Paulsgrove estate, Portsmouth has recently been the focus of media attention
over the reactions of some residents to the News of the World's naming and shaming campaign to out known
paedophiles.
Former resident, Sam Small e-mailed us to reveal a different story.
"Everyone was given three bedroom houses with south facing gardens and a view of the Isle of Wight,
there were 15,000 people living there and a real sense of community." Sam Small recalls these
happy childhood memories on the Paulsgrove Estate.
He believes things started to go wrong in the early 60s and describes how there was no contact with
the outside community, the only interaction with outsiders was through gang warfare. So eventually living on
Paulsgrove had a stigma attached to it. There were no o'level courses offered at the local secondary
school but Sam started going to folk clubs and mixing with the folk singers who happened to be
teachers. Enjoying their conversations, he decided to pursue a teaching career, so after seven years of
attending evening classes he took up a post at Bognor Technical College.
Sam is now a Computer Consultant and has been writing for the last eight years. His work draws
on his childhood experiences on the Paulsgrove estate. In a bid to confront his past, he has re-written one of his favourite
Shakespeare's plays, Titus Andronicus which he has set in modern day Portsmouth. He describes
this play as a modern day revenge tragedy.
