Our estate was labelled a war zone after the riot - but the reality is very different

Our estate was labelled a war zone after the riot - but the reality is very different5 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleGarry OwenBBC WalesBBCLeanne says even if she won the lottery, she wouldn't leave TownhillFive years ago, a community perched high on a hill overlooking Swansea city centre was shaken to its core.Cars were torched, homes vandalised and residents and police attacked during two hours of violent disorder. The area was dubbed a "war zone".But people who live in Mayhill and Townhill say the perception of their estate is very different to the reality of their lives, in an area affectionately known as "the hill".I've been reporting from Swansea for over 40 years and thought I knew the hill well, but was keen to learn more about what it's like to live here. So I arranged to meet Leanne Dower, who has lived in Townhill all her life.We meet up when Leanne is on her way to work, at a community hub called The Phoenix Centre which she now runs - but I soon find that the route takes longer than I expected. Leanne must know everybody on the estate. She stops to talk, or shouts a cheery "Hi, you alright?" to nearly everybody passing on foot or by car."I love it, absolutely love Townhill," she tells me.Warning: This article contains a reference to suicideTownhill and Mayhill are joined together in the same wardLeanne, now 48, first started working at the Phoenix - a social enterprise that reinvests any profits back into the community - when she was 23 and a single mum to her then one-year-old daughter."There's good and bad everywhere and definitely here the good outweighs the bad. This is a positive community," she tells me."I always say if I won the lottery I wouldn't move off Townhill. I love the views and the community spirit and the fact that everybody comes together when things are not good."That neighbourly spirit Leanne talks about was put to the test five years a...