Hulme, Manchester, England
In 1970, due to the Moss Side area of Manchester coming under another City Council clearance programme, we were once again faced with the stressful prospect of having to move house.
At this time, all of my brothers and sisters had either got married or had left home to live at other locations of their choice in Manchester, London or Ireland, thus leaving me in the situation of being the only sibling of the family still living at home.
Eventually my parents accepted an offer of a council flat located in the Hulme area of Manchester (No 9 Hunmanby Avenue). We subsequently moved in and this event marked the beginning of another chapter in my life.
The flat we moved into was built in the 1940s and had survived a recent major clearance and renewal programme, which necessitated the complete destruction and rebuilding of Hulme, which had just been completed around this time.
The above meant that the old Hume had virtually disappeared along with most of the old established communities and the families, who had been forcibly dissipated out to various locations e.g: Wythenshawe, Wilmslow, Parrington, Langley and Hattersley.
During the eight years I lived in Hulme I can’t say I haven’t fond memories of the place. The massive redevelopment that had taken place in Hulme proved as time passed to be a social engineering blunder of the firsts order. New residents with young children were housed in multi-rise- flats”. Amazingly, the design of the flats and general layout of the area gave little consideration to subject of security. The serious design faults of many secluded alleyways and elevated walk-ways in the sky became a haven for muggers, burglars, druggies, and all manner of misfits and anti social undesirables. We learned very quickly that the best way to keep out of bother in this sort of environment was to keep to ourselves to ourselves and to always be wary so as not draw unwelcome attention to ourselves. This situation did have the affect of causing us at times to feel isolated and insecure. During the eight years I lived in Hulme I or my parents did not make friends with anyone or indeed speak to anyone except for the people who lived in the flat directly opposite us on the same stair landing as ourselves and even these encounters were very infrequent and usually by accident.
I lived in Hulme from 1970 until 1978 during which time I endured many personal trials and tribulations not least the death of my mother in 1974. In 1978, it came as a surprise to be informed that the council wanted to modernise the flats in the Bennett House area which included Hunmanby Avenue and subsequently, both my father and myself were offered the chance of One Bedroom Flats on the newly built Alexandra Park Estate.
This then determined the final address I lived at (20 Woodhead Close) up until I got married and within one year my wife and myself had saved up enough to buy our own home in Davyhulme, Manchester, which moved to in1979, and I am pleased to end by saying we are happy and still living there today with our two beloved sons Jason & Anthony. (April 2014)
At this time, all of my brothers and sisters had either got married or had left home to live at other locations of their choice in Manchester, London or Ireland, thus leaving me in the situation of being the only sibling of the family still living at home.
Eventually my parents accepted an offer of a council flat located in the Hulme area of Manchester (No 9 Hunmanby Avenue). We subsequently moved in and this event marked the beginning of another chapter in my life.
The flat we moved into was built in the 1940s and had survived a recent major clearance and renewal programme, which necessitated the complete destruction and rebuilding of Hulme, which had just been completed around this time.
The above meant that the old Hume had virtually disappeared along with most of the old established communities and the families, who had been forcibly dissipated out to various locations e.g: Wythenshawe, Wilmslow, Parrington, Langley and Hattersley.
During the eight years I lived in Hulme I can’t say I haven’t fond memories of the place. The massive redevelopment that had taken place in Hulme proved as time passed to be a social engineering blunder of the firsts order. New residents with young children were housed in multi-rise- flats”. Amazingly, the design of the flats and general layout of the area gave little consideration to subject of security. The serious design faults of many secluded alleyways and elevated walk-ways in the sky became a haven for muggers, burglars, druggies, and all manner of misfits and anti social undesirables. We learned very quickly that the best way to keep out of bother in this sort of environment was to keep to ourselves to ourselves and to always be wary so as not draw unwelcome attention to ourselves. This situation did have the affect of causing us at times to feel isolated and insecure. During the eight years I lived in Hulme I or my parents did not make friends with anyone or indeed speak to anyone except for the people who lived in the flat directly opposite us on the same stair landing as ourselves and even these encounters were very infrequent and usually by accident.
I lived in Hulme from 1970 until 1978 during which time I endured many personal trials and tribulations not least the death of my mother in 1974. In 1978, it came as a surprise to be informed that the council wanted to modernise the flats in the Bennett House area which included Hunmanby Avenue and subsequently, both my father and myself were offered the chance of One Bedroom Flats on the newly built Alexandra Park Estate.
