How I escaped Tees Street/Birkenhead : I got 7 CSE's from St Hugh's High School [Grades 2-5 = COMPLETELY USELESS] so I studied O'levels at Birkenhead Tech and scraped [5 C's] whilst living in abject poverty with Dad who was very angry & depressed and regularly told me I was the "thickest of the bunch" and "would amount to nothing" etc etc (I HAD TO ESCAPE OR DIE !!). I was taking no chances and applied to EVERY School of Nursing [except London] . The DOLE called me in to cut off my benefit but I showed them hundreds of Job Applications and by then I had 50 Interviews. They were impressed and gave me Travel Vouchers to attend the first 7, all seven offered me a place [Dad refused to speak to me because I was leaving]. I chose Redhill in Surrey, one of the most affluent parts of the country. I never saw the majority of my friends again, amazingly the Dole gave me a weekly grant to help me relocate for the first year. Of course I STUCK OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB, I had a chance and passed everything and became a Registered Nurse. I certainly proved I was not anencephalic but could never be like "the Lady with the Lamp". Peter Carey - Cert Couns, RGN, RMN, RNT, B Nurs [Hons], PGCE, Pg DIP, RN [ALWAYS PROUD TO BE NORTHERN SCUM].
Well done Peter. I lived in Wallasey but leaving school, there was nothing but schemes with nothing at the end. Eventually I joined the RAF and did well afterwards. But leaving school during those years was a depressing time. Being young, it didn't seem so bad as we still had optimism but if you were older with a family to provide for, it must have been horrendous.
You should be proud mate, I am still in the North End of Birkenhead and things have not changed that much around here, though I have a full time job as a Manager and not one of the unfortunate ones, but well done to you for striving so hard to achieve what you have.
peter carey Well done peter hope you’re proud of yourself mate sounds like you really worked to get where you are and to work as a nurse as well is commendable fair play to you
👍 well done! I was in apprentice training and there's still a lot of no hope and why bother attitude today. If you want it bad enough you'll get it but no one will knock on your door and offer it.
I somehow escaped such a street. It took a long time. But here I am , just turned 60, in Australia and doing far better than I would have if I had stayed home.
I got out of Birkenhead by joining the Army as a Junior Apprentice, and was 15 and 11 months old when I took my oath and signed on the dotted line. By the age of 16 and 4 days, I was at college. I remember my 1st leave after finishing 12 weeks of basic training. I went back to Birkenhead with 450 quid in my pocket. All of my former 'friends' threatened me to give them money to buy crack. I left Birkenhead for the last time, 3 days into my 1st leave, and never went back!
I am originally from Scotland I have been living in Birkenhead for the last 15 years and I can honestly say that Birkenhead people are some of the most hard working friendliest I have ever met in my life is life.
I'm from Scotland and have been living in birkenhead for the past 2 years now a days there just like everywhere else there's more work for people down here tho
THIS is why my family emigrated back in the early 80's. An era of pervasive hopelessness and diminished horizons. People finished school and signed on. Around us was an ocean of poverty and hardship, while the tv shows the affluence that apparently existed elsewhere that only served to reinforce the hopelessness of your circumstance. That was tough to square, but I was 8 years old at this time. I still am not sure how my family gathered the funds together to pay for all the costs involved in emigration, but we did, and our collective horizons and prospects emerged. Still dearly miss 'home', but my life took off elsewhere and so far I've never had a need that could not be met. 40 years and counting... Have mercy, the fellow in the suit that was 42 years old looks 66. Such I suspect was the hard scrabble of life, and hardships.
The young lawyer featured here was an absolute star for doing what he did. I was brought up in Birkenhead - I sat my A levels at Borough Road Tech, while signing on, and I was expected to drop the course if a suitable job came up. Both mum and dad worked to support me and my younger siblings. I was also lucky that a full grant was available for university - I would not have been willing to accept the debt students have today. After paying tuition fees, my grant came to £2100 a year for food, books and rent (13 quid a week!) My Birkenhead friends were not all so lucky - several of them succumbing to the scag (which saturated the place from 84-87 ish) or doledrums. It’s sad to watch the disenfranchised young man playing darts who had given up trying to improve himself - I recognise the effects of schooling and surroundings in shattering dreams of success and breaking people’s spirit.
The lost souls are actually the most resilient, it's a pity our age doesn't recognise how hard it is to stay alive. Interesting comment. Thank for the reminder of our mortality.
Made in the days when programme makers had a certain amount of social conscience. Unlike today, where the occupants would be used, abused, blamed, scapegoated, then cast aside as empty shells, while the TV company responsible picks up the fat cheques and moves onto the next project.
This is because TV today is commercial rather than Independent. In those days, ITV had the monopoly on commercial TV and subject to public service broadcasting obligations. Today, they just chase advertisers who in turn now influence programming. Advertisers like the vilification of the marginalised and dole claimants. It's not an image they want to tie their product to. British TV programming has become superficial as a result. It used to have a plethora of working class hero characters in comparison to its American counterpart
Benefit street was a prime example of how PSB had dropped, in the 1980s Channel 4 would have a programme on why people in the UK are poor, now it laughs at them..
