Cultureshock

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Video transcript

My family has always lived in Elswick. My grandparents, my parents, my 4 sisters and me have always lived in this area.

It's got a good history...it was once part of Northumberland but in 1835 it became part of Newcastle.

When I was 5 years old in 1975, the family moved house from Sanderson Street to Northbourne Street. I don't really remember the move but the house became very important to me. It was built in the 1880's of red brick. It had 3 bedrooms and an inside toilet. It had 2 attics where you could look out and see the whole area around. It was a great family house and I was happy living there, playing football, and going to the shops for me mam.

In 1978 me mam was expecting my 3rd sister...so it was a bit of a tight squeeze. Round about 1982/83 my mam was expecting my 4th sister... and we definitely needed more space...so we moved to James Street. This house didn't have any attics and I was sad to have lost my view from the top window.  Then in 1984 we moved to Hampstead Road on the West Road. We were there between a year and a year and a half and I didn't like living there. Then in 1985 the family moved back to Northbourne Street where my mam and sisters and me have lived for 20 years.

In 2003 people were moving out of the houses because the estate was going to be demolished for regeneration. I felt a community was being disbanded. People had grown up together as kids, whole families went to school together and people remained friends for years. I felt sad that all this was going to be lost. I decided that I wanted to take photographs of the area. I still live in Elswick and I enjoy taking photos and recording the changes.