This then determined the final address I lived at (20 Woodhead Close) up until I got married and within one year my wife and myself had saved up enough to buy our own home in Davyhulme, Manchester, which moved to in1979, and I am pleased to end by saying we are happy and still living there today with our two beloved sons Jason & Anthony. (April 2014)
Bentley House, Hulme, Manchester
After what remained of us as family, consisting of Mam, Dad and myself, had to leave Greame Street; the flat in Hulme we lived in from 1970 until 1978 was positioned on the edge of the Mancunian way, near Jackson Crescent, the blocks known as Bentley House were made up of Hunmanby Avenue, Humberstone Avenue, and Rockdove Avenue, they represented one of Hulmes great survival stories – As long as you didn’t mind the smell of stale piss and overdone cabbage when you entered the stair well; the flats were conveniently located close to the centre of Manchester. The interior of the flats were dry and small which made them easy to keep clean. The flats were built in the 1940s from a mixture of traditional materials of brick and concrete with traditional sloping tiled roofs. The six blocks that provided 250 homes represented an architectural bridge between the old back- to- backs terraced houses in Hulme they were distinctive in their curvy appearance and sturdy looking red bricks, these early post-war flats witnessed many of the changes that took place in Hulme and more than one slum clearance Programme.
Today 2014, Bentley House flats are still there, but have been taken over and have become something of a haven for retired eco-warriors, ravers, vegans, mavericks and activists, weirdo’s, and the dying embers of the notorious glorious Peoples Republic of Hulme; thinking of themselves as a little corner of resistance to the concepts of current social norms and modern regeneration models. The top left image below shows the flat we lived in it is marked with an arrow.
Today 2014, Bentley House flats are still there, but have been taken over and have become something of a haven for retired eco-warriors, ravers, vegans, mavericks and activists, weirdo’s, and the dying embers of the notorious glorious Peoples Republic of Hulme; thinking of themselves as a little corner of resistance to the concepts of current social norms and modern regeneration models. The top left image below shows the flat we lived in it is marked with an arrow.
Hulme Planning Disaster
As an alternative to the up-grading of the old existing housing stock in Hulme the City Planning & Architects departments proposed a solution which would involve the complete demolition and clearance of the whole of old Hulme comprising of a massive 350 acres; it was one of the largest clearance programme in Europe and implementation of what they called a grand innovative design for deck access and tower-block living, whereby curved rows of low-rise flats with deck access far above the streets was created, known as the 'Crescents' which were, ironically, were supposed to be architecturally based on Victorian terraced housing in Bath. Not long after tenants moved in, many with young children, they began to notice problems with regard to lack of security, poor workmanship, expensive heating bills causing problems for low income residents, and poor maintenance meant that the crescents soon became notorious for being cold, damp and riddled with cockroaches and other vermin. This led to many tenants who had previously maintained a sense of civic pride in the area left, as normal standards of civilized living went into free fall. As a result of all of this, the now notoriously unpopular crescents and concrete boxes with walkways in sky became a "dumping ground" for many of the city's poorest, most deprived, and indeed, anti-social members of society. Hulme as a result of the above, overtime, descended into uncontrollable anarchy. The council stopped collecting rents and police stopped carrying out patrols as a result the estate gained the reputation of being the most notorious housing estate in the city’s history – perhaps even in the whole of British history, except for the Glaswegian Gorbals.
Inevitably, this led to the whole of the estate being demolished and cleared and rebuilt in the 1990s, a mere nineteen years after the estate had been first built. The estate was then completely cleared and rebuilt in a more traditional and socially acceptable format which now exist and can be seen there today.
Inevitably, this led to the whole of the estate being demolished and cleared and rebuilt in the 1990s, a mere nineteen years after the estate had been first built. The estate was then completely cleared and rebuilt in a more traditional and socially acceptable format which now exist and can be seen there today.
Pubs of Hulme
These are the pubs in Hulme where in the early days of living there I would occasionally go for a drink in the evenings after work. However, as the area declined it became increasingly advisable to keep well away from the pubs in Hulme. One incident that comes to mind occurred on a visit to my local the Crown Inn with my then new girlfriend Marian and Dad. It was a Friday night and we were enjoying evening together at this pub. It was an "open mich" evening and we were experiencing a friendly and enjoyable evening until three men without any warning, which is usually the case in pubs, attacked a man who was stood near them knocking him to the ground and then began kicking him and stamping on his head. As I couldn’t bear to watch this going on I jumped up and got hold of one the thugs and amid screams and glasses being knocked over managed to wrestle him onto to a bench seat; he had somehow managed to get hold of my hair and as this was happening one of the other thugs was repeatedly hitting me on the back with a heavy wooden stool. The pub landlord Brian Kennedy, all 17st of him, thankfully leapt over the bar and as he was well used to dealing with these sort of incidents intervened and quickly brought the situation under control. Things settled down and I was glad to return to where I had been sitting with Marian, and Dad, feeling lucky that only a clump of my hair was missing and as I was shaking with shock, Marian leaned over to me and asked me if I was Ok and then said “Patrick I thought you said this was a friendly pub”
All of these pubs have gone except for the Junction which I believe it is still there and in use today, 2014.
All of these pubs have gone except for the Junction which I believe it is still there and in use today, 2014.