Get Involved
YOUR PORTRAITS AND MEMORIES
We are inviting visitors to bring along portraits of themselves, friends and family from the 1970s so that we can copy and share them - and the memories that they evoke, alongside the June Street exhibition.
PHOTOBOOK CLUB
The Workers Gallery Photobook Book Club will be reading and reflecting on the Café Royal Book June Street, Salford 1973 (copies available £6.70). Get the book. Read the book. Then come together with others to discuss the book. It’s like a regular book club only with photobooks. Get together date and venue to be announced.
COMMUNITY PHOTOSHOOT
We’ll be putting together a 1970s set for a community photoshoot event coming soon
TORTOISES AND TANKTOPS
Tortoise themed creative community workshops and a challenge to knit or crochet a tank top will be running throughout October
DIOLCH THANKS
We are only able to bring this work to the valleys because of the kindness and generosity of Daniel Meadows and Martin Parr. We are very grateful to them for supporting the creative community in and around the gallery.
With special thanks to Victoria Carter, Trevor James, Alison Jones, David Mayne, Georgie Meadows, Susan Williams and Ben Snowdon and all the other dedicated volunteers at Paul Kirner’s Music Palace, Ynyshir.
OUR STORY:
According to an Independent Newspaper article of 29th December 2013, 1973 was ‘the most significant year of the 20th century’. It was a time of 3-day weeks, power cuts, strikes and conflict around the world. Edward Heath, the then Conservative Prime Minister was faced by a myriad of issues, both domestic and international.
Against this tumultuous backdrop, the Salford area of Manchester was changing. The urban landscape was being remodelled to meet the growing needs of a modern metropolis. The stone sett streets were ripped up, the terraced houses flattened, and the street names soon disappeared.
After a visit to the (then) newly reconstructed set of popular soap opera ‘Coronation Street’ two young final years students from Manchester Polytechnic decided to document June Street in Ordsall, Salford. June Street was notable for being previously used as an exterior location ‘Coronation Street’ but it also represented a recognisable slice of northern English life that was soon to succumb to the bulldozers.
The old streets of Salford may seem many miles away from the terraces of the valleys, but the historical and cultural similarities are closely aligned. The decline of industry, the changing of the towns and cities and most importantly the erosion of communities - the early 70’s of northern England reaching out across time to the Welsh Valleys of the early 21st century.
It is difficult to say whether 2024 will be looked upon by future newspaper articles with the same significance as 1973 but there is no doubt that there are striking similarities. The Labour Government of Keir Starmer faces a cost-of-living crisis, social unrest and conflicts around the world.
The Workers is very proud to present ‘June Street 1973’ an early but seminal work by Daniel Meadows and Martin Parr - 17 large beautifully presented black & white prints documenting the people of June Street and the homes that they lived in.
The Workers is pleased to display this internationally renowned and important body of work and invites all to come and celebrate and reflect on the then and now.
As French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote in 1849:
‘plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose’
the more things change, the more they stay the same.
David Mayne
Workers Gallery Creative Advocate, Exhibition Curator