Morning In The Streets 1958 

We had nothing in those days, but we had dignity, strength, compassion, happiness, and love, for our fellow human kind.

Shows you how millions of people in the UK did not benefit from the wealth of the empire.

I was born in Salford in 1952. The memories of playing in the dirty streets and alleys are some of my most precious memories. Going to Buile Hill Park on those long summer days and spending hours playing footy, eating sugar butties and drinking a Jusoda. Collecting and stealing stuff for the Guy Fawkes bonfire. Coming in drenched from the rain and drying off next to the coal fire. Going out on a cold winters night to use the toilet in the back yard. Bubble and Squeak on Sunday morning. Christmas as it was back then was something special. Getting our goose from Cross Lane Market, tangerines and nuts on the sideboard and Mum's Christmas cake that lasted for weeks unrefrigerated, we didn't have a fridge either or a phone. Train spotting below the Weaste Bridge for hours. Sunday night bath whether I needed it or not. The Rag and Bone man with his horse drawn carriage. Vince's Ice Cream where you could have any flavor as long as it was vanilla with a Cadbury flake in it making it a 99'er. Wall's Pork pies. Getting caned at school for being a terror on the playground. Now I'm an old man living in California and I'm worth quite a bit of money, but I'll always be a lad from grimey Salford. Tears flood just remembering it.

whoever has recovered this film gave the world a gift!

All those ignorant folk today who say that the so-called 'baby-boomer' generation 'never had it so good' should be made to watch this film. Perhaps then they would see that we grew up in a postwar world of deprivation and hardship which in the following years we changed for the better but which the present generation is taking back to the dark ages.

This film should be COMPULSORY VIEWING for this age!

Born 46...a big hug to all who have commented. Wonderful to share our memories.

I was 12 in 1958. In a poor area of Manchester just like this. I loved every second of it. I feel so sorry for kids now. Having everything and being miserable.

Have you noticed how smoothly and confidently they spoke back then. I don't mean posh English, but simply pacing themselves and not filling every gap between words with 'like'. Nowadays we're so unsure and awkward when we speak, regardless of accent.

Nice to see streets not cluttered up by cars.

I love reading the comments. I had a Merseyside childhood. My Mum was one of ten kids living in a two up two down and boy did she try and better herself. We had the 1930's semi but still lived hand to mouth. Dad worked at Cammell Laird shipyards. He was a lovely kind man. I never lacked love but had nothing. But oh those days of freedom. We didn't realise then of course. Bless all the parents who worked and got us all to adulthood. What a generation they were. And thank you everyone for sharing your memories ❤

Although the streets are messy, you can see a total difference in britain, how times change. So many happy children mixing and playing. A total different time

I was born in 1959 and had no idea how poor we were until years later. My parents protected us from it as much as they could. There were eight of us in a four bed Council House in the Midlands, overcrowded, underfunded. I remember clearly my Mum saving coupons for Plastic Daffodils from a Soap Powder box, looking back I weep for her. They had such a hard time of it. We benefited far less from the Marshall Plan than Europe simply because despite being Bankrupt we still had to pay back the 'Lease Lend' programme to America for providing us with Weapons and Food during WWII. I believe we finally paid that debt off in this century. We were in no position to Modernise our Industry the way Germany did so successfully. Ironic that we were Victorious but in many ways came out of it all worse off. The Working Classes as usual were always worse off, educated to be 'Factory Fodder' in lousy Secondary Modern schools that were not designed to lift people out of poverty but keep them exactly where they were and had always been. My own Education came as a Mature Student and despite being successful in that and a subsequent Professional Career, I have never really caught up with my more Middle Class contemporaries - many of whom inherited property and money from their parents. Those who become massively financially successful from Working Class backgrounds so often ignore all of the factors that keep the Working Poor in their place, lack of Education, lack of inherited Wealth via property, money or family businesses, lack of Networks that their children can benefit from, the list goes on and on. I can't see this ever changing unless the obscene Wealth of those few private individuals who now seem to own the majority of the Worlds Wealth is actually addressed. Getting them to pay the tax that they actually owe would be a good start. Having an open and honest discussion of the real reasons behind Class Stratification in the UK would be another starting point but Education would have to be significantly better to allow those conversations to take place. Those of us from Working Class backgrounds were not educated in the way the world really works, how could we be when our own parents never knew themselves? .

