Tamworth: Report of Survey, County Development Plan
The document that changed Tamworth.
Publisher: Tamworth Council
Published in 1965
Reviewed for Volume 1 Issue 4 Autumn 2023
The Review
Recently I came across a comb bound, hand typed, 59 page document with a grey cover that simply said “Tamworth Report of Survey” and the borough crest. Whilst not dated reading it you can see it was compiled in 1965. This is the document that forever changed what Tamworth had been for last 1000 years and where it was going!
The report sets out the status of Tamworth, in great detail, in 1965, apart from all the usual demographics on the population it includes the geology and geographical information. Also, the industry and commerce in the area past, current, in 1965, and predicted for the decades to come.
Much of the planning was under the Planning Acts of the post World War 2 1950s. The latest Act mentioned in the text is 1962 so would have been researched in 1959-61. I would recommend that readers look on the internet for any 1950s UK films, particularly from government or local government. (EG https://youtu.be/z9RZ5ul4SOs?si=r9pXm8KODNAlWiVx )
It will give you some idea of the times. Remember the “swinging 60’s” happened mainly in the cities and not small provincial towns like Tamworth. In any case the “swinging” (and rock and roll etc) was more the domain of the teenagers, not their parents or the adults in power.
There is a two paragraph assessment on the regional and local problems as they were seen in the mid-1960s before all the transformation and modernisation. There are also a lot of 20 year predictions estimating where things would be in 1985 (ie about 40 years ago) some of you will be able to remember the mid-1980s in Tamworth and you will be able to see how correct, or not these predictions were. This gives some idea how difficult estimating is.
No one foresaw the internet, mobile phones, or mass communication and travel in general. Indeed getting one land line telephone per household was a novel idea then and most didn’t have them. One car per family was a goal not the reality. Hence the lack of parking on most of the 1960s Tamworth estates where it was unthinkable that anyone would have more than 1 (small) car per family.
Likewise the industry and schooling. In the 1950s-60s there were several thousand coal miners who lived in Tamworth and worked in the now gone local coalmines. There was other heavy industry related to mining in the area. The demographics of the population, and the changing national view on education meant the plan went one way as the governments went the other. Anyone remember the idea of “middle school” that came and went. It takes a decade to plan and build a school by the time some “middle schools” had been built the idea had come and gone
If you would like a copu of this report plese email the Edtior: Editor@TamworthHeritage.org.uk
