Episode 2 The Mount: A Welsh Estate

Milford Haven, on the Pembrokeshire coast.

And this is the Mount estate.

For the last year, we've been following the lives of some of the people who live here.

It's typical of the council estates

which were built during the '60s and '70s.

They all followed an American design which meant roads were kept to perimeters

and homes were facing shared areas with no individual gardens.

Like similar estates, the Mount became stigmatised by statistics

of high unemployment and the number of people living on benefits.

By 2010, the council had tried to improve things.

We've come here to meet the people behind these statistics.

This week we meet the Davies family.

That is my main downside for up here.

Kids will go past and say, "Oh, the police are here again."

They'll quite often say it because the police are up here all the time.

Long-term resident Jane.

It's had its moments.

It was quite good at the start. Most of the neighbours were friendly.

We used to stand outside having cups of tea and coffee and chatting of an evening. Things like that.

And Jo, who's decided to seek help for her alcohol addiction.

The Mount estate is part of Milford Haven,

but, at the same time, NOT part of Milford Haven.

It's a community of 400 flats and houses

that somehow lives at arm's length from the rest of the town.

This is the family centre, where a Sure Start nursery scheme was based.

The building was damaged by a fire.

The family centre now opens occasionally,

but the nursery is closed for good.

There's a resource centre but that was closed for four months

while it was being refurbished.

The infant school is also closed permanently.

But one place that is open is the local shop and post office.

There you go. Cheers.

£3.88. Thank you.

The shop has been run by the same family

since they opened the business back when the estate was built.

Best selling items are tobacco, sweets, crisps and alcohol.

Around 70% of adults on the Mount are unemployed.

Roger and Stacey Davies stand out because both of them have jobs.

-I'm going in my submarine.

-No, you're not!

Roger has worked for the last 12 years for a contractor in a nearby oil refinery.

It's a five-minute drive from home.

-Anybody want more sauce?

-Yes, please.

-No, thank you.

As well as being a mum to two boys,

Stacey works part time as a child minder for her nieces and nephew.

She's also a dance teacher in Milford Haven.

OK, see you later.

The Davieses are thinking of moving.

Well, we did pick an application form up to fill in

and hand in to move off.

Not because we don't like the estate or we want to leave the estate.

It's because we've been on the estate for such a long time now, my husband feels we deserve a break.

We're decent people with a nice home and everything.

We try to do the best that we can. We keep it all tidy, decorated etc.

So he just wants to go somewhere maybe in nicer houses

and a decent garden, to be honest.

What we've got in the garden is only a little shed. It's really small.

We'd like to grow our own little fruit trees or something,

or little plant pots.

He'd be quite happy digging it up and god knows what.

But...that'll be there.

-He'd like a nice garden.

-Mam, can I go out now?

-No.

Some residents have lived on the Mount estate since it was built 35 years ago.

Some have bought their own homes

but nearly 75% of the properties here are owned by the council.

Some of the newer tenants have less stable lives

and, for some, unemployment and alcohol are a problem.

Jo had lived on the estate for six months when we met her.

She used to be a hairdresser.

Her neighbour Sue has had health problems too.

Jo has a problem with alcohol

and this week she's been to get help from the local drug and alcohol advice service

which is called Prism.

She has two children, who don't live with her.

I've been drinking a year 11 months, flat out every day.

Since the kids have gone. I've always been drinking.

I was taking a lot of drugs beforehand. I was on probation for...

..doing drugs.

I got in trouble and nearly went to prison.

And they took my children away from me

cos I've had bad boyfriends and bad experiences.

-I'm not allowed them back legally until they're 18.

-Yeah.

And I can't do this any more.

It's been a year and 11 months. I can't do it any more.

I really want them back. I miss them. I'm nothing without them. Nothing.

Jo's treatment won't start until she cuts down from 250 units a week.

The safe limit for a woman is 14 units, about two bottles of wine.

When have you got to go for your bloods?

On Wednesday, and I want you to come with me.

And then, after that, they'll refer me back to Prism with my drink diary that I'm keeping,

and then they'll go from there.

All they'll do there is, like, liver function test,

full blood count, kidney function test,

but your gamma GTs are what they're going to be looking at.

That shows how much damage the liver has.

Well, I'm keeping this diary to make sure that they know how much I'm drinking

and how much I've cut down, because I have cut down loads.

-If I want my children, then that's how it's going to work.

-Yeah.

Good girl. Oh!

Jane lives alone with her dog Tiggy

and her sister Sian lives around the corner with her four young daughters.

Jane's lived in this flat for 22 years.

She's unable to work because of ill health.

I used to work.

I used to work in kitchens a lot, years ago.

I had a fall a few years back,

so with a bad back injury, plus arthritis,

I don't work so much these days.

It's a job enough on its own looking after the dog.

