Thirsty Scholars

The ''On Top of the World'' Project is a community programme run by Anne Finnegan and Tina Cribbin who work with older people in tower blocks in Hulme in Manchester, giving them a sense of community and looking after their needs, be it physical health, help with mobility or loneliness. We are proud to present this book which is a collection of stories that describe the residents'' journeys to Hulme and how this special place became home. The residents share memories of the Hulme of their youth; charabancs, local characters, terraced streets and old pubs and the evolution of the area into deck-accessed flats and concrete play parks. Like its residents, these stories are full of guts, joy and courage. The tales fly off the page, land on your heart and allow you to relive Hulmes past from a residents perspective. It also includes The Hopton Hopefuls, a play written by Tina Cribbin which centres on the only remaining pub in Hulme and some of the old boys relationship with it. The aim of Thirsty Scholars was to give a voice to a generation that helped build this country but are now largely forgotten. ABOUT THE AUTHORS: The authors are the residents of Hulme whose stories have largely been forgotten. Hulme is a district close to Manchester City Centre, famous for social upheaval over the past 70 years. From the infamous Crescents, originally based on the Georgian architecture of Bath but which were poorly made and stood for less than 20 years but which later turned from family homes into squats, to the gentrification of the area in more recent years as Manchester''s Universities expanded into the area - driving rents up and pushing residents out. This project aims to give voice to the dispossessed and tell the stories of people who can recall a time before the crescents and the story of the area first-hand.