The housing ‘estates’ which were the foundation of what became the slums of Newland, were only a few yards from the prosperous shopkeepers in White Hart Street.
The daughter of one such shopkeeper remembered it from the 1920/30s She said: “At the end of the street was Newlands. This was a horrible slum area – the children used to go up and down White Hart Street poorly clad, often without knickers and shoes, and always very dirty, hoping to find something to eat or an old coin in the gutter.”
Remember that this was only some 80 years ago, or a couple of generations back!
In this week’s picture we are standing outside what is now the entrance to Tesco’s, and looking west towards the new library.
The year is 1934, and the buildings are semi-derelict prior to their demolition shortly afterwards. Despite the rundown appearance, the children appear relatively well-dressed, with the two older ones to the right wearing their school uni-forms.
Notice the building in the top right of the image, the factory of William Birch in Denmark Street, which we will consider in more detail next week. This is the approximate location of the new library.
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