Who lived in a house like this? Explore the last Back to Back court slum housing in the UK with me.

[@asmith9140]

I lived in a home like this and brought up two children it's not long ago I knew people who wore clogs too I could write a book on the way things were I. Now in my 70s

[@throughlucyslens]

Oh Alan please write it down! I have a pair of clogs, they were my grandmothers, we restored them and use them to grow plants now - they look great.

[@iangrimshaw1]

@@throughlucyslens Just found your channel and subscribed. Your ethos is exactly like mine. The living and lives of the vast majority of British people are the true history of this country. I quite like a stately home now and again but, at the back of my mind, is always the saying, "behind every Great Home is a Great Crime." Much prefer the vernacular social lives and places of the people who really made Britain what it was and is. I wrote my own autobiography of growing up on a council house estate in the '60s and published it on Kindle eBooks but am in the process of writing my growing up into teenage and adulthood and remembered that my first 'proper' job was working in a Textile Dyehouse Mill where I was given a choice of clogs or safety boots. Must write that bit in.

[@PfadiHH]

These houses are as important as palaces an castles! Thank you for showing us!

[@throughlucyslens]

Yes they are to me too and you are so welcome ❤️

[@limbiclove9487]

@@throughlucyslens They are more important than castles. While I love English gardens, the people who lived in those cramped corners had none. No trees, no flowers, and hardly a chance to survive.

[@mariedodds6307]

These houses were in most large industrial cities, many people in my home city of Sheffield lived in them. My mum who is now 90 was born in a yard house in Bailey Street in Sheffield. She was the 7th of 11 children, all who survived thanks to my wonderful grandma. They moved to a 3 bedroom council house when the yard houses were being demolished and couldn't believe the luxury of having a garden and indoor bathroom and yet the kids still slept 4 to a bed throughout their childhood in the war years! My mum tells so many amazing stories of her wonderful, if very poor family life. I plan to show her your video she will love it, thank you!

[@throughlucyslens]

I love to hear them! I know my own Mom moved from one and the same they still all slept together - family and communal living is a hard habit to break. Thanks for your lovely comment and say hello to your Mom x

[@GenaF]

Amazing back then to have 11 children and to give birth and rear them all with no losses. My maternal family was large although they didn't live in a poor manner because my Great Grandfather was a landowner, employing others but they still lost a child. He was a baby, fast asleep in his pram and his nanny had parked it outdoors so he got fresh air but the sun moved around in the afternoon and he got sunstroke and perished. Two other young children of our family died but not until 1963 when the ship called the TSMS Lakonia, had a fire onboard with the parents dining and dancing and some at the 'tramps ball' whatever that was. Children were asleep and locked in their cabins. The cruise was known as the Christmas cruise. There was a lot of arguing over who or what caused the fire and I can't recall to this day without reading about it but anyone else can do the same. The shop had been painted to revamp it and all the gloss paint daubed over lifeboat fixings and door locks made life so dangerous . en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSMS_Lakonia#:~:text=Charlesville%20sent%20a%20lifeboat%20shortly,Zarbis%2C%20were%20taken%20to%20Casablanca.

[@geoffdundee]

@mariedodds6307 .......please record and document all your mums precious stories to pass on

[@sheilakethley5351]

My great grandfather was born in Sheffield, and lived in “Y Court Harvest Lane”. I’ve never been able to envision it til now!

[@jeannemillsom9300]

@@sheilakethley5351 I was a student nurse in Sheffield, and for a time lived in Sellars Street, off Abbeydale Road, it was a cobbled street, and the toilets were communal. This was 1975 and I think they were marked for demolition.

[@IoanaMoldovanu]

I am in England for a month and after this video I want to see this museum so I purchased a full tour ticket. Thank you very much!

[@throughlucyslens]

Aww this is amazing! I hope you have the best time in my home city x

[@geoffdundee]

@IoanaMoldovanu ..........if you can travel while in UK..........visit BEAMISH (near Durham/Newcastle).........clips on here if you search.......i was there last weekend - brilliant place........and if youre ever in Glasgow/Scotland there is the TENEMENT MUSEUM (clips on here too.

[@mikebashford8198]

My dad lived in one of these in the 1920s in Icknield Street. He remembered as a child being bathed standing up in the sink in the communal washhouse (I think it was known as a brewhouse) - from what he explained, a metal sink with a coal fire below - the metal was a bit too hot for comfort - so he had to continuously swap from standing on one leg to the other to keep his feet from being burnt.

[@throughlucyslens]

Gosh, can you imagine! The poor kids bathing in pretty much a caldron! Yes, it was called a brewhouse, I meant to say that in the video because I believe they also brewed up beer in there in the very early days. Thanks for your comment Mike x

[@mikebashford8198]

@@throughlucyslens he also told me there was a kind of snobbery - people who lived in front houses regarded themselves as superior to those who lived in back houses. My dad also referred to dustbins as 'miskins', and to the sink drain as 'the suff'. Not sure of the spellings on miskins and suff.

[@throughlucyslens]

@@mikebashford8198 Yes they did mention people facing the street thought they were superior, I guess because your front door went onto the street - still had to go around the back to use the loo though ;)

[@bohotumbleweed8319]

I have an outdoor bathtub that I use very frequently. The fire surely heats the iron red hot and I use two pillows not to burn my bum. But it's outdoor, with real fire,I'm loving it everytime.

[@reallylittlewhy]

@@throughlucyslens Yes, I thought at first that the back might be a better choice as you were closer to the outhouses! But it does make sense that the street had a better view and fresher air, as well as a proper front door.

