Original subtitles

(Traffic noise)

# If you miss the train I'm on

# Then you'll know that I am gone

# You can hear the whistle blow

# Five hundred miles

# Five hundred miles

# Five hundred miles

# Five hundred miles

# Five hundred miles

# You can hear the whistle blow

# Five hundred miles

(Girl) Well, I was a bit fed up, you know.

There didn't seem to be much there for me.

You know these little towns.: one coffee bar, closed on a Sunday.

Didn't even tell 'em I was going.

I sent 'em a card when I got down there.

That house over there, that one with the broken steps.

That's where I went for a room and the fella kept touching me.

Where did I get a room in the end?

Oh, yeah, down there,

Mantua Street,?3 a week.

That's where I got my first job. Petrol-pump girl, mad.

They were going along in these hearses to an "unusual supper party"

and the bloke ahead of 'em, the chandelier falls down on him

and he gets strangled with all these diamonds.

Then this woman who'd grown to about 40 foot high...

- Through the radioactive dust? - Oh, yeah, yeah.

.. sticks her hand through this window

and gets hold of this mean little piece he'd been jitterbugging with...

- It was an old film? - Yes, quite old.

But unbeknownst to this big 40-foot girl,

there's been a bit of swapping round, and it's not her husband any more.

Anyway, as he's jumping up, his mask slips.

- Who d’ you think it was? - Duke of Edinburgh?

# If the sky

# That we look upon

# Should tumble and fall

# Or the mountain

# Should crumble to the sea

# I won't cry

# No, I won't shed a tear

# Just as long

# As you stand

# Stand by me

# And darling, darling

# Stand by me

# Oh, stand by me

# Whoa, stand now

# Stand by me... #

- We'll have a motor, an E-type, eh? - Help me down, then.

How about an E-type, eh, Cath?

- An E-type? They're expensive. - No, we'll have an E-type.

I mean, why not, the money I'm earning?

Then what d’ you think we'll do, eh?

- I don't know. Shunt it, I suppose. - No, I'm an A1 driver, I am.

No, we'll take the brakes out, that's what we'll do.

Take the brakes out?

Yeah, this fitter down at the Lotus told me you just don't need brakes.

Drive it on the gears, gears'll stop ya.

Brakes spoil a good driver,

and if you haven't got 'em you're not tempted to use 'em.

Well, I feel as if I've got a few drinks inside me, Cath.

You know, when you've had a few drinks you don't see nobody.

- Wanna sit down? - You mean you're a bit drunk?

No, I just don't notice anybody else when I'm out with you, Cath.

Ah...

Is that nice? How do you feel?

- I'm not telling you. - Oh, go on, I told you.

No!

- You can tell me. - I feel embarrassed.

There's only me here, and that old fella's asleep.

- That's a horrible thing to say! - Let's go and have a drink.

- I never knew you swore. - It just came out, that's all.

- Nice boys don't say those things. - Well, I was upset.

- Get your hand off me. - I was just upset, that's all.

- I think I'm going home. - No, don't be silly.

Let's go and have a drink.

I put my best suit on to come out with you tonight.

I'm sorry, I can't help it.

The least you could have done was...

- # Whoa, do you love me? - # Do you love me?

- # Well, do you love me? - # Do you love me?

- # Yeah, do you love me? - # Do you love me? #

That's the advantage working for a small firm like this.

Just ain't particular, you know.

They don't mind about the hours,

whether you flog yourself to death or take it easy, they don't care.

If you give a bird a lift...

- I've laddered my stocking. - I'll get you a new pair next week.

Same with birds, they just don't care.

- So I'm not the first, then? - Don't be silly.

- Reg, what is this place? - The firm I work for.

- Is it safe? - Course it is.

I bet you bought other birds up here.

You can see a bit already. You can see half the town from here.

Reg, I don't like it, it's shaking.

- Come on, get your sea legs. - I'm scared.

- No, I'm not coming. - Come on!

- Come on... Whoa! - (Shrieks)

- Trust you! - Up you get, careful!

Come on.

There.

Trust you to bring me up to a rotten old place like this.

- How will we get down? - Live in the present, eh, Cath?

It's rotten, innit? This whole place is gonna come down soon.

- I was scared, Reg. - Ah, don't be silly.

No, I was, really. I haven't got much courage.

I reckon it's just us, now, innit?

Just us. Just you and me, eh?

I wouldn't mind.

Have some babies, Cath?

I'd like that, Reg.

- Sod to all the rest. - Yeah.

(Loud chatter)

Along comes this sanitary man, a health doodah, you see.

You all right, darling? You don't look at all well.

Anyway... She's terrible!

He perceives that these beetles are nesting

in this clapped-out tree at the back of May's caff.

So he sprays disinfectant in the tree.

Some gets in May's dinner and kills two customers.

Someone's got to eat.

What about Coming To The End Of Love?

- How does that one go? - # Coming to the end of love... #

I wrote that an' all, never got no credit.

Did you like living in the country?

No, there was nothing there for me...

(Screams) Reg, please!

I found one of them little beetles down her back!

- And a history of incontinence? - Oh, yes, there's that.

Rambling in his mind, finding it hard to remember things?

A little, aren't you, Grandad?

- I don't know, I've never been... - No, thank you.

And has to be helped with dressing?

Yes, well, I certainly think you've got a case

for having your father taken into care.

What would you feel about it, Grandad?

- I'm not in agreement with it. - Besides, we need the space.

The two boys are coming back out the Army so we can't keep him.

- The council say it's overcrowding. - Yes, yes, of course.

And the incontinence is getting pretty bad.

Well, Grandad, you'll be in one of our larger homes.

Rivermeade, I expect you've noticed it up at Town Hall.

It's especially suitable for you

because they have many facilities you mightn't get in a smaller place,

and as well as that, there's always plenty to do.

Plenty to keep the time passing,

what with dances and hobby clubs of various kinds,

and help is available for things that might be getting complicated

like dressing and attention to your feet.

Come here!

Cathy? Come on, Cathy.

Cathy!

Cathy, I just want to...

(Shrieking and laughing)

Now get out of that!

I just want to talk to ya!

Hey, Reg, that's good. What is it?

Double windows. Keeps the sounds of the traffic out and the heat in.

I was thinking, you know that table we saw in the shop the other day?

- Wouldn't it look good over there? - Yeah.

And I could get one of those rubber plants to put on it.

Where should we have the telly?

The telly? I don't know, really.

Yeah, I reckon that's a nice little picture, that, Cath.

Are we overstepping it a bit, taking on this place?

I dunno. Bit late now we got it, innit?

No point taking on a posh place if we can't afford it.

Of course we can. I'm earning ?25 a week, then there's you.

What is it,?6 a week plus?3 in tips?

