Who's been watching A House Through Time on TV?

[Globalti]

Just watched episode 3 of 4 of this fascinating programme about 62 Falkner street in Liverpool. It's amazing how much can be found out by professional researchers from newspaper archives and birth, death & marriage records. We've watched the house go slowly from a smart Georgian townhouse in Britain's second city to little more than a dosshouse. The decline really accelerated after WW1 when it was owned by one family who made saddles and tack but whose business died as redundant military trucks came home from Europe, motorised transport took over and 3 million horses were slaughtered. The same mechanisation wiped out the Pennine packhorse trade. From then on the house was inhabited by several families who shared a kitchen on the landing. Liverpool declined as a port, but the BBC fails to mention the devastating impact of the Manchester Ship Canal, which opened in 1894 and allowed Manchester's merchants and manufacturers to bypass Liverpool altogether, killing the port.

The final episode will be the most interesting for me because it will follow the continued decline of the house through the 60s and onwards until, presumably, the realisation that this is a house of quality worth saving, refurbishment and re-gentrification, which I guess must have started around 2000.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Excellent programme

 

[Deleted member 1258]

It's been a fascinating series, I've enjoyed it.

 

[Beebo]

Love it. The presenter is very good.
Last nights episode was slightly different now that there are people alive who knew the residents.
I wonder how much research they did before picking that house? Did they go through other really boring houses first.

 

[BoldonLad]

Yes, been watching that. I am behind one episode, have to watch that over the weekend probably.

Very interesting IMHO.

 

[Randomnerd]

Loved it: tangible history. David Olusoga writes some really thought-provoking stuff in the Grauniad around race and culture. He's a thoughtful presenter.

 

[Globalti]

I guess they could have picked any house in the street as they would all have told the same story of social change, industrial ruination and revival. I sometimes think that Liverpool cut its own throat by allowing the strikes, delays, pilferage and overcharging at the port, which drove Manchester's manufacturers to pool their resources and build the canal.

 

[further]

We used to walk down that street in the 60s early 70s and I remember it all being derelict,fascinating series.

 

[Dave 123]

I’m catching up, I’m a couple of episodes behind.

Great series.

 

[Paulus]

Well worth the license fee for programs like this.

 

[roadrash]

ive really enjoyed watching it , I don't usually watch much tv but saw the advertisement for it when mrs roadrash was watching something else, glad I decided to watch it.