The Alton Estate, Roehampton, South West London.

[@nickbarber2080]

With the resources at your disposal,you have made an excellent little film.

[@kazbel]

I grew up there and still go back. Brilliant design and lovely to have space around the buildings and Richmond Park so near. The bull is a great favourite too. P.S. I'm not a delinquent. The estate inspired me with ideals of community and a sense of possibility.

[@heidih7429]

Great narration! My mom grew up in Winchfield House.

[@melaniemay6111]

Brilliant. Thank you. I lived on the Alton for 7 years, and I still miss it.

[@jel1517]

Grew up on the Alton and spent forty years there......great place to grow up....and now sadly lifeless as the properties have been bought by speculators cashing in on the university students. Recently returned on a fine summers weekend and there are no more kids running around the green spaces and play areas. In the seventies and eighties it was awash with children everywhere with adventure playgrounds and youth clubs....but alas their all closed and the estate appears ghostly almost abandoned in the evenings. Sad.

[@surbiton74]

Yep, I had a great childhood on that estate - I went back a cpl of yrs ago and felt like I was in a foreign country.

[@joecotter6803]

It is a pity that the Alton East was not visited and filmed. The Scandinavian design was much preffered by residents. Other misses: Wimbledon Common. The Village, 4 Village pubs, stables, 2 public golf clubs and lastly, the people. It is typical that Richard Rogers appears standing in Richmond Park, hardly wanting to get his hands dirty. There was not one internal shot of an interior nor of the persistent damp problems these buildings suffered from. I moved to Alton East in 1956 and left in 1975.

[@joecotter6803]

Preferred.

[@joycebowler5836]

Exactly! Alton East was first.

[@batman2021]

Thanks for your comment, @joecotter6803! We definitely missed out on exploring the reality of the living situation on the estate, but being as this was for a piece of university coursework our time and scope had to be limited somewhat. It is a shame how distanced the intent was from the final execution on building projects such as these. Concrete and brutalism will always be divisive, and the government didn't make things better by cutting all sorts of funding to help the local area in multiple ways. I enjoyed your comment about Richard Rogers too and can't argue against it. I'm not sure if in the full programme that the clip of him is taken from whether he goes inside any of the flats either. Probably had a driver just off camera ready to whisk him immediately out of London!

[@jaredini]

Luckily, they got it right with Alton. One of the few estates that has stood the test of time, and is well liked by its tenants. Maintainence and funding is what cause estates to deteriorate, especially during the Thatcher years. I have lived in high rises for 15 years, and I love it. Strict rules should be enforced, which.bring about the success of Trellick Tower.

[@spencersmith7266]

An excellent reappraisal. Can you do a future review of Surbiton and its station perhaps?

[@spudstudios]

I grew up there in the 70's and 80's. Was working class and very green. But fairly low level criminal activity was commonplace. When I left in the 90's it was going down hill. I stand by the architecture and effort - the marriage of green spaces and the proximity to parks and Putney heath. The social gentrification of London - moving unemployed families/toe rags and criminals in - by Wandsworth and other councils to take advantage of high value properties in the formly run down and now exclusive Wandsworth and Battersea were the beginning of the end. Followed by CCTV and the culture shift to capitalism.. Council estates and the working class communities never stood a chance. Thatchers Britain changed the landscape from North to South and it was only positive if you were educated and driven to do better than the generation before. The failure of Roehampton was very human. The design never stood a chance.

[@princecharmless9742]

Sorry I grew up on that estate [From Jan 57] it wasn't any utopia even if it was a brave attempt at creating a utopia ,there was delinquency problems from the word go, so much for the community..the original Alton east estate was rather better than the west and as for the design of the maisonettes quite frankly by modern standards crap I remember the condensation on the floors in the morning and the timber frames that rotted and were eventually all replaced with PVC double glazing.. they still have the same poky little kitchen etc. There are far worse estates but Ive seen some smaller examples which are rather better on a human level Of course the reason Architects love the Alton is because its rather grand at least on film and photo ..I dont suppose too many of them actually live on a council estate

[@queue555]

To joe foley. Hi I'm trying to find someone who lived at 12 witley. That'd be there right? In 1963. Any ideas?

[@princecharmless9742]

Sorry I don't have a clue..I think that was a tower block I will ask my friend Sid

[@queue555]

joe foley Yes you're right. The last name of the people/person was ' Warburton'. Thanks for your help.

[@queue555]

Tina Smith Any luck on my mom's friend?. they were on the electoral register there in 1961 to 1964.

[@messenger8279]

+prince charmless I am with you my freind. We lived in similar top floor of a block in Sutherland grove Wandsworth. We has mould groth on the ceilings and stinking shoots that everyone emptied rubbing down outside our front door. Alright for those who lived in the semis and designed these hell holes. Try and live it.

[@messenger8279]

I lived close to that estate and lived on one similar. I find it hilarious that you say this nose in the air shit. Its a bloody hell hole of a place to raise a family. Even for animals it would be cruel. How many well off people would choose a flat in this complex. Its a muggers paradise. Its a place here people who are struggling on a low income are encouraging ways to make ends meet but not in a good way. In short its not a place to celebrate its a place to say we made a huge fucking mistake.. Never build these horrendous places ever again

[@surbiton74]

It was always a great place to live until the socialists in Wandsworth Council thought it'd be a great idea to fill it full of 'roadmen'.

[@jameshart8344]

Any other savages work their way off this estate and now live like Kings? 💪

[@kubacube7896]

4:42 did you see that cat lol XD

[@woolvesv]

Hi, I'm doing some research on the history of roehampton for my social sciences essay. Can I ask where you got some of this information from? Thnks :)

[@lucyruffles2807]

I was born there in 1961

[@شمريهروعه]

Its a nice place i live there

[@kubacube7896]

I live there now

[@xxxanaxx9993]

Um I did not just see you look at my house did I that statue is next to that park

[@csheriseedema1407]

i live here

[@tonyclifton265]

it's well written but the presenter's diction is so bad that this needs subtitles. i couldnt understand some sections of it. speed and accent. i think "Lendon kainty kainsil" is "London County Council" but I'm still working on the rest

[@surbiton74]

LOL - as soon as he opened his mouth I thought "yep, he's a Brummy of some sort"

[@tonyclifton265]

@@surbiton74 lol yup! and trying to hide his midlands shame but not 100% successfully. it grates. i didnt want to be a total douche so i gave the video an up-thumb at the same time but that narrator really gets on yer wick

[@batman2021]

@@tonyclifton265 There's subtitles now. Thanks for the upvote!

[@ovenlovesyou]

phoenecia!

[@budthechud9795]

The Alton estate in Roehampton is one of the biggest shitholes known to man. Even driving thru that dump is depressing.

[@909rhythm]

Got moved there recently the place is a toilet the architecture is a total eyesore awful place

[@charliesmith8426]

I live there now