Jane's lived alone since her daughter left home to go to university in Manchester.

Well, generally, I get up and walk Tigs

and then go down and see if my mother wants anything

and keep her company for a couple of hours.

Come home and potter round, things like that.

Then I go over the road to see Sian and the girls.

Sian is Jane's younger sister.

She's lived around the corner for 14 years.

Auntie Jane's been sorting out her photos.

That's Mummy.

Let's have a look.

-Is that mummy?

-That's mummy.

And that's Auntie Jane.

-Mummy has a baby with Auntie Jane.

-Yeah. And the baby was Auntie Jane.

-Yeah. It's when Auntie Jane had all her own teeth.

-Yeah.

And Auntie Jane and Tiggy play a big role in the lives of Sian's girls.

-Tiggy wiggy!

-Tiggy wiggy woo.

-Tiggy wiggy woo woo!

I'll see you after, Sian, love.

-All right, ta-ra, doll.

-Ta-ra.

-Ta-ra, folks.

It's two weeks since we last saw Jo.

Her partner Gary is unemployed.

He's just walked out of a work placement after two days.

It's Thursday afternoon.

That call centre, it wasn't for me.

Nothing against them.

I actually turned round and said to the guy there,

"Look, I'm struggling."

It's not me, like. In fact, I think it's a girl's job.

That's what I thought. Like, a woman would be better.

It wasn't me.

I said he should give it another week. Give it at least a week.

-That's what I said to you.

-What's the point?

-It ain't going to make no money for me.

-No.

-I didn't want to do it.

-It's for a reference.

Do you know what I mean? I didn't want to.

I'm more like... a grafter.

If you know what I mean. I'd rather graft than do that.

Like I said to her ma, what's the point?

We're surrounded by oil refineries but there's no jobs.

I was down the job centre the other day, on the computer.

Two jobs.

I just want a normal life. Not drinking every day.

Do what normal people do. Weekends, then get hammered.

Not through the week.

Jo's still keeping a daily diary of her drinking

in the hope that her children will be able to live with her again.

Yeah, I've been keeping my diary, like I said last time.

I've cut down from bottles to pints.

So, a lot of difference.

5.28 pints in one bottle of cider.

Yeah. So I've gone down from bottles to pints.

I really have come down a lot, haven't I?

Three bottles of cider, to two, to one, to half of one.

I'll happily drink it.

Although Roger and Stacey are considering moving,

Stacey has strong ties to the Mount.

This is where my nan lives, in this bottom flat, yeah? Hi, Nannie!

She's been there a while. God bless her, she's lovely.

Stacey has lived here since she was a toddler.

Both she and her husband, Roger, have family living here.

All right, this is Hawthorn Path, the top flat.

We moved here when I was around four years old.

We shared that small window up there. That was the bedroom.

And at the time, there was no patios and no walls

and everything here, so it was all grass and banks and stuff.

Leanne, as a toddler, climbed up to that bedroom window,

and with me inside not very much bigger or stronger,

couldn't keep hold of her, and she came flying out.

But she just bounced. No markings or nothing.

She was so tiny, she just bounced.

All right, this is our last family home.

After we left the flat down the bottom, we moved up here.

I was coming on six.

Spent all the rest of my years there,

until I was in my early twenties, before I left home. Middle twenties.

No, I think I was 25 before I left here, when I moved in with Roger.

This was the Mount School.

I came here when I was five years old,

and obviously my children then went to this school

until it closed, what, two years ago.

It's a shame, cos it was a good school.

It's just left there, ready to build on

when they do decide to build with it or do something with it.

It closed in January 2009

because pupil numbers were falling in Milford Haven.

The nearest school is a mile away.

We all went here, and everything, all my friends

went here, so I wanted it to stay open.

Nothing ever lasts. It's one of those things.

You're not going to do the belly bit? No?

-You're not going to do the belly bit?

-Jane's just had some good news.

She's a keen photographer and has received £100

for having a photo she took of her dog

published in a national magazine.

Look! Up there, she is. Tiggy-Woo.

SHE CHUCKLES

A good day. But they're not always like that.

No, I did just hit a black spot a couple of years back,

and I was all just up for moving and leaving everything,

and I could quite gladly have just walked out,

left everything in the flat and just walked out and kept going.

And many's the time on pay day I've thought,

"Right, just go down the train station, hop on the train

"and get as far as you can with it."

So, erm... No, like I say,

it's better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

Y'know? Although sometimes I do think I'd like a change.

But it's finding the right place, isn't it, really?

And private's so expensive, I think, these days. Y'know?

But no, it's coming along jolly now.

A few weeks later, and Jo's boyfriend Gary has moved out.

Had an argument. Got steaming drunk.

Nothing new.

And today I've had a hell of a lot to drink.

And, er...

emotional stuff, and all that.