[@nosmallo]

My mum's side of the family are from Leicester and many of them lived in the slum courts like this. Nearly all of them were employed by the hosiery industry in Leicester. Between 1840-1860 there was huge depression in the industry which lead to a slump in wages, poor standard of living and starvation due to many of them not being able to feed themselves or their children. Likewise the slums were built with little to no drainage and as Leicester sits in a dip, they were often knee high in flood water when it rained hard and then paddling about in the sludge once the waters receded. Many of them lived in St Margaret's which was the poorest area of the city and I read that many of the court slums were little more than converted pig stys. Similarly the land they were built on were previous rubbish dumps and often the houses were slung up on top them before it had even rotted down. The area itself was known for being quite seedy with lots of knocking shops, pubs and beer shops. There was a lot of violent crime, domestic violence and arrests for drunk and disorderly conduct. Public health wasn't much better as the city was struck by regular outbreaks of summer diarrhea and deaths in infants were particularly high as a result. Leicester also refused to implement the smallpox vaccine until the 1853 vaccination act was brought in mandating that all infants under three were to be inoculated. This was due to a widespread belief that the vaccine would cause skin diseases in children. One of my relatives was actually banged up and fined for refusing to vaccinate their child as a result of the legislation.

[@throughlucyslens]

This is fantastic information, thank you. Makes me feel very lucky to live how I do and makes me check myself when I go to moan about something trivial ❤️

[@feliciacoffey6832]

Fascinating information!

[@mrjones2721]

Translation for non-Brits: A knocking shop is a brothel. (I had to look it up.)

[@jeannemillsom9300]

@nosmallo Sadly Leicester is an Asian slum now.

[@jobowie5403]

Loved this. My late partner was from Brum and I have been hearing about these for years. Nothing is more important than the lives of our working class ancestors! Backs to backs were great but you made them come alive for us !

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you so much for your lovely comment. That means lot. There's nothing quite like seeing something is there? ❤️

[@thisis.michelletorres444]

Wow! When reading literature, I've found it hard to imagine how so many people died, but here you really get to see the and imagine the squalor they lived in. Those poor children with their developing immune systems, living around raw, open sewage, no running water, in damp conditions. So sad!😢

[@throughlucyslens]

You can't imagine how anyone lived into adulthood can you? Like you have read much about not only these types of houses but conditions in general in the 19th century and this really brings it to life.

[@MM-qc3ju]

I lived in a back to back house ...2 rooms up, 2 rooms down in Birmingham ... with my mum, dad and brother and sister .. we had a tin bath that hung up on the wall and the toilet that we shared with the front house was up the garden and ive just turned 60 yrs old ... still remember it very well ... especially in the winter we would all sleep in the 1 bed room to keep warm ... mad now I think back but makes me appreciate what I have now ... and khan and bell ...lol i had a few clothes from there and went to " The Rum Runner " ... so many good memories

[@throughlucyslens]

I would have LOVED to have shopped at Kahn & Bell! About 10 years too late unfortunately. Thanks for your sharing your memories x

[@tomsenior7405]

You had a garden? Luxury, we have to step out directly onto the street.

[@donerskine7935]

It's great that these important examples are preserved.

[@susanrawson6318]

I was born in a 1up 1 down back to back house in Leeds. The shared toilet was at the end of the street. And we had a tin bath in the front of the fire. This brought back so many memories

[@throughlucyslens]

Thanks so much for your comment Susan, I love sparking memories for people x

[@Ater_Draco]

Great vid. TYSM for sharing ❤ My great-nan was raised in a 2 up 2 town terrace. No garden, just a tiny yard with space for a small outside loo & coal shed. She was one of 15 children. As soon as the children became old enough, they had to go into service, to make room. Only the two youngest siblings remained in their hometown because there was enough space for them not to have to move out, and because their parents needed their help around the home as they got older. Love your jacket x

[@throughlucyslens]

It’s amazing how many kids were shipped out to make room! When my Moms brother was born he was sent to live with his grandmother .. my Mom still has a few sour grapes she was left in “that damp house” her grandmother had been given a new shiny council house in the suburbs! 15 children though, my oh my. My jacket is from a brand called Lazy Oaf, I love quirky clothes :) ❤️

[@williamwilliams7631]

my family 14 two up in yard one romm dowen and kitchen out side loo and breaw house

[@harry130747]

Some of these houses had only one room plus a cellar.

[@stuartchapman5171]

I'm only 56 but lived in one of those terraces as a small child, bathing in the kitchen sink, no bathroom. They were demolished before I started school, the last ones in my home town I think.

[@jeannemillsom9300]

@@stuartchapman5171 I can remember when I had my first son in 1977, bathing him in the sink, my mother, who came from humble stock was horrified, but dad who came from a middle class background thought it was a very practical idea, much more sensible than a baby bath.

[@pamelawright1369]

I lived in a back to back until 1965 in Sheffield, a bay window, very posh, we had 5 houses in our court. Thank you for sharing 😅

[@throughlucyslens]

I was quite shocked by the bay windows myself actually! 😅

[@carolekralova9108]

Fascinating, and thanks so much for sharing your tour. My grandparents, born in Victorian times, had an outside loo (flushing) complete with cut-up newspaper on a hook/nail. My grandmother also used a mangle, which cracked shirt etc buttons if one forgot to widen the space between the rollers - most likely distracted by another essential household task. Some installations, eg fireplaces and kitchen range, would now be classed much-sought-after or quirky 'period features'; other fitments, not least the doors, appear superior to anything found in today's new builds. Everything about your video induced in me a deep feeling of sadness mixed with nostalgia, despite not having experienced any of it. How much easier we have it today, yet we still find plenty to complain about.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you for your lovely comment. Nothing makes me sadder than original features being taken out 🥹 we are hoping to buy our Victorian 2 up 2 down one day and they are going straight back in 😂

[@laurenr7545]

While not in a little courtyard like these ones, there are heaps of back to back houses left in Yorkshire. Xx

[@pixie3458]

Yes I saw lots of these in Leeds

[@Clutching.My.Pearls]

We visited the Back to Backs when we visited our friends in Birmingham, we're from the US. Wow, it was so interesting, filled with history, AND i found my maternal grandfathers name there!! Dont miss this wonderful site.

