Heywood

The best years of my life were living on Darnhill when these High Rises were up, and the worst day ever was watching them be demolished.
The flats themselves were spacious and comfortable and the views depending on which floor you lived on were fantastic, you could see for miles and many an evening I would stand on my balcony watching the world go by.
Everyone seemed to get along with everyone, neighbours were friendly and were always there to help if you needed it, and there was never any trouble or complaints, we just all lived as a one happy community.
I lived in Armadale and Dunvegan Court, I have some happy memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life and looking at these pictures brought back all the good times spent living in the high rises and the people I once knew who will always be remembered.
I think it was a bad decision on behalf of the council to demolish buildings which could occupy such a lot of tenants, they had so much potential and developers could have made the most of opportunities available for them and spent money internally improving them rather than taking the drastic decision to demolish them.
The idea really would have been to make sure the properties were occupied by decent people and therefore the reputation of these flats would have remained as it used to be many many years ago.
Some may agree with me, some may not and some thought of the high rises as eyesores which got them the name Concrete Jungle, but for others including me, the actual flats were our homes and on the inside was what mattered more than the outside.
Nobody can blame the buildings for the actions of some of the tenants who were allowed to occupy them in later years, the reputation of the high rises took a beating because of this which was such a shame, but its all too late now, they're gone but our memories aren't.
Thank you for bringing back those memories of how Darnhill used to be and how it will always be remembered.

Missing names of flats :
ELGOL COURT
BRACADALE COURT
KYLEAKIN COURT
ARMADALE COURT

Missing names of flats :
ELGOL COURT
BRACADALE COURT
KYLEAKIN COURT
ARMADALE COURT

I loved Darnhill in the 70's, & grew up with Sutherland Rd School, & Greens paper shop,
I delivered milk, or papers, & recall, when I did the flats, I used to press "all 64 buttons" to get in. Initially, Each Flats, had a, live in caretaker, & people took pride in the flats. Collecting paper or milk money, I went into many a flat, & people took pride in them.

In the mid 80's, we lived in Armadale Court, 12th floor, for a time, Now no caretakers.
Lads were even keeping their motorcycles in the flats, via the lifts & were reving them up, this was also done on the 12th floor, Now, swamped with many unmarried mothers, drunks, & yobs took over, & most people became more reclusive.

The lifts, were in decline, & used as toliets. Council did not vet who they let live in the flats, & it sealed the death of them. The community spirit went Downhill, not Darnhill.

The 163 bus terminated at Darnhill, & to get a bus to Bury, you had to walk a mile to the Summit.. Nursery was in Heywood, so another bus to there.

In later years this Bury bus was added, but they never had a bus from Darnhill estate, to Pilsworth Industrial Estate, despite many hundreds of people working there.
It all helped to the decline of Darnhill, & then the main school Sutherland Rd, closed.

It showed the 3 council disputes between M/C, Rochdale, & Bury, as to who was looking after Darnhills best interests, no one, & it became last in the councils spending.
Darnhill Estate, was owned & rents paid to M/C, yet rates paid to Rochdale.
To M/C it was a remote overspill estate, & not even in Manchester.
Rochdale Council had to maintain the roads etc, but to them, its not their estate.

Some of the flats were modernised, but all too late as the decline of tennants had set in. There was also sinking or subsiding on Darnhill, many houses being demolished.

Anybody remember Edith ground floor of Armadale ? Lovely old lady who had a damation dog

Had a great time staying at the multi Armadale court 13 floor in the 1970.