Joe Sheehan says his family has “nothing but fond memories” of living on a futuristic, modern housing estate in Hull in the early 1960s.
“It seemed absolutely amazing,” he says.
Built on bold ambitions and modern ideas, Orchard Park was designed as a model estate for a new generation of Hull residents.
But not all of the promised amenities were delivered when the new estate was built.
Now, people who live there are sharing their memories, photographs and stories as part of a project to preserve the estate’s history for future generations.
At the time, the 330-acre development, consisting of 2,500 houses, was described as the most ambitious housing scheme ever attempted in the north of England.
Newspaper reports said the estate would feature a cinema, dance hall, church, bathing pool, bus service, schools, inn and bomb-proof shelters, external, but these plans never came to fruition.
Joe, who is working on the project for charity Back to Ours, says the estate was based on the Radburn design – a concept born in the United States, which focuses on separating pedestrians from traffic.
The aim was to have a lot of green spaces that facilitated community by having people close together, Joe adds.