[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-exploring-excalibur-prefabs-south-london":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"After way too much sitting in the studio this week, I was bouncing off the walls and needing to get out. Stuart had a bee in his bonnet to visit the \u003Cb>Excalibur prefab estate\u003C/b> in \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catford\">Catford\u003C/a>, so we jumped on our bicycles and headed over there. He'd read a couple articles, one by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/06/excalibur-castles-prefab-post-war-demolished\">Simon Jenkins in \u003Ci>The Guardian\u003C/i>\u003C/a> and the other in \u003Ca href=\"http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NewsAndEvents/LewishamLife/November2010.htm\">\u003Ci>Lewisham Life\u003C/i>\u003C/a> about the community, \u003Cb>Britain's largest surviving 1940's prefab estate\u003C/b>, which is under threat of demolition by the council. \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefabricated_housing\">Prefabricated houses\u003C/a> were a quick-fix housing solution after WW2, and were only intended to last ten years or so, but after 60 years, some residents have grown very attached to them. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/excalibur8-c044d783e4.gif\">\\r\n\\r\nAs we were looping about the maze of streets and taking photos, we were lucky enough to get chatting with a guy who was taking down his Christmas decorations, \u003Cb>Jim Blackender\u003C/b>. Jim's become a neighbourhood champion to save Excalibur, and he let me video him talking about it. Here's the interview and a slide show of some of the photos I took today in this historic area:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"581\"/>\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNeyYKLaZYo\">\u003Ci>Excalibur Prefabs YouTube link\u003C/i>\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nYou can find out about the \u003Ca href=\"http://jim-blackender.webs.com/\">community's campaign on Jim's website here\u003C/a>.\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/excalibur1-acf65a44a3.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>Jim Blackender and his prefab\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/excalibur5-b21eb1535a.jpg\">\\r\n\u003C!--more Lots more under the cut-->\\r\nThe first time I went inside a prefab was in the Imperial War Museum's \u003Ca href=\"http://london.iwm.org.uk/server/show/conEvent.381\">1940's House\u003C/a> exhibition, and Channel 4 \u003Ca href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/image_galleries/1940s_house_gallery.shtml\">made a series\u003C/a> about a family who lived there in artificially created 1940's conditions. When I took Stuart to the museum, he was amazed by how much of the decor he recognised that had stuck around into own childhood in the sixties. Here are some photos I found of the house's interior on YouTube, with a jolly \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_Cogan\">Alma Cogan\u003C/a> soundtrack:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"582\"/>\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7hj1c_xFtc\">\u003Ci>1940s House YouTube link\u003C/i>\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nSome more photos from today.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/excalibur3-d45c579129.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/excalibur6-4fb83c6b46.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/excalibur2-396fb93151.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/excalibur4-7c057333bd.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/excalibur7-79674c2a7d.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>A noticeboard outside Jim's house\u003C/i>\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/jim_blackender-a41d570b93.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ci>Edit: Just linked by \u003Ca href=\"http://twitter.com/#!/Londonist/status/24160804999794689\">The Londonist\u003C/a> and writer Philip Reeve on his blog \u003Ca href=\"http://the-solitary-bee.blogspot.com/2011/01/excalibur-pre-fabs.html\">The Solitary Bee\u003C/a>\u003C/i>","2011-01-09T00:01:00.000Z","exploring-excalibur-prefabs-south-london",[],"exploring excalibur prefabs, south london",1776628719522]