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Slums of Birmingham: Powerful Photos Documenting the Squalor and Misery of Slum Britain From 1970s

These heartbreaking photographs from the 1970s document the everyday life of families living in the slum areas of Birmingham without basic facilities such as power and water. Some families lived in one room without a room surrounded by vermin. Demolished buildings, poor sewerage systems, litter doorways, trash everywhere; these photographs depict poverty that is hard comprehended in modern Birmingham.

Nick Hedges traveled the country in the late-1960s and 70s for the housing charity Shelter, taking photographs of families living in run-down homes, that shocked a nation into action.

#1 Mrs Milne puts her children to bed in the winter, Balsall Heath 1968

#2 Baby asleep in armchair slum property Balsall Heath

#5 Young girl with her baby sister, slum property Balsall Heath 1970

#7 Mrs Milne putting her children to bed Balsall Heath 1968

#12 Letter regarding health and slum property, Birmingham 1971

#15 Child with Impetigo caused by foul drainage, Winson Green 1971

#17 Attempts to deal with an infestation, Winson Green, 1971

#20 Mrs Milne puts her children to bed in the winter, Balsall Heath 1968

Mrs Milne puts her children to bed in the winter, Balsall Heath 1968

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Written by Aung Budhh

Husband + Father + librarian + Poet + Traveler + Proud Buddhist. I love you with the breath, the smiles and the tears of all my life.

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10 Comments

  1. Even though people were living in squalor, poverty, and adversity in these times, they continued to strive for something better. They showed true grit. They didn’t have much but had each other and that’s all that mattered.

    Ironically, even after the slums were cleared, the same areas still face the same (if not more complex) problems from crime and overcrowding to poor housing. But it can only get better.

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