We were ACTUALLY happy. We had parents who adored us and a community who all stuck together.

I was born 2 years after this and as children we never felt afraid outside either with our friends or alone. Materially we might have more but we've lost community.

Born in such a street. We were incredibly happy as a family. Hard working and honest. Independent and made the most of our lives.

I was 6 at the time but never noticed how badly run down some places were, but I'd go back to that time in an instant if I could, all my family were alive then and I miss them.

I was born in 1951 and I can well relate to the chlidren's games I'm so lucky to have had a 50s childhood,we had fun and didn't need electronic gadgets,just imagination.

I was a nineteen year old engineering apprentice when this film was made. We were one community, we had no idea how our country would be ruined.

I think this film mirrored all working class life across the uk. I was a 50’s baby, and to be honest, we didn’t know we were poor because everyone lived the same hand to mouth existence, we all naturally assumed that everyone, everywhere lived the same way. We played all those street games, we ate what was put in front of us, and we did as we were told. Domestic violence, unemployment and hardship were part of everyday life. Looking back, I think becoming adults made us much more appreciative of making the best of life, and trying to do better so that our own children had a better life. I hear this echoed down the generations… exactly the same stories handed down from my own mother, stories of hardship from times past. I think the children of the 50’s were the last generation to live this kind of street freedom… to go out all day and only come home when we were hungry, and t pop in and out of neighbours houses like extended family members, and not having to live through a world war. Those were the days when crack was something you saw in a mirror, and smack, was something you got on the back of your legs. Happy days?, yes mostly I think, but for me that sense of belonging has never been equalled.

I was born in 64 but watching this I find I feel more of a connection with seeing this documentary to my time as a kid in the 60s n 70s than I do to todays England , which I really struggle to understand it all seems so like another country now .

However hard it was, all the children looked happy !

How wonderful would itl be great if any of the children from this film came forward now and told us of they're lives now !

I was born in Edinburgh in 1934 and feel so lucky to have lived through a time of so many changes. We lived in a tenement pre-electricity. And only had a gas mantle above the fireplace for a light. We went out to play in the morning and only went home when we were hungry, for a jeely piece ( bread and jam). We had good meals in spite of war rationing. My Mother was very thrifty. My Dad was unemployed for years. I have very happy childhood memories despite living in poverty.

So nice to see the children playing in the streets, socialising & getting exercise. I remember those days, you would mix with lots of different aged children, boys & girls. All you see now is kids walking along mostly alone staring like a zombie at their phone. Times may have been harder financially for a lot of families, including mine but we seemed much happier mentally & had what I call a real childhood & family life. All being well I’ll be 60 in a few months & I know where I’d rather be if I could choose. There was a sense of camaraderie & togetherness back then & neighbours were friends, even brought each other’s washing in when it rained. Hard, yes but wonderful too in many ways.

I was born in 1960. In this old footage not only were kids outside and playing/physically active but not an overweight kid amongst them. The first bike I had was aged 10 and used to cycle for miles. I was lucky, born in the countryside with family owning gardens and grew fresh veg, we had a few chickens so fresh eggs and meat. Our water came from a gravity fed spring and we were lucky to have an indoor loo. One open fireplace and a three bar electric heater, ice on inside of windows in winter, lots of blankets (no quilts/duvets) on our beds and my dog sneaked in and kept me warm much to my mothers dismay = dirty paw prints on sheets!! So the Z- generation should learn some historical facts from us baby boomers, we had power cuts in the 70’s that lasted for hours sometimes days, we were self sufficient and upcycled, reused, mended, sewed and knitted our clothes, often unravelled old jumpers and used the wool to knit other garments. 🛑 blaming us for your quite frankly unfit overweight bodies and your indulgent power sucking phones, iPad greedy me me me behaviours⁉ Oh and I was 15 (1975) before we owned a phone and a black and white t.v 😂

I was born in 1950 and this film brought back so many memories. Not a mobile phone in sight, no game box, not a television in any of the houses, just making do with whatever you find. The boys on the soapbox made from old pram. Wheels, a couple of wooden planks and a few bent nails that were straightened with a broken brick or stone.