That's?34,?35 a week. Bloody millionaires, ain't we?

We worth?35 a week?

(Cathy) Funny, place like that even smells different.

Must be the central heating.

Felt different too, in your bones.

Oh, what a place!

Parquet flooring, tin-openers fixed to the wall,

double glazing...

And the neighbours, talk about stylish!

All right, now we're going to try something

which sounds complicated, but isn't really.

Now, put your arms down by the side of your body, completely relaxed.

Now, when you contract a leg,

your toe turns up, you make a sort of square.

(Cathy) It came as a surprise when I found out.

I was sick all the time and it never occurred to me why.

So the doctor, he said.: "Can it be that you're pregnant?"

And then I realised.

I got to dreaming then about what it would be like.

Now, this is a diagram to show what happens right at the start

before labour really starts.

You can see that the baby is surrounded by fluid

and it's quite intact, hasn't broken it at all.

And this is the neck of the uterus, or the cervix as we call it.

Me and my husband are looking for a house to buy. Could you help us?

Well, we have a number of properties in the lower price ranges,

?3,500 to?5,000, if that's the sort of thing you're interested in,

on which we could probably arrange a 90%%% mortgage.

May I ask how big your deposit would be?

Well, I'm off work now so we haven't got quite so much.

But I reckon we could manage about?100.

?100 would barely cover the legal costs.

You might find a new flat with a deposit of?400 but you'd be lucky.

I mean, we do have cheaper houses,

but they're in such bad condition that a building society

would require you to spend about?700 on improvements.

And they'd withhold part of the loan until the work was complete.

So you see, the cheapest houses are bought

by the people with the money in hand to improve them.

Oh. So really it was a waste of my time coming here?

(Engine grinds)

(Tyres screech)

(Crash)

(Reg) I need compensation. I told you about that camshaft.

(Boss) Reg, I would compensate you but I'm skint.

I ain't had no insurance on me lorry.

- You're making a bomb here! - I don't want any argument.

It's not argument. I've had an accident and I want compensation.

It's not up to me. I've got nothing to compensate you with.

How well off d'you think we'll be?

Well, it's not so good, Cath, won't have so much now.

Never mind, though, Reg'll fix it.

Look, Reg.

How much will we have?

Well, you're not earning no more and I'm down to sickness benefit.

- How much is that, d'you know? - No, but it's not very much.

- How much we got on the HP, then? - Nearly?5 a week.

?5... Well, there's?10 on the flat.

- Nothing else? - No.

Oh, there's the life insurance, too.

Oh, yeah.

- Still, we got savings, ain't we? - Yeah,?30.

(Sighs)

I suppose we'd better find somewhere cheaper to live, then.

Suppose so.

We'd have had to get out of here, anyway. They don't allow children.

- Westminster. - Do you fancy sharing?

- Sharing with who? - I don't know.

Get some nice young couple.

- Took me a while to get used to you. - Oh, thank you(!)

(Man) There's 200,000 more families in London than homes to put them.

And there's 60,000 single persons living without sinks or stoves.

In seven central London boroughs,

one in ten of all households is overcrowded,

with more than 1.5 people per room.

Oh, hello, is your room still to let?

No, is it still in that place?

Yes, it is.

Well, it'll be a week tomorrow since I told them to take it out.

- Pardon? - It'll be a week...

On Thursday, I asked them to take it out because I'd got suited.

A few years back, figures released by the LCC

revealed that families of certain sizes

would be 350 years on the housing list before being offered a house.

Oh, it's a scourge here.

The present target of 500,000 set by government is not high enough.

Even if it is reached, there's still people living in slums in ten years.

The government must realise this is a crisis and treat it as such.

We can't stay at Mum's. The council said it was overcrowded.

They needn't find out, need they? Oh, Mum'll fix it, don't worry.

You're gonna have better eyes than your dad, aren't you? Eh?

Yeah, he's squinting a bit, though.

- They all squint. - Oh.

(Cathy) Funny how a baby makes a place quite different.

And Reggie said so, too.

Well, goodbye to freedom.

I didn't mind, though.

(Women chatter)

(Man) This is what you call the island of paradise.

Kiddies here have seen rats running around the place as big as cats.

(Dog barks)

(Woman) Any time the children have accidents,

most times all the mothers come down to see if they can help.

(Old woman) The damned places are so old, they want pulling down!

(Woman) We've got plenty of company.

I think we're reasonable people, that we all get on together.

We have our ups and downs, you can fight over the kids,

but apart from that, we're lucky, I suppose, better off than some.

(Old woman) I don't like half of the people in it,

and what is more there's none of 'em neighbourly.

They've always got something to say about you behind your back.

(Woman) I had a friend lived next door to me,

she really would have give?1,000 to move out of here.

But now she's got a brand-new maisonette,

she said she'd like to come back if she could bring her flat here.

She likes the company here.

Reggie's uncle Mac, he was the adventurous type.

Spent a lot of time in India.

He wanted to see foreign parts, he never married.

Then his uncle Tom was in the Merchant Navy.

Uncle Jim, he was the ne'er-do-well.

When he got married, I remember Grandad saying:

"He's a nice fella but he'll never be no good to no woman, not never. "

(Children shout)

(Woman) When I first came here,

we never had none of this lot, we never had no children in here.

This was only for a married couple

or one on their own, no children.

You had ladies here then.

(Woman) There was rats under the floorboards.

The council came and put poison down.

They said rats had been there,

but they'd gone somewhere else to annoy somebody else, like.

(Girl) Reg, we've a new girl at work.

You knew her when you went to school.

- Who's that, then? - Christine Rowbottom or something.

Oh, I know. Jenkins, weren't it?

That's it. She's on the bra counter.

She's well-suited to that I'll tell you.

(Laughs)

What happened... wasn't it, erm...

George, remember George?

What, George that had the accident?

Did he have an accident?

Didn't you know? He had his leg off.

Oh, dear, that's terrible.

Very keen on sports, too, I remember.

Lovely little runner, really was.

He won't be able to run any more, will he?

I don't think it's funny, do you?

(Woman) It's the only tenement in Islington

where you can sit in your toilet and cook your breakfast at the same time.

We've only got one bedroom, I mean, you've got no married life.

Half your questions and half your rows is over sex,

cos your husbands think that they've... you know,

and you're always on nerves with the children.

It's not fair to a man, or if you're married with children,

I think you're entitled to have another room.

You can look out your door up the other woman's passage.

You can't do that in any new flats.

I gave Reg some of those frozen chips last week.

- He didn't like them much. - Know what I think about them?

Know what Mr Ward used to say? Most unhealthy.

(Woman) We make one another a cup of tea, sit outside and have a laugh.

(Old woman) Keep yourself to yourself and you can't get in no row.