[@throughlucyslens]

No way!!! That's incredible. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@margielewis6009]

I like how you shared what it felt like, sadness and the joy you felt in the house.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you, there were certain rooms in that house that had different feelings, decades of lives lived x

[@JanetBailey-bs1kb]

Hi, love your channel! Like you I'm a massive fan of social history. How ordinary people lived, ate, dressed etc. I never get bored hearing their stories . Thanks for sharing glimpses of history x

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you, I appreciate that so much. I love it too ❤️

[@MacheteMB1775]

first off what a lovely well presented video you made .i do have interest in this kind of history too i like the exhibition and the different date settings when you went to the window you remind me of me i think exactly the same who looked out of this window or who locked a door at night i get a image in my mind of a person from the time i like this vid nice work .

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you so much!! I love looking out of windows. I also find a pair of glasses equally evocative - like a whole life is lived through a pair of glasses.

[@karinarock]

Seeing this reminds me of how things were. I was lucky as I was brought up in a detached 3 bed, later turned into a 4 bed house with plenty of space. Makes you appreciate what you had. Love the video Lucy xxx

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you Karina ❤️

[@Melodyixo]

This is so beautifully put together. Thank you very much for sharing this.

[@throughlucyslens]

Glad you enjoyed it! and my pleasure.

[@vickyrushton1783]

Hello a fellow Brummie here although now living in Bedford. I lived in Summer lane and Vyse street in these type of houses. In Summer Lane the dads built a gate at the entrance to the corridor between the house at the front and the chip shop so us kids could play in the court yard safely. Ahhhhhhh the memories built

[@throughlucyslens]

I love this!

[@jeanbeard178]

Thank you for posting this. As an American with British roots, it is fascinating to see how people live or lived in other places. While visiting the Tenement Museum in New York City, which is similar to the Back-to-Back and which I highly recommend, my sister noted that it was a place we would have lived at the time. That's what make them special

[@throughlucyslens]

100% my family would have been in these, my Mom was born in one in 1956, makes you so happy with what you have got. I'd love to visit the tenements in NYC!

[@SimonDeBelleme1]

Buying the coffee probably made you feel almost as poor as the residents of the back to backs. LOL. Absolutely fascinating tour. Thank you for uploading. I will have to pay a visit.

[@throughlucyslens]

Glad you enjoyed it and let me know if you go! It’s a great place x

[@OrganisedPauper]

I grew up in a similar house, but it was a 2 up 2 down terrace. The rooms were much smaller than these. The noise was extremely small. There was no fireplace upstairs. We didn’t have a bathroom and the toilet was not a flush one either. Next door had a 2 holer loo similar to the non flush one shown, but the cabinet was white scrubbed wood. Ours was a metal can with a plastic seat. This was rural Staffordshire. There were 5 of us. Mum, me and my brother and my grandparents. There was not enough room for chairs for everyone so as children we had to sit on the floor in the evening. The zinc bath that hung in a nail in the yard only just fitted into the kitchen on a bath day. Me and my brother had our baths in the sink. My brother’s first cot was the bottom drawer of a chest of drawers. A bathroom and a flushing toilet was only installed in 1979/1980. The house still exists.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thanks for sharing this, it's so important these things are written down & remembered, I live in a 2 up 2 down myself and the bathroom used to be in the garden. Thankfully never had a tin bath - although I was bathed in the sink. Lovely times ❤️

[@OrganisedPauper]

@@throughlucyslens Thanks. I used to live in one too, I still live in a terrace. It's hard to get across just how small the house was. My grandad was a farm labourer.

[@throughlucyslens]

@@OrganisedPauper And I imaging worked so hard and coming home wanting a good wash into such a small space, I agree some of the houses seem very claustrophic even going around in a group so can't imagine what it would be like with a whole family there all the time.

[@OrganisedPauper]

@@throughlucyslens Yes and it was a bath rarely. Had to be a strip wash at the kitchen sink. It was the only sink and heating up water was expensive. Eventually Nan got a twin tub washing machine and would heat up the bath water in that.

[@mikecahill3186]

I was brought up in a 2up2down built in the 1840s? Weaver St Openshaw east Manchester. 18 houses on one side of the street Mill wall on the other, Mill yard and canal at the bottom. I look back at my childhood with only happy memories

[@throughlucyslens]

That's so lovely to hear, thank you for sharing.

[@leeparker8926]

Isn't it awful how we used to live back in those days it was a crime to be poor people of today don't realise how lucky they are

[@dinaworkman306]

There no poor people

[@nickislade5533]

Still a crime to be poor

[@topsyfulwell]

I visited True's Yard Museum in Kings Lynn last year. Same thing. Tiny steep stairs and back to back court. The laundry room was a brew room too. There was fish gutting, cleaning and net repairs all in the courtyard. A smell that never left. The family tree history was on display, and an art gallery showing local artists from back then and now. I stumbled across it while on holiday from Oz. Thanks for your vid ❤

[@throughlucyslens]

Very welcome and im going to look up that museum, sounds great!

[@deborahrogersjohnson293]

Im an American whose ancestry is rooted in Great Britain....your video was really interesting....thank you for showing the "real" way people lived... not just Downton.....

