Liverpool Road

Built in 1910 by Southern Housing group, Liverpool Road estate is an enduring success story in a city where many social housing experiments have tried and failed to provide a hub for communities. 2010 is the Edwardian estate's centenary year.
Photograph: Helmut Feder

Tyrone Willis, the estate's facilities manager, remembers a time when the tenants' association met every week. "When they spoke the housing association listened. Nowadays its core members are getting older and the younger generation are less inclined to vocalise their needs, but the tradition of close community continues." Photograph: Josh Surtees

Artist Davina Drummond helps children to illustrate the icing on centenary celebration cakes. Photograph: Josh Surtees

Tom Dacey, CEO of Southern Housing, said: "In urban locations, residents in high density estates may not know their neighbours or the broader community. Ways have to be found of breaking the ice and getting people to see the value of working together to achieve common aims." But Dacey worries about the impact of housing benefit cuts, as well as reduced subsidies for housing associations. Photograph: Josh Surtees

Tall Tales’ Helmut Feder was in charge of the fancy dress party in which residents dressed up as characters from 1910 – here Rose dresses as a policeman, Jess as a first world war soldier and Anthony as a bell boy. Many of the costumes were borrowed from the National Theatre’s costume department and some are authentic. “Some of them are actually very valuable,” he says with half an eye on the kids crashing around in bowler hats and army uniforms. Photograph: Josh Surtees

To mark the estate's centenary, Tall Tales, a community art collective, created a day of events for residents. Here, creative director Gadi Sprukt looks through original tenants' documents for inspiration. "This was meant to be more intimate than the Market Estate project. This wasn't for tourists or hipsters or art directors, it was for the residents – a way of saying thank you for keeping the community going," Sprukt says.
Photograph: Tall Tales

Rose Copsey moved to the estate as a child in 1948, her daughter Wendy was born here in the mid-1960s. Leafing through the original residency books, detailing the families living in each apartment, Rose says: "Log books seem like an archaic way of doing things now but much more romantic than just typing it into a computer."
Photograph: Josh Surtees

With the help of residents, artist Jess Blandford created the bunting that made the estate resemble an old-fashioned street party. Blandford asked residents to contribute triangles of fabric and was inundated with material. "We made over 100 metres of bunting for 100 years. I thought we'd have about 20 triangles but we got 600." Photograph: Josh Surtees

Tall Tales curator Giulia Sala plans the festivities over a pot of tea and biscuits.
Photograph: Tall Tales

In preparation for the event, Christian Nyampeta sketches his fellow artists, all of whom contributed their own art to the project. Nyampeta also produced a 1910-style newspaper containing stories about the estate's history.
Photograph: Tall Tales

Jane and Joan Ash, a mother and daughter who lived on the Liverpool Road estate from 1955 to 1983, came back for the event and met old neighbours they hadn't seen for years. The old photographs on the wall brought back happy memories. Photograph: Josh Surtees

Teres Arvidsson, from Sweden, works in the fashion industry. She was recently introduced to Tall Tales and was keen to be a part of the project. Here she serves cucumber sandwiches dressed as the tea party maid. Photograph: Josh Surtees

Celebrations centred around an Edwardian tea party with china crockery, cucumber sandwiches, homemade scones and jam, clotted cream and cake, seen here being enjoyed by residents of the estate. Photograph: Josh Surtees

Organising the event became an opportunity for children to take part in art workshops and tutorials.
Photograph: Tall Tales