Clinging on in east Manchester

The Manchester Weekly from The Mill

Writer Alec Herron's gran’s house was on the Grey Mare Lane estate in Beswick, east Manchester. He can still remember Sunday afternoons "filled with rice pudding, sucking bone marrow and hours sat around the table hearing stories of tragedy and petty gossip told with the same veracity".

It will all be coming down soon. The regeneration of Grey Mare Lane estate was initiated after a 2017 public consultation concluded the estate was being “left behind”. Late last year, a £70 million masterplan for the area was withdrawn, two years after being first presented to residents. Three weeks ago a new masterplan was released. 124 social rented homes are to be demolished, and at least 550 new homes built — more than double the number of the previous masterplan.

In this week's episode, Alec discusses his memories of the estate — some happy, some painful — and why this area is ripe for regeneration, and asks whether the same community can live on after the demolish-and-rebuild scheme is complete.

A warning: this episode contains a description of physical violence.

With thanks to Manchester Museum's Wild Show for sponsoring this episode. Wild is a brilliant new exhibition at Manchester Museum exploring how people are creating and repairing connections with nature, from post-industrial urban landscapes like Manchester to Aboriginal-led cultural revegetation projects in Western Australia and the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park in the US.

Many readers have been sending in photos of their favourite wild spaces, if you’d like to join them, just email us a photo and description of your favourite wild space to [e-mail]. Our favourite ones will be published in future newsletters and you will get a free curator’s tour of the exhibition. Read more about Wild and plan your visit via this link.

Recommendations:

Clinging on in east Manchester, The Mill

Estates, Lynsey Hanley

Reclaiming East Manchester, Len Grant

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