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Trafalgar Terrace

Photo:Greenhouse in Trafalgar Terrace

Greenhouse in Trafalgar Terrace

Photo by Pam Blackman

Meet Francis, the resident
Francis was interviewed on 6/6/2004 by Pam Blackman

Francis has lived in Trafalgar Terrace for 7 years. He is the street rep for the North Laine Runner, the community newsletter. He runs counselling sessions in the summer house in his garden.

Why I chose this area to live in
I settled on this area partly because it was so central. I could walk to the seafront and central Brighton quite easily. Of course, it has some disadvantages, because you can't get stuff by car to the front door! I have a resident's parking permit but that doesn't guarantee you a place.  I was unaware of this twitten. I first heard of it when I came to look at this house. I decided instantly that this was the house I wanted. I offered the full asking price, which was relatively low. It didn't have central heating; it didn't have a normal lighting system; and there was also no bath. These were all quite ordinary things that one would have expected to have in 1997.

First row of houses built
Apparently this was the first row of houses that was built in the North Laine. Originally, the garden (now separated from the house by a public walkway) would have been a conventional front garden. When Kemp Street was built the access was blocked, so they built the twitten along between the gardens and the houses.  I rather regret having a high fence round my garden. The trouble is that there are people going around looking for somewhere to doss down for the night. You don't particularly want to encourage people, particularly as I have a particularly big summerhouse.

The Flying School
The seagulls sometimes make a terrible racket at two in the morning and that did bother me when I first moved here. You get what I call the Flying School - later in the summer- when the young are ready to learn to fly. There's lots of squawking and the mothers will push the young off the roof. But I love them; I think they're wonderful birds.

A real feeling of community
There's a feeling of community in this area. Not having traffic, we get to know each other much more easily. People sit or stand outside their front doors outside in the evening. If I go out walking around the North Laine, I will almost always meet someone I know. People will look out for each other's houses while they're away.

I'm pleased the North Laine was saved. It was very touch and go, wasn't it? It was a slum area, which would have been demolished and developed if the road had come through. This might have just been a wasteland, so the planners showed great foresight. I don't always agree with conservation because one needs to have new things as well, but I think this particular conservation was good. This is an area of great character."

This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments:

We used to live next door when Mrs. Locke was alive. She was lovely and, we think, taught at Middle Street. We really enjoyed living here and loved her garden so much that we designed our garden along the same lines with the shed in the corner and a circular lawn. We decorated the fence with holey stones. We rented our house and it was damp and very expensive but, had it been ours, I'm sure we'd still live there now. I remember when there was a lot of controversy about which colour to paint houses in the conservation area - Mrs. Locke's was bright yellow and glossy with a black border at the bottom - it looked absolutely wonderful - how dull to have them all white. We liked all our neighbours - there was a good mix of people - surprisingly, many of the houses belonged to the Council.
By Michael and Donna (13/08/2004)
I was absolutely delighted to find these pages on the Internet. I have nothing but happy memories of living and being raised in the house and garden in question. It seems extraordinary to think that the entire area was scheduled for slum clearance as late as 1971. The barmy 'Wilson Street Plan' being the last of many half-cocked ideas that were around at that time. Michael and Donna are, with respect, not correct about the houses being owned by the Council. Most were freehold and subject to the 'planning blight' of the period. I remember the Council surveyor calling to discuss the estimate of the amount the Council were going to pay to acquire the property. When my mother pleaded with him for the preservation of the house and the area, he said (in a strong Highland accent) 'my dear its like putting lipstick on your grandmother!'. The house is still the same yellow and black colour combination that it has been since we moved there in 1954. The two-tone was a feature of the area right through to the 1970s but has been lost recently to the false belief that the area is Regency in its background. It isn't, these are Victorian artisan dwellings. The apple tree in the centre bed died three years ago and the one by the greenhouse blew over in the summer storm this year but was jacked up, staked and saved! The greenhouse has been restored by the brilliant Brighton carpenter and conservator Paul Baker. My mother was a teacher at Coldean and Middle Street, where she was the last Head of the old school. And finally as a teacher at St Pauls. She loved the house, the garden, the area and Brighton. Her spirit lives on in the garden and she would be thrilled that it is remembered in this way.
By John Locke (01/09/2004)
The d`Ascoli family lived in Mrs. Locke's house from 1999 to 2001; we loved the community spirit and our magical garden. We once had a visit from an old gentleman whose aunt and uncle had lived in the house in the 20s. He told us of his uncle who had a wonderful black moustache and ran an illicit betting shop from the front room, and his cousin ran a shoe repair business from a shed in the garden. The old gentleman used to cycle there from Horsham for his holidays and spend the days at Black Rock. He drank tea with us and went home with a knapsack full of apples from the garden.
By Helen d`Ascoli (01/06/2005)

I'm Kay Locke's grandaughter and am now resident at 5 Trafalgar Terrace. I'm so happy here and the sculpture my grandad did of Kay is still nestled in the garden. My dad grew up here and I spent a lot of my childhood here, and now I hope my children will also. The garden is heaven and I'm in the process of restoring it after a few years of neglect before I moved in. I don't know much about gardening but am enjoying learning as I go. So it will be back to its former glory soon I hope.

By Vanessa Austin Locke (22/07/2007)

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