Got to love Danny who is blind What a man he is and may god bless him,, I’m still in shock at Danny working with no complaints from him,, He is just unbelievable man with bad eye sight he gets up early than go’s to work,, God bless ya Danny
I've only just seen this video and it brought back many memories. My best friend at school (Corpus Christi High School, Claughton Village) was Thomas Henderson who lived in Tees Street. It was in the late 1960's early 70's. There was also another lad in my class who lived there. His name was George Caldwell. I can't remember if he lived next door to Thomas or not. I went to meet Thomas one day so we could walk to school together and I was warned not to go there as I might get a thumping being a stranger to that area. Thomas was worried for my safety but I didn't have any problems. I wasn't posh or anything like that. I came from a working class background but had no idea of the reputation Tees Street had at that time. Thomas was a lovely lad and I'll never forget him. I didn't get on with George, I think he thought of me as being posh. I lived on what was known as the Ford Estate at that time so what was posh about that? Like Peter Carey, I too became a nurse but much later in my life. At school we were asked what we wanted to do when we left. I said a nurse but at that time I was told that the girls would be nurses and boys would be mechanics or engineers or builders. More 'manly' jobs. When we left school in 1974 I never saw Thomas again. Sad really.
@@MrAlwaysBlue Business was already failing, grant would have paid for 3 months of service back when their was one provider that would have tied him into a minimum of 12 months service.
Giuseppe - Be kind to people. Mick has had a lot of things on his plate. He has 3 kids. He lost his wife. How would you feel after that? How would you feel if somebody made unpleasant comments to you after all the above? Think before you post, and show respect.
I only ever went to Tees Street once in my life... in the early 90s to identify the burned out shell of my Vaxhaul Cavalier, that was nicked from my flat near Birkenhead Park. The fire was so hot, the number plate had melted and fallen off onto the road, so that's how I knew it was mine. Ah... memories.
The ironic thing is the houses in this street actually look relatively nice. I've seen a lot of streets in quite prosperous areas which look a lot worse than this on the surface.
They knocked them down in the mid 80s and built some new ones, then knocked them down about 10 years ago because they were derelict. They've now built new ones again. These replaced the dock cottages that were there and knocked down in the 60s.
@@BintAlAbla1999 not that good .. most of them couldn’t afford cars! It’s okay we’ll get back to this with pcp contracts on electric cars and fuel at £2+ per litre
@@jaysmartin I,m into old Volvo's, my current car is 27yrs old ...and it will probably last me another 20 !...I would never buy an electric car !...ever !
They don't even walk up the path for the bin, we have to put it on the kerbside for them, my neighbour is 91 and she is expected to drag a bin down her path for some young fellas to put it on a automated lift, madness.
John K 9 months was fast in 1980's. my mum got ours in 1979, even then it was a party line. she'd been on a waiting list since 1968! you literally had to wait till someone died and they re allocated the number.
I would encourage people to believe one can come back from even the worst circumstances. I was out of work, in near despair; but kept searching, even engaging hobbies and things got hugely better.
I was there in 1989, for drydock. Still remember all these warehouses, all derelict, as we went through the docks to the drydock basin. It was situated right next to an disused power station and a huge old tobacco warehouse. I used to try imagining all the workers being there..it was so derelict and sad.
My family lived on Tees Street [Catholics] , there WAS a way out. I am a Nurse, taught at several Universities and live in Adelaide, Australia, Dr Marg has a Doctorate Psychology and was a successful, Tax Lawyer [London], Owen University Lecturer [China/Cyprus], Kath Librarian [Wirral], Bob [Businessman], John Butcher + Law Graduate [Essex] and DrJoe DPhil [Oxford] MBA [Cambridge] CEO of Pharmaceutical Company [Cornwall]- Joe actually failed most of his O'levels at the first attempt then stayed in the house for a year and got mostly AAAAAAAs. It is fair to say WE DID HAVE A BRAIN and WE ALL GOT JOBS !!!
Actually I failed them all but got a GCSE (Grade I) in RE. It was a wake up call. In 1980 it was grim but does not seem to have improved much today for people there. The only way is to get away ASAP, there is a world out there. There are people worse off than shown here, and much better off of course. The point is for most people there is choice.
Wonder what their all doing now almost 40 years later these documentaries from the past are fascinating and a grand for an electricity bill wow omg that’s even a lot today
my great uncle is the ariel fitter at approx 11 mins - he recently passed away, but did some work as a freelance photographer alongside being an ariel fitter :))
Quick google and found out all the houses in this street were demolished some time ago. Now just grassland. Wonder what happened to the people? It's easy to joke about this film and the area, but fact is it must have been so depressing and soul destroying living there with such a grim existence.
Yep. Here's a pic. commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tees_Street,_Birkenhead_-_IMG_0339.JPG Wow. Yeah. Senseless. Who obliterared so many perfectly good homes? No wonder there's a housing crisis to this very day.
GunnersDream Gunz I know this is 6 years ago since youve written your comment. Ive just been on Google earth and its still there. Newer house's are there 1990s era
The year at the end states 1985 - not 1980 - as in the title of this video. Some parts of the programme do pass for 1980, but others are more '84-'85 era, going by people's clothes, hair styles and cars in the street.
This must be 1983-84, as the guy at 2:46 says the dustbin collection was privatised in June 1983 ? Good posting though - I kind of remember seeing this at the time.
