knowle west is it the wild west?

[marty21]

http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,,1797213,00.html


just bought this book, shawnie, by ed trewavas, a social worker, the book "reflects" his experiences in knowle west, and it's fucking bleak, child abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, petty theft, armed robbery, drug abuse, prostitution, alcohol abuse, poverty, awful diet, all concentrated on one family

when i was a lad and going to school in bristol, it was generally ackowledged that hartcliffe was the most notorious area, is knowle west the new hartcliffe, is it the wild west?

also a thread here

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=4686600#post4686600

it's also written in the bristol dialect

 

[Sturdy Wrists]

It no different from any other working class area of Bristol or any other City. It has its problems - mainly due to lack of investment in housing and social services but there is a genuine sense of community and warmth from most of the people who live here ( I don't but I do work here). There are most, if not all, the same problems in Clifton, Westbury or any other area of Bristol its just that they are better hidden and not as easy a target as places like Knowle West or Hartcliffe.

 

[gloryhornetgirl]

I don't notice a massive heroin problem in Clifton, or buses refusing to go into the area.

 

[Iam]

Patchway, Southmead... take your pick.

It's certainly no worse than any of the other big estates I've seen or lived on.

 

[gloryhornetgirl]

I would say Southmead is quite similar - Patchway is not too bad.

 

[Iam]

I wouldn't say any of 'em are that bad, particularly.

 

[gloryhornetgirl]

I don't think anywhere in Bristol is that bad really - compared to places in other cities like London or Manchester or whatever. The worst place in the country to live would be South London, I reckon.

 

[Iam]

Hmmm.

Horwich. Bleak under them moors.

 

[JTG]

nowhere's ever as bad as they say it is. I do know that - everywhere I've lived in Bristol has been the sort of place to induce a shudder at the mention of its name followed by a question like 'ooh, is it really dodgy there?' or summat.

fact is that Lawrence Weston, Henbury, St Pauls (my particular areas) as well as Easton, Fishponds, Knowle West, Hartcliffe, Southmead, Lockleaze etc etc are all places where dcenet people live and attempt to bring up families. The main problem is poverty.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

They do have one serious talent, observes Steve laconically: "Getting off their faces. Heroin's the drug of choice. And if they aren't junkies, they're drunks. The place is preserved in alcohol."

"Absolute poverty has decreased quite significantly in the past decade," Trewavas says. "But social problems have increased significantly."

"Why things have collapsed so catastrophically is quite beyond me."

Have a read of the interview people - what do you think of the opinions he presents?

http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,1796464,00.html

 

[electrogirl]

I had my bag snatched in Knowle West while waiting for a bus, a week today actually. It's no worse than other dodgy areas though.

 

[Sturdy Wrists]

I don't notice a massive heroin problem in Clifton, or buses refusing to go into the area.

You will find a massive Coke problem and domestic violence aplenty. Swings and really.

 

[xenon]

Clifton might have problems but saying it's no better in terms of crime than Knowle West is rubbish.

 

[marty21]

the book is pretty good imo

fairly bleak, funny in parts, graphic too....be interested to see if any locals read it and what they think..

 

[JTG]

Clifton might have problems but saying it's no better in terms of crime than Knowle West is rubbish.

Far worse in terms of stealing the surplus value of the working classes

 

[Iam]

Clifton might have problems but saying it's no better in terms of crime than Knowle West is rubbish.

Car crime?

 

[djbombscare]

Clifton might have problems but saying it's no better in terms of crime than Knowle West is rubbish.

Mind you as a South Bristol resident. If I was going robbing where would I go. . . hmm Knowle west Hartcliffe where I'm stealing crap from my own doorstep or Clifton where I can nick off someone who can afford decent stuff and probably got it insured anway. . .hmmm its a toughy


Mind you the escape by bus from Clifton might need a bit more planning.




I dunno but I think that in places like Knowle West, Hartcliffe et all. people work hard for not a lot. and they have to fight to survive. Thats why it rough and thats why they've got a reputation. Someone pisses you off, ya have it out in the pub, in the street, on the doorstep whatever. But it gets sorted.

There is no taking people to court sue-ing em for damages etc. Cos TBH its just not affordable. Someone dumps rubbish in your garden in Portsihead they get the police involved it goes to curt and gets sorted. In Hartcliffe you get hold of the guy rub his nose in it till he's eaten it all or he stops moving it gets sorted that way.

I just think its the level of the fight that people put up hence why people feel that these places are like the wild west. They're not, they have the best community spirit ever, everyone looks after each other and its only people looking in from the outside who find it scarey if ya know what I mean.

 

[fizzerbird]

WAT he said ^

I just think its the level of the fight that people put up hence why people feel that these places are like the wild west. They're not, they have the best community spirit ever, everyone looks after each other and its only people looking in from the outside who find it scarey if ya know what I mean.

awwwwww...I just knew you would love it here...and they love you...slotted right in didn't you moi babber...

 

[buffalosid]

It no different from any other working class area of Bristol or any other City. It has its problems - mainly due to lack of investment in housing and social services but there is a genuine sense of community and warmth from most of the people who live here ( I don't but I do work here). There are most, if not all, the same problems in Clifton, Westbury or any other area of Bristol its just that they are better hidden and not as easy a target as places like Knowle West or Hartcliffe.

what a load of bollocks.....can i ask how many houses you have entered in knowle west ? how extensive is your experience of daily life there.?

i can tell you now that as a firefighter in the city i am always entering peoples houses when they least expect us, at any hour of the day whether the house be in Kwest or clifton .

i feel that i probably get a little glimpe of life in both areas and there is no way at all clifton has anything like a similar degree of social problems. having worked all over bristol and the south west and throughout inner city london i can honestly say that knowle west is one of the most desperate place you could live.

