East Midlands

But what was it like for the pioneers who created a community from scratch on what became Europe's largest council estate?

Inside Out visits the community 50 years on...

Bright new future

Thirty thousand homes were built in Clifton after the Second World War in response to a huge shortage of housing.

Brick by brick - buy a brick voucher.

Almost 1,000 acres of prime farmland was bought up and built on.

The village of Glapton disappeared to make way for progress.

Families who'd farmed the land for generations moved out of their homes and cottages to make way for the new estate.

Local historian Brenda Wright has studied the Clifton estate for the past 20 years.

She says, "It was very sad. Some people moved out almost overnight. It was like their burying their past.

"The people who moved onto the new estate were so glad to have a home, they weren't aware of what had to be demolished."

Home sweet home

For people like Edna Dearman it was their first chance to have a home of their own.

Coming up roses - Edna in her garden.

Edna had been living in a two up, two down in the Meadows area of the city and spent five years on a waiting list for Clifton.

She says: "I jumped for joy. I thought it was beautiful. It was a mud bath but I didn't care. We had our first house on our own".

But not everyone was so happy.

The first residents on the Clifton estate had to live on a building site with no shops and some felt very isolated from the rest of Nottingham.

By 1958 the building of Clifton Bridge went some way to solving the isolation many had felt.

But a TV documentary picked up on the problems some people were facing, in particular a lack of facilities for young people.

Soulless or soulful?

Local historian Brenda Wright told us the programme caused controversy on the estate:

Keeping the faith - St Francis church.

"The people who lived on Clifton were cross and fought back at it. It wasn't a soulless place at all."

The strength of community spirit in those early years can be seen in the effort that went into building St Francis' church in Clifton.

Local people bought coupons for bricks and everyone rolled up their sleeves and offered their skills to build themselves a church after they were told they would have to wait 20 years for one.

Vicar Liam O'Boyle says, "There was a sense of something very special happening here. It was a home-made church."

Brand new start

Clifton is no longer Europe's largest council estate.

Eighty percent of the 30,000 homes built there are now privately owned.

Beat Manager PC Nigel Brown has been on the Clifton beat since the 1970's.

He says the estate doesn't deserve the reputation it gets but he thinks there's still a shortage of places for young people to go, especially in the evenings.

Sense of community - PC Nigel Brown.

Clifton's ageing population needs somewhere to go too. Now more than 50 years after she first moved onto the estate as a pioneer of a brand new community, Edna Dearman is getting ready to start again.

In summer 2009 Edna and her husband Jo will be moving into Lark Hill, a retirement village on the edge of Clifton.

Nearly half a century after their move to Clifton, they'll be some of the first people to move in to yet another brand new community.

It's proof that Clifton continues to evolve and its sense of community remains stronger than ever.