A few questions

Apr 08, 2015 23:47

Hi there! I have a few questions about British language, customs, and geography for some fanfics I'm working on that I hope you can answer. Thank you in advance for any assistance ( Read more... )

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torn_eledhwen April 9 2015, 07:10:19 UTC
1) You start school at age 5 in year 1, and you must stay at school until year 11 (age 16) although quite a lot of kids also do years 12 and 13. So age 12-13 is year 8.

2) A removal company and they use a removal van. We don't have 'semis', we have vans and lorries and sometimes trucks. Lorries are the big ones. Vans are smaller.

3) Chiswick itself is posh enough for your needs.

4) Yes, a flat is a single home in a building - it could be a house divided into two or three flats, or a bigger block of flats. Rose lives in a council flat.

5) A row of houses all linked together is a terrace and the houses are terrace houses. If only two houses are linked together they're semi-detached. A house on its own is detached.

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shivver13 April 9 2015, 20:10:02 UTC
Thank you!

From what I'm reading elsewhere, council estates are supplied by the government, and I suppose that implies the occupants are low-income? Does Clara also live in a council flat? I know that much has been made about the fact that they used the same block of flats in Cardiff for filming both Rose and Clara, but I wasn't sure if Clara was really meant to either live in council housing or actually live at the Powell Estate.

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littlered2 April 9 2015, 21:12:12 UTC
Clara definitely doesn't seem to live on the Powell estate, and probably doesn't live in council housing (although the standard really varies - the Powell state is at the lower end).

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torn_eledhwen April 9 2015, 21:29:18 UTC
Council estates can be mixed occupancy though. I live in a council-owned block - but I own my flat within that block. My neighbours are a mixture of other owners, people renting, and council tenants. Council tenants do tend to be lower-income as that's why they need the support.

I've never been particularly clear on where Clara lives - that house in the Christmas special was definitely not a council flat!!

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wendymr April 10 2015, 22:25:15 UTC

Council estates can be mixed occupancy though. I live in a council-owned block - but I own my flat within that block. My neighbours are a mixture of other owners, people renting, and council tenants.

That's because under one of the Thatcher governments in the 1990s council tenants were given the right to buy their houses or flats, and at a discount rate. Some subsequently sold them, so you'd now find people living in what was once council housing who definitely wouldn't qualify for council housing on income grounds.

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