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Salford prior to regeneration

Salford’s housing programmes, 1944 to 1949

Between September 1944 and June 1949 – when John Lancelot Burn set in motion the first slum clearance programme after the Second World War – Salford undertook its first post-war housing scheme. The 1950s to 1970s slum clearance programme consisted in the first instance of the demolition of houses so that new houses could be […]

Haunted Memories. Part I

Growing Up in Sixties Salford by Brian M Clarke We are pleased to post a selection of pages from the unpublished book Haunted Memories by Brian Clarke about his memories of experiences in Salford during the 1960s. It was fascinating to learn that the inspiration for this book was the screening of the documentary The […]

Love on the Dole: A Personal Reaction

by Chris Hughes Chris Hughes is a graduate of the University of Salford and the University of Manchester, and a freelance political commentator, as the founder of alt-politics https://www.alt-politics.co.uk/. In this article, Chris Hughes reflects on the novel Love on the Dole, and the lives of his grandparents who were married at St Paul the Apostle Paddington in […]

Phoebe Street shops

This street scene shows us not only another occupation in Salford but also several shops. The window cleaner appeared to have been – as the knocker-upper – a middle-aged gentleman. Perhaps he was retired and supplemented his pension or this was outside his working hours. The window he is cleaning seemed to have been a […]

Salford Fog

The 1952 Health Statistics of John Lancelot Burn

John Lancelot Burn (1902-1973) was the Medical Officer of Health for Salford between 1941 and 1969. He was an innovative and widely published physician. Among his accomplishments were the opening of an anti-smoking clinic, the development of mental health services, and the implementation of a free annual medical check for all citizens. Burn was also […]

Doorway Swing

These two kids seem slightly too old for this type of swing but they are having fun nevertheless. I wonder how the boy managed to climb into the swing and congratulate the person putting up the swing on two very sturdy looking hooks. The girl looks very nicely dressed – perhaps the photo was taken […]

Salford Slum

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 […]

Disappearing Act

Between 1950 and 1952 several newspaper articles in The Manchester Guardian appeared that described the condition of houses in Salford. Among them is “Tremendous” Cost Of Repairs To Slum Property” published on  December 4, 1952. It describes a peculiar, yet apparently common practice that was a result of the then long-standing plans to undertake slum […]

Rags and Bones

This image is described as “Rag and Bone Man.” He seems to have been someone who collected items from households around Salford. Together with the Knocker-upper, a photo of which we showed in another post, this is another occupation in Salford at that time. The photo was taken in 1967 and the brown and orange […]