Cook your dinner now, dear, then I'll cook ours for Eileen and the boys.

No, I'm gonna put the baby to bed.

It don't work if we have it together.

I'll clear up after him this time.

I think it's a bit hard the council won't do nothing for you.

I've done my bit, I've brought up five children.

(Woman) If we could pick, none of us'd live here.

Stop your fella putting his feet on the furniture

and picking up the baby with his filthy hands.

- He's your son! - But you taught him dirty habits.

Dirty habits? You don't wash your hands before you touch the baby.

- I was only doing it to help. - And don't put Daz in his bottle!

- And then there's the toilet. - What about the sodding toilet?

You know what I mean, I think it's disgusting!

- Well, of all the meanest things! - (Baby cries)

You got on my boy's nerves with worry so that he ran off the road!

- It's about time you was going. - All right, we'll go.

Keep your rotten old flat, it's driving me round the bloody bend!

(Children chatter)

(Child) Come 'ere!

Is that your cup of tea?

Say "See you after dinner. "

You're not very friendly, are you?

(Cathy) We moved right away from the parts we'd been living in.

Reg found quite a good job, too.

We soon fitted in.

Then Stevie came along.

And we got quite settled, really.

These streets looked rough and there were rats.

But life was quite good here.

Some places were boarded up with the upstairs windows empty.

Others were crammed full with people and kiddies.

Once I heard sounds coming from one of the boarded-up houses.

It sounded like a baby crying.

- Stevie... - (Squawks)

(Midlands man) I went to a house the other week.

Woman come out... it's not too good, I tell you...

.. and she come out in her knickers and bras.

That's the sort of people I meet.

(Old man) The women used to scrub the pavements every morning

to keep 'em clean.

(Woman) Me sister came to see me last week from Yardley.

When she seen the street, she said

"My godfathers, whatever possessed you to live in a street like this?"

(Man) You knew everybody and everybody was friendly, like.

But you don't know anybody now and they're a different class altogether.

(Woman) You'll meet friends in here and they're very, very nice friends.

You can have a laugh and a joke.

I might have me funny ways, but I'm a kind-hearted old bit of sugar.

I'm harmless. I'm just an old bag that has got nobody to turn to.

What happened to Mr Alley, then?

Things have gone too far with these places, there's too many people.

- The plaster's coming off the walls. - I hadn't noticed that.

Pull the chain and half the ceiling comes down.

It's the bloomin' old cistern.

If there's a queue waiting, one can't follow the other.

(Woman) I've seen all sorts of changes, from better to worse.

Everybody had window boxes when I first come up here.

(Mrs Alley) Now, my dear, once I had a profession.

- Can you guess what it was? - (Cathy) Ooh, I don't know.

- I was a whore, dear. - Ooh, you weren't, Mrs Alley!

A whore.

Long time ago.

But I was lovely then.

Had the fellas wild for me, I did, when I was a whore.

Oh, I've got something I want you to do for me.

Will you read this letter for me, dear?

It's one of me old favourites,

and me eyes are not so good these days.

Oh, Mrs Alley, it's all about sex!

Fancy you getting me to read your sexy letters for you!

(Woman) There's a caff down the road and they have a striptease.

Every night there's kids hanging round to get in and see 'em.

It puts ideas in the kids' heads.

Stephen, what are you doing? I told you not to play with the dirt.

Look at your clean jeans.

Put that down. And you, Sean. Look at you, you're filthy.

(Cathy) Now I was pregnant again.

Some say it's wrong to have another kiddie when you're overcrowded.

But I don't think so.

I think kiddies are God's gift.

You do wrong to deprive anyone of the chance of life.

Love's what's important in a child's life.

Love is more important than nice surroundings.

I know, cos I lived in a "respectable" home.

And I didn't have it.

(Woman) We have to sleep in the attic, like, and it's quite damp.

He wallpapered it about three weeks before I had the baby,

and the far wall is starting to come down already.

- Help! - Mrs Alley, are you all right?

I fell through the bed! Thank you, ducks, thank you.

I'm very grateful to you, ducks.

Mrs Alley, I can't pull any harder, I'll lose the baby!

Aren't I a silly girl?

Pull me, harder!

Oh, I wets the bed, see?

I wets the bed and the springs get rotted.

See these pigeons flying across?

I've got one coming from Barcelona and he's very tired.

Dad, the pigeon there.

Come on!

I'll send that cat up after you. Now come in! Come on!

(Whistles) Come on!

Come on!

(Child murmurs)

(Whispers) Shh! Sean, be quiet! Good boy.

(Cathy) I felt we were honoured, somehow,

that pigeon coming all the way back to us.

Mrs Alley, can I have a word with you for a minute?

Give me a lift up, dear.

- Can you manage? - Thank you.

Mrs Alley, would it be all right if we owed the rent for a few weeks?

Only you see, what with the pigeons and Reg isn't earning much now.

Owe the rent, ducks?

Course you can, but I want to be paid.

- Oh, we'll pay you. - I'll have to be paid.

You see, as old as I seem, I don't qualify for a pension.

I look older than I really am.

(Irish woman) The children'd have a good time

if people'd mind their own business and let them.

One's name was Sean and one's was Stephen.

And they lived in a little cottage by the seaside.

- And every day... - Did they?

Reg! Reg!

It's Mrs Alley! She's dead!

(Cathy) The men from the council came along.

Took away her odd bits and pieces.

They looked through the letters for notes of any relatives she may have.

But she hadn't got none.

Only letters from her old clients, that's all.

So there was no-one to pay the death grant to.

Oh, yes?

I represent a nephew of the deceased, Mrs Alley what died last week.

My client now needs the unpaid rent for the current week.

And the back period, during which he gathers you was in arrears.

In arrears? You sure? I didn't know Mrs Alley had any relatives.

- Well, she does. - I can't oblige you at the moment.

Mrs Alley said we could owe the rent for a few weeks while my Reg was ill.

Now he's better we'll pay you, course we will.

Just give us a few weeks, that's all.

I'll even go out to work as well.

What Mrs Alley said and what my client wants are very different.

So you'd better find some way to pay.

You couldn't talk to him. It was hopeless trying to talk to him.

What, three months in arrears?

I'll knock his block in. Who's he think he's talking to?

How long is it since he's been round?

Four weeks.

He says here we owe him three months.

Who are we supposed to pay this rent to?

He never comes round, how's he expect to collect it?

Have another look at the letter.

It says here he's gonna kick us out.

They can't evict you these days, I saw they passed a law.

- It's nonsense. - It says here he can.

Look, I've told you we'll pay you if only you'll give us time.

I know your game.

You want us out so you can charge someone else key money.

My client needs this place for his relatives, so you'd better get out.