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you. There are far more Anna Smiths than Lady Mary’s x

[@Rye_Toast]

@@throughlucyslens Another American of English descent here, loved this tour! As a modern person who thinks England is one of the coolest countries anywhere I have always had a hard time imagining why my ancestors would've wanted to leave, but then you see how hard life was around the time they left and you can at least empathize that maybe someone living in a crowded back to back style house would want to chase their dreams. The sad reality is that they often ended up in major US cities and found themselves in worse living conditions while also being far from home and community support network they grew up with. It truly was a hard life. Preserving working class houses is so important!

[@throughlucyslens]

@@Rye_Toast I grew up thinking the USA was the coolest place in the world .. thanks for Ferris Bueler and Adventures in Babysitting! We always want we can't access don't we? Humans are such complex beings. and yes, it's so sad how they often just went somewhere just as terrible, if not worse, the same went for the "£10 poms" who ventured over to Australia too x

[@eliakimjosephsophia4542]

It's great to preserve historical buildings and their activities. More youngsters should visit such places and learn some gratitude for what they have today. When I was born, there was still food rationing after WW2, no bath, wash down in the sink, outside toilet in the basement. Dad even decorated a wall in the lounge with newspaper and made curtains from bamboo that he tied together. He was a bit of a bohemian, my military dad sung and played the spoons to entertain us. There was a courtyard behind us below, but only the pub next door had access to it for storing their beer barrels. The house had three storey's, the main rooms were a decent size but the kitchen was tiny.

[@throughlucyslens]

Sounds like my childhood in the 1980s too to be honest. I’m trying to get my niece and nephew into history but sadly they prefer their tablets 😓

[@eliakimjosephsophia4542]

@@throughlucyslens I loved history at school, we worked on some great projects. I particularly liked the history of fashion projects. Had mum not dragged me out of school at age 15, I might have gone into theatre or costume design. Although dad had high hopes that I would go to University and become a journalist. So well done you. We spent some of our school holidays at Coram Fields in London, if you ever visit. It was an orphanage were people left their babies outside in Victorian times. It is right opposite Great Ormand Street Children's hospital and a short walk from Charles Dickens house. I used to love walking around London looking at all of the blue plaques to see who lived there in times gone by. Loved swanning around all of the historic sites, museums, and galleries. Best regards to you and your channel. x

[@gryl7471]

My Dad played the spoons, too. Thanks. I hadn't thought of that in years.

[@eliakimjosephsophia4542]

@@gryl7471 Lovely memories of singing together. At Christmas, I bought some CD's of old pub songs. The elders loved it.

[@MargaretUK]

My mother was born in a B2B house in Barford St in 1930, so it was really fascinating to watch this, thank you 😊

[@throughlucyslens]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@williamwilliams7631]

Barford st of Mcdonald st Balsall heath

[@harvestmoon-k1446]

My family the Cosiers lived in Barford Street when they came to the midlands during the mid 1800's looking for work at the time of the industrial revolution. They left the Cotswolds when sheep farming collapsed.

[@williamwilliams7631]

@@harvestmoon-k1446 past barford st on was to school st albans

[@karenebarker9244]

I'm from the southern United States with a Welsh and English background on my mother's side. Since I discovered your channel, I sit down each morning with a cup of coffee to watch a couple posts. Its my guilty pleasure ! You did a wonderful job videoing this tour. I also try to hang back on tours to savor the places and get photos. I have learned so much about the life of our ancestors through your efforts . Thank you!

[@throughlucyslens]

Oh Karen, this is so lovely, you don't know how much it means to me - honestly! Yes, I always hang back as otherwise you get rushed about and it really annoys me! Some people are good with a quick peep but I like to stand and take it all in x

[@sonyawhite8923]

Absolutely love these videos and love you, Lucy! You're giving me the chance to see and experience things I wouldn't get a chance to.

[@throughlucyslens]

I'm so glad! This means the world to me x

[@Nyctophora]

Thank you for sharing history!

[@wendymorrison5803]

In Sydney Australia there is a preserved set of homes like this. They are kept to show how people lived in tenements during the Great Depression period. It's visceral.

[@throughlucyslens]

Gosh I would LOVE to visit Australia! My Mom lived in Sydney for several years but I never got the pennies to visit. I would be all over a visit to that museum too!

[@mnj640]

​@@throughlucyslensstart saving!

[@amyb1116]

Where is this?

[@alexac3098]

@@amyb1116Birmingham city center.

[@amyb1116]

@@alexac3098 sorry I meant where the similar one is in Sydney!

[@jeanettegant2894]

I remember Kahn and Bell from my student days. Also we all shared these back to back houses, there was no heating except one gas fire in one room. We thought it was normal.

[@throughlucyslens]

Happy memories! We only had one gas fire until I was about 11.. all crowding around it red faced. I never remember being cold though.

[@WendyJoseph-ww8ws]

Chilblains

[@sargee97]

Thanks for sharing, it was lovely to see all the rooms and hear some of the history. Kind regards Angeline

[@throughlucyslens]

My pleasure Angeline. I’m pleased to hear you enjoyed it x

[@elizabethappleton9621]

Great video, thank goodness the houses have been saved and are now protected. Look foward to seeing more of your videos x

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you very much. I appreciate that 🥹

[@reallylittlewhy]

I was very happy that your video showed up in my feed! I really enjoy learning about how ordinary people lived their day-to-day lives, and your photography and narration is a wonderful way to enjoyably learn more.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you, oh gosh that’s made my day. ❤️

[@vanessasimmons1175]

I lived in a back to back house. I had the back part. There were 2 front doors and mine led down a dark corridor to a living room, tiny kitchen and stairs up to one bedroom. No bathroom, outside loo. I washed in the kitchen sink. Can’t believe it. But it enabled me to save money and move up the property ladder. Those were the days!