THE NORTH END WAS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE WHEN I WAS A KID . I LIVED IN THE AVS (HARDING) . 2 THINGS DESTROYED BIRKENHEAD , RUNNING DOWN CAMMEL LAIRDS AND SMACK . BIRKENHEAD WAS CAMMEL LAIRDS , 12000 WORKERS AT ITS PEAK , AND ALL THE ANCILLARY JOBS . AND COINCIDING WITH SMACK , I WAS A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN . SAME WITH ALL INDUSTRIAL TOWNS , TAKE AWAY THE WORK , PEOPLE GET PISSED OFF AND DEPRESSED . SAY NO MORE . PROUD TO BE A JEDI . LOL
Recent declassified documents have revielled that the Tory Government at the time, waged economic warefare on Liverpool, basically untying Liverpool and pushing it off to it's own catastrophic demise as is seen here during the mid 1980's. For a Government to do that to it's own People, to actively plan and prosecute such an act sends a cold shiver down the spine.
@@jillianhorsley5985 Thatcher had three "generals" who basically came up with a mind map of how to "curb" the Unions. But over the course of time, this became how can we completely destroy the Unions. Utter psychopaths.
June with ten kids! No wonder the electric was so high. Think of all the electricity being used on play station games, use of the power shower and laptops.
I am not British, but I do have an interest in Economics and History. I think Maggie Thatcher and Norman Tebbit have got something to do with this? Her cabinet's economic policies completely ruined the working classes in the early 80s. Yes, London aka the CITY, benefited with all those computers and fund managers and fancy MBA degrees, but the rest of the nation was a BIG TEE STREET! SAD.
You are absolutely right. But we have to recognize the fact that the entirety of the West including Britain has reached a highly advanced stage of Capitalistic development, already at that time. We are engaged in a final era of capitalism. Therefore the vast majority of the Western people are intrinsically no longer profitable in the eyes of entrepreneurs and governments, already at that time. Only a small percentage of Western people can actually fulfill the demands for economic proficiency and profitability nowadays, mainly those involved in the highest of technology. So these people were abandoned and rejected by their own government. The had effectively no chance whatsoever. But in these conditions lies the reason for Britain's decline and demise of today. You call it managed decline or strategic abandonment. Some time ago I traveled to Britain and could not recognize it. I think that the country and culture that I got to know from my earliest English lessons at school onwards and from my journeys as a young fellow is now extinct. And yes, the British administrators prefer the migrants in any way, maybe because especially the Islamic migrants are credited with a higher degree of resilience than original Britons. I don't know whether this is really true, but as the British protagonists don't seem to see any chance of a real economic resurrection, it appears concludent that they prefer to establish a new population on their Isles in order to absorb the inevitable social depredations caused by such a downfall. Just my humble opinion on that matter.
@@syedadeelhussain2691 Yes, as I presume. The welfare of Western populations will perhaps crumble and slide down to the level of Africa, beside a small segment of the peoples engaged in economic activities of the highest class or organized crime. The capitalists will shift their main interest towards the global South which still may offer high profit rates, another reason for the preference accorded for migrants in Britain, given the fact that these maintain their ties with their countries of origin, thus enabling synergic effects in favour of the capitalistic shareholder s. Don't You think that the powers that be in Britain will care a lousy penny about starving original Britons. Yes man, if they are not profitable anymore , they may perish like millions of Irishmen in 1850. The protagonists won't have the slightest remorse about it .
OK so firstly this is not 1980! It's 1985 from what I can tell judging by the narration timelines. 2:35 FFS just change the title - plenty of people have stated this before me already.
I understand...it was bad in Ireland also back then..in fact it was diabolical...50, 000 left that year for USA, Australia and UK...we worked morning, noon, and night if necessary to pay rent at London prices. The accomodation was rough, the pay wasnt stunning..hence always 2 jobs. The men did better, nothing less than 100 sterling a day, half day Saturday.
@@classicartfoundation639 Damn, I know what you mean. nobody should be that down, i'm on hard times myself, but if I ever met mick i'd give him a few quid to pay his electric bill or gas, even for him to have a few drinks down his local. the most upsetting part is nouthing has changed.
There has always been a Noth/South divide, made worse by the Uk government inability to create employment, where they had previously discontinued industries that have previously supported Northern communities.
I came from Moreton, All Birkenhead people were weirdos who wanted to kill us. That said; my wife is from Birkenhead (gulps and looks at bedroom door).
I think there was a documentary on a few years ago featuring james watt street with all the same conditions. Its unbelievable that nothing has changed in 40 years.
How I escaped Tees Street/Birkenhead : I got 7 CSE's from St Hugh's High School [Grades 2-5 = COMPLETELY USELESS] so I studied O'levels at Birkenhead Tech and scraped [5 C's] whilst living in abject poverty with Dad who was very angry & depressed and regularly told me I was the "thickest of the bunch" and "would amount to nothing" etc etc (I HAD TO ESCAPE OR DIE !!). I was taking no chances and applied to EVERY School of Nursing [except London] . The DOLE called me in to cut off my benefit but I showed them hundreds of Job Applications and by then I had 50 Interviews. They were impressed and gave me Travel Vouchers to attend the first 7, all seven offered me a place [Dad refused to speak to me because I was leaving]. I chose Redhill in Surrey, one of the most affluent parts of the country. I never saw the majority of my friends again, amazingly the Dole gave me a weekly grant to help me relocate for the first year. Of course I STUCK OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB, I had a chance and passed everything and became a Registered Nurse. I certainly proved I was not anencephalic but could never be like "the Lady with the Lamp". Peter Carey - Cert Couns, RGN, RMN, RNT, B Nurs [Hons], PGCE, Pg DIP, RN [ALWAYS PROUD TO BE NORTHERN SCUM].
