Hazel Freeman talks about the local community and its demolition
Resource Type: Audio | Posted on 11th July 2011 by Liam Physick
Hazel Freeman reminscences about her observations of the Edge Hill community, and expresses anger over its demolition, mentioning how her father campaigned to save it
Interviewee: Hazel Freeman
Interviewee Gender: Female
Date of Interview: 19th February 2011
Interview Transcript
Jenny: What do you remember of the Edge Hill area and . . . yeah, you said it was a lot of terraced houses, do you remember?
Hazel: Oh, yes, I remember those between Wavertree and Edge Hill, they were all those terraceds . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: Yes I remember those, the back to backs, one up, two up, two down. I remember particularly the people, they would scrub the front step, if one went early, one would see them in these, you know, these hair things . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: . . . and pinnies.
Jenny: (laughs) Always in a pinny!
Hazel: Well, when they were working they were always in a pinny, because, I mean, well, the, the toilet was out, wasn’t it . . . ?
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: . . . was outside, washing was in a tin bath, so they had to, you know, they hung up, like we do, just sort of, fling stuff around . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: . . . so they had the pinny on and they would clean, they were always cleaning the front step, you know, in the evenings, chatting, the children would play in the streets . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: it was a, kind of, it was a community . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: . . . everybody seemed to know everybody else . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: . . . and that was why it was so devastating when there was this mass demolition and the families were, you know, they rent apart . . . and shoved all over the place and they were actually, they didn’t have much say in it.
Jenny: And when, when abouts was that, because, I mean, obviously, we’re going through a similar situation now.
Hazel: It was terrible!
Jenny: Was that, is it, was it the 60s, or . . . ?
Hazel: Yeah.
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: It was a terrible time, yeah, oh, the mass demolition of the area and for the families, for the people who lived there, it was . . . terrible . . . terrible, you know, because they were real, supportive, communities, OK they had rows, like anybody . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: But our kids would, I suppose! Anyway . . . but everybody was, you know, supportive. But if you ask the residents, people who actually lived there, they will tell you what it was like, I could only see . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: . . . from the other side, looking . . . into . . .
Jenny: Yeah.
Hazel: . . . it and hearing it, and, you know, the long discussions at home, “How can we prevent this? How can this be prevented?”
Jenny: Yeah, so your father was against it as well?
Hazel: (lets out a sign of exclamation) He was so against it, because he was, you know, he always sided with his . . .
Jenny: . . . community.
Hazel: . . . community.
Jenny: Yeah
Hazel: No, he did a lot to try and stop it, (whispers) but there’s no chance.
Jenny: Sad, isn’t it?
Hazel: And that’s what catapulted him into the philanthropy having seen what happened to that community, and the isolation that resulted.
Categorised under: Change & Communities
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