[@throughlucyslens]

I think that's brilliant! Thank you for sharing, I love to hear from people that lived in the house type I feature.

[@catherinewholey3630]

I've visited these back to backs a couple of times-once wasn't enough as there is so much detail and the houses are incredible. I also had fantastic guides-they really know their stuff and they don;t rush you round they give you plenty of time to absorb the atmosphere. Well worth a visit. The children in one of my groups got to try out the beds and handle some of the objects and seemed to really enjoy the inclusiveness. A very interesting place to visit

[@throughlucyslens]

Totally agree! We had a group of children and she encouraged them to touch, sit down .. that’s so important when you are learning. I wish I had the time to volunteer!

[@catherinewholey3630]

@@throughlucyslens Me too!I wish I lived nearer. Such a great place!

[@annaschmidt2]

Very interesting! Thank you for showing us these historical homes. I find working class history more interesting than castles or grand homes because it is reflective of how the majority of people lived.

[@throughlucyslens]

I'm exactly the same Anna, and honestly i've never wished I was a "princess" or living in a castle so they leave me cold.

[@CaroleKennedy-c5w]

Thanks for all your videos on the social history of Birmingham. I have had many family members who moved to Birmingham from my home of northern Ireland, during pre and post war years for work and stayed there. As I love social history too, it's brilliant to see where they may have lived. I'm planning to holiday family this year and will definitely be visiting places you have featured on your videos.

[@throughlucyslens]

Have a lovely time! You will be welcomed warmly x

[@oysterdiva2853]

Hello Lucy from Gainesville, Florida. I loved your tour! Thanks so much for sharing! You're awesome 💚💙💜

[@throughlucyslens]

Oh thank you! Hello from Birmingham - it's hot hot hot out there right now? I still have Florida weather on my phone from my last visit out there in 2022 ❤️

[@cate5272]

Thank you Lucy for a wonderful look into the past, just came across your channel. Looking forward to seeing where else you go. ❤

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you so much! I think I need to make some plans don’t I? 🤭x

[@Gallawenn]

We had many of these back-to-back houses where I live in north of Spain. I am from a little town and there were at least 17 of these groups of houses. Factory workers and their families used to live workers there. Now I think we only have two of them as museums (you can visit the yard and some of the old houses, wich have been restored with ancient furniture and everything) We call these places "Citadels" and they look so much as these you are showing us. We also have a modern citadel (when I say "modern" I mean that the citadel is on a 1970 building) in wich so many people still living nowadays. This one has much modern apartments people still buying or renting today.

[@throughlucyslens]

Hey! What city are they in? I would genuinely love to make a visit. thank you so much for opening my eyes about this!

[@Leah-s6p]

Absolutely beautiful. Defo need to visit, love history.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thanks so much! Definately worth the visit!

[@u-neekusername4430]

Thank you so much for bringing this to us. VERY well done, including the pre-tour, loved it!

[@throughlucyslens]

My pleasure and thank you so much. I do really appreciate it ❤️

[@u-neekusername4430]

@@throughlucyslens No THANK YOU! I'm bed bound w/mobility & access issues on my best day. But my mother n I used go explore historical places (n the lives of the people who lived/worked there) all the time. Then it was just me, n now it's nothing...OR SO I THOUGHT! You really made me feel like I was there, looking n exploring all things my mother n I would've. So THANK *YOU*, thank you so much. I hope you get ALL that ad money, including when I backed up/replayed n tripped another one for you.😊💗

[@throughlucyslens]

🥹🥹🥹 you are so lovely. Let me know if there's anywhere you want me to go, a few years ago I was really unwell and bed bound myself and I thought if I ever get out of this fug I'm going to pay it forward for all the hours and hours of you tube I watched - then ran out of the sort of stuff I like to watch so add to it 😂

[@u-neekusername4430]

@@throughlucyslens I'm in NZ n have only been in UK twice so just keep it coming; cuz even on the off chance I've seen it, I guarantee that your tour is better! ....also I have on n off days for being able to type n miss heaps of notifications, so sorry for the delayed reply to your kind n emphatic words. 🤗

[@throughlucyslens]

@@u-neekusername4430 No problem at all, we all have busy lives, and I appreciate the "on and off days" thing more than most. x

[@OMG_ItsDrJennie]

My mom and her six siblings (one off whom died very young) were born and brought up in a back-to-back on the side of a canal in Oldbury (not far from Brum). She didn't talk about it much, but I'm sure it was not an easy life, especially as her dad suffered from PTSD from the trenches in WW1. Loved your video - your enthusiasm for the subject is fantastic. I'll defo be dropping by again 😊❤

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you. We had some PTSD in our family from WW1 im trying to get hold of the records but it’s tough as some of them are not quite 100 years old yet. So many sad stories but I’m proud of them x

[@rebeccawales17]

Hi Lucy I have stumbled across your channel by chance and I am so glad I did. I also love social history too. I look forward to watching more of your videos. Thank you.

