Raffles or the Raffles Estate is a suburb of Carlisle, Cumbria, United Kingdom. The estate consists mainly of council built and Housing association properties, and in 1994 had a population of 5,800. Nearby areas include Belle Vue, Newtown, Sandsfield Park and Morton West.
Raffles was built during the 1920s and 1930s and was highly sought after as a place to live by council tenants of the time. [1] By 1994 the area had deteriorated; a report published in The Independent on Sunday in April 1994 condemned the estate as a no-go area with a high level of crime. One resident was reported to have said "If you've got a problem in Raffles, get a shotgun". [2]
By the first decade of the 21st century the housing estate had undergone significant redevelopment and modernisation. [3] The £9 million redevelopment plan got underway in 2004 and saw many of the original council properties demolished and replaced with new housing stock. This was completed in three stages, [4] the last building phase being finished in 2009. In 2010 Carlisle Police discovered a large amount of heroin at a house on the estate, described as one of the largest to be found in the area in recent years. [5]
Helen Grant, the current MP for Maidstone and The Weald and the Conservative Party's first black female MP, grew up on the estate. [6] Author Margaret Forster (1938–2016) was born there. [7]
Carlisle is a border city and the county town of Cumbria as well as the administrative centre of the City of Carlisle district in North West England. Carlisle is located at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril, 10 miles (16 km) south of the Scottish border. Originally in the historic county of Cumberland, it is now the largest settlement in the county of Cumbria, and serves as the administrative centre for both Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council. At the time of the 2001 census, the population of Carlisle was 71,773, with 100,734 living in the wider city. Ten years later, at the 2011 census, the city's population had risen to 75,306, with 107,524 in the wider city.
Cumbria is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's county town is Carlisle, in the north of the county; the only other major urban area is Barrow-in-Furness on the south-western tip of the county.
Margaret Forster was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and critic, best known for a 1965 novel, Georgy Girl, made into a successful film of the same name. It inspired a hit song by The Seekers. Other successes were a 2003 novel, Diary of an Ordinary Woman, biographies of Daphne du Maurier and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and her memoirs: Hidden Lives and Precious Lives.
Cockermouth is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cockermouth has a population of 8,204, increasing to 8,761 at the 2011 Census.
Dame Margaret Eve Hodge, Lady Hodge, is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barking since 1994. A member of the Labour Party, she previously served as Leader of Islington London Borough Council from 1982 to 1992. She has held a number of ministerial roles and served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee from 2010 to 2015.
Penrith is a market town and civil parish in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies less than 3 miles (5 km) outside the bounds of the Lake District National Park. Historically in Cumberland, Penrith's local authority is currently Eden District Council, which is based in the town. Penrith was formerly the seat of Penrith Urban and Rural District councils. From 1974 to 2015, it was an unparished area with no town council, but a civil parish was reintroduced in 2015 as Penrith Town Council. The first elections to this took place on 7 May 2015.
BBC Radio Cumbria is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Cumbria and broadcasts from studios in Carlisle.
The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Brampton and Longtown, as well as outlying villages including Dalston, Scotby and Wetheral. The city has a population of 107,524. and an area of 1,039.97 square kilometres (402 sq mi).
Penrith and The Border is a constituency in Cumbria represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Neil Hudson, a Conservative.
St Martin's College was a British Higher Education College with campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside and Carlisle, as well as sites in Whitehaven, Barrow and London. It provided undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the arts, humanities, business studies, teacher training, health and social care. In 2006 the College was granted the power to award its own degrees. On 1 August 2007, the College merged with other institutions to form the University of Cumbria.
The University of Cumbria is a public university in Cumbria, with its headquarters in Carlisle and other major campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside, and London. It opened its doors in 2007, and has roots extending back to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, established in 1822, and the teacher training college established by Charlotte Mason in the 1890s.
Carlisle Lake District Airport is a regional airport located 5 NM east north-east of Carlisle, England.
Belle Vue is a suburb of Carlisle, Cumbria, United Kingdom. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 6,491.
The Heygate Estate was a large housing estate in Walworth, Southwark, South London comprising 1214 homes. The estate was demolished between 2011 and 2014 as part of the urban regeneration of the Elephant and Castle area. Home to more than 3,000 people, it was situated adjacent to Walworth Road and New Kent Road, and immediately east of the Elephant and Castle road intersection. The estate was used extensively as a filming location, due in part to its brutalist architecture.
The 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods were a weather event that affected parts of Great Britain and Ireland throughout November and into December 2009. November was the wettest month across the United Kingdom since records began in 1914 and had well above average temperatures. The worst affected area in Great Britain was the English county of Cumbria. The Irish counties of Clare, Cork, Galway and Westmeath were among the worst affected areas of Ireland.
Helen Grant is a British Conservative Party politician. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald since 2010, when she succeeded Ann Widdecombe.
Andrew John Stevenson is a British Conservative Party politician and active solicitor and director for the firms Bendles and Tiffen Estate Agents, who was first elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carlisle.
The 2010 Carlisle City Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Carlisle District Council in Cumbria, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.
The 2011 Carlisle City Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Carlisle District Council in Cumbria, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.
Richard Rose Central Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status. It is located in Carlisle in the English county of Cumbria.
Coordinates: 54°53′29″N2°58′01″W / 54.89137°N 2.96708°W
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