57- ARCHIVE:- One constable's helmet was later recovered
0:35:57 > 0:36:00with a spiked railing firmly embedded in it.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05The situation was so dangerous that the Fire Brigade had to stay clear.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08Famous landmarks, like the former Rialto dance hall,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10were simply burnt to the ground.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12That's the Rialto, you know.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15They were very selective in terms of where was burnt down.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17- They were making a point. - That's right.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19- It wasn't just riots.- No. It was business, wasn't it?
0:36:19 > 0:36:22It was, I mean, they saw...it was a class thing.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24- Yes.- They thought the likes of Rialto, The Racket Club,
0:36:24 > 0:36:27- the gentlemen's club up the road. - Oh, yes, that's right. Very elitist.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30They were burnt to the ground, but anything like a local shop
0:36:30 > 0:36:33that was owned by their own people, no way that was burnt down.
0:36:33 > 0:36:34That was never touched, no.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Do you think housing was a big issue?
0:36:37 > 0:36:40That was one of the main issues that pushed that riot?
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Yeah, because the nature of the property that the people lived in
0:36:43 > 0:36:45dated back to the Victorian times,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47even the small, six-roomed terraced houses.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51- I went to school in the '60s, down here in town.- Right.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54In the '60s, you'd come down on the bus and all those houses were
0:36:54 > 0:36:57- derelict.- Yes.- They were derelict for 20-odd, 30 years.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00- So that must have had a big influence on...- It did.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04That again adds to that frustration and feeling of hopelessness,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07and generation upon generation experienced this.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10It culminates and bubbles over in '81, by the fact that
0:37:10 > 0:37:11that particular generation said
0:37:11 > 0:37:13"We're not prepared to put it up with this any more."
0:37:13 > 0:37:17And the irony is after the Toxteth riots of course things did happen.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21Houses did get built, job situation was changed, education did change,
0:37:21 > 0:37:24things did happen, so that's why, after that, then it calmed down.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27But it only calmed down because things were done.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37Today, Toxteth is improving with new housing and investment in the area.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40It's still a wonderfully multicultural community
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and, although it's heartbreaking to see many streets still lying empty,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47other streets have improved beyond all recognition.
0:37:47 > 0:37:52Mike wants to show me one of its major suburban success stories.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54It's a beautiful street.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57This is Beaconsfield Street in the heart of Toxteth.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59It's a street which recently has been, as you can see,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02- the houses have been renovated. - Yeah.- In fact, this area,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05this particular street and the street next to it
0:38:05 > 0:38:09won the Turner Prize last year for, I think it was urban regeneration.
0:38:09 > 0:38:14Really? I just love it when houses like this are brought back to life
0:38:14 > 0:38:19and restored, instead of knocking them down, building flats.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22- Absolutely, yes.- Restore the beautiful Victorian houses.
0:38:22 > 0:38:23That's right.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Hopefully, those dark days of the '80s are now behind us
0:38:28 > 0:38:32and certainly over the last 20 or so years in Liverpool,
0:38:32 > 0:38:34there's a real feeling of rejuvenation
0:38:34 > 0:38:36and building right across the city,
0:38:36 > 0:38:38not just in the suburbs.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45But, of course, many Liverpudlians are still craving suburbia,
0:38:45 > 0:38:48and I can't finish my journey without taking a peek
0:38:48 > 0:38:51at what the latest suburban enclaves look like.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56So, I've come to Crosby, a slice of suburbia popular with commuters
0:38:56 > 0:39:01since the opening of the Crosby and Southport railway in 1848.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03I haven't seen any garden gnomes.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06Garden gnomes are not popular?
0:39:06 > 0:39:09Well, I think the garden gnome trend is on the decline
0:39:09 > 0:39:11at the moment, I believe. Yes. Yeah.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16Taking me on my tour is local estate agent, Alex Bibby.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Right, we're off to a brand-new development
0:39:18 > 0:39:22on a road called Victoria Road, in a gated complex
0:39:22 > 0:39:26which is a desirable option for a lot of buyers these days.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29So, explain to me what "gated" actually means?
0:39:29 > 0:39:31It doesn't sound very nice to me!
0:39:32 > 0:39:37Essentially, it's a collection of houses behind double gates,
0:39:37 > 0:39:41so that you have a little more privacy and seclusion.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45'There are currently over 1,000 gated communities across the UK
0:39:45 > 0:39:48'and that number is growing every year.'
0:39:48 > 0:39:50Alison, do come in.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53Oh! Wow!
