IN THE SHADOW OF THE ROSSE - Shipley

CHAPTER SIX
Victoria Avenue, like most of the other houses on the site, had been built on top of old
stone- quarry workings. While this did not cause any problems for the other houses in
the area, in the case of Victoria Avenue it was to lead to a disaster.
During the early part of 1921, the owners and occupiers of the houses in the middle of
the row noticed large cracks and general structural problems occurring in their homes.
The occupiers of No’s 10 and 12, Mrs Green, and Mr and Mr Oddy, who had only
bought their property in 1919, were soon forced to leave as the damage continued to
get worse. At 4 am on Sunday 11th September 1921 the whole of the rear sections of
No’s 10 and 12 collapsed into their respective yards.
1920
According to the Yorkshire Observer for the following day, the back parts of the
houses collapsed, "with a tremendous noise like an earthquake". The lane running
across the top of Oastler and Ashley Roads was completely blocked, and the heavy
weight of the fallen masonry and wood broke the gas and water mains pipes in the
ground below. A photograph in the same newspaper shows the rooms of the two houses
exposed to the elements while the rubble of the old walls lies beneath them.
The neighbours on either side of the collapsed houses had to move out, as a safety
measure. But it was not long before some of them had problems of their own, as the
damage spread to their properties. The family at No.8 were able to go back after a
while, but those on the other side found that their homes had become uninhabitable.
The owners of these properties tried to persuade Shipley Council to accept responsibility
for the damaged houses. The council was not very keen, and the owners were
told it was their own problem. After surveying the damage, the council ordered the
owners to clear the site and make the area safe. However, later on, presumably after
a certain amount of pressure, the council relented, and in May 1922 the council
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