From terrace to the palace

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In 1978 I was studying in Stoke on Trent but I had to find my second six month industrial training period as part of my Business Studies degree. I got the job with British Road Services who in those days were a state run business owning a major part of the road haulage industry.

I was to be based in Manchester but I needed accommodation and I wrote to my friend Craig Sutherland who was studying there to see if he could help. It worked out perfectly. Another Manx student, who was the same age as us but deferred his studies for three years, was going to share his house in Levenshulme but I could take the room on the ground floor until then, from April till October.

I re-visited Levenshulme today and, just as when I went back to Stoke a little over a year ago, I found most of the pubs closed. My favourite was called the Church - even my teetotal mother could hardly complain about me going to the church every evening!

 

When I finally found somewhere for a lunchtime pint of Boddingtons, above, it was a peach. As soon as I took my pint into a sideroom I silenced it - it was a real local full of aging Irishmen watching the racing on TV who didn't expect strangers.

According to Wikipedia Levenshulme started as a rather middle class area outside of Manchester. It is now one of the most deprived parts.

The top photo shows the house where I lived in 1978 and the photo supports the theory. My place in the house was taken by Mark Shimmin. Mark was awarded an MBE in the New Year's honours.