1974 and all that

On John Poulson's fall, the rise of motorway service stations, and more #CouchTo100k writing tips

Poor son Poulson

You don’t need to be David Peace to know that 1974 was a funny old year. 50 years ago Nixon resigned. There was the fallout of the oil crisis that crashed the world economy. There were two British general elections, neither wildly conclusive but both reinstalling Harold Wilson’s Labour party in government, and chucking out Heath’s Conservatives. Six people were killed in the Birmingham pub bombings. ABBA won Eurovision with Waterloo. It’s the era of Bagpuss and Porridge, of Kung Fu Fighting and Sugar Baby Love, a time both gaudy and grim, a lametta curtain masking the way to something darker going on behind the scenes at the working men’s club.

It was also the year that architect John Poulson was sentenced to five years (later extended to seven) for bribery. I told the story in Concretopia of how Poulson had gained work for his practice in Pontefract through backhanders to everyone from British Rail to the Scottish Office, a story that also dragged down Tory Home Secretary Reginald Maulding and Labour council leader T Dan Smith in Newcastle, one of several who also faced prison. Smith was the only one to emerge with support in the long term, which is in itself a fascinating tale. Poulson, famously described by the judge as ‘an incalculably evil man’, had used his appearances in court to drag down as many people as possible, accusing them all of leeching off him.

One of the most remarkable aspects of it was the existence of Poulson’s book, The Price, published in 1981 by Michael Joseph, and then almost immediately withdrawn, due to fears of legal action from the people named. The book is fairly astonishing, a sustained rant with no sense of self criticism or perspective. Hone Secretary Reginald Maudling is a ‘hungry crocodile.’ ‘Dan Smith, had I only known it, was merely one of my betrayers. Maudling was far worse.’ By the time Poulson’s company crashed, which was the cause of his undoing, Reginald Maudling owed him more than all of his creditors combined. Poor Poulson.