Jo has spent the morning with her old friend Gemma,

and they've opened a bottle of vodka.

She never used to be like this, Jo. She was always on top form.

Her kids being taken away, that's what's caused it.

That's what's caused most things for most people,

but everyone's got a different excuse, haven't they, really?

Oh, I've been drinking since I was 13.

I just go where it is, and people drink. That's how it is round here.

When a person ain't got nothing and you've got something, you sort that person out.

But it's not a nice living.

I went to my mate's today. I wasn't expecting to drink, but I did.

Give me a drop and I was out. Yeah, I was out.

My last job, I was only 15. I'm 28 now.

Cos I have got three kids.

So... But that's another issue.

I'm going to Gloucester on Tuesday, anyway, go and see Mum

and my girls, which is going to be GREAT.

She's trying to get me down there.

If it looks good, I think I might just stay down there,

cos Wales is crap.

Ten years from now, what would I be doing if I stayed here?

Exactly what I'm doing now.

For Jo's ex-partner Gary, alcohol is not a problem. He has moved on.

That wasn't me, if you know what I mean, drinking every day, like.

Do you know what I mean? I used to run every day,

then I just went down, went into the habit of drinking all the time,

and I just woke up and said, "This has got to stop."

And that's what I done. Because I haven't got a drink problem.

Other people have. I can always walk away from alcohol.

Do you know what I mean?

Now, smoking, that's a different ball game.

That night, there's a party at Jo's flat.

It's Saturday tomorrow, and in the morning she'll be seeing her children again.

LAUGHTER

CHATTER

Nine hours later, Jo's daughters are here for their weekly visit.

One of them has brought a friend.

Nannie's picking you up at three, half past. You get Shannon. WORDS ARE SLURRED

It's all right!

-So, are they numbers?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, cos see the numbers there... Yeah.

Roger's job at the oil refinery

means the family has a regular routine.

Now, with their two boys at school, Stacey's taken up a part-time job.

I got to come home and...get down to the school, then,

and do my lunchtime supervisor.

Good fun.

-What?

-It's nice to have the day off just by myself.

-I was, erm...

I work with the Year Two sandwiches.

So before the kids went and had their sandwiches, I read them

a story, and then we went for sandwiches, and then we came back in

and they played musical statues, and then I finished off reading my story.

OK, let's go!

Stacey's off to one of her other jobs,

teaching dance at the leisure centre in Milford Haven.

The Mount doesn't have a leisure centre.

MUSIC

'I started dancing from a younger age.

'We done out medal exams, and then we done all our competitions.'

Forward, forward, forward, scoop!

'I done the qualifications then to teach.

'It's a hobby, and I enjoy doing it.

'It gets me out the house, gives me a couple of hours on my own.

'And the kids enjoy it.

'And then the kids get all their trophies, and they can see

'they've worked hard then to get those trophies and certificates.'

There's a fast turnover in some homes on the Mount.

This flat has been vandalised, and the contractors are getting it ready for the next tenant.

The council are constantly refurbishing properties here.

I'm going to be renovating the flat, putting in a new kitchen

and completely redecorate it, replace all the doors, including the front door.

We're on a rolling programme, so we're here every few weeks.

We're part of the tenancy changeover package that the council deploy.

So when the tenants leave, we get called back,

sometimes multiple times to the same property because it's been destroyed.

In some cases, when people don't have to pay anything towards it

and they get a brand-new something,

it can get not looked after as well as it could be.

# Dashing through the snow In a one-horse open sleigh

# O'er the field we go Laughing all the way, ho ho ho! #

Christmas is something Stacey takes very seriously,

and she's worked hard to make sure that everything is just right.

# Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells

# Jingle all the way... #

Right, so that's Isla's, that's Shannon's. They're yours.

Sellotape...

Yeah!

It looks like it's got little eyes!

I order vouchers from Park and pay through the year,

and then I gets it paid by, normally, the end of September.

The vouchers come through, then, by the middle of October,

and then I can start buying them.

Roger says to me, "Why don't you just put the money into the bank and save the money?

"If the money's in the bank, you can go and get it if you're short."

But if you're having vouchers and you're paying Park,

you know it's got to be paid, cos otherwise you don't have it.,

and that way, then, you can't be tempted.

I orders the vouchers and I orders sweets from there.

But it's absolutely...

..jam-packed.

# Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells

# Jingle all the way... #

Ten per cent of the tenants on the estate are under 21.

Eighteen-year-old Hannah is getting ready to move into the newly refurbished flat.

She has a baby son who's six months old.

I only had the keys yesterday! Yeah! Or the day before, I think.

The day before, sorry.

So I've only had them for two days. Yeah.

Got a lot done in two days, like.

I don't mind living here as long as...

there's no trouble at my door all the time, cos I've got a baby.

