Click on the sound file below to hear a clip from an interview that Micheal Goodger did with a resident who lived in Salford prior to the demolishing of terraced houses. Around 1967 Goodger visited several residents, interviewed, filmed and photographed them and their living conditions for his film The Changing Face of Salford.
I picked this short clip from the interview because the resident was quite emphatic calling Salford a slum now and a palace in the past. Was he just nostalgic? Goodger’s photographs show a lot of derelict houses but also some very well maintained ones. This suggests that some terraces were indeed falling apart but does that make Salford a slum?
Unfortunately, Goodger’s photograph only state ‘House with Garden’ and ‘James Henry Street’. Does anyone remember where these houses were? Also, why would Gordon call Salford as a whole a slum when his neighbours would be adamant that it was not a slum? What is your opinion about the word ‘slum’ to describe Salford at that time?
If you would like to receive notifications of new blog posts email ‘SUBSCRIBE’ to themodernbackdrop@salford.ac.uk
We are interested in what you have to say about our posts. Please use the comment box below. Comments in our blogs and material sent to us will be displayed anonymously in an exhibition at Salford Museum and published in an exhibition catalogue.
We are also collecting personal memories, photographs, postcards, letters etc. from people who remember the daily life in Salford during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. If you would like to share a memory or a family photograph, please contact us: themodernbackdrop@salford.ac.uk