ABSTRACT
In 1932 a group of social investigators based at Manchester University Settlement surveyed housing conditions in the poorest parts of their city. They reported that in the worst tenement blocks of this English industrial heartland it was not uncommon to find families living in dwellings ‘the shape of a long tunnel, 41ft. long by 9ft. wide, divided into living-room and bedroom, and dimly lit by a window at each end.’ Speaking to tenants, observers concluded that, ‘Only those who have to live year in and year out in the old block dwellings can fully realise all that it implies.’ Prominent in testimonies were complaints about ‘The tramp of feet up and down the stone stairways and balconies, the running and echoing shouts of children at play in the asphalt courtyard’ as well as ‘the pounding of traffic’ and ‘the noise from the goods yard.’ ‘“It’s awful,”’ one tenant complained. ‘“I was thankful when they took me to the hospital. The noise nearly drives you mad.”’ Another said, ‘“You long for a bit of quiet.”’ Life in these poorly constructed homes was one of sensory deprivation, according to the investigators: ‘Without a vestige of beauty, with little privacy and constant noise, the lives of many tenants are reduced to a dull dead level from which much of the spring and interest in life has gone’ (Manchester University Settlement 1932: 6–8).