Peter Carey - good on you, male as well couldnt be easy to kick against the grain x
Well done Peter. I lived in Wallasey but leaving school, there was nothing but schemes with nothing at the end. Eventually I joined the RAF and did well afterwards. But leaving school during those years was a depressing time. Being young, it didn't seem so bad as we still had optimism but if you were older with a family to provide for, it must have been horrendous.
You should be proud mate, I am still in the North End of Birkenhead and things have not changed that much around here, though I have a full time job as a Manager and not one of the unfortunate ones, but well done to you for striving so hard to achieve what you have.
peter carey Well done peter hope you’re proud of yourself mate sounds like you really worked to get where you are and to work as a nurse as well is commendable fair play to you
👍 well done! I was in apprentice training and there's still a lot of no hope and why bother attitude today. If you want it bad enough you'll get it but no one will knock on your door and offer it.
I somehow escaped such a street. It took a long time. But here I am , just turned 60, in Australia and doing far better than I would have if I had stayed home.
I adore these vintage UK documentaries, powerful. 👍
You should watch the family it’s about a U.K. family in 1974 it’s really good I watched it 2 days ago on here
Anne Shields how do I find that show?
@@prepperjonpnw6482 Just search 'The Family Episode 1' on here, there's about 10 of them I think.
I got out of Birkenhead by joining the Army as a Junior Apprentice, and was 15 and 11 months old when I took my oath and signed on the dotted line. By the age of 16 and 4 days, I was at college. I remember my 1st leave after finishing 12 weeks of basic training. I went back to Birkenhead with 450 quid in my pocket. All of my former 'friends' threatened me to give them money to buy crack. I left Birkenhead for the last time, 3 days into my 1st leave, and never went back!
A brilliant piece of social history, thanks for the upload. I really hope that they all found some happiness eventually.
I am originally from Scotland I have been living in Birkenhead for the last 15 years and I can honestly say that Birkenhead people are some of the most hard working friendliest I have ever met in my life is life.
Yeah they work hard a robbing houses.
I'm from Scotland and have been living in birkenhead for the past 2 years now a days there just like everywhere else there's more work for people down here tho
@@stephanblack4558 fuck off
Shame about the accents though.
@@ultimatemagic2125khun mai mi samong.
0:20 Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, give him a fishing rod and he can sell it to buy cigarettes.
KInda my thoughts exactly.
The guy in the shop has probably seen that fishing rod hundreds of times
And I bet the rod was robbed.
Probably the only pleasure left in life for him a smoke, would you deny a man that?
😂😂😂😂
THIS is why my family emigrated back in the early 80's.
An era of pervasive hopelessness and diminished horizons. People finished school and signed on. Around us was an ocean of poverty and hardship, while the tv shows the affluence that apparently existed elsewhere that only served to reinforce the hopelessness of your circumstance. That was tough to square, but I was 8 years old at this time. I still am not sure how my family gathered the funds together to pay for all the costs involved in emigration, but we did, and our collective horizons and prospects emerged. Still dearly miss 'home', but my life took off elsewhere and so far I've never had a need that could not be met. 40 years and counting...
Have mercy, the fellow in the suit that was 42 years old looks 66. Such I suspect was the hard scrabble of life, and hardships.
The young lawyer featured here was an absolute star for doing what he did.
I was brought up in Birkenhead - I sat my A levels at Borough Road Tech, while signing on, and I was expected to drop the course if a suitable job came up. Both mum and dad worked to support me and my younger siblings. I was also lucky that a full grant was available for university - I would not have been willing to accept the debt students have today. After paying tuition fees, my grant came to £2100 a year for food, books and rent (13 quid a week!)
My Birkenhead friends were not all so lucky - several of them succumbing to the scag (which saturated the place from 84-87 ish) or doledrums. It’s sad to watch the disenfranchised young man playing darts who had given up trying to improve himself - I recognise the effects of schooling and surroundings in shattering dreams of success and breaking people’s spirit.
The lost souls are actually the most resilient, it's a pity our age doesn't recognise how hard it is to stay alive. Interesting comment. Thank for the reminder of our mortality.
That 42 year old looks like an old, retried World One veteran @ home in his armchair.
It's from growing up in smoke filled pubs and living off nothing but walkers crisps and onions😂
He was just protecting his plenty of fish profile
No chance is he 42. Probably get more on the Dole than a pension
I know. Looks like he’s in his 70’s.
@@kjp1232🚬🤠
Made in the days when programme makers had a certain amount of social conscience. Unlike today, where the occupants would be used, abused, blamed, scapegoated, then cast aside as empty shells, while the TV company responsible picks up the fat cheques and moves onto the next project.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency will change that...
This is because TV today is commercial rather than Independent. In those days, ITV had the monopoly on commercial TV and subject to public service broadcasting obligations. Today, they just chase advertisers who in turn now influence programming. Advertisers like the vilification of the marginalised and dole claimants. It's not an image they want to tie their product to. British TV programming has become superficial as a result. It used to have a plethora of working class hero characters in comparison to its American counterpart
This, World in Action and Panorama we’re proper reality tv not the exploitive freak show garbage we have now.
