Calladine Way, Patio Estate, Swinton
The Patio Estate, renamed to ‘Fitzwilliam Estate’ by Rotherham Council in the late 1990s, was built in the late 60s/early 70s. The roads on the estate were named after Swinton Councillors and the properties consisted of apartments built in blocks of two and three levels.
It was initially quite a prestigious place to live. People who moved here weren’t allowed to have rent arrears and were often professional people, like Teachers etc.
It is heated by a central boiler house which has been known to often break down over the years and perhaps one of the reasons why the estate became not quite as desirable as other places to live.
Antisocial behaviour became quite rife as time progressed, including the odd murder, to the point where Rotherham Council decided something had to be done about it. In the late 1990s, along with the name change, the third levels on the blocks were demolished, presumably to help with noise nuisance problems. A road was also put through the entire estate and a number of properties actually demolished.
I once visited an almost identical estate in Rotherham, in 1991, called, ‘The Lanes’. In contrast to the patio estate, the Lanes was very peaceful and well maintained by its residents. I asked why there was such a difference between the two estates and was told that the Lanes was inhabited almost exclusively by elderly people.
WEEK 42 
March 10, 2021 at 14:42
I lived here for the majority of my childhood during the 90s/2000s, on Alldred Crescent. I have such fond memories of growing up on the street with my friends.
December 31, 2022 at 22:25
I lived on the top level on Thompson Drive in the very early 70s. My mother had sold her previous property, and the new one was delayed by the builders strike. It was a dump of an estate even then. We couldn’t wait to get out of there. 50 years on, it looks run down, and really ought to be knocked down and redeveloped. It’s probably the worst council estate in the whole of South Yorkshire