You may've heard eviction is illegal,

but if a relative wants a house, you can still be evicted.

- Are you sure about that? - And we'll get a court order.

- But we're protected tenants! - You've had time to pay up.

The defendant persistently refused to pay his rent,

and the landlord must also put the premises right

at a cost of several hundred pounds.

(Judge) What have you got to say?

I say it's all a pack of lies.

I mean, for the first thing,

Mrs Alley said we didn't have to pay any rent cos I wasn't working.

Then this bloke comes round and says he wants the rent.

But when I goes round to him with it, he won't accept it.

I'm not satisfied that the defendant is telling the truth.

In addition, he has "mislaid" the rent book given to him by Mrs Alley.

I take the case as proved.

We'll grant an eviction order dated four weeks from now.

(Cathy) So we tried. We wrote letters, wrote after places.

Never got no answer.

The next answer we got was "no children".

"No children accepted. "

I went to an agent and he said they'd find us a place

if we gave them 20%%% of a year's rent

and 10%%% of fixtures and fittings.

Which I thought was unjust.

And I wrote letters and the rent was too high.

There was one place we went to and I thought we had a chance.

They said?6. Next thing we heard, someone had offered 'em?8,

so that put the cap on that.

Other letters we got,?10 a week.

Because Reg couldn't afford it, not on his wages,

it meant that we'd be living on next to nothing.

(Man) Birmingham, 39,000 families on the waiting list.

Leeds, 13,500.

Liverpool, 19,000.

Manchester, nearly 15,000.

(Cathy) It wasn't long before I realised something.

We'd been lucky to get the old place.

There didn't seem to be anything for us any more.

(Man) In Liverpool, one household in nine is on the waiting list.

In Manchester it's one in fourteen.

Birmingham has 4,000 overcrowded houses, twelve people to a house.

- Is that yours? - Yes, it's just us and my husband.

Sorry, duck, no children.

If I had a couple of elephants they'd have said "Leave them in the yard. "

But children? They'd say "Sorry, we can't have nothing like that. "

It was as if they thought it was a crime to have children.

(Man) A million homeless families.

You may have a teenage brother and sister who have to share a bed.

Maybe a crippled person on the top floor as can never go out,

or perhaps sharing with relatives,

or maybe, like yourselves, they've had an order of eviction.

Now, to house these 8,000 units, we have 500 new dwellings every year.

People's needs are assessed on points:

one for health risk, one for every year they've lived in the borough

and one for having no bath.

You just haven't got enough points to qualify.

But in view of the gravity of the situation,

I'll see if we can jump you up the queue a bit.

- Oh, thank you. - Also in view of the situation,

I'll try and get you a place on the new Smithson estate.

(Cathy) We had a little girl next. We called her Mylene.

It was Reg's choice, not mine.

She weighed 8Ib 5oz at birth! Quite a heavyweight.

One day, we had a visit from the man from the council.

- Mr Ward? - Yeah.

I'm from the Public Health Department.

Oh, yeah.

I gather you're living in one room

because the room upstairs is too damp for the kiddies to sleep in.

Yeah.

Sorry, we'll have to move you out.

- We're being evicted anyway. - Are you? When's that?

- Next Tuesday. - That saves me a bit of trouble.

It saves me from having to do something I don't really believe in.

- Good day to you. - Faceless man!

Why doesn't he do something about it?

(Cathy) Got like a madhouse.

They pulled the washing off the line, lights pulled out of their sockets.

We even had windows taken from their frames.

Someone turned the water off and the electric wires got pulled out.

(Man) There is another side. Our side.

- I'm speaking for authorities... - (Corrugated iron rattles)

.. responsible for the property.

Now, I know it's quite common

for the police to be brought in for an eviction.

But it does get people's backs up.

It's bad publicity for the company that owns the place,

particularly when it is a reputable body of churchmen

who, through the application of good business methods,

are in the position of seeming to do an injustice.

(Banging and hammering)

- Come along, then. - That's it, then, Cath.

Come on, Stephen.

Up you get. That's a good boy.

Up you get. Come on, Sean.

It's all right, come on.

All right, Cath?

(Woman) Never mind.

Hey, mister, want me to store your furniture, pound a week?

Oh, go away, will you?

(Children chatter)

- Now, move out the way. - Leave the kid alone!

I'm only doing my job.

Reg, come on, don't be silly. Come on over here. Calm down.

He only wants his toys. It's nothing too much, is it?

(Chatter)

- I mean, we still own the property. - Careful with that chair!

- How much longer? - Only about five minutes now.

- It's just down here somewhere. - I'm getting tired, Reg.

Hang on, look. Here, hang on.

D'you want to swap over? Can you hold the pram?

I told you not to buy 'em ice creams, look at the state they're in.

Oh, there you are.

They're gonna get this road done up, they told me, in a couple of months.

It gets very bad in the winter.

It's not very nice, is it, Reg? What are all these cars doing here?

It's a sort of a dump. The council are trying to do something about it.

(Woman) I wouldn't go back to a house.

I never look at housing adverts or in house agents' windows.

We tried councils, we tried welfare, we...

.. even tried to get tied cottages.

Everything just fell through.

Caravan was the last resort.

And I hate it.

Er...

Up that way. Over there.

- Which one? - That one there. That's it.

Well, we're here, then.

(Man) You used to go to big fairs and buy and sell horses.

That was the living. I'd love to go back on the roads.

If we pull inside the roads as we used to years ago,

the police come along

and you go to court and we don't know where to go to.

- You gonna live here, mister? - Yeah, love.

Mind out, love.

Now, put that down, Sean.

Well, what d'you think of it, then, Cath?

- Could be worse. - Come on, love, it's not that bad.

Is there any light?

Yeah, I'll show you in a minute.

- Like the wood? - Yeah, it's a bit dirty.

Sit down here, I'll show you.

That's it.

Now, it's quite easy to operate, Cath. It's not difficult.

You'll be able to do it yourself. I'll just show you how it works.

You need a box of matches.

Er... now.

Stick a match through there.

And... that's it.

- It's gone out, Reg. - Oh.

(Cathy) It wasn't too bad, really.

The wind was getting up outside in the marsh.

It made it feel quite snug inside.

It felt funny to be in a caravan.

I'd only been in one once before, on summer holiday.

It was a relief, though, really.

I think it was the tension we'd been living under the past few weeks.

And you got the light, you see.

It's very efficient, it does the whole room and it's warm as well.

Like it?

(Baby grizzles)

- Yeah, she's tired. - (Child) Night-night!

Bacon, better have that before it goes off.

Come on, now.

Go to sleep.

- Good night! - Good night!

- How'll we fit another bed in here? - I'll show you.

Here we are.

Oh, I see!

- That's very clever, isn't it? - It's all right, it's all right.