Talking of fat, that coffin was huge!
Benefit street was a prime example of how PSB had dropped, in the 1980s Channel 4 would have a programme on why people in the UK are poor, now it laughs at them..
I was only born in 1985, but remember well, back when TV was good and such NEWS PROGRAMS as this actually served the public interests.
Same but all i can recall is a guy standing on a floating island telling me the weather.
@@hslmedia2663 lol
@@hslmedia2663who molested children 😮
Well, that cheered me up no end.
Lol
I was depressed. I'm great now..
My grandparents lived at No 5 during the 40s, William and Elisabeth Dempsey R.I.P.
Got to love Danny who is blind What a man he is and may god bless him,,
I’m still in shock at Danny working with no complaints from him,,
He is just unbelievable man with bad eye sight he gets up early than go’s to work,,
God bless ya Danny
I've only just seen this video and it brought back many memories. My best friend at school (Corpus Christi High School, Claughton Village) was Thomas Henderson who lived in Tees Street. It was in the late 1960's early 70's. There was also another lad in my class who lived there. His name was George Caldwell. I can't remember if he lived next door to Thomas or not. I went to meet Thomas one day so we could walk to school together and I was warned not to go there as I might get a thumping being a stranger to that area. Thomas was worried for my safety but I didn't have any problems. I wasn't posh or anything like that. I came from a working class background but had no idea of the reputation Tees Street had at that time. Thomas was a lovely lad and I'll never forget him. I didn't get on with George, I think he thought of me as being posh. I lived on what was known as the Ford Estate at that time so what was posh about that? Like Peter Carey, I too became a nurse but much later in my life. At school we were asked what we wanted to do when we left. I said a nurse but at that time I was told that the girls would be nurses and boys would be mechanics or engineers or builders. More 'manly' jobs. When we left school in 1974 I never saw Thomas again. Sad really.
11:37 The days when ariel fitters just looked like they came out of a pub and just climb onto a roof without any consideration for safety.
He couldn't get a phone, then he didn't want a phone, am I missing something?
Lmao no health and safety back then😃👏👏🇬🇧🏴👍
@@MrAlwaysBlue Business was already failing, grant would have paid for 3 months of service back when their was one provider that would have tied him into a minimum of 12 months service.
At 0.34 secs. the old guy named Mick is declared to be only 42 yrs of age? 82 is more like it
Depression ages people.
Poor families just thrown on the scrap heap. That guys nuts climbing onto that roof
Yeah, I've never seen anyone look that old at 42...
Giuseppe - Be kind to people.
Mick has had a lot of things on his plate.
He has 3 kids.
He lost his wife.
How would you feel after that?
How would you feel if somebody made unpleasant comments to you after all the above?
Think before you post, and show respect.
Alistair Boom Calm down, Mick is long dead, and his kids are in there 40,s now!
I think the rest of the street is tapping into June's supply.
10 fucking kids , no fella and wonders why she’s skint!!!🤔🤔🤔silly bitch!! Keep em closed darling 😩😩😔😔
I know I shouldn't but lmao at your comment. cheers
@@Elbowspurs Apply your own advice to your mouth....
😂😂😂😂😂
I think her sons are growing weed in the loft
Look how clean the streets are.
I blinded myself growing up in Birkenhead, so I didn't have to look at it.
I only ever went to Tees Street once in my life... in the early 90s to identify the burned out shell of my Vaxhaul Cavalier, that was nicked from my flat near Birkenhead Park. The fire was so hot, the number plate had melted and fallen off onto the road, so that's how I knew it was mine. Ah... memories.
Hay your a man after my own hart lol
9:19 They'll be no job left for him if you don't shut your cake hole and let him get on the train!
Ha ha thanks I did get the job
The ironic thing is the houses in this street actually look relatively nice. I've seen a lot of streets in quite prosperous areas which look a lot worse than this on the surface.
They knocked them down in the mid 80s and built some new ones, then knocked them down about 10 years ago because they were derelict. They've now built new ones again. These replaced the dock cottages that were there and knocked down in the 60s.
Where Tees Street was is now a car park behind Birkenhead North train station
@@ajs41 they were decent 4 bedroom houses, I lived at 28 Tees street, tons of room in them .
Mac's in the fourth minute was where I got my first guitar. Nice to see it still going in 1980.
as the narrator walks down tees st at 5.05 i noticed that there was no cars parked up on the street , a rare sight indeed !
Perceptive comment Peter. I can only feel that's a good thing, though some may differ.
@@BintAlAbla1999 not that good .. most of them couldn’t afford cars!
It’s okay we’ll get back to this with pcp contracts on electric cars and fuel at £2+ per litre
I left in 1984 and never looked back. my mum even moved to Prenton after I left. North End was the backside of the world and that's polite
@@BintAlAbla1999 I made up for that street by owning 8 cars at one time !...lol
@@jaysmartin I,m into old Volvo's, my current car is 27yrs old ...and it will probably last me another 20 !...I would never buy an electric car !...ever !
I remember those depressing boards in the jobcentres/dole offices...
Back when bin men(refuse technicians) actually used to pick the dustbin up on their backs. I can't imagine people doing that in this day and age.
