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Historic Hulme - in pictures

Students organise history exhibition

HISTORY students at Manchester Metropolitan University have organised a unique collection of photographs and documents that tell the story of 'lost Hulme'.

More than 100 photographs dating from the 1880s to the 1980s go on view at the Zion Arts Centre in Hulme from Friday, February 12 - 28.

Drawing on collections from the city's institutions, libraries, archives as well as
private collections, many of the photographs have been rarely seen in public and feature streets and shops, churches, pubs and industry, sparking memories of a Hulme that is no more.

Undergraduate researcher Claire O'Hanrahan, 22, who was brought up in neighbouring Chorlton, said: "Hulme is an important and much misunderstood community in Manchester.

Thriving community

"From the outside, people know all the negative things about Hulme, but for thousands of people Hulme was a great place to live and they never wanted to leave.

"As historians we have the duty to show the past and the mistakes of demolition and development so that people can learn lessons for the future."

While it covers some more recent history - for example, the story of the Crescents housing 'experiment' - the focus is on a much longer and significant history in the making of modern Manchester, the world's first industrial city.

The importance of the Bridgewater Canal in sparking the economic development of Hulme is acknowledged and the 'galloping urbanisation' that occurred during the 19th Century is charted. As early as 1851 Hulme's population already exceeded 50,000, a figure that ranked it above towns such as Chester and Rochdale.

Among photographic highlights:

- A 1880s shot of The Three Legs of Man public house on Stretford Road
- Hulme Hippodrome
- Paulden's circa 1901 - the largest department store outside the city centre.
- The Crescents 1972, the year of their opening.

The exhibition is arranged through the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester Metropolitan University and supported by the IDEA team in the Faculty of Humanities, Law & Social Science, and the Visual Resources Centre, Faculty of Art & Design.

The attached image
For more information, contact Claire O'Hanrahan or Sinead Wynburg or Terry Wyke in the Department of History and Economic History, Tel: 0161 247 3878 t.wyke@mmu.ac.uk.

Image is of Back Anne Street, Hulme c.1895.
Courtesy of Manchester Local Studies Library and Archives

Published Tuesday, 9th February 2010