- It's quite comfy, too. - Yeah.

You sure we're safe here, Reg?

I mean, they won't come and get us, will they?

- They won't move us on? - From here? No, don't worry.

They won't come and look for us here amongst all this lot.

We may have dropped a peg, Cath, but I think we'll be a lot contenter.

Later the wind got stronger. It began to rock the place around quite a lot.

(Giggling)

(Old woman) I like a van, you get all the air round you.

- You know I'm 86? - You're not!

86, and I don't think a house would suit me.

You know, in a house you can't breathe.

And I like air, I like fresh air.

You know, it makes... It's beautiful, fresh air.

(Cathy) There's no roadway at all, it's just a road of mud.

The scrapheap's all the way up the lane.

We get fires nearly every day.

The caravans are very close together.

We have to walk a couple of hundred yards to empty a chemical toilet.

(Man) In a house, it's all four walls and you're closed in,

just like a bird penned up in a cage.

(Giggling)

To get the fuel to come down to us, well, they just won't come.

With the state of that road, the mud and the bumps, there's too much...

Another thing I can't understand, it's the drivers who say:

"We're not coming down there," yet they're the same as we are.

(Irish man) People look at me and say "He's just a dirty old gypsy. "

But we're not dirty, we're clean.

And we keep ourselves clean.

I'll tell you why: because we wash ourselves.

And we don't need any of them flush baths, either. Our way is this.

Get a bucket of water and we wash ourselves down to the waist.

When that part's done, roll your shirt down,

take off your trousers and wash yourself up to the bottom.

- What, in the open air? - Certainly, of course.

I'll tell you something else: you'll never find no fleas, lice nor louse,

cos we know how to thwart them with the devil's dung.

- What's that, then? - You get it in the chemist's.

It does have a bit of a sting, mark you...

(Man) You can always tell a traveller by the way he walks and acts,

same as I can tell a policeman.

I could really smell a policeman.

(Woman) We feel free because we can see the open fields from our window,

we don't have people living all on top of us

and yet we can live in a decent, civilised manner.

(Child) Next door there's loads of rats.

At night you can hear them under our caravan, all squeak.

(Laughter)

Once you're in a caravan, you've gone as low as you can go,

unless it's on the street or in the halfway houses.

When Mr Jones came out of the Forces, he tried hard to find places.

But the money he got was no good.

As the kids came along it got worse.

He went down the mines, he went as a driver on the buses,

but each time the rent was far too much for his wages.

He tried to get jobs in the forestry, but each time we were turned down.

- Nothing really regular. - He did the forestry as a POW.

(Cathy) Reg got a job picking blackcurrants.

Then he got more work at the airport on the new runway.

Then picking gooseberries. The kids like life here, too.

They were always finding things among the trees.

I got to like it here as well. I don't know why.

I know it was squalid, but it was easy-going.

Only sometimes the filth got on my nerves.

I felt as if we'd sunk somehow out of the race.

Things didn't seem to matter down here no more.

There was no-one to move us on.

Reg and me reckoned we might stay here for a while.

Well, it was a life. We were happy.

What we are pressing for is the fencing-off of the common land

so that the gypsies and layabouts can no longer get on it.

Now it is the traditional camping place of the gypsies, of course.

No-one is denying that.

But these are not real gypsies, they're just scroungers, layabouts.

These are the words that spring to mind when contemplating these people.

And of course, with the new housing development, of which we are part,

the character of the area must be expected to change.

We can accept no hindrance from those

who willfully try to keep us in the past.

There is no longer room for slums on wheels.

Many of these people are not gypsies.

They're here because they can't find anywhere else to live.

Where would the Association's sympathies lie

in the event of violence?

I'm afraid our sympathies will be very much with ourselves.

(Man) The council has wasted enough time on these gypsies.

They give nothing towards the council.

- Right, mate, I'll get you! - Why should we support them?

(Man) Young respectable couples can't get housing loans.

Who would we rather have the money?

- Cherries, apples. - Pea picking.

Hops. Bert and I helped to make that, didn't we?

D'you want another? No, I'll get 'em.

(Fireworks)

Potato picking. That's how I met the missus.

I'd been out potato picking, had a few pints, you know.

And I had to go into this ditch, and there she was.

- Asleep, was she? - No, she'd had a few pints too!

If you got it off someone you know's OK...

The caravan's burning!

(Women shouting and screaming)

(Man) Get back!

(Well-spoken man) Why were you living there in the first place?

We was evicted from a council house in Stoke.

Where were you on the night of the fire?

We went out to buy some dolls for the kids.

On the way back, we stopped for a quick one.

Did you and your wife have to be out together?

Mrs Jones can't drive, and I wanted her advice about the dolls.

There are times when a husband and wife have to go out together.

And I would say, sir, that this was murder!

It's the kids from the new estate.

And the adults just seem to encourage them.

(Lawyer) Now, you are the health inspector for this region.

You have condemned houses 1,000 times better than these caravans.

(Health inspector) The local council do have sympathy for these people.

(Woman) I've got a baby in there! I want to go and get it out!

Pauline Jones, were you asleep in the caravan on the night of April 25th?

(Girl) Yes, we was all six in the bed.

I woke up cos the place was full of smoke.

So I grabbed little Gary in me arms and got out.

I see. Do you remember what happened then?

Well, all the others got burnt up.

(Dog barks)

They get the van and tow it over the boundary into the next district.

Then they leave it on the side of the road

and the police come and nick you for being there!

It's all on account of not causing obstructions.

(Cathy) Reg was working at the airport.

Some nights when he got back, he couldn't find us

and he'd worry about us, so he got behind in his working.

(Reg) We can't go on like this, Cath.

We're gonna have to sell the caravan. There must be somewhere for us.

Fancy you paying out money before you've even seen the place.

I didn't know, Cath. He said we could have the first floor front.

We used to have people living here but now we can't allow it.

People tend to deteriorate when they're living in a boat.

We used to have 'em.

But they turned the place into a slum.

If people want to come here with their pleasure boats,

it's all right by us.

But living in 'em the whole time, it's not helping anybody.

- We had to ask 'em to go. - What if they're homeless?

Even so, it's not helping 'em.

We had to get rid of 'em. It's not helping 'em to help themselves.

You people get so run down, no wonder they won't have you.

We get run down because we haven't got no house.

You've got the welfare state now, you can't come to any real harm.

Are you an inhabitant of this borough? On the housing list?

Yeah.

Whereabouts on the list are you? You must be pretty high.

They say they're gonna get us a place on the new Smithson estate.

Come on, mind the fire, play with the rope properly.

(Children chatter)

(Woman) Sheila!

There you are. I'll tan your arse when I get hold of you!

Oh, hello.

- Is she yours? - Yes, she is.

