Devastating 1992 BBC documentary about Poverty in Hemlington.

TheLodger said:
I found this really tough to watch, it was my era, I would have been in my middle 20s, things did improve under Blair, but I do fear that we are in a much worse place today than we was in 1992.

Click to expand...
The Bastads stripped away people's dignity an self-respect.
Since Thatcher, that's never stopped.
They blame the poor for being poor.
They closed the steelworks and ripped up the lines.
They shut down the docks and closed the mines.
They sold off our houses and left people in slums.
They sold off our welfare for trading in guns.
They shut down the youth clubs and turned out the lights.
Stripped kids of a future for the dark of the night.
They shut down the hospitals and took away beds.
They left the elderly and disabled silent by the door.
As they pile up their money and riches so high.
They bury their morals and leave us to die.
 
I grew up in what was the H’s then the C’s. The road names have all changed now i believe. Was a pretty bad area and was on the decline. Does anyone know the reasons why they changed the street names?
 
We lived on D’s back in the early 80s, (we were on Dallas) and school was Viewly Hill After Haverton Hill was closed my dad took Tebbits advice and got on his bike to find work which meant we moved away from the area but went back for many a school holiday. With rose tinted glasses loved it there but in reality, my grandparents had metal shutters and we were never allowed to walk to the shops on our own.

PS really hope the club is still going well😁
 
Interesting you mention blair with the miners strike 40 years got me thinking he did absolutely nothing specifically for mining communities on his own doorstep or for poor northern areas like Hemlington they were left to rot i dont think new Labour did anywhere near enough to tackle regional deprivation
 
Glover_elbow said:
Interesting you mention blair with the miners strike 40 years got me thinking he did absolutely nothing specifically for mining communities on his own doorstep or for poor northern areas like Hemlington they were left to rot i dont think new Labour did anywhere near enough to tackle regional deprivation
Click to expand...
We all had a few extra quid in our pockets but that was it. The decline continued under new Labour.
 
Nero80 said:
I grew up in what was the H’s then the C’s. The road names have all changed now i believe. Was a pretty bad area and was on the decline. Does anyone know the reasons why they changed the street names?
Click to expand...
I grew up in the H’s too. The shops in the video look exactly as I remembered as a kid. We moved out when I was in my teens thankfully.
 
I lived in hemlington for 20 years,H’s & A’s 10 years each,I left in 96. Sad thing is, a few lads from that clip are no longer with us 😞
 
Last edited:
Used to do a polls round up there in the mid-80s, the Ds and Es. There were some right characters. Remember knocking a door and seeing a bloke legging it over the back garden fence before being called back by his missus. "Come back! It's only the pools lad!" He'd thought it was the Old Bill come to nick him. "Eee, you've got a bobbie's knock" they'd say.
Played for Hemlington Boys Club too.
 
I know most of them lads there sadly some no longer with us, one of them has done amazing work with kids with his charity he set up. He is a smashing lad and has done well. I was 22 then and just lost my job it was tough then but a good spirit in Hemlington. We have to give the youngsters some hope.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top