Holme Wood estate has had its ups and its downs, from being Bradford's pioneering housing estate when it was built in 1957, to a hot-bed of crime in the 1980s and to a full regeneration programme in the 1990s.

Residents gathered on Centre Point football field, off Broadstone Way, on Saturday, to take part in a family day.

Hundreds of people gathered on the field to mark the estate's 50th birthday and join in the celebrations.

The award-winning Katz Elite Cheerleaders wowed the crowds with acrobatic displays and dancers from the Samara Belly Dancing Group impressed with a performance.

There were competitions and games, including a junior football tournament and a poetry competition for youngsters to enjoy.

Dad Shane Duffy, 24, was visiting the fair with his wife Emma, 24, his sisters Lindsay, 23, and Vickie, 16, nephew Aiden and daughter Courtney, both three.

Shane, who lives in Heyshaw Drive, Holme Wood, said: "We thought we would bring the children down and they are really enjoying themselves. They have had their faces painted and are having a go on the bouncy castle.

"I've lived here all my life but I was talking to someone who lived here 51 years ago who was telling me it was all woods before the estate was here."

Gordon Dey, the vicar of Tong and Holme Wood, described the area as "the best place in the world". He said: "There is such a variety of people living here, including Eastern European and African people. It is exciting for them and they are settling in well.

He added: "If people just knew how much was going on, they would be staggered. This is not one of those places where people live in separate boxes. This is a community where people love and support each other. It is much more fun than those posh middle class places.

Geraldine Parker, 54, of Greyswood Crescent, has lived on the estate for 50 years. She was four when she moved from Clayton to live in one of the first houses built in Holme Wood Road, where her mum Mary Eade, 86, still lives.

She said: "We were living in one of the first houses built, but they were still building, so it was a bit like living on a building site.

"There weren't any pavements and roads were just like dirt tracks. There was a mud road and only the builders wagons could get down them."

Mrs Parker was one of the first pupils to go to the new school on the estate, Holme Junior and Infant School, which is now Knowleswood Primary.

She said: "It was brilliant everything was new and I remember on the first day we were all sitting on desks because they'd forgotten to deliver the chairs."

Mrs Parker has always been involved with community projects and in the 1990s, with her husband David, she set up the Holme Runner service, a safer travel service for women who lived on the estate. Between 6pm and 11pm a bus would pick women up from their front door and take them where they needed to go.

Now the mum-of-three is a volunteer with the Holme Wood Toy Library. She said: "I think it was a shame that they have taken away a lot of green areas in the estate.

"But its a good place to live, it has community spirit. I think part of it is that a lot of people outside the estate don't realise how many people live here, crime figures are high, because statistically the numbers of people living here are more."

May Hart, 79, moved in to Ogden House in Dane Court Road 49 years ago.

Mrs Hart, who writes a column about Tong and Holme Wood for the Telegraph & Argus, said: "When we first came, there were no buses and you had to walk everywhere.

"There were no shops, a big blue bus would come round and you would buy groceries or anything that you wanted. When Ogden and Kelvin House were redeveloped in the 90s we had new bathrooms, new central heating, new windows and doors and they fitted 24-hour security."

But despite the regeneration, on Boxing Day in 1992 Mrs Hart was mugged.

She said: "Before that I had not been frightened to walk about in the evenings, but after that I felt more scared. But I'm quite tough, so I'm glad they picked on me and not someone else." Mrs Hart, who now lives on her own, after her husband Bill passed away, was an office worker for Sandoz, a chemical manufacturer, near Calverley Bridge, for 30 years.

In the late 1990s, despite the regeneration, the estate lost many of its grocery shops - although there was massive support from customers to keep them open.

Hundreds of residents signed petitions demanding the shops be allowed to stay open. Mrs Hart said: "It was more personal with the small shops." Helene Hall, 60, has also lived in Ogden House for 40 years.

She said: "In 1967 when I moved in there were shops on the parade, there were butchers, green grocers, confectioners but those shops have gone again now. There's a free bus to Asda now, so that's better."

Mrs Hall, who has one daughter Sharon, 39, was a house- wife and worked at Mother Hubbards fish and chip shop.

She said: "It's not as bad as people say it is on the estate. Although the estate used to be cleaner and greener. Everybody did their bit to keep it tidy."

"We did start the Ogden and Kelvin House Residents' Association, May was secretary and I was treasurer. It lasted for about 14 years, but it has stopped now. We had bingo, Christmas parties, strawberry teas, pie and peas, coffee mornings. We used to have a gala as well. But that also stopped in the 90s."

Brian Harrison, 43, of St Margaret's Avenue, has lived on the estate for 30 years.

His dad Jack was heavily involved in drumming up support within the community. Mr Harrison has followed in his father's footsteps and is a volunteer with Holme Wood Activity centre.

"We did get the regeneration in the 1990s, but it was just a one-off gesture and you need community groups to keep the momentum going." Winifred and Edward Beswick of Madison Avenue, have lived in Holme Wood for 47 years.

Mrs Beswick said: "The estate has changed a lot since we first moved here. Then there weren't any shops or facilities to speak of and few buses.

"I remember a hut at the bottom of Holme Wood Road served as a church and a clinic until they built St Christopher's church in the 1960s."

Peter Salmon, of Kesteven Road, moved to Holme Wood in 1957 as a boy. He said: "I recall people paying their Council rent at a portable cabin on Holme Wood Road. Today, we have shops, public houses, clubs, churches, community centre, schools and play areas. In days gone by they were nothing but dreams."

e-mail: ali.davies@bradford.newsquest.co.uk