They don't even walk up the path for the bin, we have to put it on the kerbside for them, my neighbour is 91 and she is expected to drag a bin down her path for some young fellas to put it on a automated lift, madness.
9 months before you got a telephone! If my internet goes out and it isn’t fixed within 24 hours I’m going crazy.
John K 9 months was fast in 1980's. my mum got ours in 1979, even then it was a party line. she'd been on a waiting list since 1968! you literally had to wait till someone died and they re allocated the number.
I remember when you had to be on a waiting list for a telephone line
my great uncle davey is the ariel fitter :)
I would encourage people to believe one can come back from even the worst circumstances. I was out of work, in near despair; but kept searching, even engaging hobbies and things got hugely better.
I agree Richard life is full of ups and downs and the downs never last for ever. If we never had downs the good times wouldnt seem half as good.
"Vince Baker is short of money for cigarettes"
Lol that sets the tone for this documentary
😂😂😂
A lot of smokers will choose cigs over food any day. That's the power of addiction. What do you mean by tone?
Love these documentaries!
No one understood June's extraordinary high electric bill until they came to realise that she was growing tonnes of cannabis plants in the attic
Haha!
🤧🤧🤧🤤🤤🤤😂😂😂😂
That was just to run her vibrator.
Some say he is still trying to solve the mystery of June’s electricity bill.
@@MrAlwaysBlue indeed a never ending conundrum for him....
The TV Eye episode "Tees Street isn't working" wasn't broadcasted in 1980, it was actually broadcasted on Thursday, 28 November 1985.
John Cooper Yep. I heard the 2 ex-binmen say the refuse collection was bought out in 1983.
It was 1985 ,as that's when Mick Searsons wife died .Also the fact that it was a few weeks after the funeral .how I know it was my mum
That 42 year old finally looks his age around now!
Fuck he’s death warmed up!!! Yoda looks younger than him!!!😳😳
I think he has been drinking the water from the Mersey
Only 42... He looks 72
Surely must ov been a 7 that looked like a 4
9.25 how times have changed the train doors open the very second it stopped
The pawn shop called macs spell it backwards and it spells SCAM.
Nowadays it spells SMACK.
@lunar moon bastard that's blasphemy
Look how clean the street is though
I was there in 1989, for drydock. Still remember all these warehouses, all derelict, as we went through the docks to the drydock basin. It was situated right next to an disused power station and a huge old tobacco warehouse. I used to try imagining all the workers being there..it was so derelict and sad.
42 years old ? I’m 50 and mick looks like my grandad.
My family lived on Tees Street [Catholics] , there WAS a way out. I am a Nurse, taught at several Universities and live in Adelaide, Australia, Dr Marg has a Doctorate Psychology and was a successful, Tax Lawyer [London], Owen University Lecturer [China/Cyprus], Kath Librarian [Wirral], Bob [Businessman], John Butcher + Law Graduate [Essex] and DrJoe DPhil [Oxford] MBA [Cambridge] CEO of Pharmaceutical Company [Cornwall]- Joe actually failed most of his O'levels at the first attempt then stayed in the house for a year and got mostly AAAAAAAs. It is fair to say WE DID HAVE A BRAIN and WE ALL GOT JOBS !!!
Actually I failed them all but got a GCSE (Grade I) in RE. It was a wake up call. In 1980 it was grim but does not seem to have improved much today for people there. The only way is to get away ASAP, there is a world out there. There are people worse off than shown here, and much better off of course. The point is for most people there is choice.
Peter, you're getting quite snotty/pompous now. Become aware. Thanks.
Your dad didn’t love you tho I rem you saying 😂so you had to go had no choice m8
NOT SURE WHy THE UPPER CASE BUT GOOD FOR YOU
Danny Doyle, bless him, had a cracking moustache, and probably didn’t know it.
Mike seerson 42???!!! That poor boy had one hard hard life!!!
Thank you for the upload 🙏❤️🙏❤️
The fishing rod comments at the start cracked me up. 🤣
I'd love to know what happened to these people, I hope they're all ok now!
probably all dead
Aye, I'd like to see an update, see what become of them.
Booms & busted
All dead and their clothes are in charity shops to this day, especially Mick Searson's three piece suit
Poor June is still trying to pay off that huge eleccy bill at ten bob a week.
Is this where they got all the contestants for 'Bullseye' from?
Lol
Excellent!
😂😂😂👌👌
Looks like it. Wheres the caravans though?!
@@blacktooth421 In the back gardens with the speedboats.
"How do you see your future?
Vince Baker- "I see myself being on the dole for the rest of my life"
A man of great ambition lol
I think it was an honest comment at that time. Seriously. Hopefully, things have improved.
I wonder if his dream came true
0:20 "I'm starvin' lad, I need a ciggie!" Lol, WTF!?
Lol tobacco, the great appetite suppressant
Hello mrs Wilde I've come to have a look at your box !........phnar phnar.
WE NEVER FORGET ..WE ARE NOT ASHAMED!
well ya should be bone idle ponces
Wonder what their all doing now almost 40 years later these documentaries from the past are fascinating and a grand for an electricity bill wow omg that’s even a lot today
my great uncle is the ariel fitter at approx 11 mins - he recently passed away, but did some work as a freelance photographer alongside being an ariel fitter :))
Growing cannabis in the attic I heard
Quick google and found out all the houses in this street were demolished some time ago. Now just grassland. Wonder what happened to the people? It's easy to joke about this film and the area, but fact is it must have been so depressing and soul destroying living there with such a grim existence.
