Photos of historical England ‘challenge Downton Abbey myth’ | Art and design | The Guardian
Davies pointed out that although the boys were working as shoe cleaners, apart from two who are wearing magnificently polished boots, most are barefoot.
“Images of factories, schools, universities and civic buildings rising among old streetscapes – but also of rotting houses, barefoot children and faces pinched with poverty – have been unearthed from millions of photographs of late 19th- and early 20th-century England. Philip Davies, an architectural historian, spent seven years trawling through the photographs, compiling the best 1,500 into a 558-page book entitled Lost England.”
Source: Photos of historical England ‘challenge Downton Abbey myth’ | Art and design | The Guardian
Fantastic idea. Especially in this climate where people are romanticizing the past. Life was no picnic. Here’s an amusing postcard I’ve found of the village where Mazamet began:
My Mazamet 
Why would we need a book of photographs to realise what the past was like for the majority of people?
Are people really so cut off from their history?
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I think they are! People are talking about bringing back coal mining jobs as if that’s some sort of fantastic lifestyle.
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How has this come about? Are schools whitewashing the past?
Too many soppy TV programmes celebrating the solidarity of poor people while ignoring the conditions requiring it?
The real solidarity is among the bourgeoisie.
When Leo’s family arrived in the U.K. during the Second World War they ended up living in a mining area in Wales. He grew up horrified that anyone could possibly contemplate sending their child to follow them down the mine.
I know that there is a desperation for ‘real’ jobs, but there are – or are there – limits!
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A combination of all those things. I remember when C4 made The Mill a few years ago the reviews were along the lines of “this is too serious and horrible and we don’t want to see it.”- and it was just a tv drama.
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I am ashamed to admit it but the schools are badly at fault here in the USA. There are a great many who do not want the true history and modern science taught in our schools. The people have become easier to control. I am afraid that our new administration will try to roll back any progress we have made over the years. Hugs
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The little boy way in the back of the second picture is my great uncle, Pierre Goldberg. He grew up to be the town’s number one cat juggler. unfortunately, several of the cats, not liking being juggled, ganged up on him one night and ate him. All that’s left of him are a pair of old, worn out shoes which now hang above my imaginary fireplace. Yes, I realize this comment is way off topic, but my Uncle Pierre was grand ‘ole fella and he deserved the mention.
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You have a way sir, you have a way. 🙂 Hugs
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I’m insane. It helps. 🙂
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Oh my god, Pinky….that postcard…I just want to step into it and see where that incredible, twisty lane leads! I’m sorry. I can see that the children playing in the street would horrify me these days, but that arch….
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Remind these people there were no toilets, no toilet paper, no hot water, no real internal plumbing.
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And that’s were America will be after 4 years of Trump. Ah, back to when America was great!
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I use four-ply toilet paper. i like it. I will never retreat!!
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Meant where not were.
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but my husband and I are huge fans of great architecture. However, so much of this lovely architecture is the product of desperation, in that many of the workers were all but slaves to the masters of the vision. I never have lost sight of this since it occurred to me many years ago. The desperate lives of people, thecvoices of the common human, are usually missing as voices of history. Most of us know his story ends were wealthy enough to know how to write and have the free time to do so. Anyone with their eyes and mind open knows what lurks in the shadows of historical accounts. Plus, photograph survive such as those you post. Which is fantastic. 🙃
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So sorry for the typos. My ipad has a negligible window to review what I have written! 😳
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Historians, not his story ends! groan … fricking autocorrect!
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The Downton Abbey myth, the Wills & Kate Show, all part of pernicious diversionary tactics to persuade us of the acceptable face of privilege. Buckingham Palace set for 300 billion makeover – re-wired and for what? – when a mere facade would serve the tourist market, and be so fitting, facade-wise. Hm. Could have a nice little eco-palace behind, carbon neutral, no cost to the public; setting a good example; doing something useful (heavens!). As to history and how it’s taught – in the UK it all seems to be piecemeal modules – disconnected so little sense of process or consequences. Powers of discretion and discernment and how to tell if we’re being duped NOT required.
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It’s all exhausting, isn’t it? One would think that at this point of humanity we would be more aware of how the world works. Or at the very least aware of our history.
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It occurs to me that wilful ignorance is being cultivated. So much STUFF on the internet that people don’t know which way is up; or what is real and what is not. Exhausting is the word indeed. Phew!
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A few days ago in a discussion someone actually said to me that, “the facts don’t matter.” That’s where the world is at the moment.
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A commentator on BBC radio last week said the same thing happened to him. He said it’s as if people think there are ‘my facts’ and ‘your facts’, and I don’t like ‘your facts’. V.worrying. Maybe it’s a new product line. We can buy whichever ‘reality’ we most like the look of. It’s a logical conclusion almost: the way we expect the world to bow to our wants. Oh dear. This is getting a touch gloomy.
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