The dust, noise and total destruction of the neighbourhood was catastrophic. Even to this day and for the life of me, I just don’t understand why it happened. Hundreds of houses were demolished, streets were ripped up; all the places I used to play in as a kid were flattened to a pile of rubble. Absolutely bloody horrendous, and for what? To be replaced with a crime-consumed North Peckham estate. Even the postmen and milkmen refused to deliver there for fear of being mugged. Residents were subjected to the highest level of criminal damage and vandalism. Homes were constantly robbed, cars were burnt out, serious sexual assaults occurred regularly; there were gangs of youths running wild. At night, nobody would walk about or answer their doors for fear of these criminals. Anybody stupid enough to venture into the estate would more than likely get mugged or violently beaten up. Quite a few local drunks found this out when they used it as a short cut from the local pub. Drug dealers and gang-warfare would follow years later.
