Blackbird Leys
Coordinates: 51°43′19″N 1°12′40″W / 51.722°N 1.211°W
| Blackbird Leys | |
 Blackbird Leys
Blackbird Leys shown within Oxfordshire |
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| Population | 12,196 (2001 census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SP5502 |
| Civil parish | Blackbird Leys |
| District | Oxford |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Oxford |
| Postcode district | OX4 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Oxford East |
| Website | Blackbird Leys Parish Council |
| List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire | |
Blackbird Leys is a civil parish and ward in Oxford, England, and is one of the largest council estates in Europe. According to the 2001 census, the ward had a population of 5,803.[2] Unlike most parts of the City of Oxford, the area has a civil parish. The parish was created in 1990. Its 2001 parish headcount was 12,196.[1]
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[edit] Origin
There was a Bronze Age or Iron Age settlement on the site. Evidence has been found suggesting pits and roundhouses, with remains of pottery and a cylindrical loom weight of a kind previously known only from East Anglia.[3]
Modern-day Blackbird Leys was built mainly in the 1950s and 60s to meet the then pressing need for accommodation. It was part of a plan to re-house people from the dilapidated inner city. This included large-scale clearance of a site near to where the Oxford Ice Rink is currently located (The Oxpens). Many of the families that moved onto the estate originally came from this area. It was also a convenient site for factory workers at the Morris Motor Company plant in nearby Cowley.
[edit] Community
Ethnically the population is made up principally of white people and Afro-Caribbeans.
In early September 1991, rioting plagued Blackbird Leys for three nights. Following a crackdown by police on joyriding, some 150 youths stoned police officers. Two women suffered stab wounds and two men suffered other injuries during the riots.[4]
Around this time, Blackbird Leys was infamous for its joy riding. Young men from the estate would steal fast cars and 'display' them (with a variety of high-speed stunts) to an audience gathered outside the estate shops (top shops), eventually gaining worldwide media attention.[citation needed] Politician Andrew Smith stated in 1991 that the extensive national media coverage of confrontations with the police in August and September left many of the wider public with a distorted picture of the problem.[5] Some[who?] say journalists visiting helped encourage some of the action for filming. Various measures were brought in by the local council and police to stop the displays. Police often found it difficult to catch joy riders, whose stolen cars were faster than the police vehicles, though eventually a faster police car was introduced. Chicanes were built around the shops area, and an anti-skid surface applied to the road, making it difficult to execute handbrake turns and other stunts. Greater Leys (the newest parts of the Blackbird Leys estate) was specifically designed to minimise the number of roads entering the estate, making it easier to prevent drivers from escaping.
There have been several fatalities and serious injuries on Blackbird Leys as a result of joyriding. On 14 December 2000, nine-year-old Ross Doyle was killed by joyriders when a stolen Vauxhall Astra veered out of control and mounted the pavement. Nobody has ever being convicted in connection with the crime, in spite of several arrests being made in the year following the tragedy.[6]
23-year-old Jamaican immigrant Moshean Cameron was fatally stabbed on the estate on 30 April 2004; drugs was the suspected motive. A local man was arrested in connection with the murder but six years on it remains unsolved.[7]
On one scale Blackbird Leys is in the 10% most deprived areas in England.[clarification needed][8]
In 2006, residents from the estate took part in The Singing Estate, a Channel Five reality TV show following their progress from amateur singers to classical choir.[9] The Blackbird Leys Choir emerged from the original choir and continues today, just one of the community groups thriving on the estate.
[edit] Politics
The area has traditionally been staunchly Labour. The Independent Working Class Association performed strongly in the mid-2000s, holding three of the four council seats on Oxford City Council between 2006 and 2008, and still retaining one. Local MP Andrew Smith has a house on the estate as well as a Town House in Central London which is registered in his wife's name. His wife is one of the City councillors and County Councillors for the area.
[edit] Transport
Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach in Oxfordshire provide bus services between Blackbird Leys and central Oxford.
The freight-only railway between Kennington Junction and the BMW Mini factory via Iffley and Littlemore forms the northwestern boundary of Blackbird Leys. It is part of the former Wycombe Railway that British Railways closed to passenger traffic in 1963.
[edit] See also
- Littlemore Brook, which flows from Blackbird Leys and through the Oxford Science Park to the south.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "2001 Census: Key Figures for 2001 Census: Parish Headcounts, Area: Blackbird Leys CP (Parish)". Neighbourhood Statistics, Government site. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=798616&c=blackbird+leys&d=16&e=15&g=480303&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
- ^ "2001 Census: Key Figures for 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics, Area: Blackbird Leys (Ward)". Neighbourhood Statistics, Government site. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=5943748&c=blackbird+leys&d=14&e=16&g=480303&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1207330331671&enc=1. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "British Archaeology, no 7, September 1995: News". Council for British Archaeology. After main articles — "In brief" section, "Earliest Oxford".. http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba7/ba7news.html. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "House of Commons Daily Debates 1991-12-09 5.38pm". Hansard. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199192/cmhansrd/1991-12-09/Debate-4.html. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
- ^ Cummins, Fiona; Nuwar, Sara (2000). "ROSS, 9, MOWED DOWN ON JOYRIDERS' ESTATE; Police quiz 2 youths over hit-run death". The Free Library. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ROSS,+9,+MOWED+DOWN+ON+JOYRIDERS'+ESTATE%3B+Police+quiz+2+youths+over...-a068008077. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ^ "Death `not start of a drugs war'". Oxford Mail. 5 May 2004. http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2004/5/5/12263.html. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ^ "Super Output Area Profile Report For South East Area Committee" (PDF). Oxford City Council, Government site. 2008. http://www.oxford.gov.uk/Direct/75081FULLSouthEastSOAProfiles07.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
- ^ "Leys choir set to star again". Oxford Mail. http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.1254032.0.leys_choir_set_to_star_again.php. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
[edit] External links
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