These family photographs were submitted to BCA by Shirley Ann Fyfe. The photographs focus on life in and around Clopton Street in the inner-city suburb of Hulme, an area of Manchester of which we hold an extensive digital archive here at BCA. The images offer a vivid portrait of a working-class community emerging from the shadow of World War II.

Shirley Ann Fyfe: “To further my research, I asked my family (who are now in their late 70s and early 80s) what it was like to live in Hulme during the ‘40s and ‘50s. I asked for any photographs they might have—they came back with these tiny and beautiful photographs of Hulme. The collection is a real treasure trove. I worked with Andrew Brooks, a photographer, to help clean up and restore the images. I spoke in detail with my relatives about the images, where they were taken, social history, etc. and was fascinated by their stories and important memories of life from the 1940s onwards.”

Other images in the collection show the community’s celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and the annual Whit Walks. Thanks to Shirley’s hard work and academic research, these fascinating and poignant photographs will now be preserved for generations to come as part of our digital collections.