- D'you live here too? - Yeah, next door.

- How's your place? - It's dreadful.

- It's leaking everywhere, freezing. - You got enough wood?

I'm just gonna light a fire and make her something to eat.

She's starving, I suppose. Hasn't had any food all morning.

- There a lot like us here? - Quite a few, you'd be surprised.

(Rain spatters)

- Can't you give me a hand? - All right, love.

I've got another one here. Here you are.

Hold it nice and tight. I'll put this one in here.

This is bloody ridiculous.

- You all right? - Sean's not very well, either.

I don't know what you think, Reg, but I think we've had it.

I mean, they turned us out the caravan, didn't they?

Then they turned us out the derelict house.

Well, they're gonna find us here. I know they will.

I think we'll have to give up soon,

or they'll take the kiddies away, like that man said.

Yeah, well, don't worry, love, I've got?5, haven't I?

Nice, these.

You know what you're gonna do tomorrow, then, Cath?

Mm. Pity about that place, that maisonette.

But you do know what you're gonna do now?

You have an aunt in Northumberland, but you don't know her address?

I haven't seen her since I was seven. She might be dead.

Have you any friends or other relatives

who might help with accommodation?

If I had I wouldn't be here, would I?

Mrs Ward, I have to draw your attention to an unpleasant fact.

But in our emergency accommodation, it's not very nice.

Some of the people are a little rough.

Are you sure you want to go in?

Look, I don't wanna be cheeky but we've been here for six hours.

If I had any choice, do you think I'd have stayed?

All right. Sit down. Mr Ward, please.

Have you got a bit of chocolate to keep 'em quiet, please, Cath?

Mr Ward, I'd like to check one or two facts with you, please.

You and your wife lived at your mother's house up to what date?

January '62.

And at what address would that be?

97 Maysoul Buildings, Maysoul Street.

Really? Not Mayberry?

No, Maysoul.

Now, Mr Ward.

What is your wife's mother's address?

(Baby cries)

- Do you have any sisters? - No.

- I thought... - There's my teenage sister.

But she don't count, she hasn't got a house.

- Grandmother or grandfather? - One grandfather, he's in a home.

How many rooms does your mother occupy at Maysoul Road?

One bedroom and a living room.

But there's three adults living there already.

The accommodation we have available is for wives only, not husbands.

Why can't you accommodate husbands?

We used to house husbands once but they used to tear up the sheets.

(Children grizzle)

We have no objection to you coming to see your wife of a weekday evening,

provided you are gone by eight.

The front entrance must not be used by you homeless.

There's a very good reason for that.

It upsets the old people we accommodate here,

and this place was meant for them.

No alcohol in the building. About this we are fairly strict.

And inmates are expected to take a regular bath

and get as much fresh air as possible.

Rent is five shillings a night for each adult and three bob for a child,

payable in advance.

There are other rules but you'll find it easier to pick them up as you go.

Any questions?

I don't think very much of it.

In many places in England, families are not kept together.

They're broken up when they become homeless and children put in care.

If we rehoused homeless families,

people would see it was an easy way to jump the queue, wouldn't they?

And it must be strictly understood

that this accommodation is only temporary.

After three months, make no mistake, we turn you out.

So keep searching.

Right, sit down.

(Baby cries)

Well, don't eat it, then, I'll eat it, give it to me.

Mrs Ward?

You'll be in room E72.

E- seven-two, don't forget it.

Hey, go on, out!

Well, I'm just taking her up to her room, see?

- We've only just come. - Oh, I see, you're newcomers.

Well, no men beyond the lodge.

I'm afraid you'll have to get out and say goodbye to your wife now.

Hey, not you, girl!

Oh, look, she's just arrived, let me take her up, please.

If he could stay, I'd be all right.

No, no, no, I'm sorry, I don't make the rules.

He'll have to go. She's got a lot to get through yet.

- Now, listen, lady, don't be saucy! - Reg, don't. Shut up.

Goodbye, love.

(Man) Many social workers feel

that all homeless families are problem families.

They may not be when they arrive in our hostels,

but they usually are when they leave.

It was thought that if a man couldn't provide a home for his family,

he wasn't much good, but that is certainly not true today.

The majority of the homeless families we deal with are decent citizens,

and all they want is a home of their own.

Try and keep the children clean cos there's disease here.

Why do they send us here, then?

There's disease in all these places. We try to keep it down by swabbing.

Do what you have to do, Sean.

Take your panties down

and then they're gonna put something up your bottie.

Sean always was the worst at taking his pants down.

He never liked anyone to see him without them.

(Man) There exists in local authorities

a kind of punitive attitude,

which means that the whole problem of homeless families

is the Cinderella of the Cinderellas.

(Older man) So I came out of the welfare place

and said goodbye to the missus, not knowing when I should see her again.

Some men don't seem to bother whether they live with their wives,

but I've always been one.

We've been happy together, married 18 years

and when you get like that, it upsets you, it breaks your heart.

(Woman) Bus drivers, lorry drivers, coalmen, GPO sorters,

general labourers, scaffolders,

all sorts of groups of workers

have become homeless.

Think I'll go and see Dolly, see if I can get a cup of tea.

I haven't got the sugar.

Doll!

Dolly! Any sugar?

No, not today. Got the milk.

(Chatter)

(Man) Unless we build houses in the areas where there is work,

or redistribute the work to areas where there are empty houses,

we're bound to get homeless families.

It is amazing to us there aren't tens of thousands of homeless families

instead of just thousands.

I think you'll be all right in here.

(Whispers) Cathy?

Cathy!

(Whispers) Reg, what are you doing here?

I climbed in.

I met one of the husbands outside, he showed me a way through the wall.

I couldn't leave you alone, Cath.

Oh, I'm pleased you've come, Reg.

- I really am. - Come on.

(Sobs)

(Sighs)

(Cries)

Shh...

Oh, Reg!

(Sobs)

(Reg) Come on.

(Cathy) I'm sorry.

I am.

(Loud chatter)

(Woman) We lived in a rented house in Margate

that was needed for a road-widening scheme.

So we got an eviction order. They said they couldn't rehouse us

cos they wasn't the welfare authority and they had no houses.

- Go and get another cup. - Why, what's the matter with it?

Keep away from the cracked mugs. There's sickness in 'em.

My first thought is, I feel I'm a refugee.

I've lived here all me life, now I feel like I'm a refugee.

- Send us back to where? - To where you're from.

But not before you've taken all our houses away.

Ask the warden and he will explain.

- You lot come with all your kids... - I'm not going back.

That's why we have to come to places like this.

I'm not going back.

- Too many of you, there are. - Doesn't matter.

(Northern Irish woman) I was in a council house, so I was.

Then my husband buggered off and they've a scheme there

where abandoned women are turned out.

