For me, it was eye opening because although I drive through these areas all the time, you never get to really see the heart of places from the main roads. They were desolate, heavily run-down and often soulless.
My dad told me it was far too early in the day for any of these places to be busy with people because everyone is still in bed recovering from the heavy drinking they did from the night before - it was around 1pm when we went out.
Many of the people that were up at that time were extremely cautious of me carrying around a camera in their neighbourhood. I think they thought I was out to get them in some way, maybe they thought I worked for the council. There were a few netted curtains tweaking as I walked past their front rooms.
For my dad, I think it was quite emotional in a way because since he's lived there, there has been a vast amount of regeneration and much of what he is used to seeing just isn't there anymore. Pubs he used to drink in have been boarded up, flats he used to visit his mates in have been knocked down or shut down at the least and factories my grandma used to work in have been turned into trendy flats.
One thing thats common in all of the places I visited - Ancoats, Miles Platting, Salford, Harpurhey, Moss Side, Rusholme - money is thrown at them like it's going out of fashion, but it never seems to help. New flats, parks and playgrounds, youth centres...the lot. But it's still the same old shitty estate where it's a struggle to grow up.
I've had a very different life to my dad and I've got him and my mum to thank for that because they both got out of the cycle. I've heard its quite a hard thing to do.
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