Events in
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Ronan
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Events in |
Ronan |
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1968 Early One Morning. On the morning of 16th of May 1968 an explosion caused the collapse of one corner of a 23 storey block of flats (apartments) in Clever Road, Newham in east London. In 1961, the first of many 'tower blocks' began to be built to accommodate the needs of the thousands of local people of West Ham in east London, an area badly mauled by the Second World War with several areas approaching 'slum' status. The design chosen for many of these was the 'Larsen-Nielsen' method of using pre-cast re-enforced blocks 'slotted' into place on site, then bolted and cemented together, this was seen as a safe and quick way to provide new homes for many. By 1968 West Ham had merged with adjacent East Ham into a single London Borough - Newham, and many tower blocks had been constructed giving local people a chance to move out of old, usually unfit properties into a smart new homes 'in the sky'. The many social problems created by the tower block lifestyle had not yet come to light and most people were fairly content to move into a new high-rise flat in order to escape damp, dirty and rundown homes. The construction of Ronan Point began on the 25th July 1966 and the building was handed over to Newham Council on the 11th of March 1968, it cost approximately £500,000 to build. It was 80 ft by 60ft in area and 210 ft high and consisted of 44 2-bedroom flats and 66 1-bedroomed flats - 5 flats per floor - and new tenants began moving in immediately. 
However, at 5.45 a.m Thursday morning when the explosion occurred in Flat 90 - a south-east corner flat on the 18th floor of the new building, blowing out sections of the outer wall, the modern design apparently proved to have a major fault which allowed a domino style collapse of wall and floor sections from the top of the building to the ground. Four people died immediately as a result of the blast and the following collapse, very few considering the amount of destruction, mainly due to the time of day (most were in their beds), and the fact that the block was not yet fully occupied with three of the four flats above the explosion unoccupied and the fact that the corner which collapsed comprised all of identical sitting rooms. One further person died later, but due to her age (a widow in her 80s) it could not be established that the cause was due to the incident. 17 others were injured. One lucky survivor, unable to sleep, had risen quietly leaving her husband in bed and was laying on a couch in her living room when the outer wall collapsed inwards and she was forced to the doorway as the floor disappeared leaving her on a narrow ledge unable to get through the door now jammed by rubble. Her husband reached through the opening and managed to grab and hold his wife with one arm while desperately clearing the rubble from the door with the other, he succeeded in bringing her to safety quite badly injured but alive. At first rumours arose locally of the cause being an IRA bomb-maker gone wrong, but it was later found to have been a 'town' gas build-up from a leaky cooker connection in flat 90 ignited by a lady hoping to heat her kettle for her morning cup of tea (this lady survived after being blown across her flat !!) The incident led to a ban for many years on the supply and use of gas in all high-rise premises, although this 'ruling' has now been revised in some cases probably due to difficulties in upgrading and renewing heating methods, etc. as the blocks themselves age. Officially the design faults were investigated and took the blame for much of the disaster, Ronan Point was repaired with all section joints strengthened and other similar buildings were also 'strengthened', but by then the public confidence in their safety had largely dissappeared and for some it provided a viable reason to refuse to live in a high-rise home. But rumour still persists that design fault was not the only reason for the disaster, many believe that cost-cutting building methods, bad workmanship and poor inspection of the section 'joints' during the actual construction left the new blocks unsafe from the start. Either way Ronan Point was pulled down in 1986 and other blocks have now been demolished and many others - even of completely different design - with them. Far fewer tower blocks exist in Newham today and as they go, they are not being replaced. I was on early morning shift, travelling to work by bus when the incident occurred less than a mile away. As the morning wore on, rumours that something serious had happened arose from workmates being unable to drive to work via their normal route through the nearby area. First disbelieving the story of a tower block 'collapsing', then we were all shocked as the extent of the tragedy became clear, initially thinking that many more had died than the actual number. I personally knew one of the victims, a friend of my sister - a young wife who had died with her new husband while sleeping in their 'new' home. I also remember the anger I felt as 'sightseers' arrived from far and wide during the following weeks, bringing their families to stare at what they had seen on the telly.... © Lal Cook. |
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