It's meant to stop men leaving their wives, but it didn't work in my case.

(Man) It's nonsense to say coloured people caused our housing crisis.

The Millner Holland report showed that if immigrants didn't come,

their places would be taken by domestic migrants

or many essential jobs would remain unfilled.

Secondly, more people leave Britain each year than come into it.

Go on, Paulie, back to mummy.

Go on, be a good boy.

(Caribbean woman) Scrubbing, scrubbing, that's all.

It is all day here.

We have to scrub the place out twice a day, you will see.

The children's the ones that feels it most.

They miss the toys they've had since they were tiny kiddies.

(Young woman) It's too far to take them back to their old school.

What are we meant to do, put 'em in a new classroom with no preparation?

- How'd you get that in here? - Ways and means.

- Here, give us your cup. - Yeah, thanks.

- Want a little drop? - Steady on, I don't wanna get drunk.

They come in at night to see your husband has gone

and again at one or two in the morning.

(Caribbean woman) There's no place for family life, so they quarrel.

The women, they get so frustrated.

We used to have money once, didn't we? And I had a good job.

And, well, then I had me accident and I lost the job, but...

And we had that house, didn't we?

And then of course we got evicted.

But there was the caravan,

and we got?10 for that.

And I gave it to that bloke in the pub for that number 13, but...

You know, every time we just seem to lose on the deal.

I just don't understand it.

And here we are, right at the bottom.

I just don't understand.

As time goes on, we just seem to sort of get lower, don't we?

We're down now but we'll be up again.

Oh, yeah, we'll get up again, no question about that, no.

You know, it's funny, but...

.. now I'm on my own, I just don't seem to tick over.

I mean, when I got married, you know, with my wife and with the children,

I got to sort of need you and the kids.

And we could tick over and everything was fine.

It's very funny, but...

.. now I'm on me own again, it's all gone wrong.

- Mrs Ward, I need a favour. - Oh, yeah?

It's about Sean.

I've come to a decision.

I've decided I can't bear to see him in that place any more.

I mean, he's pining, I can see it.

So, what I was wondering, if it's all right with you,

could I leave him for a few days?

Leave him here? What d'you mean?

You can't walk out on your children just like that.

Leave Sean with me? You must be out of your bleedin' mind!

(Sniffs) You don't understand.

I don't want to leave him.

I mean, he really gets me.

(Sobs)

I can't stand to see him taking it so badly.

I can't stand it!

Bye-bye, darling, be a good boy.

Bye.

I've told you before about using my bloody basin, haven't I?

- Oh, shut up! - My kids have to wash in there.

Your bleedin' kids walk round with their behinds hanging out!

Sit down, Reg, you look uneasy.

Well, sit down, then!

All right, I'm sorry, I am uneasy, that's all.

Well, what about me? I have to live in this place.

Reg, I don't like to ask you this.

But Stevie needs some new shoes.

Cath, I'm only getting?11 a week and I'm giving you six of it.

I mean, there's 15 bob for national insurance,

?1 for that furniture we got in store.

- Well, that leaves you?35s. - There's?210s for me lodgings.

Come on, Stevie, go and play with the kids.

?210s for my lodgings, I got ten bob a week on travelling,

leaving five bob for clothes and food.

How can I clothe meself on five bob a week?

- What meals d'you get at your digs? - Only my breakfast.

- Well, how d'you manage, then? - Well, I don't.

I was gonna ask if you couldn't do on a bit less.

- Reg, that's not possible. - How much rent you paying here?

Five bob a day for a grown-up, three bob a day for a child.

- That's?3 a week without Sean. - What do you do with the rest of it?

Oh, Reg, we have to get out of here. We spend it on food.

- You get meals here, don't you? - Yes, but there's disease here.

- I can't let 'em eat here. - Well, you're gonna have to.

- Why? - They'll starve otherwise.

(Cries)

I bumped into this fella who said he knew a bloke who could help us.

So I went down to see this bloke and he filled in all these forms.

And he says to me "Where you living?"

So I told him this address of this new lodgings I've moved to.

And he said "I'm very sorry,

but I can only help people that are resident in this borough. "

I've failed you, Cathy.

You've been here three months.

This is the maximum period we allow homeless families to remain here.

- I understand all that. - This is only temporary, you know.

We do have the power to evict you.

We can quite easily say "That's enough, so much for her,"

as they still do in many towns in Britain.

We could take your children into care and turn you out just like that.

- Please don't. - But we're not going to.

We're giving you one more chance.

But I must emphasise this is your last chance.

You must make your own arrangements.

We've arranged for you to go to what we call our part-three accommodation.

This, like the place here, is somewhere husbands are not admitted.

But you're not going to like it.

The amenities are not as good as here, but it's the best we can do.

But the thing is, sir,

couldn't you find me a place where I could be with my husband?

Some families here have really been trying to get back on their feet.

Well, who are they, and how? I've not met any.

I mean, it's not possible. They can smell you're from this place.

Don't talk like that, Mrs Ward.

I'm sorry. But something's happening to me.

I don't know how to explain it.

But all this is having a bad influence on my family life.

Somebody told me you've got these places they call halfway house.

And I thought if I could get into one of these places,

Reg might come back to me.

You see, he's drifting away from me.

And the children, they need him.

And the other thing is, in a month's time, we've got a place to go to.

You've got a place in a month's time?

Yes, on the new Smithson estate.

They're giving us a new flat there.

We're told you lost your place long ago due to moving.

500 families have moved in already.

But we was meant to be one of them!

(Whispering)

Runts! I saw you laughing!

Wipe that smile off your face!

Haven't you got to grant me one of your houses?

Haven't you got flats empty half the night?

You don't care.

You only pretend to care!

Oh, I'm sorry. (Sobs)

All right.

All right, all right, Mrs Ward.

(Sobs)

That will be all.

(Continues sobbing)

Oh...

Well, what's your opinion, Warden?

Well, she's not an easy person by a long chalk.

She keeps the children tidy, but as you can see, she's not co-operative.

But in my opinion the trouble rests with the other half.

But couldn't we fit her in somewhere she could be with her husband?

There's no way, we're full up as it is.

We're at the stage where if we had two other families come in tonight,

we'd have to evict to make room for them.

(Loud chatter)

(Woman) Sit still!

Stephen and Mylene live here now.

(Woman) Six years I've put up with this, six years I've been here.

(Young woman) When I come here they said "Who told you to come here?"

I said "No-one told me, did they?"

"I grew up here. "

(Older woman) My old man was in the Army for six years, a regular.

Well, that don't seem to count.

Don't cry, love, what's the matter?

- You should leave her alone. - Why's she crying?

- She got the letter. - What letter?

The letter that evicts you. They took her kids away.