My parents both grew up in this generation. I have nothing but respect for them all. Straight out of a world war and straight into another. They brought me up to be incredibly resilient and I’m grateful for it

when you hear old people saying there was no good ol' times, it's better now, and see how they live... Makes you think.. Yet they still had a social life, the streets were alive and safe. We've improved our material comfort, but lost so much on the human community..

I was born in 1939, but in Walworth London SE17/ . Even as a young man all the kids mixed with each other my late wife ( teenager at the time along with her friends along with my mates) were not boy/girl friends but just mates. but by the time she was 18 her parents let us get engaged, but still had to get her home by 10.30. We were married by the time she was 20, spent the next 54 years together still friends until I lost her to cancer. I wish those time would come back. I do notice that this seems to show the North South died?I had a brand new Triumph motor cycle £350: A good well paid job, and a nice flat until moving to and buying our first home. Would give it all up for one more day of 1960 h

I was married at 19 in 1958, my kids say now that was the best era and I agree with them, 1958 to the 70s, it’s gone down hill since 💯

I was born in 1958. Lived in about 4 different houses over the years before getting married. No central heating in those days, it was either coal fire or gas fires. Ice on the windows inside that was so bad you couldn't even see out in the winter. Walking to school in all weathers. No inside toilet/bathroom at a couple of the houses - we had to go to the bottom of the back yard for that. I used to play out on the street corner with friends. Was allowed to go to friends houses to play but my parents had to know who's house I was at and I had be be home by a certain time. We never had a telephone although an aunty of mine did have one and I can still remember her number to this day as it was the only one I memorized. I remember going on the odd caravan holiday and watching my dad change the gas mantle light. My grandma didn't own a fridge until my parents gave her one, thy used to store stuff in the pantry (the space under the stairs). They used a top load washer that had to filled by hand they had stored in a shed in the small back yard and used the old mangle to squeeze the water out of the clothes, then hung them up on the wooden clothesmaid using the pully system above the fireplace. I remember having milk at school every day and school dinners. For a time I went to my grandma's house for dinner instead of having school dinners and Wednesday was always may favorite as it was homemade mince meat pie, roast potatoes, veg and gravy sat at a small metal table that was attached to the wall that could be dropped down when not in use. She would make jelly that would take about a day to set and had one of those old retro kitchenettes with the glass doors, pull down workspace and drawers cupboards at the bottom. That and the old belffast sink and an oven consisted of her kitchen in the back room with the coal fire and a large sideboard.

I was born in 1957. At school we had a girls' playground and a boys' playground just like this. Wonderful footage of the girls playing the singing and dancing games - we did all that. Children were very independent compared with today - we lived in a separate world from adults. I remember feeling sorry for "grown-ups" with all their cares. Only years later I realised how much our parents went through in the war and afterwards, and what they did for us.

we always played in the streets when i was young ..im glad i was born in 1950

Look how clean and tidy those streets are! No rubbish littered everywhere, no bins/recycling containers hogging up the paths. Kids being kids without hate and attitude. Man, how did we fall so far?!

This film and its production values was years ahead of its time, and there is no wonder it has elicited such a response. I was born in 1956 and remember cold houses, ice on the inside of bedroom windows, freezing night-time trips across the yard to the WC, which could easily ice up. Coming downstairs in a morning to see my dad kneeling at the grate, trying to coax a fire into existence, with a double sheet of newspaper across the aperture. The film makes me feel a great sadness at the level of poverty which these people endured, and the fact that they had to work very hard just to stand still. Much of what occupies some people's minds now would have seemed utterly frivolous to these people, for whom I have great respect. But there is a cheerfulness and an awareness of community evident here, which has now been lost - or is not present in the same way - in many places today. The people in the film had hard lives in many respects, and some of them had lived through two world wars, maybe losing family members. Times have changed; the world is now a different place, but it is good to be reminded what a daily battle some people (a large number, in fact) faced. I can understand why some commentators on here would like to return to the simpler, less self-centred, world of the 1950s.

I note all the children playing happily in the streets without parental supervision. As someone born in 1955, I can tell you how much changed in the mid-1960s after the Moors Murders case. The attitude of parents towards children being out on the streets shifted very quickly, and, as I recall, things were never quite the same again.

