In fact, there is nothing new about people leaving the West End. Between 1960 and 2000, Newcastle benefited from every existing national urban regeneration programme. Nevertheless, during the last 25 years, the population declined by about 40%. But in the last ten years, there weren’t any replacements. Nobody wanted to live in a place like Scotswood. The result: entire streets of void properties, drug abuse, arson, decreasing rental income and increasing maintenance costs.

More people left if they could. But many private owners, for example, were trapped. A flat in a very popular type of housing (terraced housing, a ground floor flat, a first floor flat with a gable roof on top) might be worth £25,000 in Scotswood. The same flat would fetch £80,000 in another part of Newcastle, and even £130,000 in a popular neighbourhood in the East of the city. The selling prices for houses in Scotswood would not be enough to afford a place elsewhere.

How did Scotswood acquire its stigma? Opinions differ. Some examples.

The Taxi Driver:
"Thirty years ago, Scotswood was a nice neighbourhood. I was an interior decorator then. I worked in those houses, those were good houses. They still are, but they started to put bad families in them. I wouldn’t want to live there now. I live in Benwell, a neighbourhood adjoining Scotswood."

The Hotel Receptionist:
"Are you going to Scotswood? Really? It has always been a bad place. Bars, prostitutes, rude people."

The Community Development Worker:
"It’s true that there are some bad apples. But people here are generally nice and very much committed to the area they live in."

The Old-Time Resident:
"It’s all the fault of the Newcastle City Council. They wanted to turn the tide, but made it worse. Empty council houses had to be filled, regardless. The result was an influx of unemployed people, single-parent families, a lot of anti-social behaviour, drug problems, etc."