(Woman) I went in front of the committee and they said.:

"Put your two eldest in institutions, then we can rehouse you. "

Can I give you a tip? Don't take a bath cos there's tramps get in it.

And the toilets get blocked.

There are cockroaches behind the plumbing about an inch long.

This little girl and boy had a lovely garden in their house by the seaside.

Can I have a garden?

(Woman) I was bombed out in Plymouth.

Then it was two years in a mental home.

I'm not to blame for that, am I?

(Woman) I didn't feel I could do that, say goodbye to the kiddies.

It's not... you know, you find you can't carry on without them.

(Young woman) Last June it was I lost him.

A disease, it was. He was only ten weeks old.

Poor little soul.

(Caribbean woman) They say "Go and look for houses, " but it's nonsense.

They call us the cubies because we live in cubicles.

Everybody round here thinks we're either unmarried mothers

or girls from borstal, but that's not so.

My children were ill and my husband hadn't seen them.

So he asked, could he come up and see them?

They said no.

So he tried to force his way in.

They soon called the police and shut him out. The police laughed at him.

(Woman) Even if we did find houses, there'd be other people here.

(Young woman) It's silly when a girl gets married,

thinking a bloke'll stay faithful.

But I still say I'm better off being married to him than without him.

If you love him, what's the point in leaving him?

(Woman) We have to be back home by eight and in bed by ten.

(Older woman) He's got a fancy girl now.

You see, men don't have it like women.

He's got his freedom, ain't he?

- What do you do all day, then, Cath? - What d'you think I do?

There's nothing to do.

Just sit about all day.

Feel like running away.

What about the kids, then?

They're restless.

Had so many changes, they don't know what's gonna happen next.

It's not good.

If you go out at night, you've got to be back by nine o'clock.

How you getting on with the food?

- There's potatoes. - Yeah.

Kids woke me up last night.

They were crying cos they were hungry.

I wish you could come more often, Reg.

Can't afford to, Cathy.

D'you know, I really long for the nights here sometimes.

- Yeah, I bet you do. - But not like we used to.

Reg, till all this happened, it was a happy marriage, wasn't it?

Oh, yeah. If it weren't for the kids, we wouldn't be here.

Still, I'm glad we had 'em. You can't wish your kids away, can you?

Oh, no.

But, I don't know, I wish we could start all over again.

- I'd choose the same. - Oh, I'd choose you, Reg.

But now, I don't know.

I just feel I want to look away.

I'm practising very hard and with a little bit of recognition,

I should be all right, earn some money, I hope.

I know me age is against me, but I'm hoping to win.

- Give us a song, then, come on. - All right, then.

(Taps soundboard)

(Cathy) It went through my mind to chuck the whole thing up,

turn my back on the kids and go off.

You see, I felt I'd failed them.

Well, I knew they weren't fit to be in a place like that.

I thought how I used to be before we were married,

without anyone depending on me,

and I had boyfriends, and money in my pockets and some good times.

Look, why don't you go, Reg? I mean, you need a job, love.

I've heard there's jobs in Liverpool.

Then when you've got a job, you can find a place.

- That's what I thought, Cath. - They say it's easier up there.

- I'm bound to get a place up there. - Yeah.

And then when the Smithson estate's finished, we'll have no more worries.

Yeah.

If I can't get a place, I'll be back by the time the other one's finished.

It was all so strange, really.

Cos kids do seem... Well, they do seem to sort of need their dad.

They look forward to being with their dad as well as their mum.

To have a bit of a laugh with him.

That baby was in tiptop medical condition.

Yeah? If it was, how come it's dead now?

The mother must have been to blame. She didn't look after it properly.

- She's a marvellous mother! - I'm only stating the truth!

Hm! The way some of you women keep your children...

What do you mean? What chance have we got in this dump?

Just a minute. What about hygiene? What about bathing?

How often do you change your baby's nappy?

- Three times a day! - You cow!

You bloody cow!

- Come here, my dear! - You don't care! Look at you!

- You'll be sorry for this, my dear! - We're bloody clean! Aren't we?

- (All) Yes! - We keep our kids clean!

- Clean, you don't know what... - (Baby cries)

Oh, nice carrying on!

Look, making the babies cry!

You cow! You're a cow, you are!

She couldn't care about us, could she?

- Look at this bloody dump we're in! - Yes, and it shouldn't be a dump!

- It's your fault. - My fault?

You were the one that bought it back.

- Where's my cap? - I don't know.

Go on, get out. Go on.

- I shall be reporting you. - You do that! You do it! Bugger off!

I wonder who said this. It's about this place.

I wonder who told those lies.

(Cathy) It wasn't me.

Listen, young lady, I'm not as stupid as I may look.

It was a blonde who talked to the reporter. A blonde like you.

Well, I don't know who it was!

We've had other reports about you too, I think.

About Mrs Selby?

I was just telling her about the poor little baby that died, that's all.

Mrs Ward,

I see that your husband hasn't been paying the fees.

Paying the fees? Course he is!

(Man) We'd know if he was or wasn't.

Didn't he tell you he wasn't paying?

Well, I haven't seen him. He's been away on business.

- You haven't seen him? - Not for a while.

Look, my girl, what is going on here? Are you married, or aren't you?

Oh, shut up, you! Shut up!

"It must be clearly understood

that the temporary accommodation will not be available after that date. "

What does it mean?

- I shouldn't worry about it. - Doesn't mean what it says, maybe.

(Woman) These people are casualties of the welfare state.

They're pushed around like so much human litter and nobody'll help them.

(Man) Originally, homelessness was regarded as a passing postwar phase.

But the problem now appears to be with us for the foreseeable future.

Oh, excuse me, I called about a room.

- How many of you? - Just me and me two kiddies.

Sorry, I don't take children.

Don't be a fathead when your time comes.

Don't be like Mrs Growcott.

Let's take 'em away without any fuss.

What right have you got to take my kids from me?

Well, you can't find a place for them, can you?

Now look, you've had your chance. We're not interested in you now.

It's the kids we're worried about. We can't have them sleeping out.

After they leave here they'll need care and protection.

Come on, Stevie, help Mummy pack up.

They're too heavy.

That's a good boy.

You coming out with me in a minute?

(Station bell rings)

(Whistle)

(Bell rings)

(Cathy) We had a bite to eat from the cafeteria.

Course, the kiddies didn't know what was gonna happen.

But I knew they'd catch up with us.

Wherever we tried to bed down for the night.

You're not having my kids! You're not having 'em!

(Shrieks) Stop it!

(Baby cries)

Get off!

Give me them back!

(Baby cries)

(Stephen cries)

(Bell rings)

# But I'm five

# Hundred miles away

# From home #

Subtitles by Geoff Rowlands Intelfax Media Access