Craven Vale Community Association

Heritage Lottery Project Pride of our Valley

Interview with Ziggi - interviewed by Ruth - 11th January 2013. R. I am just about to interview Ziggi, who has lived in Craven Vale for about three years. Hello Ziggi. Z. Hello. R. What year did you move into Craven Vale? Z. It would have been about 2010. R. So can you tell us a little about where you were living before and how, or why you chose to move here? Z. Well, I moved here from Cambridge. I was very lucky to get a council exchange, which I found on Gumtree. The lady wanted to move to Cambridge because her daughter was there and I had a maisonette flat, that was opposite the town centre and her daughter had a shop in the town centre. So I was really lucky to get a place here. I wanted to move before that but couldnt find anything, then this cropped up. I was at college studying art and design, and was going to go to uni in Cambridge, but I thought, Ill move to Brighton so I moved to Brighton. So I havent done the uni thing now but yeah, I have got lots of friends here so I wanted to come down and hang out with them more. R. Right. So did you move in alone or with other members of your family? Z. I moved in with my son, S. R. What were your first impressions of Craven Vale? Z. I liked it. I thought it was nice and quiet, because I lived on a main road before, so that was quite noisy. And there were a lot of things around. Brighton City Centre, so I liked that it was close enough to the city centre to walk in, like twenty minutes, or get a bus, but it was a bit away from it as well, and I loved the woods at the back and the downs and everything. And the sea, walking ten minutes twenty minutes, yeah, couldnt be better, could it really? R. No. What kind of heating do you have here? Z. Radiators. Thats it. R. And do you find that effective? Z. Yeah, when I put it on it gets hot quite quickly, but then I am at the top of the building so I suppose I get warmth from. R. And do you know what the basic heating is? Is it gas, electric, or..? Z. Oh yes, Gas. Its a Combi boiler so yes, gas. R. What are the household appliances that you value most? Z. Its got to be a cooker, I suppose. Fridge. And TV, my son would say.

R. Sure. Craven Vale is built on a hill and has slopes and steps everywhere. Has this ever been a problem for you? Z. Not for me, no, because my son was a bit older when we moved here, so I didnt have buggies or prams or anything then so that was OK. But it would have been harder, I think, if I had had to push buggies upstairs and things with the stairs and stuff. But I had to go upstairs with a buggy in Cambridge, but they were outside steps so they werent so cramped. Still getting used to the hills though. R. You have to when you move to Brighton, dont you. Does your family have a car? Z. Yes, weve got a car. I need a car to be here because my son goes to school at Coombe Road, so its a massive hill to get to the school. There is no way that I would get my son there on time if we had to walk it. Id be really fit though. It is either a five-minute drive or three quarters of an hour, if not longer walk. By the time S. stops off for rests. R. Do you find parking a problem? Z. Yes. Recently more so because when free parking was stopped in the other roads, for residents, so people are coming in here from other places for free parking. Where I am youve got a little parking area but that does seem to be getting busier and busier. People go to the sea, or go to college, because they look quite young or some sort of work, go up through the woods to work or whatever. But then if you get residents parking, you have to pay for it, dont you, loads of money, so thats not really a viable an option either. B. (Other interviewer) Its going to go up to a 115 pounds a year now. Z. Wow. R. How do you keep in touch with friends and family; telephone, email? Z. Telephone, yeah, and face book, yeah, and I go and visit, Usual sort of ways. R. Right. So, well, the next question is, well, we know you didnt use pushchairs and prams to get around the estate, but do you think it is easy for young mothers to get around the estate, or in general to get around with their babies and toddlers? Z. Well, It depends what end, I suppose. Everywhere in Brighton it has got hills. Its not as bad as some places, and the buses do go up that big hill. So its not bad really, Im just glad I dont have to do it. R. Youve told us your son goes to Coombe Road; do you think most children go to schools around here? Z. I think most people go to St Lukes or Queens Park. R. Where does your child play? Z. Well hes not really into football so doesnt play football in the garden, but I know other children do. Im trying to get them a couple of little goals, for in the back, because they all play football there anyway; and the fence is getting broken place it is right next to the old peoples home. And its noisy for them and for the other residents so Im trying to get little football goals; little five a side ones and A. said that Craven Vale might be able to help with that, the Association, because it is aimed at getting the area healthy those sort of grants. So I hope that that might encourage other kids, but I dont think it will, because they come 2