Lived in two up two downs for twelve years, laid in bed at night you could always hear the railways, and in the north, the hum of heavy industry. When you woke up, you knew when it was windy out in the mornings, because you could hear it, for there was a cacophony of sound from the bin lids clattering down the streets. Ahhhh the whiff of nostalgia, cancels out the grim reality of hard times, backbreaking jobs, smogs as thick as bags and your grandad laid in a bed downstairs dying of pneumoconiosis and spitting his lungs up. Yes we never had it so good and after all, most of our families had lost a loved one or two, in either of the previous two wars and had then endured ten years of food rationing, yeah we had it good alright. All that said, I did enjoy growing up in the endless streets of two up two downs, the chippy on the corner, the shop on the other corner and the pub in between, surrounded by all my relations.

I can't watch this without feeling upset at what the old folk had gone through during the war, homes being bombed, the loss of loved ones and then to come back to slums. Slums and hard times, unemployment, rationing. The government of the day deserted them. Whilst the wealthy went back to their 'castles in the sky' and carried on as before. Sad times indeed.

Here is my great grandmother referring to my great grandfather after the first world war. My Grandfather is Stephen born on Boxing Day. Salford, Liverpool, anywhere in Britain resonates to 2023. Beautiful to see my great grandmother here.

This is why I feel blessed to have been born when I was, I got to experience freedom to play and have fun. Not like today, I feel bad for the kids who dont have fun like we did.

I was born in 45 in a terraced house in a very long street. We played outside in the street most of the times. Had lots of friends who I grew up with. However I would hate living in one of those terraced houses again where we could only afford to heat one room with coal. I feel sorry for my parents who went through two world wars.

Children playing safely in the street - and hardly any cars. Amazing. I remember my mother used to go to the baths to do her washing. Sometimes she would do some of her washing in the scullery, and one time, when my brothers got in trouble and I was tiny, she fainted dead away on the floor. I just stood there staring. She got up and just carried on. Somehow this film just brought it all home to me and I'm crying. Dad worked 7 days a week in a London power station and was asleep in the chair 10 minutes after getting home. One Sunday he fell asleep and mum - who was never satisfied with him being so quiet, must have got beyond a point..... she threw a cup of scalding tea over him after finding him asleep again. He got up, and for the first and only time, hit her. He picked a chair up and smashed it down on the kitchen table, and walked out. So many difficult memories.

I was four when this was filmed, I dont remember it being so grim we were by no means wealthy but the step was scrubbed and whitened, alway a good cooked dinner and everyone in the yard and street helped each other and of course Friday bath night in a tin bath by the fire in the back room - I enjoyed my childhood.

Just think all these children will now be grandparents themselves which includes me. I was 12 yrs old in 1958 and can relate to these children

I miss glass milk bottles and seeing children outside playing, big prams being pushed out, little corner shops, straight forward chat and women on street talking. You don't see that now. I would love to go back to those days, simple lives, hard work and people knew their place. Even the hospitals were better then.

Brings back memories .We didnt have much .But one thing we did was respect for one another..look how clean the streets where kept.. I would go back there in a heartbeat that live in todays world.

What today’s people should realise that those hard times produced a wonderful quality of person because they had little which created so much appreciation. Appreciation is something that is sadly lacking in today’s society.

I was born in 1956 it was lovely. I was the 5th child of 8 born to Irish, Welsh parents. We were a happy family growing up in Nottinghamshire. Best days of my life. ❤️ 😍 💖 ❣️

I was born in 1957. I used to play in the street with my brother and the children felt safer in the old days, I'm sure. Now you don't see children playing out because parents are scared of them being abducted. I think even though people didn't have what they have today, children lived in safer times, friendlier times when there was more of a community spirit and neighbours knew of each other. We didn't just go inside our homes and cut ourselves off. Now we have 6 ft fences and everyone wants their privacy! No wonder people suffer from loneliness.

A time when there were communities that looked out for their neighbours. Good times.

I was born in 1950 In inner city Liverpool. By today’s standards we were poor but we didn’t know everyone was the same. I do however have very happy memories. We did appreciate everything we received x

I was born in 1947 and grew up in Portsmouth in a terraced street. Wonderful community spirit and I would spend all my time outside playing with my mates. We may have been poor but life was great. Just a radio to listen to and simplest of toys.

