SALFORD 77 is a documentary photography project focusing on everyday life in a changing urban environment in 1977 .  It aims to bring back memories of these parts of Salford and to show younger people the times their parents and grandparents grew up in.

I was part of a small group of photographers in the mid to late 70s called the REFLEX GROUP led by Diane Bush, a young American established documentary photographer who has since become an internationally renowned photographer, now living in the USA.  We met up occasionally as a group in between our individual Salford photo excursions.  I concentrated mainly in Langworthy,  Ordsall and some work in the Adelphi area. In 1978 we had a group exhibition held in the Salford Players Theatre on Liverpool Road.  After the exhibition we all went our own ways.

In 2012, I decided to find out what had happened to some of the people, particularly the children that I photographed.  I sent some photographs to the Salford Reporter and M.E.N. This resulted in an article from which several people contacted me with names and contact details. With help from Tony Flynn (then “Salford On-Line” now Salford Media”) I followed a few of these up and took some new photos of these now young adults.  One notable example was of Stephen Lord, now a well known actor that appeared in TV series “Shameless” East Enders and many other films and productions.

In this new exhibition at the Langworthy Cornerstone Community Centre, I want to also show some new unpublished or non-exhibited images from my 1977 collection which shows pictures of the Cross Lane Fair and rare shots taken in the Paddock pub (formally the Fusiliers).  I want to also exhibit some of the more recent up to date photographs taken of children 47 years ago next to their 1977 images with some stories.

The exhibition of about 35 A2 images is scheduled for the Langworthy Cornerstone Community Centre, 451 Liverpool St., Salford M6 5QQ, mezzanine area , from 28th  June  –  29th  August  2024.  open Monday – Friday 9.00am – 8.00pm (Closed Sat & Sun)

A quick sketch I did earlier today in the car in front of the old Junction Hotel were I organised a jazz session in the 1980’s

Sketching in Exchange Square, Manchester.   A view from the tram station showing 3 ages of building. Plenty of places to sit on this lovely day-Thurs 9th March 2017

Really pleased to be awarded Print of the Year at my South Manchester camera Club