Uckfield is haven for family after earthquakes nightmare

Sudden noise triggers an automatic reaction in Martin Tuhill at the moment – the need to hurl himself to the floor.

He and his family have experienced a traumatic year having moved to New Zealand to start a dream life only to find hopes shattered by constant earthquakes.

Martin was on medication for anxiety, his children missed school, because of inspections that followed quakes to make sure the buildings were habitable, and the family got used to pictures falling from the walls and the ground shaking beneath their feet.

But that’s all over.

They are now safely settled in a cottage in Buckham Hill, off Rocks Road, Uckfield, and looking forward to a better future.

Martin said: “We moved into a beautiful cottage just over a week ago and are exploring day by day. We’re still a bit jumpy. For example, when a guy banged a car door at work I nearly fell on the floor.”

Realisation that a turning point had been reached came when Martin read a poem written by his nine-year-old daughter Lauren.

She wrote:

Life is good
When you don't wear a hood,
So you can feel the air
Blowing through your hair.
Travelling world-wide
With your family by your side,
Makes you feel lucky
Even if you get mucky.
Life is good for me,
Like it should be.

Lauren and her brother Adam, aged 6, started at Manor Primary School on Friday, Martin is happy in his new job at Hamilton Jet, East Grinstead, and wife and mum Tracie is enjoying home-making.

It’s all a far cry from New Zealand.

The family moved from their Essex home to the outskirts of Christchurch last November. They knew there had been a big earthquake in the September but counted themselves lucky that was out of the way.

Martin said: “We thought there would be nothing to worry about but there have been earthquakes ever since including the one in February when 180 people lost their lives.

“There were school closures, because buildings have to be inspected after earthquakes of a certain size, and our kids weren’t used to earthquake drills where they would have to run and hide under desks.

“There have been 8,000 after-shocks since September 2010. People in the UK haven’t realised how bad it is.

“Water would swish out of the kids’ fish tank, stuff would fall off the walls. We lived in a pretty solid area outside Christchurch but houses of people on the east side were completely ruined, suburbs have been written off and can’t be rebuilt because the ground is so damaged.

“Basically it got so bad we had to make the decision to come back to the UK and I was fortunate enough that my company, a New Zealand company, transferred me to their European regional office at East Grinstead.”

An earthquake timeline gives an idea of how many quakes there have been since last September. After the link has opened go to the top middle and select 50m. The Tuhill family were living within 50km of Christchurch - 18km to be precise.

Martin said: "You will clearly see what we were living through (with thousands of others of course). After September 2010 the area was ruptured and the earthquake activity has been high.

"You will also notice several 'spikes' of large earthquakes like the one that killed more than 180 people in February this year."

Now making the most of the fresh start Martin, who enjoys road and mountain biking, is looking for places to cycle and for clubs he might join.

Lauren particularly likes dancing so will be looking for somewhere she can do that, Adam likes football and so might be joining the Uckfield Grasshoppers and Tracie is looking forward to making new friends in the area.

“Yes, life is good,” said Martin who is pictured below with Adam, Lauren and Tracie. See also a copy of Laren's poem.

/images/2011_october/tuhill_family.jpg