Yep. Here's a pic.
commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tees_Street,_Birkenhead_-_IMG_0339.JPG
Wow. Yeah. Senseless. Who obliterared so many perfectly good homes? No wonder there's a housing crisis to this very day.
True Brit are u sure u googled the correct search terms? I google earthed the site and it doesn’t seem like grassland
It's not grassland, it's waste ground. There's one house left in which someone lives.
tees street no loger exists, just waste land, thank you for the upload
GunnersDream Gunz I know this is 6 years ago since youve written your comment. Ive just been on Google earth and its still there. Newer house's are there 1990s era
Its a merseyrail park and ride carpark now
@@daveflick12 Wrong side of the Mersey. Birkenhead, not Liverpool.
Peter Carey well done my friend sometimes we have to make big choices in life it worked for yourself proud of you.rab Scotland's
I am from the area i know where they are coming from i hope they all found some kind of hope and help.
The year at the end states 1985 - not 1980 - as in the title of this video. Some parts of the programme do pass for 1980, but others are more '84-'85 era, going by people's clothes, hair styles and cars in the street.
The start of the film is definitely from 1980 I'd say.
Its about 1984/85. Those jags in the funeral cortege were B reg which was from late 84 to summer 85.
If they’re unemployed they can’t really afford the latest fashions tho.
Yup. Mebbe learn to read Roman numerals before postin', eh... ?!
This must be 1983-84, as the guy at 2:46 says the dustbin collection was privatised in June 1983 ? Good posting though - I kind of remember seeing this at the time.
THE NORTH END WAS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE WHEN I WAS A KID . I LIVED IN THE AVS (HARDING) . 2 THINGS DESTROYED BIRKENHEAD , RUNNING DOWN CAMMEL LAIRDS AND SMACK . BIRKENHEAD WAS CAMMEL LAIRDS , 12000 WORKERS AT ITS PEAK , AND ALL THE ANCILLARY JOBS . AND COINCIDING WITH SMACK , I WAS A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN . SAME WITH ALL INDUSTRIAL TOWNS , TAKE AWAY THE WORK , PEOPLE GET PISSED OFF AND DEPRESSED . SAY NO MORE . PROUD TO BE A JEDI . LOL
It seems to be the North’s cruelest joke,,,,,,giving the blind terrible hair cuts.
Recent declassified documents have revielled that the Tory Government at the time, waged economic warefare on Liverpool, basically untying Liverpool and pushing it off to it's own catastrophic demise as is seen here during the mid 1980's. For a Government to do that to it's own People, to actively plan and prosecute such an act sends a cold shiver down the spine.
Run Into A Brick Wall
Prove it please.
Strong Union values, Thatcher wanted to crush the spirits then the souls of good people.
@@jillianhorsley5985 Thatcher had three "generals" who basically came up with a mind map of how to "curb" the Unions. But over the course of time, this became how can we completely destroy the Unions. Utter psychopaths.
Tony Angeleno doing a bit of DIY Radio Rentals back in the day there……lol
Give a man a fish he will eat for a day
Give a man a fishing rod he will sell it for smokes
Classic.
mcmcolm already said that
@@ItsNotRealLife oh so he did, didn't see that
👍😂
My grandparents lived at No 5, 40s and 50s
June with ten kids! No wonder the electric was so high. Think of all the electricity being used on play station games, use of the power shower and laptops.
Was that Bono fitting ariels ?
"Selling his finishing rod to buy cigarettes" Lol, I bet they did that on purpose.
Mainstream media. They love causing division.
This documentary is from 1985 not 1980 😎
Bono has done well without a phone.
Ha ha was gonna say. The letterbox mouth and the shades.
So like Bono ! lol
@@johnsmith-wx5fb why was you watching this video in the first place? get lost?!?!?! 😂
@@sandrafinbar ⬆️
That's Phil Collins
Did all these houses get knocked down and rebuilt, as Google maps shows them completely different now
Yes they are all mostly gone now, there is still one house that stands that a man refuses to leave for them to pull it down like the others have been.
16:42 Nothing like being labeled as UNEMPLOYED when the bus turns up on your doorstep.
I am not British, but I do have an interest in Economics and History. I think Maggie Thatcher and Norman Tebbit have got something to do with this? Her cabinet's economic policies completely ruined the working classes in the early 80s.
Yes, London aka the CITY, benefited with all those computers and fund managers and fancy MBA degrees, but the rest of the nation was a BIG TEE STREET! SAD.
You are absolutely right. But we have to recognize the fact that the entirety of the West including Britain has reached a highly advanced stage of Capitalistic development, already at that time. We are engaged in a final era of capitalism. Therefore the vast majority of the Western people are intrinsically no longer profitable in the eyes of entrepreneurs and governments, already at that time. Only a small percentage of Western people can actually fulfill the demands for economic proficiency and profitability nowadays, mainly those involved in the highest of technology. So these people were abandoned and rejected by their own government. The had effectively no chance whatsoever. But in these conditions lies the reason for Britain's decline and demise of today. You call it managed decline or strategic abandonment. Some time ago I traveled to Britain and could not recognize it. I think that the country and culture that I got to know from my earliest English lessons at school onwards and from my journeys as a young fellow is now extinct. And yes, the British administrators prefer the migrants in any way, maybe because especially the Islamic migrants are credited with a higher degree of resilience than original Britons. I don't know whether this is really true, but as the British protagonists don't seem to see any chance of a real economic resurrection, it appears concludent that they prefer to establish a new population on their Isles in order to absorb the inevitable social depredations caused by such a downfall. Just my humble opinion on that matter.
