LIFE IN HULME
Tracie Daly is a former resident of Hulme, and the Royal Exchange’s Community Programme Leader. On the Birley Community Day, Tracie gave a short presentation on her experience of growing up in Hulme. The Hulme she presented was devoid of glamorisation, and instead drew on a family’s experience of the area. She contradicted the portrayal of Hulme as a creative hub, arguing that this depiction only represented a minority. However, she asserted that despite issues in the flats architecture, the deck-access housing gave a strong sense of community that is maintained to this day.
Tracie had spent her childhood in a deck-access flat with her family, until the conditions of the building forced their removal to a house in Moss Side:
The materials were so cheap, the council hadn’t bargained for how often replacements were going to happen, and I just don’t think they could keep up with the demand.
Tracie contradicted the perception of Hulme presented by the students who moved in during that period:
I was always quite resentful of them (the ‘punks and anarchists’). The people that talk about that time, will talk about it like they owned Hulme, and that they made Hulme what it was. (Locals) thought it was disrespectful, they were resentful of it (…) It’s been totally glamorised! (People) from Hulme, they’re sick of seeing exhibitions about that. That wasn’t what real Hulme was (…) Hulme has been hijacked by that very small period of time. But people forget there were real lives affected by this. When you were knocking walls down, and partying like it was the end of the world, what was going around you was that people were being displaced, communities were being broken up, families were being split up, and you were rejoicing it! That’s how it was seen.
Tracie's experience
Hulme Today
Future vision
Despite a multitude of issues surrounding the flats infrastructure, there was a sense of community:
People (…) had a really strong sense of community. They had brought their families up there, but they knew they had to move on (…) if they could have sorted out the problems people wouldn’t have moved. (…) There is definitely (still) a strong bond between us all. We all still look out for each other. We might not see each other for years but we will always be from Hulme.
Tracie implores Manchester Metropolitan’s new Birley Campus to encourage further education as an accessible step for young local residents:
The university has a responsibility to the community now, in terms of investment in the area, and helping young people recognise that higher education is something for them if they want it. The Hulme adult education centre has shut down.
These buildings are overwhelming (…) I stepped into (Hulme adult education centre) just off the street, and that’s important. I was able to talk to someone face-to-face about wanting to get into a higher education institution (…) I was so worried about going into a group situation as a mature adult. People forget (…) how difficult it is to step back into that situation, if you’ve not been given that opportunity. Adult educational centres are really quite important for some people (…) Hopefully we can discover new ways of connecting people. (…) I just don’t think the resources are there now.