[@throughlucyslens]

No, thank you! I really do appreciate it, amazing to link up with other social history lovers ❤️

[@joysmith6013]

I loved this video. We visited the Back to Backs a few years ago and loved every minute of it. I could not believe that people actually lived like that. Our tour guide was amazing too. I have now subscribed to your channel. Thank you for the great video.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you so much for your kindness Joy x

[@buddhabro.9130]

I immediately recognized those types of houses from the TV series Call the Midwife. especially when they were in the 1950s and early 60s Some of the neighborhoods in the east end of London are portrayed similarly, Not always hygienic but I do admire the sense of community those places had. Also, the first few episodes of the current season of All Creatures Great and Small, had a few of those houses, when James Harriot helps the Young boy Wesley Binks and his dog Duke. if i ever come to Brittian I'll definitely check it out 🙂🙏

[@throughlucyslens]

... and you will be so welcome! I absolutely adore Call The Midwife. It's one of my comfort watches! X

[@roowyrm9576]

In the mid 1970s I lived in Dukinfield (Greater Manchester) in a 2-up-2-down back to back. There was a kitchen downstairs at the back, and a livingroom at the front, into which the front door opened. Upstairs there were 2 bedrooms, and you had to pass through one to get to the other. There was a tiny yard at the back, containing a coal bunker, and the privy (outdoor toilet). No bathroom, just the bathroom sink. There was a back wall with a door in it, then a tiny "ginnel" (alleyway) with a gutter running down the middle, running along the row of houses, and then the back wall of the next row of houses. Every so often there would be an archway between 2 of the houses, and another dinner running through as a shortcut between one street and the parallel one behind.

[@throughlucyslens]

Love this, thank you for sharing!

[@jeepsthetimebandit]

It sounds more like a terrace if there was a backyard. I might have read your comment wrong, though.. Did you have a back door to the backyard? Yeah, I've just read it again, and it was a terraced house. A back to back is like a terraced house split in half. One family in the front room, and another family in the back room. They're literally living back to back.

[@leetaylor13]

I was born in Dukinfield. Are you describing something near Sand Street? I now live in a back to back in Bradford

[@roowyrm9576]

@leetaylor13 the house was on the main road that went straight through. I worked at a wood turning mill for a while.

[@Ann65.]

I’m so glad these houses remain. It’s years since I visited them, with my Husband. How little people had but fabulously rich in love and pride in their homes and families! Thank you for this… ❤

[@throughlucyslens]

That's what I absolutely love about them too. You can have "nothing" but have everything compared with someone who doesn't have love. I think they are wonderful and think about them a lot 🤣

[@cambbrown6205]

Thank you Lucy. I hope to visit myself having watched this. Look forward to your next video. Have you visited Blists Hill in Ironbridge?

[@throughlucyslens]

I haven't! Funny story, my parents took us 30 odd years ago but it was a bank holiday and all the speedbanks were empty so we couldn't go in! I should make up for it shouldn't I?

[@pat_an466]

My mum's parents lived in a back-to-back house in Gosta Green (Aston), Birmingham, and brought up four children there. I used to visit with my mum when I was little, and it brought back lots of memories to see this, so thank you.

[@throughlucyslens]

You are so welcome. These houses were so prominent in millions of peoples lives I'm glad these ones have been kept and restored ❤️

[@sicks6six]

my family lived in a two up two down, one sitting room and one bedroom, a single gas ring in the pantry at the top of the stairs, mum & dad slept in the front room, the kids in the back room, No toilet, it was a cold water flat but it had an Ascot water heater on the wall, fill up buckets and fill a tin bath in front of the coal fire, after 25 years of living in that they moved into a newly built council house with a kitchen, three bedrooms and bathroom with hot water on tap, they only got that because I was born and the old flat was classed as severely overcrowded, did I get any gratitude, what you think?

[@throughlucyslens]

I bet you didn’t 😂 gosh we had an ascot water heater in my first home! It had two temperatures … freezing or scalding!

[@loricampbell4174]

Just finished reading Helen Forrester's book "A Cuppa Tea and an aspririn" based in Liverpool back to back neighbourhood. Thanks for the tour.

[@throughlucyslens]

I'm 100% going to get that book tonight! If you like books like that there's a great author called Annie Murray that writes a similar series set in Birmingham x

[@neilstephen6761]

Thank you for sharing

[@throughlucyslens]

My pleasure ❤️

[@amandak.8629]

This is the first video of yours that I’ve watched, and it was amazing! Thank you for showing us those interesting homes. I’m in the US, so I had never heard of them before this video…and I LOVE history and learning, so I learned something new! Thank you. I will be watching more of your content. Already subscribed!

[@throughlucyslens]

Thanks for watching and for your lovely comment. It's really made my morning. I think it's incredible I can reach people all over the world and come outside my bubble, as a kid I had loads of "pen pals" in the USA, Australia and even Japan & China so it feels really refreshing :) ❤️

[@anneamus]

(Full disclosure)As an American, I have never understood how the good, working class of England continue to tolerate the cost of "monarchy" and all the attendant expense of supporting "royals".

[@throughlucyslens]

Many of us feel the same as you - but many love them too. It's a catch 22 and part of the culture, kind of engrained in from the stamps, currency to days off work when someone dies / is born / gets married .. bonkers place but love it all the same!

[@hannahford2446]

Such a great video I am from America originally living in Birmingham for over 15 years and had no idea this existed. I’ll be touring them for sure. Keep it up. These videos are great!

[@throughlucyslens]

Hope you are enjoying the city. They are a hidden gem for sure :)

[@theresapierce3934]

All that white privilege.

[@throughlucyslens]

Hey Theresa, please do expand on this comment if you have time, I’m always willing to listen & learn ❤️

[@sommesoul33]

@@throughlucyslensits because some people think caucasians had it easy. When in fact the working class of Britain spent hours and hours working and living in crowded homes. A lot in a bad state of disrepair and diseases. She means it sarcastically as in there was no white privilege for the poor. Miners for example.

[@jacqui7261]

Just a brilliant video ! Going to try and visit this place in the summer.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you so much and enjoy it, it's a really special place.

