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This story has been submitted personally to the People’s War website by the James Ashton, the story is in his own words and has been added to the site by Anne Wareing of the Lancashire Home Guard.

These are the memories of Jim Ashton, a 78 year old pensioner living in the historic Lancashire village of Huncoat since 1941.

When I first came to live in this centuries old village as a 14 year old lad 64 years ago, there was a mini village of pre-fabricated bungalows, that had been built on the land now occupied by the Burnley Road council flats.

These compact chalet type bungalows were insulated by panels pf compressed wood shavings and sawdust, sandwiched between the inner and outer wall panels. This was the reason why this unusual housing estate became known locally as ‘Sawdust City’.

Many of the residents of Sawdust City were employed at the Bristol Aircraft Company’s aero engine factory that had been recently built on the land now occupied by the business park, opposite junction 7 of the M65 at Clayton-le-Moors.

Shortly after the end of the 2nd World War, many of the residents of this estate were re-housed and Sawdust City became a refugee camp for single young men who had fled from the communist countries of Eastern Europe. Some time later it became a hostel for young Italian men brought over by the British government to work in the local coalmines, which at that time were experiencing an acute shortage of man power.

Eventually many of these men married local girls and settled down with their families in and around Accrington.

The small pre-fabs were often described by the Lancashire dialect name of
‘Encoytes,’ (poultry cabins), rabbit hutches, or mouse traps with tin roofs. The residents however did enjoy the luxuries of central heating, instant hot water and a bathroom. These ‘mod cons’ of 1940 were sadly missing in the stone terraces occupied by the working class families in those far off days of World War Two.

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