LOST HULME - A photographic journey through the streets of Hulme

10^th - 28th February, 10:00hr – 21hr00, The Zion Arts Centre, Stretford Road

This exhibition brings together a unique collection of historical photographs and documents to tell the history of Hulme since the industrial revolution.

It draws on collections from the city’s institutions, libraries, archives as well as private collections. Many of the photograph have been rarely seen in public.

The images are arranged in broad themes and provide a fascinating series of images about a Hulme that is no more. They also argue that the history of Hulme, an important and much misunderstood community in Manchester, needs to revised, to take account of its longer past.

Thus whilst the more recent developments in Hulme are covered in the exhibition - the story of the Crescent and later local initiatives - it uses photographs, maps and other documents to argue that Hulme has a much longer and significant history in the making of Manchester, the world’s first industrial city. The importance of the Bridgewater Canal in sparking of the economic development of Hulme is acknowledged and the ‘galloping urbanisation’ that occurred during the nineteenth century is charted. As early as 1851 Hulme’s population already exceeded 50,000, a figure that ranked it above towns such as Chester and Rochdale.

The photographs also reflect the poverty and deprivation which led to the creation of the idea of ‘Outcast Hulme’ in the early twentieth century. Housing problems and the initiatives to tackle the slums were certainly not confined to the post-war period.

The exhibition also focuses on the vitality of the community, its cultural and educational institutions. The now forgotten role of the Stretford Road as one of the city’s most important shopping streets is also remembered. To recover these lost periods of Hulme’s past is to understand better its place in the city.

The exhibition is arranged through the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester Metropolitan University. Claire O’ Hanrahan, a history student in the department has been the principal organiser.