Gateshead pensioner Michael Crossman who refused to leave estate dies

A determined Geordie who battled against having to leave the home he’d lived in for almost 46 years has died – two years after finally being forced to move out.

Michael Crossman, 75, became the ‘last man standing’ in the 1960s-built Clasper Village, in Gateshead, Newcastle, after turning down numerous offers of purchase from the Council.

The former shipyard worker died in a care home in May and had had to leave his beloved home in December 2017 after falling ill. 

In 2011 Gateshead Council set forward proposals to knock down 258 two-bedroom flats on the estate and rehouse the existing tenants, rather than spend money solving ongoing anti-social behaviour problems and refurbishing the homes.  

Mr Crossman was offered £62,500 for the home he had shared with his wife Mary – who died in 2014 – but he refused.  

He was then forced to live in an empty shell of an estate – without street lights – and he even had his postcode removed in 2014. 

His plight was similar to the plot of hit Disney movie Up in which an elderly man refuses to sell his home despite his neighbours’ houses being torn down and replaced with skyscrapers amid the creeping advance of gentrification. 

His daughter, Jane Crossman, said the ‘anguish’ of his situation caused him huge stress, but he wanted to stay in the home which held memories of Mary.  

Mr Crossman moved to Clasper Village with his wife in 1971, along with young Jane, where they were the first and only tenants of the flat on Palmerston Walk.

Speaking in 2017, Mr Crossman said: ‘It was a great place to live then, I never had any problems with the neighbours.

‘I don’t mind leaving for myself so much but it’s the memories of my wife that it will be sad to leave behind.’

But later in 2017 he fell ill, and after several weeks in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, he had to be transferred to a care home.

Despite falling and breaking his neck in January this year, Jane said he ‘never complained’ and ‘always tried to get on with it’.

But he struggled to recover from a second illness and on May 20 he died.

Paying tribute to her dad, Ms Crossman said: ‘He was a proper Geordie bloke who liked his brown ale and Golden Virginia roll ups, crosswords and horse racing and a good old bet.

‘A staunch Newcastle United fan and very proud to be a Geordie. His accent was a very broad Geordie.

‘His heart was still in Clasper Village.’

She added: ‘Clasper was a safe environment for children. Families all knew each other and had a real community spirit.

‘It’s all gone now, which is so sad. He never wanted to leave – I never let him see it all demolished – it would have destroyed him. He was devastated when my mum died.’

Known as ‘Tricky Micky’ for his love of doing magic tricks, Mr Crossman was well-known and much-loved in Clasper Village while the community was still thriving.

He worked as a welder in Tyneside’s shipyards before being made redundant in the 1980s, and taking on jobs with Gateshead Police, Gateshead Council, and then as a security guard on the Metro.

While working for the council, he became well-known locally for being the first person to use the ‘Green Machine’ street sweeper in Gateshead town centre.

Popular for running a snooker club, coaching adults and children alike, he was also the go-to man for anyone in the area who needed something fixing and was known for his DIY skills.

Mr Crossman l was laid to rest on Monday, June 4 at Gateshead Crematorium.

Along with daughter Jane, he leaves behind his two grandchildren, Simon and Eve.