Bob Potter of Addison Road wrote to The Whistler about his daughter Adele…
Six years ago my daughter Adele and her family left her old house, Rowan Cottage near Brighton Station, and moved to Christchurch, New Zealand – and she has just spent a fearful year following the massive earthquake that destroyed the city centre and the thousands of ‘aftershocks’ that occur on a daily basis, several times most days, in the 4s and 5s on the Richter scale. Recently, the Christchurch inhabitants celebrated the first anniversary of the initial quake and the whole city has been remembering the event; the 185 who died and the massive damage done to most people’s homes.
We received a letter from Adele, where she scribbled a few notes, telling us her ‘instinctive’ opinion as to how Our Brighton would have been affected if we’d been the victims rather than the New Zealanders – and although her comments were essentially a few paragraphs in a longer, personal message (she had no idea of writing an article!), it occurred to me that her four or five paragraphs, comparing the two cities, would read quite well as a very short article considering the aftermath of that event. That she was born and lived in Brighton all her life before she emigrated, and still very much sees herself as a ‘Brightonian’, oozes from her comments – even though she has only just been accepted as a New Zealand citizen!
The Whistler 