 

[JTG]

tbh I think you're missing the point. Sturdy Wrists said that the problems are better hidden and I agree. Drug misuse, domestic violence etc etc, all exist in Clifton, they're just hidden behind affluence.

 

[buffalosid]

tbh I think you're missing the point. Sturdy Wrists said that the problems are better hidden and I agree. Drug misuse, domestic violence etc etc, all exist in Clifton, they're just hidden behind affluence.

of course you can find drugs and domestic violence in clifton 20,000 people live in the clifton/redland/cotham area. the problems are just not there to the same extent.
its much rarer to find these social problems in affluent areas because like it or not they are a direct result of generations of deprivation.

 

[Sturdy Wrists]

what a load of bollocks.....can i ask how many houses you have entered in knowle west ? how extensive is your experience of daily life there.?

i can tell you now that as a firefighter in the city i am always entering peoples houses when they least expect us, at any hour of the day whether the house be in Kwest or clifton .

i feel that i probably get a little glimpe of life in both areas and there is no way at all clifton has anything like a similar degree of social problems. having worked all over bristol and the south west and throughout inner city london i can honestly say that knowle west is one of the most desperate place you could live.

Working in health and social care I've been in a few houses in my time on a daily basis in both Knowle and Clifton and I have worked in Newham, Kentish Town and Tower Hamlets and if you seriously think that Knowle West is worse than Newham you are living on a different planet. You may get a little glimpse of life everywhere you go but unless you work in an area for a period of time and are exposed to all the social intricacies I think you are a little short of experience.
Thats not what I meant in my original post though. Of course Clifton has different problems than Knowle West, as well as some similar ones. Its just that they are not as obvious as the ones caused by poverty that stare you in the face every day in Knowle.

 

[Giles]

Is Southmead a "rough" area, then?

Just lookin at this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/5126528.stm

Shocking!

Giles..

 

[fizzerbird]

Is Southmead a "rough" area, then?

Just lookin at this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/5126528.stm

Shocking!

Giles..

Southmead, like Hartcliffe and Knowle west has a 'lively' community feel, yes.
I guess it's more to do with knowing and understanding the community.

I've lived in South Bristol for the past 25 years, originally coming from Redcliffe. I love it. I feel I belong and I feel safe here. I don't see myself as a bit of rough...maybe others percieve me otherwise.

As people have said above.

Same problems and issues all over the city, I think that the the 'rough areas' just wear their heart on their sleeves is all.

 

[Giles]

Southmead, like Hartcliffe and Knowle west has a 'lively' community feel, yes.
I guess it's more to do with knowing and understanding the community.

I've lived in South Bristol for the past 25 years, originally coming from Redcliffe. I love it. I feel I belong and I feel safe here. I don't see myself as a bit of rough...maybe others percieve me otherwise.

As people have said above.

Same problems and issues all over the city, I think that the the 'rough areas' just wear their heart on their sleeves is all.

By "wear their heart on their sleeve", you mean that if you dare to annoy the local bad boys, they kick your head in in the street and then everyone refuses to talk to the cops about who did it because of this great sense of "community"? Nice.

Giles..

 

[Iam]

How presumptuous of you.

 

[dunn]

Thats why it rough and thats why they've got a reputation. Someone pisses you off, ya have it out in the pub, in the street, on the doorstep whatever. But it gets sorted.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/5032510.stm

Yeh, nice attitude, I am sure he appreciated it 'getting sorted' on his doorstep


I just think its the level of the fight that people put up hence why people feel that these places are like the wild west. They're not, they have the best community spirit ever, everyone looks after each other and its only people looking in from the outside who find it scarey if ya know what I mean.

Just like the Krays eh, only hurt their own kind and loved their mums.......

 

[Iam]

As opposed to my snidey, middle class cunt of a neighbour in Sadly Broke (which he no doubt thinks is quite posh and swanky, the twat), voicing his growing distate to me about the number of Asians moving into the area the other day, you mean?

Assuming that the views of one person or even a few people can be used to make a complete picture of an area demonstates a bigger mouth than intellect, imo. Responding to tabloidy scare stories with predictably kneejerk reactions, similarly so.

"Fuck off and don't speak to me again, you cunt," was my answer, in case you're wondering.

 

[fizzerbird]

By "wear their heart on their sleeve", you mean that if you dare to annoy the local bad boys, they kick your head in in the street and then everyone refuses to talk to the cops about who did it because of this great sense of "community"? Nice.

Giles..

erm...not exactly

I can only imagine as to what may happen in such an extreme scenario having never, ever experienced this on the estate where I live.

Nope, i'm struggling to even imagine that happening...a drunken brawl yep...local gang just giving someone a pasting...nope...sorry.

What I meant was, people are up front about what pisses them off and will voice it. They are also very caring and generous to their fellow neighbours.

That is my own personal experience of living on this 'rough' estate.

 

[djbombscare]

By "wear their heart on their sleeve", you mean that if you dare to annoy the local bad boys, they kick your head in in the street and then everyone refuses to talk to the cops about who did it because of this great sense of "community"? Nice.

Giles..

I've read her post a couple of time now and TBH I cant see it meself.

What she said was people wear their heart on their sleeve which AFAIK meant that people displayed what they really felt about things.