The City That Was//

The 1960s and 1970s witnessed a profound change in working class culture. The mass migration of the late 19^th and early 20^th century to industrial cities was stimulated by employment opportunities and the economic growth of Empire. Over a period of 70-80 years a rich and varied working class culture had been established alongside a strong sense of community. But by the 1960s all this was challenged by the need to restore urban communities impoverished by the Second World War, and to rebuild the thousands of inadequate terraced streets. These photographs are an attempt to celebrate that rich culture and environment before it was cast to the desolate periphery of the modern city.

City Children

City streets became a vast canvas and resource for all sorts of play activity.

City Streets

Photographs that illustrate the environment of industrial cities and street life in working class communities.

Leisure Activities

These photographs reflect the importance of the local football team, the private passion of pigeon fancying, the dark cave of a snooker hall, the cheap gamble of bingo and role of non-conformist chapels.

Local Shops And Facades

Local shops provided the basic essentials and the essentials were all that most families could afford.

New Ethnic Cultures

By the mid 1950s many Commonwealth citizens were encouraged to settle in industrial cities to fulfil vital roles in post war reconstruction