@ so we are moving towards socialism ? Like Marx predicted ?
@@syedadeelhussain2691 Yes, as I presume. The welfare of Western populations will perhaps crumble and slide down to the level of Africa, beside a small segment of the peoples engaged in economic activities of the highest class or organized crime. The capitalists will shift their main interest towards the global South which still may offer high profit rates, another reason for the preference accorded for migrants in Britain, given the fact that these maintain their ties with their countries of origin, thus enabling synergic effects in favour of the capitalistic shareholder s. Don't You think that the powers that be in Britain will care a lousy penny about starving original Britons. Yes man, if they are not profitable anymore , they may perish like millions of Irishmen in 1850. The protagonists won't have the slightest remorse about it .
A solicitor on a push bike .....Quality
His car was on bricks that morning?
@@stuartclarke3171nah, they weren’t the rip off merchants they are today
Car will be stolen.
@@DMWBN3 But it's easier to steal a bike?
@@stuartclarke3171 less cost £ hassle to his employer.
Replace a bike. ???
Replace a car ??
Yes that will be the Margret Thatcher years,.
so goes the meme
Aww that poor boy at his mother's funeral 😭
I'm from this area and im proud of it aswell
Good so you should be. A blossom tree can grow and bloom in a 'bog'. We need to remember our roots.
OK so firstly this is not 1980! It's 1985 from what I can tell judging by the narration timelines. 2:35 FFS just change the title - plenty of people have stated this before me already.
It says 1980's
@@mrrockerjim It used to say 1980.
Great people in Tees Street in the early 60s. So sad it has gone.
Vince, stop smoking you've got two children to support
I noticed the streets kept clean, not like today with beer and coke cans thrown everywhere.
I understand...it was bad in Ireland also back then..in fact it was diabolical...50, 000 left that year for USA, Australia and UK...we worked morning, noon, and night if necessary to pay rent at London prices. The accomodation was rough, the pay wasnt stunning..hence always 2 jobs. The men did better, nothing less than 100 sterling a day, half day Saturday.
@11:30 no harness, no safety gear, nothing. They were built tough back then
The wee boy at his mums funeral 😭
😢😢😢
Back then,we used to call the job centre the ‘joke shop’
I thought Mick was going to jump off that bridge for a moment, he seems very down in the dumps.
Looking at the poor sod makes me want to do the same
@@classicartfoundation639 Damn, I know what you mean. nobody should be that down, i'm on hard times myself, but if I ever met mick i'd give him a few quid to pay his electric bill or gas, even for him to have a few drinks down his local. the most upsetting part is nouthing has changed.
Searson slumped on't settee seeing sloths slide past at speed
You can't climb up a ladder like that now those days were wonderful
Leo Scott
Why not?
There has always been a Noth/South divide, made worse by the Uk government inability to create employment, where they had previously discontinued industries that have previously supported Northern communities.
This is also profoundly true, and helps account for some of the Brexit horror...
@sarah jones very much so
First minute and they tell the first lie! There is no way Vince is 42!! He looks about 72!!!
Vince changed his name to Nick!! No way is he 42!!!
Dommi Davros Poverty can age you drastically tho.
Bloody oath mate!! I’m 42 and by geez I hope I look nothing like that!!!!!!!
@@Luke-er6pg I can remember people in their 40s looking that old in the 80s when I was a very young boy.
@@dommidavros2211 He is 42. People used to look that old in those days.
i live in birkenhead it looks so weird there but it still kind of looks the same but doesnt at the same time.
Poor Mick 42. !!! He looks 72 times was hard .. lol
this is bleak 42 year old what's his name looks about 65 and he's been out of work 10 years!
Im sure they would love to live in the Birkenhead not far from me here in Auckland , New Zealand . its an absolutely lovely place .
Thank God my father decided to emigrate in the mid 60's
I came from Moreton, All Birkenhead people were weirdos who wanted to kill us. That said; my wife is from Birkenhead (gulps and looks at bedroom door).
Lol
English Heart So...did your wife kill you?
@@jonathanturbide2232 I guess she did...
@@m4ckm4n59 ... or fucking divorced him.
I think there was a documentary on a few years ago featuring james watt street with all the same conditions. Its unbelievable that nothing has changed in 40 years.
My dad's car got nicked from Bidston avenue . I told him we will find it in tees Street and we did lucky it wasn't burnt out 😅
9:11 Unfortunately Mike missed that train and was late for the interview.
Bird Man 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I had the same fear!!!
@@robinjanz-buhr4427 9:41 Do you reckon Mick is a bit older than 42 😂😂
I made the train and attended the interview and was successful getting the job.
@@Michael-x4h9b You must be retired by now then?
The theme tune to this and world in action is iconic. Add the Sweeney tune and it’s a hat trick.
My Late Uncle is in this documentary.
Who?
My god Mick looked like he was in his 70's
Why do they look older than they are?