Inside a British Back-to-Back House in 1960 — Room by Room

In 1960 a great many British families were still living in a back-to-back house, most of all in Leeds. One room downstairs with a cellar under it, a bedroom above and an attic in the roof, while another house was joined to the back, facing the next street. This film walks through one in Hunslet, Leeds, in December 1960, room by room. We start on the street under the gas lamps and step straight into the living kitchen, with its black-leaded range, the rented telly and the set pot in the corner for Monday. Then down to the cellar with its stone slab and shilling meter, up the turning stairs to the parents' bedroom, and on to the attic under the slates. A back-to-back had no back door, so the lavatory meant going out of the front door and along the row to the closet yard shared by eight households. We also visit the courts and brewhouses of Birmingham, follow the first family on the row to leave for a house with a bathroom, and finish back on the pavement with what became of these houses. In Leeds, about 19,500 of them are still lived in today. Sources: https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.u... https://secretlibraryleeds.net/2017/0... https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/142804 https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.u... https://www.historytoday.com/archive/... https://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Armley%... https://www.thoresby.org.uk/content/S... https://api.parliament.uk/historic-ha... https://bradfordhistorical.org.uk/hou... https://mylearning.org/resources/kitc... https://www.mylearning.org/resources/... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reckitt... https://www.friendsofbeamish.co.uk/qu... https://terramedia.co.uk/reference/st... https://terramedia.co.uk/reference/st... https://hansard.parliament.uk/html/Co... https://joemoran.net/journalism/long-... https://www.mylearning.org/stories/do... https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article... https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.u... https://www.shadyoldlady.com/location... https://www.mylearning.org/resources/... https://rushdenheartsandsoles.co.uk/h... https://sse.adlibhosting.com/AIS/Deta... https://www.accessable.co.uk/national... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber... https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/... https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.u... https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.u... https://tribunemag.co.uk/1953/12/pock... https://visionofbritain.org/census/ta... https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/139448 https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visi... https://www.nationaltrustcollections.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brummie... https://api.parliament.uk/historic-ha... https://bmbhistory.org.uk/bmb-history... https://api.parliament.uk/historic-ha... https://birminghamconservationtrust.o... https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/ep... https://wellcomelibrary.org/moh/repor... https://singleaspect.org.uk/?p=2259 https://her.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/Th... https://api.parliament.uk/historic-ha... https://www.memorialfund.org.uk/proje... https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/... https://bradfordmuseums.org/redevelop...