0:39:53 > 0:39:54Oh! Yeah.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58Very nice.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01'When it's finished, this development will be made up
0:40:01 > 0:40:03'of eight, four-bedroom detached houses,
0:40:03 > 0:40:04'all done to a high spec.'
0:40:08 > 0:40:11- That, I like.- You'd never want to leave the house, would you?
0:40:13 > 0:40:14Well...
0:40:14 > 0:40:17'I wonder what Beverly from Abigail's Party,
0:40:17 > 0:40:20'or Pam from Gavin & Stacey would have made of these places?
0:40:20 > 0:40:22'They're absolutely enormous.'
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Here we are, Alison. Come on into the fantastic kitchen,
0:40:25 > 0:40:27family, entertaining room.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31Well...
0:40:31 > 0:40:34'But never mind them, what would my mum say?'
0:40:34 > 0:40:37If my mother could walk in here now and see this amount of space,
0:40:37 > 0:40:39you probably could, well,
0:40:39 > 0:40:43our whole house would have fitted into this ground floor, you know.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46'So I suppose the big question is
0:40:46 > 0:40:51'just what does it take to buy this sort of suburban dream today?'
0:40:51 > 0:40:53It's so chi-chi.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55How much would it cost?
0:40:55 > 0:40:57Yes, well, the properties on this development are starting
0:40:57 > 0:41:01at around about £900,000, upwards.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04- Starting?- Yes. Yes.
0:41:05 > 0:41:06Right, OK.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09I mean, London prices, that's not much,
0:41:09 > 0:41:12but for prices in the north of England, that's a lot.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16'Like all good salesmen,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19'Alex has left me alone to take in the price and make myself at home.'
0:41:21 > 0:41:23Two fridges, two freezers, and...
0:41:25 > 0:41:26..a wine cooler.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30'Unlike Beverly's house, there's no Beaujolais in this fridge.'
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Ah, champagne!
0:41:33 > 0:41:36'Could I imagine living somewhere like this?'
0:41:36 > 0:41:40It's a very, very different feel from the suburbia that I knew,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45and, indeed, no, the suburbia I know's a bit more cosy,
0:41:45 > 0:41:50a bit more, sort of, pots and pans...
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Yeah.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54Suburbia's certainly moved on.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59It's almost the end of my journey,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02so what home truths have I learned about Britain's suburbia?
0:42:02 > 0:42:07Well, I hope I've convinced you that they're not just the cliche we often
0:42:07 > 0:42:11think they are. To me they have a quiet charm and dignity to them,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14and that's embodied in the people who live here.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18But they've also been at the centre of our nation's story,
0:42:18 > 0:42:20changing the way we've lived,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23producing some extraordinary people in the process,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26and never being afraid to laugh at themselves along the way.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32So, have I convinced you that the suburbs are superb?
0:42:32 > 0:42:34I hope so.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37Now it's time to celebrate my home truth back in Anfield
0:42:37 > 0:42:41with my dear old friends, David and Brenda.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45Just to finish off, I thought we'd have a little celebration, so...
0:42:47 > 0:42:49..I've brought you a little, um...
0:42:49 > 0:42:51- a little nibble...- Oh.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53Oh, my goodness.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57- Abigail!- Yes, it brings back memories, doesn't it?
0:42:57 > 0:43:01I know none of us ever had garden gnomes but the cliche is that
0:43:01 > 0:43:04- suburbia...- Oh, my goodness me!
0:43:04 > 0:43:07..has garden gnomes, so you've got to pick...
0:43:07 > 0:43:08This is called Pick Your Gnome.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12- Oh, my goodness.- Choose our gnome, cos there's one each.
0:43:12 > 0:43:13OK?
0:43:13 > 0:43:16- Pick your gnome! - Well, no, ladies first, obviously.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19I'm going to have to go with this chappie,
0:43:19 > 0:43:23because he's got a red jacket on and I'm Liverpudlian,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25through and through and through.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27- OK, David?- No. No. Ladies first.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30OK, I'll go for the watering can, this chap.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33OK, and I'll have...
0:43:33 > 0:43:35There's no place like gnome!
0:43:39 > 0:43:41# Let's take a ride
0:43:41 > 0:43:44# And run with the dogs tonight
0:43:44 > 0:43:48# In suburbia
0:43:48 > 0:43:50# You can't hide
0:43:50 > 0:43:52# Run with the dogs tonight
0:43:52 > 0:43:55# In suburbia
0:43:55 > 0:43:57# Break a window
0:43:57 > 0:43:58# By the town hall
0:43:58 > 0:44:01# Listen, the siren screams
0:44:01 > 0:44:04# There in the distance... #