Oh my goodness i remember this well when i was a child playing in the streets and it was safe

My family emigrated in 1968 to Australia. It was the best gift they could’ve given us seven kids. Once we arrived in Oz I never was sick or hungry again. I will be forever grateful to my adopted country. Best country in the world to live and I’ve been fortunate to have been to most of them!

I was born 1953 in the East End of London where we had an identical way of life . As a child i knew no different and only came to realise how poor we were when i became an adult. My family escaped to the new town of Harlow in Essex in 1958 and after the East End i thought i was in paradise. The girls singing their playground songs and skipping bought back some great memories, sad that playgrounds no longer ring to their tunes.

I was 5 in 1958 and can remember going out to play by myself

What a fantastic film ! I was born in 1951 in the industrial Midlands, and this is EXACTLY as I remember things !

Oh WOW wasn't that just fantastic. Best thing I've watched for years. The Kids are so resilient. They are amazing. Bless them all.

I was born in 58...tough times but our parents just got on with it...great memories,innocent fun and even though we didn't have much,all we did have was treasured and looked after. Throw away Britain was not an option. Ty for this film💕

I never realised what a tough life I had growing up yet I had lots of love from Mum Dad Grannie Grandad Aunts and Uncles. Perhaps that is why. I wouldn't change a thing.

I was born in 1957 and this video has rekindled so many memories of school life and the living conditions. Children were far happier in the 50s and 60s, playing outside, using their imagination and learning to be streetwise. When I was born my parents were living in a totally unrestored Elizabethan (yes, Elizabeth the 1st) cottage, there was no electric or running water. All cooking was done on an oil stove, lighting from paraffin lamps, water obtained from a well with a hand pump. My mum is still alive and is a treasure trove of stories about village life after being evacuated from London to Somerset as a child. Her father died when she was 6, her mother left London to be with her and they never returned. Instead they rented the cottage that I was taken home to after being born in the local nursing home. In 1959 my parents and grandmother moved to a newly built modern house, where my mother still lives.

I just love seeing the schoolgirls singing songs together in their games. Its so absolutely gorgeous! So unaffected, jolly, free and enjoying themselves and laughing and smiling. You dont see children like that at all anymore. It's a crying shame!

So many memories after watching this film. Hardly a car in sight. Just as I remember it in the 1950s - and we weren't as badly off as some of the folk in the film. Fortunately, we had a garden and my parents knew how to grow things. Apart from the rare occasions we had fish and chips, all our meals were home made.

I was born in the UK in 1954 and this was my childhood, I even spotted my dolly and teddy I had when I was little. I remember it all, the old buildings, the signage, the retro tv and furniture. Thank you for taking me back to my childhood. I have lived in Australia all my adult life and had not thought about my early years for such a long time.

Nice to watch at 74 yrs old. Brings back nice memories....

I was born in 1941 and remember these conditions very well. It’s hard to think that food rationing still existed in the 1950’s. I find it hard to understand people in today’s society complaining about poverty and hardship. I wonder what they would think if they could experience the life that my generation had to endure. Outside toilets, no central heating, no personal phones, no food banks and no Government handouts. Just to name a few examples. Bliss!

I was so fortunate. Born in 1952 but with miles of open countryside less than 12 ft from my door. Fields were my playground and we spent all day playing, walking, picking mushrooms, flowers, out all day and home for tea. We were never bored, we had everything we needed

The three little girls on their skates so touching it brought a tear to my eye.

Those lovely innocent girls singing that skipping rhyme at the end ... very toching

I was born in 1962. I remember being nothing but happy. The accents bring back memories. My Mum had a favourite saying 'we've not much money, but we do see life'😂😂 I was born in Wigan, Lancs. I had no clue until looking back, much later, at how little we had BUT we were happy. The man singing reminds me of my Dad. My Mum and Dad were always singing. We emigrated to Australia in 1970. I was 8, my brother was 6. I can understand why, blue skies and sunshine, a new developing country. So I different for us kids. I didn't know what a cubby was and schools had trees and grass to play on!!! Such a simple time. We left all our family behind. I remember everyone crying and mum saying they'd been cutting onions!! Why is Aunty Irene crying? Oh, she's been cutting onions...but why is Uncle Paddy crying? Oh, he's been helping!!! EVERYONE had been cutting onions😂😅 That was so we didn't know how sad they were, but happy for us at the same time. I'm now 61 but I still remember then with fond memories, no matter how 'poor' we were.🧡😊

At the start I thought this was going to be a big laugh, but by half way through I couldn't stop crying.