[@shosmyth1454]

Thank you Lucy for such an awesome tour! 🌺

[@throughlucyslens]

You are so welcome!

[@lindavallar2167]

Thank you this was great!! I love history like this too!!

[@throughlucyslens]

You are very welcome. These houses are so special ❤️

[@tinabruce7260]

Thank you for pointing out such an interesting site - it will be on my list of places to see when next I visit the UK.

[@throughlucyslens]

You are very welcome. It's an amazing place and you will love it x

[@carole5951]

One amazing place to visit. The tour guides our amazing.🐞

[@throughlucyslens]

Aren’t they? So passionate! The lady that took us around was so professional and informative. And to think they are volunteers too it’s amazing!

[@keltaruusutravels4024]

Thank you for the mini tour

[@throughlucyslens]

Very welcome x

[@annescott2748]

I really enjoyed this tour. Thank you for filming it. It's on my list for a visit!

[@throughlucyslens]

Glad you enjoyed it and you are very welcome Anne - we share a sirname :)

[@frankprice7575]

Another fascinating video Lucy, want to visit soon.

[@throughlucyslens]

You will love it, such a special place c

[@lynneleverton8825]

Hi...I didn't even know back to back houses existed until watching You Tube. I feel so spoilt at 60 as my parents always bought new build properties! Loved the video!

[@throughlucyslens]

So nice of you, thank you! To be honest I would have loved to see a new build in the 50s and 60s with all the bright colours and “mod cons” 😍

[@lynneleverton8825]

@@throughlucyslensI remember we had bright orange wallpaper late 60's but everything else was just my normal I guess! This is all stuff out of history books for me, like wash houses and outside loos It's all so interesting though. I'll look forward to your next videos. ❤

[@leetaylor13]

"my parents always bought new build properties!" My parents bought a bew build a few years before I was born. I can still recall my surprise as a four or five year old when I discovered that some people bought second hand houses. :)

[@annwatts9884]

Loved watching video, now subscribed so I don't miss any more. Thank you

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you so much, very appreciated!

[@timefortea1931]

Brilliant video! I'm fascinated by court housing. I was quite touched by Herbet's story.

[@throughlucyslens]

I really really want to do more research on the residents of that court, really get into the census records, all their stories touch me.

[@joannewall5499]

These are like the houses my granny lived in and my dad was born in one, she moved out in the 50’s and the housing was demolished. I remember outdoor toilets

[@throughlucyslens]

I love sparking memories for people. Thanks for your comment ❤️

[@tashaimpressions]

Interested in history, thank you for sharing.

[@throughlucyslens]

Glad you enjoyed it and you are so welcome,

[@heyo3846]

Verry cool!! We dont have these in Nova Scotia Love history 💕

[@throughlucyslens]

Hello from the UK! Thanks for your lovely comment x

[@KarenKarn]

Fascinating. I was born and raised in Moseley, Birmingham. Haven't been back since 2018. ❤ Subscribed.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you! I lived in Moseley for a couple of years, just down on the Alcester Road, my first home with my now husband :) .. thanks for subscribing ❤️

[@bernadettecrawford3656]

❤ so interesting my own paternal family lived in same houses in liverpool too

[@itryhardsamvlogs4268]

Loved seeing this. I really like the idea of the courtyard where women gathered to do laundry etc. Oh I love these videos, I am binge watching them now ive discovered you Lucy, thank you

[@throughlucyslens]

They had an amazing community in those courts - stuck together through good times and bad, it was badly missed when they started to pull them down, even though the conditions probably weren't!

[@trudyhollis2421]

Hi Lucy, so happy to find your channel! The wash house took me straight back to my great grans little end terrace. Built on the side was the wash house complete with the brick boiler and wash board. She thought she was lucky to have it all to herself. My gran only ever washed on a Monday and used the boiler and the mangle until the early 1980's. Thank you for giving me some lovely memories x

[@throughlucyslens]

I’ve always wondered why wash day was always Monday. It was the same in my nans house too x

[@dianech]

What an amazing insight into the past!

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you :)

[@agnespm4181]

Thank you for sharing. This was so interesting.♥

[@whoamiduh8394]

You've done a great job recording this, its easy yo watch and not quick at all. Your voice over is also very easy to listen to and your voice is nice :)

[@throughlucyslens]

Wow, thank you! Appreciate it

[@katm5903]

If I ever get across the pond, I would love to see this! I know it has been used in many television reality shows that I've seen. Thanks for sharing!

[@throughlucyslens]

Amazing, and you will be made so welcome :) thanks for your comment x

[@hannahk1306]

Wow! That "modern" toilet was *exactly* like the ones at one of my schools (first opened in 1958). Looks like a fascinating place to visit. I think they had these in London too, because I've seen period dramas set in Victorian and 20th century London that had this kind of setup. I never realised that they were essentially two rows of houses stuck together though.

[@throughlucyslens]

Yeah, they were all over the UK, there's still some in long rows with a road either side in Yorkshire & Lancashire, some are still back to backs & some have been knocked through. These are the only court ones left though x

[@Wizzz28]

We moved to the Isle of Man in the middle of the 1960's I remember there was a large estate of back to back houses near us which they were demolishing. It was an amazing playground! Everybody had moved out & it was so interesting to go into the houses & see what they left behind. Like you said all original fireplaces & stuff. There was also a shop which had been abandoned with loads of canned stuff still on the shelves.

[@throughlucyslens]

Thanks for sharing! I would have loved that too!

[@_Simnesia_]

That was absolutely fascinating! Thank you so much, not just for sharing your visit. But also for your informative and insightful commentary.

