My family grew up in hulme my grandparents ran the famous Russell Club and lived In the back to back slums in the 1950s. When I grew up in the 1980s I watched the old bull rings being demolished and the area rebuilt before my very own eyes. This had a profound effect on me and gave me a passion for how cities and housing are created and destroyed. Years later I got a degree in Urban Regeneration and have worked in housing all my life. All this from my memories of bus rides on the no.14 midget gem busses with my mum to town. Proud Mancunian as the great Tony Wilson said "This is Manchester we do things differently round here"
Yes, the Russel Club was seconds away from where I used to live in Salter Square. It used to have a nursery next door. The Russel went through so many changes.
I lived on John Nash Crescent number 309 for 8 years and loved it. Imagine my amazement when watching this video when 6 minutes in they show my dog Toby. I must admit it probably wasn't the best place to bring up kids but for students it was perfect. Does anybody remember Len and Sue Poulter who ran the Grants Arms? That was a great pub....
I visited a friend here several times in the mid 80's. I was a 23 year old fella, and it was scary! . Walking up the stairwells was especially bad as you never knew what was was goin to be coming down. The ariel walkways were even worse. Once you were on, there was no way to get off, and there were some big tall nasty characters around . I was always glad when I got back to my car and it was still there, had 4 wheels , and was not on fire. The bottom deck had garages on one side, and every other one had scorch marks from car fires
That's a brilliant piece of social history. Thanks for posting. I remember visiting somebody who was squatting in a flat at Hulme in the early 90's. The place scared the crap out of me.
many who visited our 200n+ squats returned a few weeks later to crack a squat for themselves , granted we looked scary , the place was concrete grey , but we had a community ive not seen rivalled in the decades since the crescents were demolished
Nonsense, you can't just make up laws and sentencing as you go along. There's a name for countries like those. Besides, what precedence was there set beforehand? Hindsight is such a great asset, perhaps they were without such benefit?
Remember Nile & Reno clubs on the corner of Princess Road and Moss Lane East - where next door (on Moss Lane East) was A1 taxi firm, with some of the drivers having baseball bats and even guns under their seats.
This video is an 8 minute edit of a 30 minute documentary, i was the person who edited it. Interviews with muggers and people have been mugged has been edited out I didnt think other people would rip it from my original upload.
+greatvidmate How awful! Would like to see the full docu. I lived in Sale, Cheshire as a teenager. Our bus to go shopping in Manchester would pass by these buildings. Even at that young age, I thought, what a mess!!!
Sub standard housing,yes,but the comparison with the Crescent at Bath is interesting.You could house certain people in Buck house,and they would make a shithole out of it.People create slums,they do not just happen.
there was alot of underinvestment esp near the late 80s early 90s as Hulme is one mile from the city centre , the area got run down by choice of council hand in hand with developers who couldnt wait to gentrify the area and push working class folk out and young professionals in
I actually enjoyed them, I live in John Nash creasant , and I can assure you they were far superior than tower block.. Must side was a no-go area, mind you, I was a young girl is the time. Anyone remember the Harikrishna Van with their food?..
I'd be suprised if Hulme and Mosside don't still suffer from cockroach infestations as when they demolished the Bullrings they threw the new houses/flats up pretty quickly. I have some fond memories apart from that,it wasn't as bad as this clip makes out and there were some good characters around. It's def not got the same atmosphere anymore.
@3:03 MSN Messenger nostalgia activated lol. I know this advice comes quite late, however I advise muting everything but what you're recording while screen recording!
Certainly wasn't built with people in mind. Did these so called architects ever stop and think would I want to live here? A concrete jungle. Why didn't they build townhouses with a garden in the back? They would not have had to install lifts as it seems lifts were a major concern when building these monsters.
GriefTourist Tragic indeed. I have never seen these monstrous wonders when I visit England. I feel sorry for children having to grow up in these places.
+Chloe wilson I agree. Every home should have a bit of land with it. If the occupants treat it as a dumping ground, they should be educated and helped to appreciate it. Most people would welcome a bit of land to make a garden or grow veggies, it is in our nature.
+normalil normalil Lol, I have tried veggies and failed miserably however, flowers are no problem. I lived 30 miles from Manchester and it was beautiful, the fields, farms, flowers, etc.
I lived boundary lane end near Epping walk the crown pub end ,in the seventies, young teenager , took it for granted, now miss it . Made for pedestrians, looked bright, now all red brick everywhere and all roads no pedestrian walk through,Absolutely crap must have cost the council billions, or us the tax payer, looks horrendous .
I lived in Moss Side and Hulme as a youngster. the council pulled down the houses and built slums. Fuck all has changed. All politicians have sold us down the river
I grew up there, just off the Crescents. Loved it to bits until my Humanities teacher (Birley) as good as good as called us scum in slums. The penny dropped that day. He was wrong about us being scum (probably came away with more morals than most) but not many bottom of the sea feeding Mackerel's were ever going to become beautiful Dolphins
It was clearly a mistake but thankfully no one is getting too misty-eyed & forgetful over the Victorian crapholes they replaced. I grew up in a two-up-two-down with an outside bog. Not fun in winter! My dad, in his childhood, used to take one tin bath in front of the fire per week. I've travelled far & wide since my childhood (inc. 18 years in the States) but Manc always holds a place in my heart. Living in Bury right now - close enough for an old-timer like me, but not in the thick of it.
In the mid 2000s, I lived in Amsterdam an Area called the Bijmer, very much like Hulme, The Dutch They learnt lessons from Hulme ,Some of the blocks near were I lived wwre demolished and ground level housing built. On my very last week in Amsterdam, I met a woman who'd lived in the Bijmer for 15 years, and where was she from? Hulme, I found a photo and her name over xmas Did an online search and she's still there in the same housing association flat in Amsterdam 20 years later. 36 years in the same place Must be a good neighbourhood.
I like how this clip ends with the "solution" to move out families, rip out the heating, and move in "single people and students". Turned out well didn't it?
My mates used to to live in a squat nearly the spinners used to have a to climb up through the balcony to get in as the front door was nailed shut lol them where the days 😁
The main problem with the decks were cock roaches there was so many millions plus mice rats. People migrating to hummer on bus from other areas robbing any thing from copper pipe wire goods even large furniture sadly. But there was some nice family's lived there. Lots of students Rob all day+hideaways for early young gangsters New a few.john speaking 1970s
I lived in Hulme and we moved out in 1978. I have fond memories, but I wasn't living in the Crescents. Cockroaches were endemic though. Also, we lived on the ground floor. Still, we did have some sense of community between families. I think most of the families moved out from 1978 onwards.
I lived on John Nash Crescent, Hulme from 1970-1978ish ..... great memories of the mates I had around there, that place was such an experience for a teenager growing up , especially during the blackouts!
Yup that's where my brother lived. William Kent crescent. He's on Australia now. Saw him last year. Went swimming off Bondi beach glorious sunshine small cliffs surrounding the bay, lovely water . I said to him then... long way from William Kent crescent...
Where about in Hulme where these flats? I live near the job centre and can't imagine how it was. It just dawned on me that there are no old houses around here. I think the closest is when you turn into Whalley Range opposite the park going towards Withington rd.
It was a pretty vast estate , pretty much everywhere where there are now new houses. You could probably find an old map of Manchester and the Manchester city council website has hundreds of photos of old Hulme.
Yep , I lived on one of those crescents in the seventies.... they were Indeed near Royce Road, mine actually faced it , John Nash crescent ..... Hulme library and the Zion institute were in the centre of the four concrete bull rings ..... there was also a small.shopping centre there.