As long as it's not happening, I don't care.

-It's a lot bigger than my other kitchen, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Which is a good thing.

-What did you have over there? Oh, a freezer.

MALE VOICES

-What are they talking about in there?

-I don't know.

-Nor me.

Turn the plugs off.

In January, Jane was taken ill.

Luckily, her sister Sian lives close by.

Ooh, about two o'clock in the afternoon,

I suddenly gets what I thought was heartburn.

So, erm...I try and go and have a kip, an' that. Didn't work.

Went over my sister's about...ooh, must have been about half three

to watch the kids for her whilst she took one of them to the doctor's.

And she said when I turned up I didn't look too good.

Popped in the shop, bought some fags and some Rennies

and even Alison in the shop said,

"It doesn't sound like heartburn to me, Jane."

I managed to dose off on the sofa for about an hour and a half.

Oh, must've been about half nine-ish.

I woke up with a jolt cos now I'm really scared,

now it's really hurting.

And, erm, managed to go to my sister's,

puffing away on a fag...

and said to her, "Can you call an ambulance out?"

I said, "Forget the doctor, call an ambulance.

"It's something serious now."

47-year-old Jane had a heart attack.

She was in hospital for several days

and had an operation to have a stent fitted.

There's five things...

High blood pressure does it, high cholesterol,

diabetes, erm...

..smoking, and what's the other one?

Oh, overweight.

Course, I've got all five, haven't I?

Jane's had to stop smoking and her daughter has worked out

that as well as saving her life, she'll save a lot of money.

£1,770 a year just on 20.

And I'm thinking, I've spent that for nearly the last ten years.

You know, and I thought, the holidays I could've had on that,

I could've been on some Caribbean beach by now.

Hannah's nearly finished decorating her flat and she's moved in.

Her family are very close,

and Michael, the father of baby Mason, is on hand, too.

Mason's room isn't quite finished, we're getting there.

He's only been in here for a week, bless him,

and he sleeps all night, so I can't whinge.

You can't move in here for all the toys!

She had a loan to move in and every penny of that loan

she has spent on this house.

She's gone without loads because she wants it nice for him.

That's the main thing, you know?

I think you have to have a nice home, don't you?

When you've got a baby you can't not have a nice house, you need it to be nice for your kids.

That's it, Mason really, that's why I needed to have a nice house.

I have £120 fortnightly myself

and then I have £50 a week for Mason.

And that's it.

Oh, you do love Nanna. Do you love Nanna?

My mum's helping a lot cos sometimes when I haven't had money

I've been able to go over to her house and she's given me food

so I can put money into making sure Mason's got everything.

His mum's been good, as well.

And my nan, my nan especially.

I think Hannah's done really well, I'm really proud of her.

Really proud.

Ooooh! It's starting to rain.

Say, "Hi!"

Jane's daughter, Simone, has come to see her mum.

She's a trainee teacher in a comprehensive school in Cheshire.

It's a long journey when you don't have a car.

I don't know, I think it was pretty tough going back.

-I remember the day I left you.

-Yeah.

And I was, like, hiding behind the bus screen and I was like,

"I hope she's not looking." Then I turned round and you were still there

and it was like, floods and floods of tears.

I had to keep turning my back so you wouldn't realise I was crying so much.

Well, I kind of figured it out.

It was like the massive arms wiping away the tears.

Since giving up smoking, Jane's taken up knitting.

I don't see the point in you giving up this massive thing with

the smoking if nothing else is going to change with it.

Obviously, I know it's a massive deal for you cos you've done it for so long,

but there is other parts that have got to come too.

It's like what I was on about with the food last night.

And I'm just like, there's no point doing all this,

putting yourself through all this torture of doing it

if you're not going to change everything else with it.

-Yeah, but it's one step at a time, isn't it, Simone?

-True.

Let me get over the heart attack first.

-I'm not saying not getting over the heart attack!

-You're trying got kill me!

I'm not trying to kill you!

I just felt so angry cos I wasn't there and...

Yeah, but it's just one of those things, love.

But it's not, though, is it? At the end of the day, Mum, I chose to be that far away.

Yeah. But you had to go where the work was, didn't you?

And I mean, where the university was.

-I think I am...

-Let's just be thankful you didn't go up to bloody Scotland.

-Oh, yeah!

Since I was planning on going to St Andrews.

Only cos Prince William was there at the time!

By the time you'd have got there he was already with Kate Middleton anyway!

-I fancy a bacon butty.

-You can't have a bacon butty.

-Yes, I can have a bacon butty.

-Will you grill it then?

-Yeah.

-You're not frying it. You're not!

I fancy a bacon butty with an egg on top.

-With a side of cholesterol and blocked arteries to go with that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

I thought I might, just for a change.

-You're an idiot.

-I know.

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