[@throughlucyslens]

Glad you enjoyed it and for your lovely comment, really appreciate it ❤️

[@RuthWilliams-z8m]

That was brilliant! Thank you and keep up the good work 😊🎉😊

[@throughlucyslens]

You are so welcome. Thank you ❤️

[@1961-v9k]

The interiors of the back to back houses are just like the houses that have been restructure at Beamish Museum near where I’m from in the Northeast of England. There are 1820s homes, a 1900s town, a 1900s pit village, a 1940s farm and a 1950s town as well as various other vintage attractions. The 1950s aged miners homes are a replica of cottages taken from Marsden Road in my home town of South Shields. I’ve only just discovered your channel and I love it 👍🏼

[@throughlucyslens]

Thanks so much! I am DESPERATE to go to Beamish. I’ve wanted to go since I was a kid and saw it on Blue Peter - it’s always stuck with me … one day! Would love it:

[@1961-v9k]

@@throughlucyslens you would love it. Excuse the pun, but as the saying goes, It’s right up your street 👍🏼

[@throughlucyslens]

Hahahaha I love it - it is!

[@alexac3098]

What city/town is this closest to? I’m American and would like to make a note of this in case I can ever get out that way.

[@1961-v9k]

@@alexac3098 Beamish museum is in a town called Stanley in County Durham. Durham is a lovely city located south of Newcastle upon Tyne, another city worth visiting. You could spend all day at Beamish open air museum 👍🏼

[@alannachristie6495]

Absolutely fascinating! If I ever make it to England this and others like it will be on my bucket list! Thank you!!

[@throughlucyslens]

You are so welcome, and never stop dreaming, you will make it one day x

[@jaspereq]

Thanks for the terrific video! My Grandfather's family was from Birmingham before coming out to Australia as ten-pound-poms in the '50s. Great to get a bit of an idea of what life might have been like for everyday people around time that he was growing up.

[@throughlucyslens]

Glad you enjoyed it and thank you! Enjoy the lovely autumn you will have coming in over there right now :)

[@tomsenior7405]

Your enthusiasm is infectious. Go for it girl. When I was a child, I thought all my schoolfriends lived in a 5 bedroom dethatched house in its own gardens. It wasn't until I went to friends' birthday parties that I saw a different word. I felt humbled and enthralled in equal measure. Suddenly, my grandparents' home didn't feel quite so small. My grandparents' downsized in the 1960s from a lovely home in a nearby village, to be closer to my parents' home.

[@throughlucyslens]

Honestly, this really rung true to me. I was lucky, my parents had a lovely home, albeit it a 3 bedroomed semi, but like you, you just exist in the world you live in don't you? I had a friend that lived in a tower block and it was like a different world to me, and I think it was at that point I fell in love with social housing, I thought it was so exciting and "different" without really looking at the realities but they were so happy with their lives and I sucked it all in.

[@Brigitte_Cantin]

Thank you for this, it fascinates me and will probably be as close to me visiting as I live in Canada. Are there any work houses you could visit and film for us close to home? Maybe a middle class edwardian home as well? (I don't know what is available in Birmingham and too lazy to Google 😅) 😻😘😘💖💖💖💖💖 I'll also try to remember to post your channel in my own videos cause wow! 😂

[@throughlucyslens]

Thanks Brigitte, really lovely words. There is a workhouse video coming up in a couple of weeks, it's taking a lot time as I like to fact check all the info before I do the voiceover ... it's one of the most powerful places I've been. Hmm there is also an Edwardian House I could show you - Joseph Chamberlain who's son became Prime Minister lived here x

[@LACEDONLINE]

These videos! Love looking at the old houses!! Thank you!! 💖💖

[@throughlucyslens]

Very welcome and glad you enjoy them x

[@tl1110]

That was a really interesting video. Thanks for sharing 😃

[@throughlucyslens]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks so much for your lovely comment x

[@MicaFarrierRheayan]

I love this kind of architecture.

[@melodybucker3803]

Texas, US here. Loved this video! I love this type of history, well done😊

[@throughlucyslens]

Hey! So good to "meet" you, thank you so much I really appreciate it ❤️

[@dianeford6796]

Hi Lucy, I came across your videos by chance and what a find!!!!!! Thank you so much as I have gone back in time to my own childhood. I'm 60 and where I lived was in a row of old houses which ended up being pulled down due to the condition of the buildings. We had an out side toilet and 1 tap in the back kitchen. There was no hot water. The back yards were white washed and seemed very cheerful. I have enjoyed watching your trips and I am really interested in life during WW2. It fascinates me the fact that people had so little food and belongings yet they were happy to share what they did have. We are so lucky that we don't have to go through what these people did and it's nice to have a reminder of how far we have come. Many, many thanks, Diane x

[@throughlucyslens]

Hey Diane, thanks for your lovely comment, I'm glad it sparked some happy memories for you, that's the thing about places like this. As poor as people were most only remember love and community. It's sad we have lost that. ❤️

[@karenentwistle6635]

Hi Lucy really enjoyed tour , I'm 64 , and the cowboy wall paper I remember in a children's clothes shop my mum use to bob in when I was a child and it would have been old paper then , we do have a few back to back where I live in Barnoldswick , use to call them 1 up 1 down and a tap , that that's what they were when you think of it , wow dear coffee , that would have been a week's wage back in time of them house you've just viewed , I've only just come across you site by flicking through, looking forward in following you more well done you've a nice talking voice 👍👊👏👏

[@throughlucyslens]

Thank you. That's really kind of you - 1 up 1 down and a tap! I absolutely LOVE that so much! Thanks for your support and I look forward to you travelling with me ❤️