there anyway from all around the estate. It is the only flat bit of land where they can play football. You cant really stop kids playing football. He likes going up into the woods, but he doesnt go up by himself. He doesnt really like going out by himself. Hes a little bit more of a computer gamer really. But we love Queens Park. We go there a lot when the weather is nice. He loves the playground there and its great because you can sit down and have a cup of coffee and a bit of cake, if the seagulls dont nick your sandwiches. Ive had before now, but he is really into his nature so hes enjoyed doing all of the woodlands things and the planting of trees here. At the Christmas fair he planted all those trees. He plays with all of his little friends round the back here as well. R. Are you happy theyre safe? Z. I think, Id be happy. Its also difficult when you first move somewhere as well; theyre a lot safer here. In my last estate in Cambridge there were problems with needles being left in garages, and a little kid picked up one and stabbed himself with one. But we dont really have that around here. Its nice and green and stuff. Obviously theres things between the kids; when S. first came here he would go out and, as a new kid, felt a bit intimidated, but were still settling in so he doesnt feel confident enough to go out on his own, but Id like to feel that he would go off on his own when hes a bit older. R. Yes, be more independent. Z. Yes. Definitely. R. Good. If someone in the family isnt well, where do you have to go for doctors, chemist and so on? Z. I go to Kemptown to a doctor down there; thats the nearest place really. R. What about a chemist? Z. The same place, its just around the corner from the doctors. R. Have you ever had occasion to use the hospital round here? Z. Yes, Its quite useful having the hospital just down there. R. Yes, it is isnt it? Do you think it is easy to find work in Brighton? Z. `Umm. R. Compared with other places maybe. Z. It depends what you do. Ive just started my own business, doing face painting, so its quite seasonal anyway. Its great in the summer, but in the winter there isnt anything. So I need to look for something for then. But Brighton is quite quiet, they dont have much work either, because it is a seaside town, and I think it is a very is a very seasonal town anyway. I think if youre a chef, theres usually quite a lot of jobs around, because there are lots of restaurants and paces isnt there. R. When you are working, do you have any problems with childcare at all?

Z. Well, Im very lucky because my mum moved here when I moved here and she lives in Hove, and she helps me out, and Ive got lots of friends here as well, so we help each other out. Its OK you dont have to pay a fortune for it. R. Thats good. Z. Well he just comes with me if Im doing face painting. R. Thats handy isnt it. Z. Yes, hes a bit bored with it now. R. Is there crime around here, do you think? Z. Ive heard there is but Ive never witnessed it. You hear stories, dont you? R. And whats the relationship with the local police like? Z. I see a couple of them walk round, but.. R. The community? Z. Oh, yes. Theyre not real police anyway, are they? I see a police van parked up now and then but thats about all. B. (Other interviewer) If you needed to help you know how to get hold of them dont you? Theyd come and help you. Z. Oh, yeah. R. So do you feel safe on the estate? Z. Yeah. Definitely! R. Good. What about entertainment, for instance cinema, sport, that kind of thing? How do you find your entertainment in Brighton? Z. Well I love music, so its just full of music in Brighton; and the beach, well thats quite novel. In Cambridge they had rivers so thats new to us. We go to parks . R. So much going on everywhere isnt there? Z. Yeah, youve got carnivals here. Ever week, even in the winter youve got burning of the clocks, white night, but not this year, zombie walk. I loved the zombie walk this year. Theres always something going on; if you are into old bicycles or cars, they have motor rallies. Thats why I wanted to come to Brighton, because there is always something happening. You dont necessarily have to have money, to do it. R. Thats the good part really, isnt it? Z. Yeah. R. When Craven Vale was built, there were woods and grassland. There are still woods and allotments up there. Do you ever go there? Z. Yes. Weve been to the allotments a couple of times and they have very kindly allowed us to hide some Easter eggs up there. And I have helped plant trees up there because they took 4

down the sycamore trees; I helped to plant about 250 trees up there and that was good, but yeah, we often walk up there, up to the downs. R. And you said your son likes to play up there as well. Z. Well we take walks up there. He doesnt go by himself. R. No of course not. Well, thats great! Z. Hed like to make a little den up there. Near Jacobs Ladder. There was one but thats gone and hed like to make another one. I dont know whether wed get permission for that. B. You want to speak to the rangers, P. He would probably go along with that. Z. Yeah, make little wooden furniture for the kids. A little den; that would be great! That would keep me fit going up those Jacobs ladder steps; did that twice the other Sunday and I was knackered. R. Sounds a great idea. Z. Now the woods have been cleaned up it will be a nice place. When we first lived here there were old mopeds and bikes. Over the last few years everyones worked very hard to get it all nice again. Its just a shame that the little trees probably wont be big enough to appreciate until Im too old to get up there, but future generations can enjoy them, cant they? Thats what matters. And theres the butterfly population. On the subject of trees; when we moved here we planted trees in our back garden, as well, to made a little wildlife area for the butterflies and the wild flowers because there was a little railed off bit. I think there was a little park there for the kids and it was dangerous; they took it away and just left the railings there for some reason. So I decided to make it into a little wild flower area and planted a plum tree in there and one plum tree on our side of the garden; and ours is a Cambridge Spruce. S. really enjoyed planting that because it was planted for when we moved here. Where my mum used to live he had is own tree and we had a tree naming ceremony for him instead of a christening. And the Cambridge council gave away trees for babies; if you had a baby and you wanted to plant a tree they would give it away to you free, so we got a Rowan tree and planted that but my mum sold her house and moved to an over 50s flat in Hove. They chopped down the tree when we left, so we were a bit upset about that. So to be able to plant another tree was great. The ranger was saying S. was very intelligent and remembered everything about planting the trees. R. Perhaps hell be a future ranger. Z. Yeah. Future ranger of Craven Vale, one day, you never know. I can see us being around for a long time and there is a lot of community spirit, which I like. Things going on like Jubilee; not just here but up at the race course, at the Haven. It seems really community spirited. So all in all I like it. I like it here. R. Wonderful. Well thank you so much for that. Thank you.