“The lift in my building breaks down all the time. When the lift breaks down, I have to walk all the way up to the third floor. It breaks down ever-so often. I had to get the Fire Brigade one time when my son was stuck in the lift. My son is a DJ, it’s a hobby, he has all his equipment and when the lift broke down one time he had to take it all down by foot, he had a friend to help him. It’s up and down, up and down, like a jigsaw puzzle. They say they can’t put a new lift in, because they’re knocking it all down. They said 2012 then 2020 or 2021. I’ve been asking for a transfer for ages.”
“We got lifts in 2012. Before that, imagine pushing a pushchair two times a day with two babies up to the third floor.”
“The lift is always full of water. A pipe broke and it flooded. My friend called my place ‘The Tower’ because there are so many stairs to climb up.”
“There’s no lifts in my building – I’m on the second floor.”
Part of a collection of oral histories about regeneration and community change, as told by members of the Clapham Park Over 50s Club to Creative in Residence Stella Barnes.
CLAPHAM PARK CREATIVE CO-OP 