I was five when this picture was taken. Yes, we were poor, but it was Moss Side in 1969 – everyone was poor. It was better than the tenements in Glasgow, where we’d come from. My dad was a miner and couldn’t get work up there, so he’d moved the family to Manchester. I was the fifth of eight children; in the picture, I’m to the left, standing just in front of my big brother. We had a happy upbringing: we were never short of a friend and we shared everything.
Our house on Moss Side was so derelict that we couldn’t use all the rooms. One door wouldn’t even open. Then one day Dad bashed it in and the whole ceiling just fell to the floor. The house was damp, with plaster falling off the walls. We kids all slept in the same room on some beds pushed together. We only ever had one lightbulb, which got moved around the house.
There was an Indian family next door, and I used to play with the children. When it was teatime, if you were over, you got fed. At a wedding there, money was being pinned to the groom and he gave some to me. Dad took it to get some shopping in.
My parents were very friendly but they were also hard as nails. Dad got work as a doorman. They would go without food but always made sure we had something. We didn’t really know we were poor. One day at school I was trying to get a teacher’s attention and she said, “Go away, you smelly little boy.” I cried most of that day. You say that to a five-year-old and it sticks with them.
I remember the photographer coming round. Mum told us, “We’ve got the papers coming tomorrow and I want you lot dressed in your best clothes.” Only now do I know he was with the charity Shelter. Not long after, they helped us move into another house in Chorlton. It was a mansion, with five bedrooms and hot water; we were thrilled. I consider that my childhood home. For our first New Year there, because we were Scottish and New Year was our thing, we had a party that went on for days.
We were the poorest people in Chorlton. Some of the neighbours weren’t too happy because we didn’t look the part, but at school, once people got to know me, I made friends left, right and centre.
I left school in 1979 and got work servicing old washing machines and vacuum cleaners. It was my first taste of engineering and I loved it. I’ve been doing that sort of thing since. I’m 53 now, and if I didn’t have work I’d go mad. I do worry about money. Things are harder than they have been. In the 90s I was on £15 an hour and now I’m on £8.50.
When Shelter got in touch about this picture, it was emotional for me. It’s the first time I’ve seen myself at that age. I was a good-looking boy. My siblings weren’t interested in talking about it, but I’m nostalgic. We were just kids: Mum and Dad were alive, and we all got on. It does make me angry that we had to live like that, though. The house got knocked down and there’s a doctor’s surgery there now.
I’m proud of what I’ve achieved since then. I’ve been with my wife for 35 years and we’ve got five lovely kids. I’m not a millionaire by any stretch, but we’re happy. There’s not much more I could ask for.
• Slum Britain: 50 Years On is on Channel 5 on 5 December, and has been made in partnership with Shelter.
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