When I came there it was fabulous. There were plenty of shops on the street, lots of faces. Anything you wanted you could get. It was built for a community, there were churches, parks. And up White Street there was even a communal wash house. I used it with my mother all the time. And up the other end of the road was Seedley Swimming Baths. My children learned to swim in it. It was always open, it was a place to catch up with neighbours. It was like a wet community centre.
Jumping forward to the present day and there is a four lane motorway that runs through to Eccles and places beyond. The swimming baths have gone, the wash house is not there anymore, and there is not as many shops anymore. It is fair to say that my Langworthy doesn't exist anymore. It has changed dramatically.
Not all the changes have been negative. There are more houses being built now than there ever has been. They look nice with their gardens and car ports. Also, the air is cleaner. I remember when I was younger always smelling Sulfur in the air. There was a lot of chimneys and an industrial laundry which caused a lot of the smell. Not to mention the faint smell of the docks. With the sulfur, you would also smell burnt wood and oil.
There are still places to go, you have the Cornerstone which a lot of people use. They even have exercise classes which involve sitting down. I go in there because they have a book exchange. I go in there every other week with books and swap them for new ones. Also, my cousin works in the cafe so I like to go have a catch up on family. Other members of my family use it as well. My daughter likes to draw and has been going to drawing classes in there for over two years. She's made friends through it and it's great to see her enjoy herself.
It was actually in Langworthy that I fell in love with creative writing. One day, my eldest daughter wanted me to mind the grand-kids in the women's centre. I sat there and I was roped into coming to one of the classes by a nice lady called Pat. I felt like in the class, I got to be myself and I was able to get the poetry out of me. I always thought it was over my head. ButI went to that class in 1994 and I still write daily.
It changed my life, it got me out of the house and gave me a purpose other than looking after children and my husband.
What Langworthy has lost is that community spirit. I barely talk to anyone on the street now because I don't recognise them anymore. There are only 4 people I know on my street now. To help get this spirit back there needs to be more activities going on in the Cornerstone for people of all ages. But maybe more activities for older people. I used to travel to Littleton Road to a primary school once a month for a social evening. That kind of event would be fantastic in Langworthy.
It would be fantastic to see people from the area getting together once a month like that. We used to go on trips to places like Skipton, the Lake District and Blackpool. I would love to see that again.
I see a lot of young people who live in the area who only stare at computer screens. Why not have an older people social evening, a younger person social evening, and then go on trips together?
If you are talking about change and Langworthy, you can not forget to mention MediaCity. I love MediaCity. I love being in walking distance of the Imperial War Museum. I was born during WW2 and the museum is a stones throw away from where I was born. It has taught me things that even I didn't know. I'm proud that something like MediaCity exists so close to where I grew up. By the way, MediaCity is in SALFORD not Manchester!
Langworthy has changed so much over the 76 years I have been on this earth. It was the creme de la creme of Salford. My Father used to say "It's not for the likes of us to live there, they have inside toilets and a bathroom". But I said "One day Dad, I will live there". And for all the things it has lost, neighbours, the community spirit, the shops, people are still friendly. I go to the pharmacist and she always says hello Mrs Mort, have you brought your prescription (I call it my shipping order!). Langworthy Road will still be there when I have gone and because of MediaCity and the schools and colleges down South Langworthy Road, it will have a future.