‘They call this part “Hanky Park”’. This was how the Salford-born writer Walter Greenwood opened his breakthrough novel Love on the Dole, published for the first time in 1933 . Although the novel is a work of fiction, Hanky Park was a real life area of Salford, roughly where the shopping precinct is situated today. […]
This is a guest post from Professor Chris Hopkins, Emeritus Professor of English from Sheffield Hallam University where he was Head of the Humanities Research Centre from 2003 until 2020. Chris works mainly on British writing between 1900 and 1950, with particular interests in working-class writing, women’s writing, Welsh writing in English, writing of World […]
Michael Goodger photographed this corner shop in 1967. It seems to have sold common household items and toys. What I find most fascinating are some of the fashionable goods of the late 1960 in comparison to some items, we still find today for sale. There are, for example the colourful beachballs hanging from the entryway […]
This architectural model shows a development plan that had been approved in 1960 by the City Council of Salford. It shows plans for 90 acres south of Broad Street. The plan was to provide with 2,300 dwellings in 15, 12 and 4 storey blocks. The image was published in The Architects Journal. They explain that […]
This photo from the Walter Greenwood Collection in the University of Salford Archives shows Hanky Park after the brick terraced homes were demolished. The church in the background seems to be St Paul’s church. The photo was probably taken around 1965. What makes the atmosphere so eerie are the chalk drawings on the pavement next […]
The Knocker-upper in this image was asked to wake people up before alarm clocks were commonly used. He would knock at bedroom windows with a long stick or use a pea shooter so that people would be able to go to work on time. It seems that this service was mostly offered by older men […]
What better way to picture the ‘two faces’ of Salford in the 1960s? On this photograph we see of the older, probably Victorian, terraced housing directly facing its modern counterpart. This photo is from the University’s Changing Face of Salford Archive, which was a film made by Michael Goodger, a lecturer at the University, about […]
This photo is from the University of Salford’s Photographic Archive. It is one of a number of photos we have depicting the redevelopment of the Ellor Street and Unwin Street area in the 1960s. The perspective is really interesting in this photo. The church – probably built in the 19th century – is almost sandwiched […]