The grim life and early demise of Newcastle's 'Alcatraz'

A report in The Journal 55 years ago lifted the lid on Newcastle's troubled Noble Street development, writes nostalgia editor DAVID MORTON

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> The Noble Street flats in Scotswood, Newcastle. The blocks were built in the late 1950s and demolished barely 20 years later after being blighted by social problems, vandalism and a high crime rate

It was October 1970. Under the headline 'The worst estate in Britain', The Journal, was carrying a damning story about one Tyneside housing scheme.

The subject was Noble Street flats in Newcastle's West End.

The newspaper reported: "Since it was completed, the development has been described as 'the worst postwar estate in Britain, and probably Europe, 'a builders' yard, and 'the greatest architectural and human disaster ever inflicted on Newcastle."

It was hardly what the planners had had in mind. Such was the depth of official concern over the council estate, it was reported a team of government-backed social workers was due to be sent in to try and improve conditions for families living there.

One woman who had lived there for six years told our reporter: "I would not stay here for another minute if I could get another place. It's like a prison. Wherever you look, there's filth and smells. It's horrible." Locals nicknamed the estate 'Alcatraz' after the infamous American prison.