I was born in 56 and I enjoyed every minute of it was out all the time after school playing was amazing wish I was back there for a wk before I die lol 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏☘️🌈🙏🏻

Living in those slums was horrendous, vermin, damp lack of light, overcrowding. Everything was hard.

I was born in 1960,we were not poor but not rich either.Dad worked really hard and we always had a touring caravan holiday to Devon where dad would make us a kite from pillowcases and a pair of mums tights.We had lovey Christmases and always had a party at home for our birthday.We went out to play and came home when we were hungry.I can’t just remember the winter where it snowed for weeks and dad carrying me as the snow was going inside my wellies.Wonderful childhood,thanks mum and dad xx

This was my childhood - I was born and brought up in Liverpool, so the street signs were particularly evocative. The thing is that we’re looking back on these days with the eyes of knowledge and experience. At the time we just got on with it - it was our life, but the sense of community was certainly at the forefront. You didn’t have much, but you shared it.

I was born in 1954 and can relate to this video. We were poor but compared to today's world where you can have everything , we were lucky we appreciated the small things I feel rich compared to the children of today. Feel sorry for them really do.

I was born in 1952 in East London. Looking back life was hard but we didn't know it at the time. No north south devide then, we were all British and proud working class.

I was born in Liverpool in 1959 and this film is unlike where I grew up. We had gardens front and back and much better conditions. If the filmmaker ventured just a few miles from the city center to Childwall, Woolton, Gateacre, Calderstones, or other areas they would have seen a different city. Liverpool is often portrayed as an awful place but it isn't. It's full of great people and many nice locations.

"Poor and content is rich, and rich enough." William Shakespeare I really loved watching these examples from a vintage time of life. I was born on Galveston Island, Texas in 1957, but I easily related my childhood experiences in an alongside personal-flavor recollection. Kids, they're the same creatures all over the planet, mostly anyways. Show me a kid who doesn't want to play and I'll eat the whole moon... twice. Ok, my advice for a happy life is to "be thankful in everything". It could always be much, much worse than it is, unless a cruel illness is involved, or something traumatic like that is. This advice isn't for them though, it's for people who dwell on their sorrows until it hurts them, and they wished that it didn't. One bit of advice is to be glad to simply get to keep on breathing air in and out; what human doesn't hold oxygen at a high value even if it is out of their conscience mind, a pleasure easily taken for granted? Sleep well, but it's also important to wake up well and good, too, maybe even MORE important because it sets your day up. Live well by laughing often. Include 'love much' to the mix and you'll have a very decent, happier life no matter what. Pat a tired telephone pole on it's worn back, "Tree- hugging" is so, so common it's kind of pathetic. Those telephone poles, once upon a time ago, in a little forest, used to be living trees too, until we humans came along and desired to have them, like we did for every single wooden item in our possession right down to a discarded toothpick. Yes, be thankful we were not born trees for the use of prosperous people... or otherwise! That was just me trying to sound fun knee, I meant funny. Ok, If I, perpetually "broke as a joke" can still remain loving and thankful I going to wager that anybody feeling hopeless and/or abused can. I was an innocent little boy who, in 1966, was violently raped from behind by four men at age eight, while being held by my own mother, while being cruelly taunted by my two close-in-age sisters and also a very cruel 'aunt', and all as I was screaming and pleading for it all to just stop. Later, they told everybody they could, at all our schools even. My life was destroyed on purpose in many, many cruel ways until I was able to leave home at age eighteen, but I found a way to stay 'myself'. That way was to never be like sly, sick evil people, but also to try to learn whatever 'good' I could from them because no human being is 100% pure stinky, rotten garbage. I never lost my love for my family, or for society. I never wanted to. I learned to have very few desires, what came my way I could be very thankful for. No, I never threw in the love towel and went the opposite direction. Some people are just sick is all. Many sick people have 'gotten better'. It doesn't have to be "In for a penny, in for a pound" Compromise isn't a glue, it can come off, if a person wants it removed. It could also be fed like a feral, diseased dog though. It's easier to feed dogs than remove glue, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be done. Maine, USA says to say, "Hello".

