The North Laine Community Association (NLCA) will be attending the BHASVIC Community History Festival, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. This visit to BHASVIC will allow the NLCA to interact with a different audience, so that more people can appreciate and fully understand why the North Laine is so important.
So what is the North Laine, you may be thinking? On its own, ‘Laine’ actually means an old field, which is what the North Laine previously was. Now, however, it is a conservation area filled with quirky, independent shops and residential streets (where street parties often occur!).
The NLCA is a charity that was set up in 1976 by a group of protesting residents, after threats to demolish the area. They have been actively campaigning ever since, with their main aim being to protect North Laine and help improve the quality of life for the residents. The NLCA also produces ‘The Runner’, a newspaper which started 50 years ago and is written by local volunteers. 2,500 copies go out every month to the residents and traders of the North Laine, which are hand-delivered, therefore allowing the community spirit to always be kept alive. In order to celebrate the big 50 year milestone, the Runner and the NLCA held a highly successful exhibition at the Jubilee Library in January.
The North Laine has such a large architectural mix of heritage, ranging from once being full of warehouses and artisanal workshops and then going on to be the home of army bases and barracks.
However, from 1945 onwards, the Council decided that the North Laine was obsolete - just a load of ‘bungaroosh’ - and so they planned to have a concrete flyover right through the heart of the North Laine. Over time, residents started to get angrier and angrier about how things were being dealt with and so in the early 70s they came together, holding petitions and protests. A key figure who championed this battle, is Ken Fines, who was a town planner, and now even has a blue plaque on ‘Infinity Foods’.
Despite getting the area back on its feet and to what it is today, as Sue Delafons, a trustee of the NLCA says, ‘we still need to be vigilant’, as risks are always present. Even though the North Laine is a conservation area, meaning it is protected, we can’t be complacent as protection is not 100% guaranteed. Always try and keep an eye out for those developers who pose a potential threat to the history of the North Laine!
All of this extraordinary history can be further delved into at the BHASVIC Community History Festival on Saturday the 28th March.