When former and present tenants of Hulme Crescents, a social housing estate in Manchester, were asked in 1990 to write down their thoughts on the estate as part of the Hulme Views Project,1 their recollections varied. While some remembered their time in the Crescents as being rather depressing and precarious, others emphasized the feeling of home and the unique community spirit that prevailed among its residents. As different as the perceptions were, there was one (albeit not the only) recurring theme mentioned by numerous tenants—the inefficient electric heating system, resulting in exorbitantly high energy costs.
Continue reading ‘Fuel Poverty’ and the Crisis of Welfare in Britain, 1970s–1980s- The Hulme Views Project was initiated in 1990 by the residents of the Hulme Crescents and was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. At the time, demands for demolition of the Crescents ran high and captured the interest of the public. The aim of the project was to produce ‘a book, which tells the overall story of Hulme from . . . [the] residents’ point of view.’ Views from the Crescents: Writing, Photographs and Illustrations by People from the Crescents Area of Hulme (Manchester, 1991), n. pag. [Introduction]. [↩]