Besides kids playing in the street what I miss about today's neighborhoods is the place where the retired men used to sit and gossip. I remember we had a small corner near a park with a couple of benches and every morning between 9 and 11, the old men would sit or stand there and gossip. They show up after breakfast and then leave in time to make it home for lunch. It seems today that people just sit alone in their houses.

I was born in 1959 but I just wish we could go BACK TO THE 60' A MUCH BETTER LIFE. GREAT VIDEO CLIP.

I was born in 1958 my late father was an army officer in Pakistan Army we enjoyed the perks of being the privileged and segregated community but our parents were very strict and as a girl I was taught every skill sewing embroidery cooking baking and we did household work despite having servants I am very sad and heartbroken because I have lost my buddy my loving brother in 2020 and now I have no one to share the memories of good old days

Born 1951 full of fond memories. Personally I'm so glad I loved in The 50's. I don't know we was poor I thought everyone lived like us.

Some of this film takes me back to my childhood.....how life has changed! My grandchildren want more than one present at Christmas and by Boxing Day they want another! I told them, we were lucky to get one doll and oh, how she was treasured. As for my trike, it was second-hand, my mother painted it in bright blue and red colours, I rode it up and down the pavement of the road we lived until.... until it broke in the middle from rust! I loved that trike. Mum went to work, she gardened. One time she dug a big hole in the grass so when the Ice-man delivered a big block of ice, it could be put in this metal container with thick sides and keep the milk and butter and cheese cool. Mum would knit our clothes and sew our clothes....home=made delicious meals.

I was born in 54 very nostalgic watching this documentary ,I live in Spain now and it's like living in tn 70s the Spanish are 50 years behind the uk it's brilliant

A wonderful film. I really enjoy this type of film about the ordinary working people and their families, and the places in which they lived, worked and grew up. They are so much more enjoyable, interesting and meaningful than tedious films about the aristocracy and the bloody royals. But there is also a sense of sadness that time has moved on and so many things have changed, some have vanished forever, and so many of the lives shown have come to an end. The girl at 33:24, her bright young hopeful face with her life ahead of her and so much yet to come, work, marriage, children, grandchildren and retirement, good times and bad times. Now as we look back from this point 65 years into her future, those stages of her life have run their course. Hope all went well for her and so many others in this film.

Oh my goodness, this is so wonderful I was born in 1957 Watching this, the years fell away So nostalgic and moving How have we really progressed? Hardly at all

Love seeing these kids playing outside, using their imagination! I remember being 10 in 1975, living in Australia - all the kids in the neighbourhood played in the street, getting off the road when a car came, ballgames, hopscotch, skipping, riding your bike, going to different houses, playing on different lawns, jumping through sprinklers. Everyone had to be home when the streetlights came on or you'd be in trouble. It was an idyllic time of childhood, pretty sure our parents didn't know where we were half the time! No technology except a tv you might watch at night. But no kid worth their salt would waste time inside watching tv in the daytime. Too much to do outside, playing with anyone who was around. We weren't rich, but we were basically happy and healthy and very social. I reckon with every generation since, kids in any country have missed out on the freedom of those things we did, and socially have been restricted because someone wants to know where they are at all times, and technology tracks them so they're never out of contact....

A lovely film. I was born in 1952. I was born in Liverpool. I was not involved with others very much. Few children lived in my street. My earlier years were more involved but everyone was very bright. There was little hatred though there was poverty those I had contact with were not suffering as far as I can recall. No one was rich either. The children were loved. Always a sensation there was something wrong in the background. This film reminds me of the hardship that I did see glimpses of in the 50-60s. I presumed war had caused this. I found it unbearable that people were to suffer so much. My family was poor. We did suffer but not as those of this film . I miss people too. I welcome many good changes but suffer very much from changed that have not helped and have led to a different type of suffering. We had won both wars we had reason to be happy to be alive. We celebrated and gave thanks in many ways without actually putting this into many words. We were glad to be alive and tried to be worthy of this gift. The state of accommodation never allowed some to forget war. Seems if the poor forget war they will only be punished by more war. Many poor people had fought and helped each other ,had respect and regard for others. My father missed those he had met during war two. He missed many things which were taken àfter war. It miss many things that I could learn to love to hat were then taken from everyone especially the ferry boats, so much demolition left terrible wounds in another way. I miss many things about life then but at the time much caused depression and pain and suffering. There was time to realise that the government would never assist very much . And still so very sadly many suffer such hardship whilst huge amounts of money are wasted building new structures in city centres that we do not need at all . Where we had a city to love someone began changed we could never love or appreciate. The heart was taken in many places to the point of the obscenity that the rich had perhaps found in the poorer situations. This did not has not led to greater intelligent enjoyment of life. How can a people enjoy shopping in a new arcade that costs so much to build when over the invisible fence so many millions suffer such poverty even malnutrition. Good Bless everyone.

