The story of Edith Macefield has been covered in international media before, but this time, the story has been told as a radio drama, produced by the BBC.
BBC writer Daniel Thurman first learned about Edith’s story after doing research on a similar “property holdout” story in London.
“I was walking in East London and noticed a building – Wickhams Department Store (picture below) – with what appeared to be a building within it,” Thurman tells My Ballard. “I googled it and, as well as finding out that the owners of a small shop refused to make way for the huge department store, came across a number of other stories of ‘property holdouts’. Edith’s in particular immediately sparked my imagination.”
Thurman visited Ballard last year for research, and then created a 45-minute radio drama, titled “The Macefield Plot”.
The cast includes Welsh actress Dame Sian Phillips (playing Edith, pictured above), Stanley Townsend (construction manager Barry Martin) Joseph Balderrama (Joe), and Helen Clapp and Christopher Harper (cops). The drama was directed by David Hunter.
While the house doesn’t look like much at present, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon: Ballard Blocks developer Regency Centers told My Ballard last year that they’re keeping the house.
Regency managing director Craig Ramey said they may tie it into Ballard Blocks II, which is still in development across the street.
Here’s the link to the audio story — enjoy!