Chalcots estate 

• I WORKED on those four tower blocks known as the Chalcots estate just after they had been built in 1967/1968.

I was a maintenance carpenter. It was during a time when Camden used its own skilled workforce. We were given the time to do the job so shoddy work was not tolerated. There would be no short cuts either.

The new bare smooth concrete outside looked nice. The flats were spacious with large windows. I thought people were lucky living there. It was during the time the mayor of Camden was LP (Paddy) O’Connor, a former bus inspector and a Labour Party activist.

He came originally from Bray in Ireland and one of the tower blocks was named in his honour. He would sometimes come round for a chat if you were working in one of the towers and then he would have a good look around and talk to some tenants to find out if there were any complaints about the work.

The only complaints at the time was by one or two tenants living on the very top floor and feeling cut-off from the world, despite living in a penthouse at a regulated rent.

So I was absolutely appalled to see the decline in maintenance standards via TV, especially easily dented and easily punctured copper pipework, slung bare across the walls inside and outside the flats and in the corridors, without being cased in. As a carpenter a great part of my job was in enclosing such pipes.

But we mustn’t forget the positive side of work done by Camden in social housing – new kitchens, bathrooms, electrical wiring and heating systems.

There is also the elimination of the two-water system which necessitated a hot and cold catchment storage tanks. And the toilet flushes quicker with it being connected directly to the mains water system.

WILSON JOHN HAIRE
Lulot Gardens, N19