Reality is a very powerful thing that true documentary holds far above anything else. Massive respect to you for posting this and to the people who chose to film this. As relevant today as it was then. ❤

Magnificent and so humanistic short film in the tradition of "British new realism". I live and was born in İstanbul in 1951 in a fairly bourgeois family. I would never have imagined such a modest life in England, a country so rich in our imagination. Many congratulations.

Born in 1952 this has brought very happy memories back. We had a lot less but had the advantage of being able to play in the streets. Very few cars. Cosy coal fire in living room which heated the water. No heating in any other room making the whole family stick together by the fire. Bath on a Sunday night to last the week. Were we smelly? Still not sure but we were all the same.

There are no designer sports clothing brands, no foreign holidays and few material possessions in these young peoples lives. However, what there is in abundance is social skills, optimism for a better future and a long gone sense of community spirit. Some things have changed for the better and some for the worse. We should all embrace the challenges of life and work together to enrich all our lives. I was a 60's child and remember the towns and cities just like they are shown here. We should appreciate what we have and show respect for others.

The youth of today don't know or realize just how lucky they are in life. I was birn in 1957 and so know what life used to be like. It was tough but also we had a very wholesome simple life. I feel totally blessed to have been born in that era and have seen the remarkable changes in our world and our lives and how the changes and inventions of incredible people changed our lives forever.

My grandfather joined the merchant navy in the 1950s after finishing secondary school in Egypt. He came from a large business owning family but he wanted to travel the world. His home port was Hull; when he arrived, he was devastated to witness the poverty. He imagined Britain to be place of high culture and learned people.

I was born in 1949 near Newcastle , the fields , streams ,gardens ( allotments ) were our playgrounds oh and not forgetting the pit heaps , we went out to play and took a bottle of water and jam sarnies for the day , we walked to school and back even at lunch time no school buses to take us in those days , my dad had an allotment he kept hens I sometimes collected the eggs in the morning for our breakfasts , he grew his own veg, I had an idyllic childhood , all cousins ,aunts ,uncles lived in the same village, happy days

The film was made in Liverpool and Salford. I remember watching it when it was first shown, and going round some of the places next day with my mother in1959. In those days, most of those bombed sites had still not been built on.

Agree with all the comments posted from Northern Light. Well said. I was born in the mid-50's in Scotland and was raised in the same situation. I don't have that many fond memories of my childhood. I knew I was poor and was not happy most of the time, despite having many friends. I watched my father get his check from the "brew" every Tuesday because he could not find a decent job. He never spoke about his service during WWII much, but he was bitter about the life he lived. I watched my mother count out pennies on the kitchen table to make sure that even every half penny was accounted for regarding what we could afford. The term "penny pinching" was serious business. I remember being covered in coats at night because we had few blankets, and bottles filled with hot water to keep our feet warm. We would sit around a coal fire to keep us warm during the evening and sometimes shared food from one big bowl that fed us all. I recall Thatcher cutting our school milk to save money. She was made of iron all right. Also resented my father spending the money he got from the Government on drink and cigarettes at the time, but looking back, what else did the adults have to escape their misery. Watched women compete and talk about who kept their stairs the cleanest. One of the worst things we experienced was the separation of children based on religion (by choice). I don't think that was something England had, but in parts of Scotland, you were either Catholic or Protestant, and schools were segregated. We were very divided on who we could be friends with. Horribly divisive. This was a great film. Based on reality for so many in the UK. I emigrated to the US over a half century ago and have lived a happier adult life, thank God. I rarely look back. This was a great film.

I was born in 65 we were poor but i never realised as a kid how poor we were, we were taught to look after what you have and work hard. my parents were proud people.